The Nautical Institute launches Admiralty Manual of Seamanship
Posted on Wednesday, November 04 @ 06:04:21 CST by Editors
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Book launch: The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship
Speech by Captain James A Robinson DSM FNI NS
Senior Vice-President, The Nautical Institute
It is my pleasure on behalf of The Nautical Institute to welcome you to this book launch. I am delighted that naval colleagues and colleagues from merchant shipping are represented here today.
The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship is at once a source of reference, a teaching guide and a practical manual for use at sea: it is therefore appropriate that representatives from the regulatory authorities, universities, colleges and training establishments are also present.
Seamanship has developed from the experience of mariners going back thousands of years. The debate as to whether it is an art or a science will probably never be concluded but its fascination remains undiminished no matter how we categorise it. Today we launch the definitive work on the subject.
Many changes have taken place at sea since the previous edition was published in 1995. For my part having recently retired after 42 years as a professional mariner I can testify to those changes. Indeed so great have been the changes in more recent years that it is becoming painfully obvious that my generation was trained on methods that were closer to Captain Cook than to the seamanship as practiced today. It has been a huge task to re-write the Admiralty Manual without losing vital elements of enduring good practice from the previous editions while adding the latest concepts, skills and techniques.
To Vic Vance, the Royal Navy author responsible for this new edition, I am privileged to commend you personally for this comprehensive work. Actually, I cannot think of anything more difficult than to take such a well-known book, modernise it so thoroughly, and make it relevant to today’s needs. All mariners will benefit from your insight and approach which has kept practical considerations at the forefront.
At 700 pages, plus a CD, this is not a small book and writing it has clearly been a major undertaking. Please accept our warmest congratulations for a book which I am sure will become a standard work in the maritime world.
The Admiralty Manuals have become recognised throughout the world as the leading authority on seamanship, navigation, firefighting and survival, to mention but a few. The new November 2009 edition of The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship has a pedigree – the first was published in 1908 and this is the 10th edition. Each edition catered for the needs of its own time and was built upon the wisdom of its predecessors.
It is no exaggeration to say that in the past the high standards of seamanship in the Royal Navy have ensured military and commercial successes internationally and ensured that ships have sailed safely for centuries. These same skills and standards have been emulated in navies throughout the world.
Tradition is important to every navy, but the 2009 edition of the Manual of Seamanship is rooted firmly in the 21st century and caters for modern conditions at sea. It is fully updated and now includes additional information previously covered in The Admiralty Submarine Seamanship Manual and The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Seamanship Manual.
The fundamental principles of good seamanship are unchanging and these sound principles underpin every facet of The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship.
Seafarers are faced with the changing demands of technology, regulation, commercial pressure, reduced training and reduced sea time. These pressures place challenges on the practice of seamanship.
We, in the Nautical Institute, know from our own experiences, from feedback from our members and from contact with other maritime organisations that there is concern about the teaching of seamanship as it comes under pressure from other subjects on the curricula of training colleges.
As crews on merchant vessels get smaller, crewmembers who haven’t had seamanship training are called upon to undertake operations such as mooring. Inexperienced people can cause accidents or be injured during unfamiliar operations. We urge all vessel operators to ensure that basic training in seamanship is undertaken by all who might be called on to carry out such tasks. This manual will be a valuable resource in this instance.
The new edition covers up-to-date seamanship knowledge and techniques, relevant to all ships from the smallest warships to the largest merchant vessels.
When you have a look at your review copies you will see how this revised edition is thoughtfully subdivided into subject areas within Chapters. The information is presented simply and with the utmost clarity. The hundreds of colour illustrations, often shown in sequences, take the reader through operational tasks step-by step, so that the procedures may be clearly understood and easily committed to memory.
This book is intended to be used to organise and solve operational seamanship problems of all sorts. It is a combination of the underlying principles of good seamanship and the techniques for using modern equipment. It is a manual in the true sense of the word and is an ideal big companion to the Naval Handbooks for Survivors and Sailmaking, also published by The Nautical Institute.
As Senior Vice-President of The Nautical Institute, which has been awarded the contract to publish the Admiralty Manuals, it gives me particular pleasure to announce that the tenth edition of The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship is officially launched.
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