Ruud Ship Driver

[Ruud Van Driver]

Here's young Ruud in his element on Wednesday, at the sticks on a huge platform supply boat. Very happy memories of a previous lifetime

[nick c]

Looking great Paul thanks for sharing

[meganfox17]

It's an Awesome photo Mr Paul.You look like the stunt double for Bruce Willis

[GB-man]

Cool! Is that the D blue? Looks great on ya

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Cool! Is that the D blue? Looks great on ya

Looks to be

[carwash66]

That's some serious responsibility, handled with smile. Nice picture.

[wrist_watcher]

Awesome!

[Ruud Van Driver]

Originally Posted by nick c

Looking great Paul thanks for sharing

Nice one, mate

Originally Posted by meganfox17

It's an Awesome photo Mr Paul.You look like the stunt double for Bruce Willis

Thank you, Meg. I've been told Vin Diesel before now

Believe it or not, I didn't know the photograph was being taken.

Originally Posted by GB-man

Cool! Is that the D blue? Looks great on ya

Yep, my D-Blue. Thank you

Originally Posted by carwash66

That's some serious responsibility, handled with smile. Nice picture.

I haven't sat in THAT chair since I came ashore 16 years ago


Our company run a course around every three months aimed at young maritime lawyers and insurance claims handlers. We organise some interesting activities over two days to give them more of an insight into what ships actually do; how ports and vessel traffic services operate; cargo issues and other general shipping topics. We also take them out and get them fed and drunk on the first night, too

Whilst Death By PowerPoint is a necessary evil, we managed a half day on a ship (I called in a favour at my old employers - no names, no pack drill but best ship owner ever); a few hours in the simulators at the same ship owner's training centre; a half day at Singapore Marine Port Authority to witness VTS ops first hand. A great couple of days that went down very well. The delegates learned quite a lot, which will really make a difference in handling future cases.

[SemperFi]

Looks like you're totally in control and having a blast Paul. Good on you.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by Ruud Van Driver

Here's young Ruud in his element on Wednesday, at the sticks on a huge platform supply boat. Very happy memories of a previous lifetime

Nice.

Can't be that long ago. Isn't that a dssd deep blue?

[Rockrolex]

Paul, no wonder you and Tim have such an affinity!

[RichM]

Great shot Paul. Thanks for sharing.

[Ruud Van Driver]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

Nice.

Can't be that long ago. Isn't that a dssd deep blue?

It was two days ago, Chewy. That was my first time at the sticks since coming ashore 16 years ago, hence the comment about the happy memories of a previous lifetime

Originally Posted by Rockrolex

Paul, no wonder you and Tim have such an affinity!

He's my evil twin, Ed. We go shopping together for shoes and razors

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by Ruud Van Driver

It was two days ago, Chewy. That was my first time at the sticks since coming ashore 16 years ago, hence the comment about the happy memories of a previous lifetime



He's my evil twin, Ed. We go shopping together for shoes and razors

Got it. Nice work. I'm getting drunk by the way,

[Ruud Van Driver]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

Got it. Nice work. I'm getting drunk by the way,

I'm two hours into my working day Enjoy

[AJM914]

Great pic! So many controls

[Muzz]

That is amazing Paul!! You look right at home!!

[jw0n]

Can't have been too long ago! Looking good, Ruud... orange is definitely your colour

[Rock]

Paul, for a moment I thought it was the bridge of the Starship Enterprise and Captain Kirk had embraced 'Krishna Consciousness'.

[Ruud Van Driver]

Originally Posted by Rock

Paul, for a moment I thought it was the bridge of the Starship Enterprise and Captain Kirk had embraced 'Krishna Consciousness'.

That's the way these new supply boats and anchor handlers are going, mate. See those grey ball things in my hands? They're joysticks to control the azipods, which are shrouded propellers that rotate through 360° to provide directional thrust (a lot of new cruise ships are going this way too, have been for a few years now). No conventional rudders and propellers on this girl! The two levers just behind my left hand are the bow thrusters. She's also fitted with a full dynamic positioning system for station keeping alongside rigs.

A lot has changed since I left the payroll of these guys. Back then it was two independently controlled rudders, two controllable pitch propellers and a single bow thruster

[ejvette]

Wow looks like an amazing experience

[OmegaJJH]

What's that saying? The only difference between boys and men are the toys get more expensive!

You look like a happy chappy there

Hope you had a great day!

[1William]

Looks like you are having fun. Thanks for sharing.

[cop414]

Looking good Paul!

[AK797]

Looks like fun and the D-blue looks great there!

[Canefan1]

Super Cool.

[MonBK]

Happy camper.

[brandrea]

Awesome shot Paul, (perfect watch for it too btw)

Could you still pilot one of those vessels?

[Cru Jones]

Must be interesting to control a large vessel with what seems like delicate instruments and movements. Thanks for the photo, even if the orange has you looking like an inmate! ;-)

[axjimenez]

Awesome! This is really cool, thanks for sharing