Having recently joined Queen Victoria, Chief Engineer Anthony has been part of the CUK family for over 40 years! This week Anthony tells us about his interesting career and what a day in the life of a Chief Engineer on a ship during the lay-up period looks like:
“I joined the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, (P&O), as a group engineer cadet in September 1979. I studied for two years at Aigburth Marine College in Liverpool, then went to sea for a year before completing my final college year back at Aigburth.
My first ship as a cadet was SS Uganda when she was still sailing as a cruise vessel specialising in school and collage trips. After graduating in 1983, I joined MV Sea Princess in November of that year as a junior engineer officer. At this time the company I worked for was called P&O passenger division.
As I have progressed through the ranks, the company changed to P&O Cruises, then P&O Princess cruises, and Carnival UK as it is today. I’ve sailed predominantly on P&O ships over the last 40 years or so, also having spent time in Carnival Australia, and Cunard.
I was promoted to Chief Engineer in 2007, sailing on the Pacific Star in the South Pacific.”
This is my “A Day in the Life of….”
06:45 – 07:00 Proceed to my office via the Engine Control Room (ECR), to chat with the Engineering Officer of the watch about any issues experienced overnight.
07:00 – 07:45 Check my email inbox, answer any urgent messages, check all the morning figures against yesterdays to monitor consumptions and gains for fuel, water, bilge and sludge.
07:45 – 08:15 Breakfast in the Lido with the Staff Chief and Staff Electrical Engineer.
08:30 – 08:45 Brand President bi weekly update with the Senior Management Team
08:45 – 09:00 Morning meeting with my Senior Officers to discuss any issues and the day’s work plan throughout the department.
09:00 – 10:00 In ECR for zone 3 transformer maintenance power change over.
10:00 – 12:00 Back to the office for general paper work and catch up with the team leaders for an update on today’s tasks.
12:00 – 14:00 Lunch break for fresh air and chill out time in cabin, reading, listening to music, playing computer games, and adding a few pieces to a rather hard jigsaw puzzle.
14:00 – 15:00 Office again for more paper work.
15:00 – 16:00 Partial drill, SOPEP exercise. The Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP) is a prevention plan and in this plan you get an overview of possible procedures in case of an oil spill with instructions for the oil pollution prevention team.
16:00 – 17:00 Weekly technical conference call with Ships Manager & Senior Technical Officers.
17:00 – 17:30 Quick walk around the machinery spaces.
17:30 – 18:00 Meeting with watch keeping Officers in ECR.
18:00 – 18:30 Dinner in the Lido.
18:30 – 19:30 In ECR meeting again with watch keeping Officers.
19:30 – 20:00 Chill out in cabin, face time my wife.
20:00 – 21:00 In ship’s company lounge relaxing with fellow crew members and listening to music.
21:00 – 22:00 Final chill in cabin, reading, doing jigsaw or playing computer games.
22:00 – to bed.
Anthony will be home for the holidays with his wife Janet, in a small town called Downham Market in Norfolk where he enjoys playing golf, fishing, walking, taking pictures of wildlife and perusing his hobby of model railways.
Next week the Cunard Fleet will be bringing some Christmas cheer!
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