Interview Questions – Situations Flashcards
-What do your superiors think of you?
LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION,
CAPTAIN TRAINEES
My superiors see me as dependable, competent, knowledgeable, and as an asset to the company. I recently received and submitted a letter of recommendation from my Port Captain, Tori Thomas, where she commended my professionalism, communication, teamwork, dedication to safety, composure, and overall performance.
In addition, even though I am not the most senior captain in the fleet, my shoreside team will often choose to send captain trainees to ride with me. I am seen as a knowledgeable captain as well as an effective communicator.
-When have you collaborated with a coworker to solve a problem?
FAULTY FENDERING AT WILLBRIDGE
As a captain, nearly every one of the solutions to problems come through collaboration. I am constantly planning and scheduling with my Chief Engineer and shoreside support and vendors for maintenance, collaborating with the Chief Mate for cargo considerations, and scheduling vendors and supplies.
Recently, I had an issue at a dock in Portland, OR. The berth we go to is a finger pier that is at a right angle to the current. One of the pilings that is utilized as fendering had been damaged and bent at the base so that it is now sloped away from the dock as it comes up out of the water (not straight up and down like it should be). I was doing the work (conning the vessel), so I had to coordinate with the pilot on a plan to keep our bow from touching down first so that there was no chance of the offset piling causing damage to the vessel upon the initial touchdown. Then we coordinated with the deck crew and the forward tug to make sure that we were not putting too much pressure on the offset piling as we secured the vessel.
Unfortunately, as we came up on the dock, the sloped piling bent our hand rails in (the current of the river kept us pinned to the dock as the draft came up) and damaged some of the vinyl padding on the piling.
So, now I had to coordinate with my shoreside support and the dock’s manager to convey the issue that we had, and the coordinate a solution. We were considering many options including renting Yokohama fendering, deploying smaller fendering from the vessel, and even up to and including calling off our visit to the terminal. Fortunately, as part of our coordination efforts with the dock’s manager, they were able to get a full grasp of the problem at hand, and they deployed their own solution: additional fendering, rollers (to get up over the vinyl) and a plan to completely overhaul the piling by the end of 2025.
-Describe a difficult situation with a crew member at were and how were you able to overcome it?
CHIEF ENGINEER TRIES TO QUIT
I had a Chief Engineer who is of the “old school” mentality – he was a lot more aggressive with his subordinate engine department coworkers. We had just installed a new BWTS onboard and he was struggling to operate it properly, so he was frustrated. To make matters worse, we had a bunker barge scheduled to come alongside that night for bunkers and lube oil close to midnight, so I’m sure he was tired. At some point, he snapped at an Assistant Engineer, who asked him to not talk like that to him. At this point he called me threatening to quit, saying that the malfunctioning BWMS was too much for him and that he can’t work for a company that lets his subordinates tell him what to do. I went down to talk with him. The first thing I did was tell both himself and the assistant engineer to focus on only communication that was productive to the task at hand. Then I took I acknowledged that the new system is difficult to master at first (I had the first ever BWMS install when I was Chief Mate), and acknowledged that the task of bunkering the tug after working so hard on other issues. We went through the CargoMax stability calculator and it showed that we could safely take on bunkers with the minimal ballast we had onboard, so he could focus on making sure the BWTS ran correctly tomorrow after he got some sleep. I also reminded him that the days of being about to unjustifiable berate a subordinate are over. Everyone deserves respect. Lastly, I asked him to focus on the task at hand: bunkering the barge safely. He agreed. It was clear that he just needed some time to refocus and to be acknowledged for the hard work he had done that day (despite the fact that he felt he was failing).
After talking the Chief down from the ledge, I took the Assistant Engineer aside. I acknowledged his concerns about being needlessly disrespected and assured him that I had discussed the issue with the Chief. Then I told the Assistant, who had just come on watch at midnight, about the difficult day that the Chief had had that day, and asked him to do what he could to avoid further conflict. I again asked him to try to communicate in a way that was productive and positive. I asked him to focus on safely getting through the bunkering / lube oil evolution.
The bunkering was handled successfully.
-Tell me about a difficult situation you overcame by using teamwork to solve a problem.
