media

Captain Vladimir Neznanov:Front Champion
Career: 10 years as Captain, 8 with ITM Went to sea: 1981 Hometown: Novorossyisk, Russia Married: Elena Family: Two grown-up sons Hobbies: "I love to go fishing in the Azov Sea. I go very often. And I also love to go swimming off the Black Sea coast - it's great exercise."
Life at sea is a powerful lure to many men for many reasons. For some, the sea offers adventure, for others, fortune. And for a few men, freedom. Captain Vladimir Neznanov is one of those men. "Before the Soviet Union broke down into the Russian Federation and the other nations, it was difficult to leave. But working at sea was a way out - to visit and see other countries. I wanted to see Germany. I wanted to see Italy," he says.
And he has. Those and many other places. For the last ten years he has commanded tankers, like the Front Champion, to the exotic places of the world. From the desert heat of the Middle East, through the fierce winds off the Cape of Good Hope, across the rolling seas of the Atlantic and up into Europe's frozen winter.
"To me, there is a sense of tradition in being a Captain. He stays through the snow, the wind, the swells, the heat," here, he pauses, plants his hands firmly on the bridge and leans forward. "The Captain stays. I feel a sense of history with the Russian seafaring tradition," he says.
A strange journey It's been a long and, compared to the experiences of seafarers from many other nations, a strange journey to become Captain. Neznanov first went to sea back in 1981. They were tough times. The Cold War was becoming intense owing to the election to the US Presidency of Ronald Reagan, who vowed to confront the Soviets. And, in Afghanistan, the occupying Soviets were fighting a guerilla war against insurgents.
Even for someone as far removed from global politics, like Neznanov, who was then a very junior officer in the Soviet fleet, the Cold War touched all. "I went quickly through the ranks owing to the political situation in my country at that time.!" he laughs. "I am an old man and I remember many old things," he chuckles.
Promotion was then done in a way that would be regarded as unorthodox now. The Captain of the vessel basically asked the crew who should be promoted. Simple as that. Neznanov is keenly aware of the changes in responsibility from rank to rank.
"When I was a young officer, I did my job, sent my papers to the Captain and went to bed. Stepping up from junior officer to the next officer is just a step up. But stepping up to Captain is a big difference. Now I feel the responsibility for all the crew, the entire vessel and every situation can be dangerous - anchorage can be dangerous, cargo operations are dangerous and discharge of cargo is dangerous and all the time the crew are busy," he explains.
Maintenance and planning for safety The key to managing danger is daily and weekly maintenance together with pre-planning. That and installing a safety culture in everything that the crew think, say and do. Open meetings are held weekly with the crew in which anyone can discuss safety freely. The message of 'safety-first' is driven home at each meeting and during different health and safety campaigns run for two months, every two months. Safety notes and messages are everywhere on the Front Champion: in the passageways, on the deck and in the Captain's office where an electronic pad boldly displays that the Front Champion has been without an injury for 2,347 days. That's some record, considering the major challenges involved just in getting men and stores off a workboat operating in three metre high seas and then up twenty metres onto the deck of a tanker.
"Everyone is reminded that safety is paramount. There is a safety awareness," Captain Neznanov says. A Captain's daily life varies depending upon what the ship is doing at the time. At anchorage or on the open sea then his day will be familiar to that of many managers. Neznanov usually meets with senior officers to discuss daily work matters, send messages, discuss problems and discuss regular tasks and paperwork.
Where his day differs from regular managers, apart from being absolutely responsible both for the 24 souls aboard and hundreds of millions of dollars of worth of steel and machinery, is that he'll pop onto the the bridge three or four times to check everything is as it should be. But when that ship is in a particularly risky situation, like in a narrow and shallow channel, then Captain Neznanov is on the bridge all the time.
A place at sea When Neznanov is asked what he enjoys doing in his leisure time, he's mildly amused by the suggestion, and replies that he's on rest from 21:00 to 08:00. "I'm a Captain. All the time I'm on standby, ready for work," he explains, although he concedes that he enjoys listening to music by the likes of Deep Purple and Queen. Light television is a favourite too and Neznanov enjoys comedy, which he finds relaxing.
Given the stresses and strains of seafaring life, especially the separation from family - Neznanov normally works four months on, four months off - and that he's been a tanker Captain for ten years now, it seems appropriate to query whether it's time to move. But Neznanov is having none of it. He, again, plants his hands on the bridge, leans forward to emphasise the point and says: "No, I am, for all time, a Captain. I feel that the sea has become my place. It is my place," he asserts.