Photo By Matthew Lyall | PACIFIC OCEAN (July 31, 2022) Royal Australian Navy Leading Seaman Marine Technician...... read more read more
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‘World travel and fixing things keeps a Marine Technician happy at work’
On a ship at sea, the last thing the crew wants to hear is the sound of alarms ringing out throughout the decks.
Leading Seaman Marine Technician – Electrical, Blake Fulton works in the Central Control Station (CCS) aboard Royal Australian Navy landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberra (L02) and is part of the team whose job it is to look after the ships monitoring systems, identify what the alarm is and how to respond to it.
“From the CCS we can see system pressures, temperatures, fuels, all liquid states and our auxiliary systems like the potable and grey water,” LS Fulton said. “Although all the screens and monitors in the CCS show us what is happening, we have people physically doing rounds checking too. We monitor the whole plant and are the first responders to any alarms and are ready to pipe and dispatch people to investigate if an alarm sounds.”
LS Fulton joined Navy in 2015 and said he joined for three reasons: to travel the world, get trade qualifications and to fix things.
As Canberra participated in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022 the world’s largest international maritime exercise, LS Fulton is certainly ticking those boxes.
“This RIMPAC was my first,” said Fulton. “Hawaii was a great place to visit. I enjoyed the snorkeling and beaches and got some hiking in. It has been a great trip.”
Continuous training and ensuring the ship and capability of the crew is maintained is par for the course of life at sea and LS Fulton has been training hard, running through worst case scenarios in the CCS and identifying how to resolve them.
“It’s been a busy time for me, I have been training and studying towards achieving my Marine Systems Controller (MSC) qualification,” said Fulton.
“It’s been hard work, lots of scenarios to run through, but worth it, thankfully I successfully completed the assessment and I’m now qualified to control the watch.
“I can now take responsibility for making sure the plant is safe and relay any information needed to the Officer of the Watch so they can maintain the command priorities.”
Leading Seaman Fulton has served in both Landing Helicopter Docks (LHD), Adelaide and Canberra and said although the ships are essentially the same there are some nuances.
“It’s good working between the two platforms as it’s an opportunity to transfer knowledge between the teams you work with on both ships.
Leading Seaman Fulton said his career highlights go right back to the reason he joined, ‘to fix things’ and said as an Marine Technician he likes having a job that contributes in a positive way to the ship and its crew.
Twenty-six nations, 38 ships, three submarines, more than 170 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 29 to Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2022 is the 28th exercise in the series that began in 1971.
(Story by Royal Australian Navy Lieutenant Nancy Cotton)
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2022 21:09 |
| Story ID: | 426465 |
| Location: | PACIFIC OCEAN |
| Web Views: | 120 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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