BAHAMAS LIGHT TUG
I was in the Bahamas about to take the tug out for a sea trial. The tug is backed in the corner alongside the dock behind the barge and just off of the slope of the rocky shoreline. There was only one way to go, which was sideways, which can be hard to do without an assist tug. So I made sure to have a very in-depth discussion with my crew who also was not too familiar with utilizing lines in this way. We would be pushing forward on the forward breast to kick the stern out and then I would back us out and twin screw us in position to move forward. I talk to them and make very detail plans on when to let go lines and to be clear of the lines under tension, but the mate on watch did not discuss plans with the dock crew and they let all the lines go simultaneously. To this day, the crew still jokes about how calm I was on the radio when the rest of the crew, including the local pilot, were yelling about the lines being dropped. All I said on the radio was, “Welp! Sugar Honey Iced-Tea, here we go!” I was able to utilize the wind and the got enough room to maneuver clear. Afterwards I had a good discussion with the mate on watch about proper communication with all parties involved in the operation.
-A time you failed and what lessons did you learn to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.
HIT THE DOCK IN PORT CANAVERAL
When I was a Chief Mate, I was on the bow of the ATB as we entered a new port (Port Canaveral). I had a captain that was notorious for being a bad communicator. We thought he was going to turn to port to back into the basis, but he had decided to do a 270° right-hand turn that would go into the basin to set the vessel up to be off the dock to go stbd-side to. He did not discuss this with anyone from the crew, only with the pilot. When we started turning to stbd instead of the port turn that I had in my mental model, I went up to the bow and started calling distances. He had started the turn too late and at too high a speed, so by the time I called my first distance we were 75’ off of the dock. He asked the conventional tug out to a 90, but they were only able to push for a few seconds before they had to move to also avoid the dock. We allided with the dock, but luckily the anchor struck a fixed fender pad that was that was constructed from solid rubber, so the damage was minimized to a cracked 10k lb. anchor and a slightly crumpled hawsepipe cone.
I know that this may not seem to be my failure, but I had gone to the bridge before the evolution to get a cargo plan signature from the captain, and had even talked to the pilot for a bit. I missed the opportunity to ask to be sure that I knew the docking plan. If I had known, I could have been on the lookout earlier to ensure our speed and location matched the circumstances for the planned maneuver.
Since then I have made an effort to discuss the upcoming maneuver with the crew (I did this both as chief mate and now as captain). I am positive that my opening a line of communication helped numerous times. I can recall specifically a time in the port of Houston when my early communication about the location of an outer dolphin helped to change the plan of the captain and pilot. They backed up and started again before we got too involved. I have run into the pilot again and discussed the maneuver so I could learn everything from that scenario.
-When have you collaborated with a pilot to solve a problem? How did the pilot perceive your input?
PACE - LEWIS & CLARK BRIDGE
I encourage the use of graded assertiveness (also known as the PACE approach) when dealing with pilots. I make sure my crew is well-versed in this technique.
P – Probe (asking a question).
A – Alert (point out the danger).
C – Challenge (use an if/then statement to show what will happen without action).
E – Escalate/Emergency (take the con).
Recently we were approaching an anchorage in the Columbia River. As we were slowing down to prepare to receive an assist tug, we were approaching the Lewis and Clark Bridge. The pilot suddenly got distracted (realized he had not called for a ride). He turned away from the helm to get something from his bag and had left the rudder at 10˚ right. We were starting to turn towards the Oregon bank and were not lining up well for taking the bridge. So, I Probed him once: “did you mean to leave the rudder at 10˚ right?” He said no, put the rudder amidship, and then went back to his distraction. So, I Probed him again: “Which span of the bridge are you planning on taking?” He replied the center span, even though we were currently heading towards the southern span (on the Oregon side). Then Alerted him: “we are currently heading towards the southern span”. At this point he stopped what he was doing and settled back into focusing on the helm, bringing us safely around and through the center span of the bridge before taking the tug. I was prepared to Challenge him (“If we don’t come left soon we will go through the wrong span or possibly hit the bridge support”) and/or to Escalate the situation by taking the con (I was already standing in a position to take control of the helm).
The pilot reacted gracefully and thanked me. I then thanked him for making me feel useful (we still had a job to do together, so I wanted to keep our relationship open and friendly).
