JaCal on course to be Bermuda's youngest branch pilot

Sixteen years later and he has already visited more countries than most of us will see in a lifetime —Senegal, Guinea, Oman, Saudi Arabia, China and Korea, to name but a few.

Now the young sailor is preparing for his next maritime adventure on board the SFL Europa as she chugs up and down the West coast of Africa.

Mr. Washington has been offered a berth on the container ship owned by Frontline — one of the biggest shipping companies in the world — as part of his training to become a pilot.

Frontline is the latest firm to offer Bermudian sailors apprenticeships on board their vessels and is keen to see more young seamen like him take advantage of the scheme, which has been running for 10 years.

Studying

In the last few years, Mr. Washington has spent time aboard a container ship serving the Middle East, a chemical tanker operating in the Far East and the Oleander on her weekly trip across the Atlantic.

At the same time he has been studying for his Officer of the Watch Licence in Warsash Maritime College near Southampton, England.

He flies to Portugal on October 11 to join the crew of the SFL Europa as they sail to ports including Angola and Rwanda.

Mr. Washington will remain on the ship until January, when he returns to Warsash to complete his studies, due to end in June.

He looks destined to become Bermuda’s youngest branch pilot.

He said: “This is what I always wanted to do.

“I was in the Sea Cadets as a child and I just loved being out at sea. I have done my time building up my experience and my training on board ships while studying in Warsash. This latest opportunity is a great chance to add to that.

“I have always wanted to come back to Bermuda and be a branch pilot — I don’t mind getting up at 5am because I never have two days that are the same.

Dreams

“If everything goes well for me I will be able to fulfill those dreams very soon.”

Georgina Sousa from Frontline added: “We are doing this because we want to be able to give something back to the island.

“Bermuda has been very good to Frontline. We hope JaCal enjoys his time on the ship and look forward to offering the same opportunity to other cadets.”

Elsewhere in the shipping world, last weekend was a busy one for the pilot boat crews.

On Saturday at 7pm they helped bring in an injured chief officer from the Marida Mistletoe, which called in at Five Fathom Hole on its way from Rotterdam to Texas.

On Sunday the pilot boat took a technician off the Forest Hill ballast carrier after he had completed his repair work on the ship.

The vessel continued on its way to Pascagoula in the U.S. with its cargo of newsprint.

This week sees the last visit of 2010 for the Veendam but she will be back again at the beginning of next summer.

Dock

She arrived in Hamilton yesterday and is due to depart on Friday at about 2pm.

The Somers Isles heads back to Fernandina Beach today after arriving in the capital yesterday, while the Bermuda Islander is scheduled to dock at Hamilton tomorrow morning.