Since my last post this week has been rather eventful... On Thursday we had a fire drill to check that everything runs smoothly in the event of an emergency. The heat sensors in the main engine room were set off and a 911 call was received. It was very exciting. The "crew alert" alarm was sounded and this sent the fire teams to their muster stations. The fire teams get kitted out in professional fire fighting apparel, with oxygen tanks and reflective clothing. They headed down to the main engine room to contain the "blaze". The emergency medical teams were also mustered and shortly afterwards the general alarm was set off to evacuate the ship. People headed out onto the dock. We were responsible to ensure that everyone was accounted for. Several minutes later the Captain paged again saying "The fire in the main engine room is now out of control. All emergency teams fall back to primary positions. This is a drill". We then had to account for all the fire teams as well. It was very interesting to see how things would occur if a real life situation were to present itself.
On Friday we had lifeboat training and it was pretty interesting to see how quickly the boats are put in the water and taken up again. We also had the vice-president of Liberia, as well as other dignatories, visit the ship. The vice-president came in a heavily guarded UNMIL escort. UNMIL is the United Nations Mission In Liberia.
Yesterday evening we had a costume party. Many crew members dressed up. I was dressed up as Jack Bauer - although I was undercover as one "Murray Crawford". Also present were the Backstreet Boys, Peter Pan, the Queen of Hearts, Michael Jordan, Captain Jack Sparrow, and others. It was a very fun evening. Above is Jack Bauer and one of the members of the Backstreet Boys. That's all for now. More news coming soon.
