Tough Training Needed for Safety

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS PATI HERIN

Students of Ambon Middle School of Fisheries Business and Maluku Marine Fisheries Polytechnic cadets went to sea on Thursday (17/9/2020). This is the process they are forged into sailors fishing boats ready to sail around the world.

Working on a foreign fishing vessel does not always bring pain and suffering. Many Indonesian seafarers are successful because they have taken part in a strict training program.

The weather was not so friendly that Thursday afternoon (17/09/2020). After leaving the calm Ambon Bay, the waves carried by the winds on the Banda Sea hit the hull of the ship. Alalunga, the training ship for sailor cadets, weighing 29 gross tons, was swinging. The crew started to feel uncomfortable in their stomachs.

"Don\'t look down, look ahead. If you want to vomit, don\'t hold back,” said one cadet, La Risman (17), to his colleague who began to feel seasick.

Also read: The Deadly Deceiving Snare

Those taking part in the training that afternoon were students of the Ambon Fisheries Business School (SUPM) and Maluku Marine Fisheries Polytechnic cadets. Some of them were assigned to various positions in the vessel such as the engine room and wheelhouse, while others were asked to prepare a fishing longline, which is a series of strings attached with hooks with small fish bait.

The longline is used to catch tuna as well as skipjack. Those standing on the bow cast their eyes forward, with the task of tracking signs of the hordes of tuna or skipjack tuna playing on the surface of the water. The young men seemed to be trying to hold back the waves.

Don\'t look down, look ahead. If you want to vomit, don\'t hold back

Also read: Gaining Profits from Repeated Suffering

ARSIP SUPM WAIHERU AMBON

Every student of the Nautical expertise program must undergo a practice on a fishing boat for two months in the Maluku and North Maluku regions.

Their faces also looked pale as they held their nausea. Those who could not handle it chose to lean on the wall of the ship. There was no word of retreating and the ship continued to advance across the waves. And the time to catch the fish began. Those who could not stand the tough sea vomited uncontrollably. There was no shame, because they had to have such an experience so they could survive in a difficult situation. After warming their throats with a glass of hot tea, they started fishing for the tuna fish.

Achmad Jais Ely, the head of the SUPM Ambon fishery school, said the students were required to sail for at least 90 days each year. The more often they went to sea, the better competence and skills they had in understanding ship anatomy, weather, fishing gear, movement of fish in water and handling of fish on board.

The travel history is recorded in their sailor\'s book. After graduating, they are given a level II fishing vessel nautical expert certificate for those majoring in nautics and a level II fishing vessel technician certificate for those majoring in machinery. "The nautical one is the skipper and the technician is the head of the engine room. Even though they are from two different majors, they have one thing in common, namely they can catch fish," said Jais.

Also read: Protect Migrant Workers

The training carried out by La Risman was also undertaken by Betrans Ramadhani Wisanto (17), a student of SMK Pelayaran Pembangunan maritime high school in Ciracas, East Jakarta. The difference is that Betrans regularly trains with a simulator. Betrans wants to become a ship captain with a Level I Nautical Expert certificate.

It took a long process to get the certificate. The principal of SMK Pelayaran Pembangunan, Abdul Kholik, said the school regularly carried out training with strict guidance in order to improve the competency and skills of the students. "With the guidance, working on ships (including fishing boats) will no longer need muscle power, but brain power," he said.

KOMPAS/JOHANES GALUH BIMANTARA

Betrans Ramadhani Wisanto practices driving a tanker using a simulator, Wednesday (16/9/2020), at SMK Pelayaran Pembangunan, Ciracas, East Jakarta.

Betrans knows the risks of working at sea are greater than working on land. However, he believes the chances of achieving success are greater at sea. His uncle is prosperous because he is a sailor. Meanwhile, his former teacher is the captain of a US-flagged ship with a monthly salary of about Rp 125 million per month. "I went to sea to change the fate of my family," said Betrans, who studied merchant ship nautics at the school.

Such a dream has been realized by one of the Ambon SUPM graduates, Elias Patinama (20). Since 2019, he has worked in Japan, with a monthly salary of Rp 15 million plus various benefits. Part of his salary is used to pay the school fees of his siblings, buy boats and outboard motors.

Hundreds of young people who graduated from SUPM Ambon, which was founded in 1986, have worked on foreign ships.

My father is a coastal fisherman, but I have a dream to become a world sailor.

Those applying for jobs through the school must pass a number of tests. Most importantly, they should have an engineering or nautical expert certificate and a seaman\'s book. After that, they should take an arm strength test in preparation for them to work on a fishing boat with a long line.

La Risman, who that afternoon fought the waves on the deck of the Alalunga vessel, had a similar dream. "My father is a coastal fisherman, but I have a dream to become a world sailor," he said. (RAZ)