Challenging man-overboard drill proves ship readiness

While on deployment, HMAS Sydney’s crew completed challenging night-time man-overboard drills using their on board dummy, ‘Oscar’.

CAPTION: Able Seaman Boatswain’s Mate Luke Handley looks out from the bridge wing as HMAS Sydney takes part in a man-overboard exercise. Story by Lieutenant Tahlia Merigan. Photos by Leading Seaman Daniel Goodman.

A man-overboard exercise is a seamanship evolution where the ship’s rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) is launched into the water to recover a person.

Boat coxswain Leading Seaman Blake Chapman was in charge of the RHIB that rescued Oscar.

“When we hear the pipe of man-overboard it’s a lot of adrenaline pumping through you as we’re running up ladder bays to get up to the boat deck to launch the RHIB as soon as possible,” Leading Seaman Chapman said.

“Once you hit the water, time slows down, and you’re just looking for Oscar. Once you see him in the water you start racing to him.

“For me personally, getting to do it during the night was a new experience but I was also very nervous. If this was a real-life situation we’d want to rescue our ‘oppo’ [friend/colleague] as fast as possible.”

CAPTION: HMAS Sydney’s boat crew conducts a night-time man-overboard exercise during a regional presence deployment.

Leading Seaman Chapman achieved his RHIB coxswain endorsement during the exercise.

“It feels unreal to now have my endorsement as it’s a couple of months of hard work,” he said.

Achieving a RHIB coxswain endorsement requires extensive training, including launching and recovering the boat while underway, recognising maritime signals and operating marine radio.

Boat coxswain training also includes transferring personnel to and from the ship.

“I first did a personnel transfer in Jervis Bay and now I’ve gotten to do them on this deployment, transferring people in Hawaii, which was unreal and really fun,” Leading Seaman Chapman said.

Conducting weekly whole-of-ship training like a man-overboard exercise ensures Sydney’s crew are prepared to respond swiftly to real-world scenarios.

Sydney is conducting a regional presence deployment to enhance cooperation and relationships with regional partners and allies.

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