Seamanship is the art of operating a vessel of which it is a compilation of the skills and knowledge entailed in navigation, boat handling, maintenance, and the law of the sea. It involves working as part of a crew and when the occasion arises, leading a crew in the role of a skipper with RESPONSIBILITY.
It’s not really a good feeling. You want to dominate the sea, but you want to have to struggle to achieve it. You pace the bridge restlessly, a faint beginning of sea fever troubling your pulse and there are times when you think you’ve got the better of the sea but you have to be RESPONSIBLE not only for you, the vessel etc but for the souls around you.
Today Friday 15th December, 2023 while the High Speed Craft (HSC) SAINT JOHN PAUL II was entering Grand Harbour coming from Sicily around 1019 hrs a Maltese flag (MLT) 25 metre yacht FIREFLY crossed her bow endangering all souls aboard both the HSC and the yacht of which the latter didn’t make any VHF contact neither with VTS nor with the catamaran.
Any kind of movement has to be reported to Valletta VTS for traffic moves via VHF but it seems that certain people they know it all.
FIREFLY shifted from her mooring berth at Manoel Island Marina, Marsamxett Harbour for MMH Facilities at Grand Harbour of which when the HSC radio officer reported this incident to Valletta VTS, the yacht didn’t reply to VTS after several calls.
Apart that on her AIS she has the designation of Sailing Vessel WHICH IS NOT THE CASE…….
But as usual …BASTA WE HAVE A BOAT…….of which sometimes not even the Phonetic Alphabet we know ……
