Pierre Vallee - Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada - French (Global Lives Project, 2013) -21:30:00 - 21:59:59

basic equipments. -- versus cars -- Cars as well, but ships that are very well developed in terms of technology, I am talking about new ships carrying passengers, with a type of propulsion that has changed... Navigation equipments are all pretty much the same. If we were talking about a passenger carrier... We get a lot of them in Fall, and a little bit in Spring. We've started getting some last week. It is more glamourous on the gangway. There is more wood. The final touches are finer. However, all navigation equipments are pretty much the same. Radars, electronic maps, A.I.S. Navigation equipements are pretty much the same. Like I said, the finish is a bit finer. But, for... ...routes or... cargo, such as what the Federal Kumano is carrying today, this boat responds perfectly to cargo norms for this kind of ship. --Quebec. Valencia Express.-- --Valencia Express. This is Trafic Quebec. Over. -- Yes Sir??? I copy that. There is a ship coming down from the Battery. The dredger is in operation at the height of Charlie 33 near the wind passage (?). Thank you. If you look over there, there are two small green lights, they are the alignment lights I was talking about earlier on. So, the higher light is to the left of the lower light. This means that we are on that side of the channel. And, this is confirmed by the position indicated on the electronic map. We are slightly to the South of the center. -- That's a real concentration job! -- That, for example, is very true! It is a job... You need to pay attention to what is happening at all times. And, today we are quite lucky. This ship runs great. Last week, I embarked on a ship at 11.... 11.15pm. And, from Quebec towards Trois-Rivières. And at 2.45am, we lost the power. So then, we had no more steering, and no more propulsion. It took a good while before it came back. The ship yawed greatly. And of course, it's like.... it is almost like a car accident. No one sends you a text message 15 minutes beforehand to warn you that there is going to be a problem with the generator in 15 minutes. Get ready! It just happens. And you need to react instantly. That was a ship carrying passengers on board. So, the reaction time was very minimal. Obviously, I enjoy saying that in these situations, it really is only 10 per cent of the time that I need all my pilot's knowledge and skills. However, when these situations take place, if you are not ready, you don't have time to check your notes or ask someone's advice, or call for a reference. So, pilots... I use the first person singular, because in this case, it is me. But, the pilots on the Saint-Lawrence River... for all three sectors, have a great level of education, which guarantees the public's safety. Because... the main goal of piloting on the Saint-Lawrence and in Canada, is to guarantee the safety of the public and of the environment. -- So what do you do in such situations? --Zero, Four, Three, Sir. -- Can you describe? -- Ok, thank you! In this specific situation, first, we couldn't steer anymore. Once we got the steering back, I had to alternate movements from left to right with the helm, in order to reduce the speed, and then be able to anchor. Because to anchor a ship... In this case, our speed was about 12 knots, which is too fast to be able to anchor and bring the ship to a halt. Zero, Four, Three. --Zero, Four, Three, Sir.-- So, by doing... Once we managed to steer again, I started doing some back and forth movements with the helm in order to reduce the ship's speed. Once the ship reached a speed of about 6 knots, I knew we would be able to anchor. However, at the same moment, I got a call from the engine room. A fire had just broken out in the engine room. But, they got it under control and we were able to get the propulsion back. And, we got a better control over the ship. What you need to understand is that a ship doesn't have... Once the ship has come to a halt in the water, we can keep turning the helm from left to right, but the boat won't turn. A ship will only turn if water pressure is applied to the helm; and then, by turning the helm, overpressure is going to be created on one side and a depression will be created on the other side. And then, the ship will turn. If there is no propulsion, there is no or very little steering. If there is no speed, there is no or almost no steering. So, in those cases, once we managed to get the propulsion back, --Zero, Four, Three, Sir. -- OK, thank you! we were... The engineers were able to analyze the situation and know what was working and what wasn't working. It lasted about five-six minutes et then, the power went out again. And, at that moment, the visibility... It was on a very humid day last week. We got 2 or 3 days that were very humid, so that means that when there are a lot of water droplets in the air, in the morning, the surface of the water is cold and the droplets tend to create condensation and then fog. We know that this fog is going to dissipate once the sun rises. Once it gets a bit warmer, the droplets are going to disperse -- (?) This is Trafic Quebec. -- in the air. --(?)22.20 for Nicolas. -- -- Understood. There is no traffic to be reported, Sir...