There are a few docks in the Pacific Northwest in the Strait of Georgia that are vulnerable to high wind waves from the NW due to the long fetch of the Strait. Whenever and ATB is at a dock it sets its pins so that the draft of the barge can change freely. Then, wherever we leave the dock, we need to set the pins into the notch so we can be securely connected to the barge for sea. With the high wind waves, it becomes incredibly difficult to do so. When a pilot comes onboard, we are usually already pinned in. This time, we could not pin in, but we needed to come off the dock. I discussed the options with the pilot, called other vessels in our fleet to see what the weather conditions were like in other nearby parts of the sound, and then made a decision. We decided to keep the tugs to help us stay put in the lee of a nearby island in order to pin in. If we were not successful, we would proceed into a very well protected bay (near Anacortes) to conduct the operation (it is out of the way and involves two narrow transits, so we were using this as a last resort option).
So we proceeded cautiously (not making any large course changes) and diverted towards Bellingham Channel (a safe but less-travelled route) to the lee side of Vendovi Island where we were able to successfully pin in. The pilot coordinated with the tugs while I did the work of pinning in. The pilot was open and amicable to the operation once it the full scope of the problem and the solution was conveyed to him and welcomed my input, as I was the expert on pinning in the vessel.
-Do you have your pilotage? What are you doing to get it?
YES
Yes. I completed the testing 3 days before my second child’s due date. In this story, my wife is real hero: she had a 2 year old at home and was 9 months pregnant while I was playing with colored pencils.
-Explain a situation where you were in [competition with you], how did you deal with it?
CIULLA - HELPED HIM WITH PTC
I am currently in competition with my friend Pat Ciulla for this pilotage position. We have been collaborative and friendly throughout the process. I helped him get his pilotage, and he and I talked about the application process and the best way to present ourselves through the application.
-Tell me of a time when you exercised good leadership in your career during a crisis or challenge on your vessel.
NYWT PIER 16
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BAHAMAS LIGHT TUG
When I was a captain for the New York Water Taxi, we hardly ever needed to tie the vessel to anything but the home dock because it was a front loading, twin-screw ferry, but I was given the honor and the role of taking the prince and princess of the Netherlands (Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxim – now King and Queen) on tour through the waters south of New Amsterdam (a.k.a. New York) and to Governors Island. We had a breast line designed and spliced to a loop to act as a breast line alongside the dock at Pier 16, which would be abeam to the current. We got our forward spring up, but the crew dropped the special breast line between the boat and the dock. I immediately yelled for the boat hook (said it clearly and loudly three times), and then assessed the situation. I knew that since we had a fwd spring up, I could keep us from drifting down into Pier 17 (a shopping mall), but I knew I would need to periodically use the outboard engine to avoid getting the loose line wrapped up.
I was calm, concise with my instructions, and we succeeded as a team.
Afterwards, I had a post-operational discussion both of them to make sure they understood the concepts of what we are trying to accomplish and it’s important to be ready for a failure.
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I was in the Bahamas about to take the tug out for a sea trial. The tug is backed in the corner alongside the dock behind the barge and just off of the slope of the rocky shoreline. There was only one way to go, which was sideways, which can be hard to do without an assist tug. So I made sure to have a very in-depth discussion with my crew who also was not too familiar with utilizing lines in this way. We would be pushing forward on the forward breast to kick the stern out and then I would back us out and twin screw us in position to move forward. I talk to them and make very detail plans on when to let go lines and to be clear of the lines under tension, but the mate on watch did not discuss plans with the dock crew and they let all the lines go simultaneously. To this day, the crew still jokes about how calm I was on the radio when the rest of the crew, including the local pilot, were yelling about the lines being dropped. All I said on the radio was, “Welp! Sugar Honey Iced-Tea, here we go!” I was able to utilize the wind and the got enough room to maneuver clear. Afterwards I had a good discussion with the mate on watch about proper communication with all parties involved in the operation.
-Now tell me of a time when you had less than good or poor leadership in a challenge and how you would do things differently if given the chance.
NEW UTILITY - STERN LINES
When I was 3rd Mate, I had a Utility (Ordinary Seaman – entry level deck position) who had just moved out of the galley as a cook. He was having a hard time keeping up with the speed of the mooring winches as we were bringing the lines in. These were for the stern lines and we have a 3-person crew, I was at the rail directing, the tankerman was running the winch, so he needed to be able to shift between two different lines to make sure they both were being properly stored on the storage drum. I had to slow down the winches and in the moment I said to him, “we need to figure out a way to get you to be able to handle these lines at full speed.” He took offense to that and blew up, blaming everyone but himself.
