Our ships prioritise safety for all crew, personnel, and visitors on board.
GBA Ships’ vessels, Doulos Hope and Logos Hope, are committed to high level of safety as the organisation seeks to serve communities worldwide. In this article, you’ll get a glimpse of how our ships do this with a mix of volunteers and professionals on board.
We uphold high standards and strictly comply with maritime safety regulations to keep everyone safe – the crew, volunteers and visitors. Doing so is necessary, as crew and volunteers live and serve on the ships and open the gangways for the public in every port they visit.
Logos Hope master, Captain Matt Stephens (US) shared, “[It’s] GBA Ships’ responsibility to provide healthy, safe, and secure working conditions, so everyone who serves on our vessels will return home in the same or even better condition than when they came.”
Complying with international maritime laws
“GBA Ships must pass all the same international standards as a commercial ship as defined by our flag state of Malta and our classification society RINA,” Captain Matt said. “We must pass annual external audits from RINA, port state audits from the countries we visit and flag state inspections. International Safety Management (ISM) [also] requires us to follow a manual which covers every aspect of our vessel’s operation and to report regularly to our officer regarding our compliance.”
Doulos Hope third officer and training officer, Glenn Perges (Philippines) gives us an in-depth explanation of the many regulations the ships need to follow as they sail worldwide. “We follow SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), ISPS (International Ship and Port Security) and STCW (Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping) codes,” he explained. “We also have our SMS (Safety Management System) and SOPM (Shipboard Operations Manual) that comply with the ISM Code.”
To maintain compliance, Glenn added, “We have AMOS (a maritime maintenance management system) with weekly and monthly inspections and tests. And we’ve divided the tasks to cover everything – I’m accountable for the firefighting equipment, another officer checks the lifesaving equipment and yet another officer focuses on security-related equipment. We have a routine and we go through plans according to SOLAS regulations.”
Running ships with professionals and volunteers
Both Doulos Hope and Logos Hope are operated by seasoned crewmembers. Doulos Hope master, Captain Jay De Guzman (Canada), said, “We are an accredited shipping company, and all our mariners, officers and engineers are licensed. Our job now is to impart that safety mindset to everyone on board the ship.”
“[Since] most of our volunteers don’t have seafaring experience, we spend a lot more time training than a commercial ship would,” Captain Matt continued. “The advantage we have is that our crew of volunteers is much larger – about 80 seafarers compared to 20 on a commercial ship. We also spend less time at sea since our work is to engage with people on land, so we have more time for training and maintenance.”
For instance, selected people will be assigned and trained for the ships’ Marine Services. Logos Hope chief engineer, Tiemen Burmma (Netherlands) explained, “Each department has their own certified training, which allows them to work as a deck or engine rating. They [are required to] get professional training from an onshore team before entering the workplace. Once they’re qualified, they join the work in deck or engine.”
Preparing all joiners with training and drills
Both ships take in new volunteers twice a year, which means regular and extensive training.
Logos Hope training officer, Lori Stephens (US) shared, “All volunteers are oriented on how to work safely in our ships, including fire prevention and abandon ship procedures. Those joining the ship’s seafaring crew earn professional certificates through our company’s training school, internationally recognised through our flag state. You must pass an exam for each course [and] practical examination where students must demonstrate their abilities according to international standards.”
After passing, every crewmember must participate and succeed in the drills, which are double the international requirement. “We have fire and abandon ship drills weekly for our control teams (emergency response teams) and monthly for all crew and staff. Everyone must demonstrate survival skills such as donning lifejackets and being at their muster station.” Captain Balligi Tira (Philippines) on Doulos Hope added, “We also have the LSA (Life Saving Appliances) Code that we follow – they audit us for this as well. We are all certified.”
A commitment to safety and service
In honour of World Maritime Day, GBA Ships aims to raise awareness and remind everyone about the crucial importance of safety at sea.
“We comply with regulations and procedures to first, ensure the protection of lives on board: all crew, personnel and even visitors. Second, to protect the ship herself from breaking down. And third, to protect the environment around us,” Glenn said. And Captain Jay concluded, “Safety is part of our goal as GBA Ships,” and plays a vital part in sharing knowledge, help and hope with all.