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All Hands 2020-1 (UK Spring) P a g e 7

He has completed four months sea-time so far, with four more to go which, plus his workshop days in Warsash,
will total 12 months. He loved being at sea during his training and could not imagine being stuck in the ‘rat race’
ashore for the rest of his life. He enjoys how challenging working on a ship is and noted that it is financially more
rewarding and with more time off than shore employment.
When asked what the outstanding moment was of his first four months of sea-time he replied ‘it was servicing the
entire HV (High Voltage System) generators, transformers, propulsion convertors and motors. “The scale of th e
electric motors was amazing”. Those of you who visited the High Voltage simulator at Solent University in
September 2019 or who have served on diesel electric propelled ships will understand what he means and
understand the particular hazards of a HV system.
His ambitions for the future? He believes that future seafaring will be machine and AI (Artificial Intelligence) led
so the future for METOs seems promising. He is looking to focus on continuous improvement within his sector
and staying up to date with advancements as they happen. He would like to undertake the ‘top up’ to full degree
course but he will have to apply for a bursary and is doing his best to reach the criteria.
Peter provided some images of the High Voltage system he was working on during his sea time but as he says,
they do not do justice to the scale of these systems.

Converter system water cooled diodes HV transformers
Officer Cadet Toby McGill: Toby is the first of his family to choose a career at sea. Interestingly he was educated
at Pangbourne College. Many of us may remember it as Pangbourne Nautical School which produced potential
officers for the Royal and Merchant Navy in conjunction with a normal education as opposed to the old
Southampton School of Navigation (Warsash) pre-sea training model. Toby tells me that they still wear a
midshipman’s uniform, still parade and do inspections but no longer follow any of the other old strict regimes. It
has been rebranded, dropping the motto ‘Proud to Be Different’ and is now just called Pangbourne while at the
same time keeping its nautical heritage.
While at Pangbourne he took A-Level Design & Technology, History and Biology and realised that the typical
further education route was not for him. He looked into Warsash and the potential career opportunities, liked what
he saw and became a Carnival Cruises sponsored Officer Cadet (Navigating).
Although Toby went straight from Pangbourne to commence training at Warsash, while at Pangbourne he did a
lot of volunteering work in his free time for charities, participated in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme and
belonged to the naval section of the Combined Cadet Force.
His description of his sea time with Carnival Cruises made us all envious as he reeled of a long list of top cruising
destinations he had visited and recounted what life was like on a modern cruise ship. Needless to say it was not
all play and no work and his training programme had to be followed.
He states that the outstanding moment of his sea time was definitely his ship’s arrival in Saudi Arabia. This was
an unintentional port call due to having to disembark a sick guest (note they are no longer referred to as
passengers). The port call was only a few hours duration but he got to see all the necessary preparations for the
visit, the background planning that went into safely berthing an extremely large vessel at an unscheduled port and
the way all departments worked together for the benefit of one sick guest. He noted that the whole exercise resulted
in a large quantity of additional fuel being consumed to ensure that this one guest received the best medical
attention available.