Collaborating, simulating barge trng.

Collaborating with simulation barge training It’s no accident that the Delgado (Fla.) Maritime & Industrial Training Center and the Florida Marine Transport are close-knit collaborators. Zero incidents, zero injuries and eliminating critical barge and equipment failures don’t happen gradually. It is the result of continual safety training that breeds awareness and confidence to anticipate a difficult situation before it happens. Capt. Shelden Detrafford, making only $25 a day in the 1960s, is paying his experience forward via simulator training. Numerous pilots earn a $1,000 a day, says Detrafford. “(I)f you can pass the qualifications, you can make a very good living.” Fifty years later, Detrafford is sharing decades of wisdom with younger captains on the Transas Navi-Trainer Professional 5000 simulator for Florida Marine Transport (FMT) at Delgado College’s Maritime and the Fire and Industrial Training facility in New Orleans. Detrafford customizes training for FMT’s brown water academy. Another instructor, Capt. James “Greg” Duncan assumed command of M/V Brian O’Daniels about four years ago with Florida Marine. Training and experience taught Duncan to be in position in the right place at the right time with a big, heavy tow. “That is half the battle.” Duncan trained in critical areas on the simulator, like Morgan City, La., that are tricky when the water is running hard; and the locks near Corpus Christi, Texas, and Dauphin Island, Ala. “There’s nothing like the real thing, but the simulator is close. You have to use your brain, think on your feet,” he continues. Duncan has experience running the Mississippi River up to St. Louis, the Tenn-Tom Waterway and the Achafalaya in Louisiana. For Duncan, training keeps his skills sharp and the best way to avoid hazardous situations on the water. Collaborating to prevent tomorrow’s accidents is a worthy goal that yields measurable improvements. (Source: Marine Link 07/03/19)