A team of Damage Control Instructors aboard the Australian Navy’s NUSHIP Canberra have been under the spotlight during the first Landing Helicopter Dock’s (LHD) duty watch certification recently.
Sea Training Group is Navy’s team who assess or endorse ships to ensure they are competent across a range of departments including the ship being able to manage any emergency onboard such as a fire, flood or toxic hazard, and certifies the ship’s duty watch teams as to their readiness to look after the ship.
In the past, assessments have included the capability of a ship’s Combat Survivability organisation and the individual knowledge of personnel, but the focus has changed.
Warrant Officer Marine Technician Anthony Booby from Sea Training Group said the key difference in this new program is that the ship’s damage control instructors (DCIs) become the focus of the assessment. By having the DCIs as a focus, it ensures the ship is able to self-sustain its Combat Survivability capability without the formal assistance of assessors.
Each duty watch was required to prove they were capable of starting, operating and shutting down ship’s machinery and responding to fire alarms and other emergencies while alongside in harbour.
Canberra is now certified and ready to stand up their formal duty watches in harbour next month.
The ship will arrive in her home port at Fleet Base East Sydney prior to formal commissioning into the Royal Australian Navy on 28 November.
The LHD will be able to undertake a range of tasks including complex amphibious operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions.
Press release, Image: Australian Navy