If I could do the situation differently, I would have slowed down the lines earlier to make sure everyone was comfortable so we could be sure to do the job safely. In the end, the speed of the operation is not as important as the job getting done in a way that is safe and comfortable for everyone. I also would have waited until after the job was done and until we were not in front of other crewmembers to talk with him about how we could work together to make sure he was comfortable and capable of handling the lines to get them on the drum safely as they were operating at full speed.
I know that this would have worked better because a few days later, after he had calmed down about the situation, I apologized to him, talked with him about my concerns, and worked with him on a method to get the lines on in a safe and efficient manner. He now leads the lines slightly differently around the fairleads and does a good job of shifting more periodically between the two lines.
-Tell me of a situation where teamwork was required to prevent a problem on your vessel.
ANCHOR BUOY
Teamwork is an everyday occurrence on my vessel. We perform all of the operations of a tanker but with half the crew, so teamwork is absolutely essential to our operation.
That being said, there is one operation that we have started doing recently that requires the effort and input from all departments of the vessel, as well as from an assist tug and a pilot.
When we anchor in the Columbia river, we need to use an anchor buoy so that our stern doesn’t swing into the channel if there is high wind. After we drop the anchor we use the assistance of a tug or line boat to take our morning lines to the hook that is on an anchor buoy that is astern of where the vessel is anchored. Because of the unique configuration of the ATBs we need to utilize the long mooring lines and powerful mooring winches that are on the barge, but they need to be led from the centerline of the unit, which is the back deck of the tug.
So to start, the two mooring lines need to be faked out on deck properly (long leads with even lengths). Then we need to transfer the lines and chaffing gear from the quarter chock on the barge to the quarter chock on the tug. and then under the centerline aft towing bit on the back deck of the tug. We then had the line to the line boat from the back deck of the tug. It ends up looking like a wing wire that is then run centerlead aft to the mooring buoy.
After that, the deck crew on the barge have to coordinate with the engine crew on the tug as the lines are brought in, since they engineers are deploying chaffing gear that needs to be set in place as the line becomes tight.
I take a huge role in this operation from the bridge since there is no easy line of sight for these two groups. I am also communicating and coordinating with the pilot, who is operating the vessel’s engines in order to keep us in position and communicating with the line boat via VHF radio.
So, for this operation to be successful, we need to have proper preparation, a proper understating of how the operation will play out, and all teams need to coordinate together to do their part. The whole while I am overseeing each of the three groups from the bridge wing to make sure everything is happening together in a way that is safe and effective. It takes a LOT of coordination and, above all, teamwork.
-Give me two examples of when your actions were needed to improve the safety of a potential incident aboard your vessel.
BEAUMONT LINES
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FAULTY FENDERING AT WILLBRIDGE
When we were at a dock in Beaumont, TX the vessel ahead of us secured their stern lines across and underneath our headlines (the work was done by a line boat). The problem was that as we loaded and as the other vessel discharged, our lines were coming in contact with each other. As they tightened their lines or as we tightened ours, we could affect the position of the other vessel. Plus, the problem was only going to get worse as our cargo operations continued. The crew brought this to my attention after the dock stated that there was nothing that they could do. I walked down to the dock with my Chief Mate to inspect the situation. We called two dock personnel over as well.
We collaborated, and decided to go with my idea that the safest way to do the job was to get a line boat to stand by, stop cargo operations on both vessels, release our headline one at a time (always having one tight), run our headline under their stern lines to the same bollard it started from, make it tight, and then repeat with the other headline. That way, we could always stay safely alongside and minimize vessel movements.
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As a captain, nearly every one of the solutions to problems come through collaboration. I am constantly planning and scheduling with my Chief Engineer and shoreside support and vendors for maintenance, collaborating with the Chief Mate for cargo considerations, and scheduling vendors and supplies.
Recently, I had an issue at a dock in Portland, OR. The berth we go to is a finger pier that is at a right angle to the current. One of the pilings that is utilized as fendering had been damaged and bent at the base so that it is now sloped away from the dock as it comes up out of the water (not straight up and down like it should be). I was doing the work (conning the vessel), so I had to coordinate with the pilot on a plan to keep our bow from touching down first so that there was no chance of the offset piling causing damage to the vessel upon the initial touchdown. Then we coordinated with the deck crew and the forward tug to make sure that we were not putting too much pressure on the offset piling as we secured the vessel.