-- -- I copy that. Thanks. -- So I took the decision to proceed¸ and anchor as close as possible, and wait until the next morning, which ended up being an excellent decision. The ship's captain obviously agreed with my decision. Once we anchored, the visibility was close to zero. We could barely see 25 meters ahead of us. Not in front of the boat but just behind de window. So we had to wait until the sun warmed up the atmosphere. Then around 9am, we weighed anchor and proceeded upstream. The visibility was excellent and we didn't have any other mechanical issues. So... you need to be ready. You always need to be ready for the worst even if the worst rarely happens. --Always navigating without instruments, using your eyes? -- At the moment, here, we have great visual landmarks. Look over there, there is a small green light in the branches. It is going to come out, there. You can see it to the left. It is coming out now. When this little green light is 12.5 degrees in front of the side of the ship, we turn and then, this is one of the marks to turn 55. So now, it is coming. Zero - Five-Five. --Zero-Five-Five, Sir.-- I give the order a bit earlier because the helmsman is a little slow at answering. So, to make up for his slowness, I give him the orders a bit earlier. A night like today is very clear. The visual help is great, and we can see the landmarks. When training as a pilot, all the knowledge gets passed on from one pilot to another one. Training, in our case, takes two years. But, all those marks were developed by former pilots who then shared them with us. So, we use them and, they are still very much appreciated and performant. Zero-Six-Five. --Zero, Six, Five, Sir -- You need to keep it to the minium because it is --OK.-- very annoying. --Trafic Quebec. Océan Charlie. --Océan Charlie. This is Trafic Quebec. -- Yes, good evening. We are about to leave sector 15 for ..(?) --Zero, Six, Five, Sir.-- OK.-- Yes, I copy that. There is no other traffic. The target went past the catalan bridge. --Copy that. Thanks.-- Zero-Seven-Five. -- Zero, Seven, Five, Sir.-- --Quebec. Fédéral Nakagawa.-- --Fédéral Nakagawa. This is Trafic Quebec.-- We are at sea. 22:45, if there is anything. Two, Two, Four, Five. I copy that. Thanks. There is a ship going upstream towards... the Arctic(?). Back light. Doesn't even manage to want…(?). Was reported on emergency light.-- Copy that. Thanks.-- -- I think Zero, Seven, Five, Sir -- We are good! Zero-Eight-Four. --Zero, Eight, Four, Sir.-- --Zero, Eight, Four, Sir.-- Okay, thank you! Zero-Eight-Three.-- Zero, Eight, Three, Sir.-- --Trafic Québec. Triton Seagull.-- -- Triton Seagull. This is Trafic Québec.-- Zero, Eight, Three, Sir.-- Good. -- -- Copy that. There is no traffic to be reported at this time, Charlie. Everything is good.-- --Copy that. Thank you.-- There is a container ship on the way. It just took the turn around a place called Pointe Citrouille. When we had the interview together, we met at my summer home. And it was right there, at Pointe Citrouille. It was called like that because if you look at it from the sky, the headland looks like a kind of whole made in a pumpkin for Halloween, in the shape of a tip. So that's how it was called Pointe Citrouille. Zero, Eight, Four. --Zero, Eight, Four, Sir.-- The container ship just turned around the headland. We are going to meet him here in 3-4 minutes. I slightly change the direction, like this. Only by one degree. This may look wrong but the helmsman is having trouble to maintain the direction. When I ask him 84, sometimes, he aims for 86. He goes south too much. When I ask for 83, he goes to 81. -- Zero, Eight, Four, Sir.-- So, I end up correcting the direction like this to...Thank you! It is easier for the pilot to adapt to the helmsman than to ask the helmsman to change, turn faster or be better. Helmsmen become good at their job with experience and this helmsman's age makes it easy to understand why he is unable to maintain the direction I am asking him. -- Big winds probably don't help?-- Sorry? --Big winds probably don't help?-- No, they don't help. However, some ships are most sensitive to the wind. A ship like this one isn't exposed very much. The ship's freeboard, in other words the part that is not under the water, and the accommodation section that are exposed to the wind. On the other hand, the ship we are about to meet, that's a ship that is much more sensitive to the wind because he carries containers on the deck. It works as a huge sail and , the wind force on ships depend directly on the surface exposed to the wind. Ships carrying passengers are not deep ships. Most passenger ships will have between, let's say, an 8.5 meters to 10.5 meters draft. Therefore, they are not very deep. On the other hand,. their surface can reach up to 45, 46 meters high by 300 to 320 meters long. So, the exposed surface compared to to the submerged surface is very important, therefore more sensible to the wind. As you can see, the surface outside the water exposed to the wind is very big on a ship like this one compared to our ship. --What happens in case of big storm?-- In case of big storm, they are prevented from going upstream on the Saint-Lawrence from Quebec. Or they are prevented from leaving Montreal's harbour. Once a ship is alongside the quay, a ship with no container remains in dock, because when there are strong winds, it is better off alongside the quay. It is the same thing to go beyond Quebec. If it is too windy, they are requested to anchor at the bottom of Quebec. Zero-Six-Five. --Zero, Six, Five, Sir.-- Zero-Four-Five. -- Zero, Four, Five, Sir.-- Hey! Zero-Four-Five. Port. --I think Zero, Four, Five, Sir.-- Okay, thank you!