“Normally the day starts with troubleshooting,” said Captain Edward Perrin, vice president of marine operations at Virgin Voyages, who was monitoring potential protestors trying to disrupt cruise traffic in Amsterdam on a Tuesday morning in August.
Overseeing the marine department, Perrin manages nautical matters, safety, security, environmental, policies and procedures and maritime compliance.
“Every day is something completely different,” said Perrin, who joined Virgin eight years ago.
Heart
“We refer to the operational field as smooth operations; we want the ships to run smoothly, and centered at the heart of that is safety, security and the environment. If we can’t get those things right none of the rest follows,” said Perrin.
While Virgin’s newest two ships, the Resilient Lady and Brilliant Lady, are fitted with shore power plugs, the Scarlet Lady and Valiant Lady are slated for retrofits.
“We are retrofitting the Valiant Lady now. We just put in a new shell door to take the high-voltage shore connection,” Perrin said, noting that over time, itinerary planning will change routes to make use of connections where available.
“There is a lot going on with the technical and sustainability teams. We are working heavily on different fuel types,” Perrin continued.
Training
Virgin trains its deck and engine teams in the UK, where it has a simulator. Most crew head there about once a year for a week.
“We have an advantage with our training in that we have four identical sister ships, and it’s quite a bit easier to train that way. We are small enough that everyone knows everyone,” Perrin said.
Among the challenges is maintaining continuity and finding the next set of shipboard leaders, said Perrin.
“The current leaders are working harder to get junior officers to the level of experience they need to have, and that is something we are pushing,” Perrin continued.
New initiatives include a big investment in a cadet training program, where Virgin is putting deck, engine and electrical cadets through college in their respective countries.
Perrin said the company was working hard to get an even spread of nationalities aboard.
Captains and senior officers on Virgin have a slightly different role, as they are kept out of the public eye. Beyond an initial announcement, the public address system is only used for emergencies. The captain, unlike other cruise brands, is not front and center. There is no cocktail party, and the captain is not marrying guests either.
“We want to pull back from announcements,” Perrin said. “If sailors have questions, they can use the app or ask the crew. We want our captains to concentrate on the core function of running the ship safely. This is where they should be spending their energy.”
Strong Leaders
What it comes down to, according to Perrin, is having strong leaders.
“You need to have strong leaders you can trust implicitly and the best communications. We do things differently and there is no line of demarcation between ship and shore.
“All decisions are made through a partnership between the two,” he continued.
Every two weeks the company has a smooth operations forum meeting, including executives from the shoreside team as well as captains, chief engineers and other senior shipboard staff that join by video.
“We share learnings, near misses and bring up problems. The shoreside team tells the ships what they are working on and we get feedback … It’s a very tight-knit and close group.”
Excerpt from the Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine Fall 2024
