“I noticed the word ‘captain’ by the telephone numbers and that intrigued me – how did they get that title?”
Background:
Farhan Fadillah graduated from cohort 6 of the TNTA programme and he is now a 3rd officer working with Grindrod Shipping Pte Ltd.
Reason for joining the maritime industry:
Farhan had stumbled upon seafaring by chance. When he was helping his brother-in-law at his ship servicing company, he was intrigued by the ‘Captain’ title. Later on, he found out that there is a special course he could take to eventually get that title. His best friend’s father, who was a captain, was the one who eventually introduced him to TNTA. He decided that this could be the path to an interesting career.
Influence of TNTA on his life:
Farhan liked that the TNTA curriculum provided many hands-on which enable him to work with confidence when on board.
Aspiration:
Farhan has his vision set and aims to be a Ship Captain one day.
Memorable times on board the ship:
Farhan will never forget the time when he was part of the crew to sail a brand new ship on her maiden voyage directly from the shipyard in Japan to the USA.
Challenges faced onboard the ship:
Risk-taking does happen quite often onboard a ship. Farhan was once caught in a situation when the ship in front suddenly had engine failure. He was enthralled by his captain’s good judgement and the split-second decision to avoid a collision.
Misconceptions of sailing:
People often think that seafarers always have fun whenever they reach a port. Farhan shared that this is not true as there are a lot of restrictions and most of the time he could not go to the ports.
Learning Points:
Being onboard a ship has enabled Farhan to further improve his maritime knowledge. It also taught him how to build and boost friendships with people of different languages and cultures.