Unfortunately, as we came up on the dock, the sloped piling bent our hand rails in (the current of the river kept us pinned to the dock as the draft came up) and damaged some of the vinyl padding on the piling.
So, now I had to coordinate with my shoreside support and the dock’s manager to convey the issue that we had, and the coordinate a solution. We were considering many options including renting Yokohama fendering, deploying smaller fendering from the vessel, and even up to and including calling off our visit to the terminal. Fortunately, as part of our coordination efforts with the dock’s manager, they were able to get a full grasp of the problem at hand, and they deployed their own solution: additional fendering, rollers (to get up over the vinyl) and a plan to completely overhaul the piling by the end of 2025.
-Tell us about how you managed a serious personnel challenge on your vessel.
2ND MATE SHIRKS RESPONSIBILITY
> When you had an under-achieving second mate. How you acknowledged his concerns about a temporary patch that was done on a fuel transfer line, and then explained the risk mitigation techniques employed, had him fill out a JSA (Job Safety Analysis), and ensured that the steps in the JSA were completed as the fuel transfer took place.
-SECOND MATE TRIES TO SHIRK RESPONSIBILITY WITH A BS SAFETY CLAIM.
-Directed 2M to be in charge of barge refueling operation.
-Refused based on temporary patch on fuel transfer line.
-This was a known issue. Fueling had already been approved by the office.
-You explained risk mitigation techniques. Fill out a JSA.
-He still refused.
-You got the office involved, presented them with your write-up of his performance over the years.
-Their disciplinary action was an official letter in his file and to move him to a different vessel (my request).
-Fueling happened, utilizing a JSA, without any issues.
-Describe how a more diverse crew would have improved the safety of the job aboard your vessel.
WORK-HISTORY DIVERSITY TOO
To understand this question and its answer, it is important to frame diversity as a concept that encompasses more than the inclusion of under-represented populations. It can also be a diversity of work history, of culture, or even generational diversity as well. All diversity benefits an organization.
This is because a diverse workgroup has been shown to resist the cognitive bias known as groupthink.
Groupthink occurs when a group of people prioritize agreement over critical thinking and sound decision-making. It’s very easy to do; as humans we are pre-disposed to want to be a part of the in-group. But that can come at the cost of error-trapping, which is the process of identifying and fixing an error in a system of operations and responding to it.
As an example, when I get a new crew member onboard, it is easy to dismiss their ideas since they lack the hard-earned experience that the existing crew has. But I encourage them to speak up if they see something that can be improved and I tell the crew to listen to their perspective. We have enacted some good changes because of this.
It is also important to mention that a diverse group brings the benefit of cultural understanding.
I have lived in multiple countries and have grown to understand that you can’t expect people from different countries to react the same way that Americans do in certain situations. I have found Americans to be very individualistic and are often more comfortable sharing a difference of opinion, while people from other countries may not be as ready to disagree.
So, I believe that cultural diversity can help an organization communicate better because of the greater base of cultural knowledge it provides.
As an example, when I lived in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher, one of the Japanese teachers pointed out that her country was about to transition to a hybrid trail-by-peer judicial system for serious crimes. Historically, 3 professional judges would decide the outcomes of all trials, but now 6 peers would also decide the fate of the accused. She didn’t think that a full jury of peers would work, basically because she knew of her countrymen’s propensity for group-think. So she was happy that the new system incorporated the opinion of professional judges into the process.
-What would you do if you came on the bridge of a ship and you could smell alcohol on the captain and could tell he was impaired?
CANARY ISLANDS - DIVERT, ALERT, RELIEVE
I recently read a story about this happening to a pilot in the Canary Islands on an arriving containership. It appears the pilot was onboard, but the captain had the con for the docking maneuver, which was erratic.
In Los Angeles, most of the time the pilot would have the con.
As a pilot, I would divert the ship to anchor, if possible. [I perhaps could say that I don’t feel comfortable piloting the vessel into the port, and would bring it to anchor to await another pilot (this would be a ruse to facilitate cooperation for anchoring).]
I would also ask the Chief Officer to come to the bridge immediately and then request for him to relieve the Master.
When feasible, I would make notifications to the USCG as appropriate.
