When our apprentice Jonas Arvola disembarked last week, both our apprentices have completed their time with us and sailed on to new challenges with well deserved Able Seaman trade certifications in hand. Before he left, we have had a chat with Jonas, who was the last of the two to leave the vessel in Bømlo.
Jonas, who is from Kirkenes in the Northern-most part of Norway, has for the past two years been an apprentice sailor at Barents Shipping on board the delousing vessel Simon Princess. Prior to starting their career at sea, apprentices usually gain experience from various vessels as part of their education at school. For Jonas’s and his class of 2020, this was not so easy as COVID-19 put limitations on the shipping companies’ willingness and ability to open up for students to get practical experiences. Apart from a short trip on a small passenger craft and some time on the schools own vessel, he had limited experience and few ideas about what to expect when he embarked in Scotland for the first time onboard the Simon Princess.
COVID-19 was also a major challenge for Barents Shipping when it came to crew changes, in particular this affected the seafarers who were forced to spend time in a quarantine hotel and thus lost part of their highly valued time at home. Jonas recalls that when he started there was a softening of the restrictions and he managed with only one trip to a quarantine hotel. Although this was an boring experience, he says that he appreciates to have experienced what it was like, as this is something even those who have sailed their whole lives look back on and remember as a special thing in their career.
“It has been very free and meaningful, and I feel that I have been trusted to take part in the work on an equal basis with the rest of the crew.“
Being an apprentice on board a relatively small vessel along the coast has both its advantages, but also its challenges. The crew is small, which places greater demands on the progression and maturity of the apprentices. On the other hand, the apprentices get a lot of freedom under responsibility, combined with good follow-up, this provides a versatile learning arena where the apprentice can contribute and experience mastery as an important part of the crew. Our experience is that those apprentices who learns quickly and contribute both in their work but also in the social life on board, experience good well-being and a high learning outcome. This is confirmed by Jonas: “Most of my fellow students are on larger well boats. They probably experience less freedom and trust so that I work quite a bit more independently than what they have been allowed to. It has been very free and meaningful, and I feel I have been trusted to take part in the work on an equal basis with the rest of the crew.”
Jonas says that he leaves us with several good memories from his apprenticeship. He recalls all the voyages, especially the time the vessel worked in Shetland, with pleasure: “When we sailed past the Orkney Islands, we got to see many nice little places that not necessarily many others have seen. Nice to have sailed in international trade. It’s also nice that there has been quite a bit of variation, even if we do the same thing, it’s still a little different from place to place.”
Last month Jonas’ was in Tromsø, where he took the exam to become a certified Able Seaman. Jonas says that this went well, although, among other things, he got questions he had only experienced in theory on board the Simon Princess. Dangerous goods and the IMDG code are not exactly everyday business on board an aquaculture vessel that carries no cargo other than the deluosing equipment installed on board. Anyway, he passed the exam and was rewarded with a well-deserved diploma!
“My advice to other apprentices is to start early with the Weblæring (Training record book provided by Norwegian Authorities). I started it late and got a lot of stress at the end to get it done properly. To succeed, you have to be mature and not expect everyone else to push you and remind you all the time. For my part, there have been some crew alterations on board which have meant that I have had a new training manager a few times, which I feel has also made it easy to postphone this task resulting is the stress.”
Apprentice or not, at Barents Shipping we believe in continous learning and improvement. We are therefore recognizing Jonas’ feedback, and will ensure closer administrative follow-up of future apprentices. At the same time, we hope that future apprentices take note of Jonas’ experience and important reflections about their own role on board and the importance of cooperation within in the crew.
After the summer, Jonas will join the Navy and serve his conscription, but first he will be a summer temp at a fish-farm in his home municipality: “I am really looking forward to testing myself as a fish farmer this summer. I have worked all my apprenticeship with salmon and it will therefore be exciting to experience what happens at the facilities between the wellboat/service boat calls.”
“Lastly, I would like to say that the apprenticeship is an incredibly educational time and you have to be prepared that you will learn a lot of new things. Not only related to the work it self, but not least socially and about life in general! I don’t regret becoming an apprentice at Barents Shipping – I have had a very nice time with nice people and a good environment.”
Jonas, like Chris, has received good feedback from the rest of the crew, who use words such as independent, pleasant and teachable in their description of him. We wish both Jonas and Chris the best of luck in the future and hope they’ll stop by for a cup of coffee either on board or in the office!
