During this period I was a Navigation Officer cadet for the Global Marine. With time divided between operations and college, I gained 18 months seatime. Most time was spent installing or repairing submarine fibre optic cables in the far east. The first operation I was involved in was the East Asia Crossing network, and in particular connecting Taiwan with the Philippines, much of which was done using a plough. This and other repair and standby work were carried aboard CS Cable Innovator (mostly working from Taiwan and Singapore), CS Cable Retriever (mostly working around Singapore and the Philippines), and CS Pacific Guardian (standby in New Zealand, then Fiji).
Routes and areas covered
During this time, I gained training and qualification in:
· Merchant Vessel Support
· Marine Vessel Operations
· Elementary First Aid, First Aid Aboard Ship,
· General Operators Certificate of Competency – Issued by the Secretary of State - (GMDSS) Global Maritime Distress Safety Systems Radio/Satellite-communications,
· Maritime and Coastguard Agency Signals,
· Personal Safety and Social Responsibility,
· Personal Survival Techniques,
· Fire Prevention and Firefighting,
· Advanced Fire Fighting,
· Navigation Radar and ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting Aid - operational level).
Stability Physics, Meteorology, Chartwork, Ship Masters Law, Seamanship, Navigation, Shiphandling.
