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This is a scene from one of our latest films – ‘ECDIS – Could This Happen To You?’ A recreation of an actual incident in which a ship grounded after misusing its ECDIS chart system when planning a passage – whoops! Fortunately no-one was hurt, and the ship wasn’t badly damaged, but it’s emphatically something that spoils your day. Or your career… Oh, sorry – ECDIS? Not a Greek political party, but one of the best navigational aids available – standing for ‘Electronic Chart Display and Information System’ – all the world’s charts available on a big high-quality screen, enabling you to plan your passage, with warnings and safe routes built in. Obviously, it’s a fantastic resource – but as with all software, you have to use it correctly. And when on watch, keep looking up and out! Sadly, this bridge team didn’t do enough of either…

No I am not saying (picture) “In this sea state? Really?” Though Severn’s team very nearly did. As part of our film ‘Seaguard’, I joined one of their teams making a routine check on a trawler and what she’d been taking from the sea. Getting there was the thing though, with the RIB – according to Severn’s captain – only just up to the challenge of that day’s wave and wind. RIB’s, on days like that, make a bouncy castle look like a Catterick mattress. So, with the RN’s usual professionalism and skill, I was briefed, survival-suited and booted (with a big helping hand dragging all that on), and helmeted too. And then hung on totally tight as we roared across to the trawler. Exciting, and the inspection was fascinating to film, witnessing the hours of hard work every inspection requires.

This (picture) is HMS Severn, an OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel) of the Royal Navy. We filmed aboard her for ‘Seaguard’. Literally a last shout, because this was her final voyage from Newport (her affiliated home port) to Plymouth. Her last voyage because she was on her way to being decommissioned – which she now is. All a bit hard to understand – even though new OPV’s are on the way, with the new HMS Forth ready very soon Because if we are to take back charge of our own fisheries – after the years of destruction covertly triggered by Edward Heath’s Euro-zeal – we’ll need more ships, not fewer. And Severn’s C.O. and his ship’s company showed clearly how efficient they were at fishery patrol (are, to be fair, as they’ve transferred now to HMS Tyne, same class.) We went along for the ride…

…is where we are in terms of Border Force sea-going assets. Making ‘Seaguard’, our latest Maritime Foundation keynote film, reported this about international maritime border protection. Italy, with her 4,722 miles of coastline, has 600 patrol vessels. Nearly one for each 8 miles, then. Spain, with a 3,085 littoral-mile commitment, has 147. A handsome one for each 21 miles. Greece, hammered like Spain by Euro membership, still manages 240 vessels for its 8,497 coastal waters. A nice and comfortable 35 miles per vessel. So our three longer-range vessels – if they can be manned – must cover 7,723 miles of coast. 2,574 miles per patrol boat. Now, none of that is literal – it’s just a comparative measure. And filming ‘Seaguard’, we were able to report the three new vessels acquired for UKBF (picture.) But they’re inshore workers. So, handy, but not multi-deployable.

Whichever way you voted on the E.U., you would probably like to think that we know how to secure our borders, and especially our maritime ones. Not much point in having “a precious stone set in a silver sea” if you don’t guard against someone coming along and nicking it! So it’s a bit of a shock to discover that in terms of seagoing vessels operationally available to Border Force, whose job it is to do all that (as well as many other tasks), we’re talking… 3. Not 300. Not 30. Just three. With three away in the Med coping with the issue of migrants and refugees aided on their way by traffickers – who can trade on the basis that we won’t let them drown if we can help it. So how do other countries stack up? See next blog…

Of course… if you have clockwork you have to have a winder…. And you have to remember it on those special occasions. Conjures up a vision of Nelson appearing at court and searching his pockets for the key only to find he’d left it on board, or in his other uniform coat, or something. He wore it once at court, which led to the King snubbing him, despite the great victories he’d achieved. All because he put it above his Order of the Bath, you see. Tut. Anyway, when it came to making the key, our Master Goldsmith wasn’t going to have any old key. He carved this beautiful winder (picture) – a miniature bicorn hat, + Chelengk. With a plaque on the back marking its purpose. All in one day. And the wood? Well, oak from HMS Victory, of course!