PDFORRA report "Life at Sea"

[Marius]

Reading the comments so far people seem to getting pretty annoyed over it i originally posted it for members of the service and other people who keep a close eye on these type of topics but what i think i am getting from some posts is that they aint too sympathetic to what sailors have to deal with but i would like to know how many of the posters with "tuff luck get on with your job waster" attitude have gone to sea and i mean with the service and before anybody asks i left the 3 months ago and am now a civvy (i love that word ) and no longer a bod(used to love that word)

Am sea going and I love it. Tough luck. Get on with your job. No sympathy for moaners.

[hptmurphy]

I would actually love to get back to sea....NSR have it made in that aspect.....best of both worlds

[beenthere]

I would actually love to get back to sea....NSR have it made in that aspect.....best of both worlds

Murph, I thought you were at sea all the time

[DeV]

Norwegian Coast Guard

From the P20 replacement thread.

The Norwegian Coast Guard is able to operate 21 vessels (plus 6 helicopters and 2 aircraft) with only 800 personnel as some of those vessels have only 16 crew. It is also part of the Royal Norwegian Navy and so is able to get personnel, logistics and C3 support from it.

Roles include:
Sovereignty, Fisheries, Custom, Environment, Immigration, Search and rescue, Scientific research, Drifting objects, Assistance to other state agencies and Control of maritime activities according to Norwegian laws and regulations. It also has military roles including force protection and SF support operations.

Interestly it each vessel has 2 crew. Crew "A" is at sea for 3 weeks, followed by 32 hour crew rotation period, crew "B" then crews the vessel for 3 weeks ... and so on ...

Its area of operations is 2.2 million kilometres square.

Its vessels are crewed by a combination of naval officers (trained as coast guard officers), conscripted ratings and civilians.

[Goldie fish]

Crewing Vessels while maximising their seagoing time is something the Norwegian Coastguard seem to have a good grip of.
From their website:

All the vessels are continuously on patrol, operated by two separate crews. Each crew is on patrol for three weeks followed by 32 hours at the base for debriefing, crew change, refuelling, supplying and briefing of the relieving crew before the next three weeks patrol. The philosophy is to ensure sufficient presence with required capabilities at sea. It means that the main goal of the Norwegian Coast Guard is to have the ships and helicopters and aircraft, the required expertise and the necessary authority where they are needed at sea at all times.

Their Offshore element operates 12 ships in conditions similar to ours, except in winter, when they also have Ice to worry about.

http://www.mil.no/sjo/kv/start/fartoyer/ykv/

[G-2]

An excellent idea

I do believe somewhere earlier i mentioned the dual crew idea (vaguely) but some folks boo hissed it. Obviously we all have differing opinions but surely the fact that there is a working example of that very idea should transend this.
I believe it was said that the idea was unrealistic but this is only true with the current gov underfunding to the service. No I am aware that funding has probably increased by comparison to past years but it is still not at an acceptable level by comparison to other nations of the union.

[hptmurphy]

Even the Royal Navy are working towards acording to Warships International fleet review..october issue.

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi all
The two-crew thing is so common in navies worldwide, it's unbelievable that it isn't in use here.As for getting stores, someone needs to get a boot up the arse of the supply system if it takes more than three weeks to get a part.I could understand if a specific part was obsolete and no longer in production, but with a current part, there should be no delay. There's so much rapid-transit parcel logistics available today that moving even an awkward part is no longer difficult. It's not like it's the first time a ship went to sea from Haulbowline.It really gets my goat when the military at the operational end have to tolerate endless delays for spares and supplies because of bureaucrats and arguments about money or just simply wasters and dossers in the military supply chain.
regards
GttC

[hptmurphy]

Ah but sure you know the military system..if its not performance and related..and not eating into some ones bonus..it can take all the time in the world..the military working day can be a very short one..hence things might not always happen as quickly as in the real world .