Long and the short of a captain's life (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Long and the short of a captain's life

7:51am Friday 30th January 2009 in Leisure By Lesley Tate

Seafaring David Carter has the best of both watery worlds – literally. When he’s not living the Boy’s Own dream as the man at the helm of the biggest ship on the high seas, he’s pootling along the district’s canals in his narrowboat.

David, from Skipton, recently took charge of the 345m-long liquefied natural gas carrier Mozah, which he captains for the Merchant Navy, in which he’s served since he was 18.

The vessel is the size of three football pitches, and David’s duties even include dispatching modern-day pirates.

But he reckons that’s a breeze compared to piloting the narrow boat which he captains for Skipton and Craven Action For Disability (SCAD).

“The narrow boat is harder. The SCAD boat is quite a big one and there is only a narrow groove in the middle of the canal, but in a big ship, we use pilots in tugs to manoeuvre them, and every aspect is computerised – a narrow boat is much more demanding of personal skills,” he said.

But his day job is on Mozah – the largest liquefied natural gas carrier ever built – named after the wife of the Emir of Qatar. It is the first in a fleet of 14 Q-Max – ‘Q’ for Qatar and ‘Max’ for the maximum size of ship able to dock at the gas terminals in Qatar – ships being built for the Qatar Gas Transport Company.

Each of its five cargo carriers is big enough to take three jumbo jets, and twice around its decks equals a mile.

It will transport liquified gas from Qatar to the UK and the rest of the world.

David said: “One cargo alone will supply all the UK’s gas and electric energy requirement for 24 hours, and it is part of a £105 billion dollar project to supply not only 20 per cent of the UK’s gas requirement, but also to international consumers.”

He added it was the largest single shipbuilding project since the Second World War and was a key world energy project for the 21st century.

Twenty-five of the vessels will be managed by the UK-based Shell International Trading and Shipping Company and there are a number of British senior officers on board.

David, 47, said: “It’s an amazing number of firsts and I am very proud and excited to be there at the start.

“For Shell Shipping this is the largest fleet expansion that we have ever managed, and the delivery and management of these ships requires the recruitment and training of as many as 1,300 seafarers.”

Despite its massive size, the ship requires just 40 people to run it. There is a swimming pool, two cinemas, bars and silver service in the dining room and every cabin has ensuite facilities.

“I have a super working life and I never want to come home,” he said.

By 2025, the world is likely to be using more gas than oil.

Qatar is aiming to meet around 30 per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas needs,.

“This is not just a big ship, it is essentially a 21st century super-tanker,” said Capt Carter.

“What we are doing here is moving into a new generation of energy supply.”

Capt Carter, who has served with Shell since starting as a cadet in 1980, volunteered to work in the new fleet, but never thought he would get the top job. “You could have knocked me down with a feather when I heard I had command of the first Q-Max. For me, it is a real career high and it has been incredible for me to be there on the lead ship and setting up all procedures.”

During his career, Capt Carter has seen off boarding pirates – once in Indonesia and once in Bangladesh – and, as a lieutenant attached to Commander Amphibious Task Group with the Royal Marines, gets to play with HMS Ark Royal.

He works three months away and three months at home, when he takes groups out on the Skipton and Craven Action For Disability’s Endeavour.

“I’ve been with SCAD for about 15 years, and on the first day I came we had a training day. Everyone had a steer and, when it came to my turn, I steered it like a ruler right down the canal. I was asked if I’d ever done it before, and I said, narrow boats – never.

“When I eventually told them, they asked me why I’d not said anything and I said, you never asked me.”

He believes the SCAD project is unique in the country, with many groups – mainly elderly people from care homes – coming back again and again.

And after three months at home in Skipton, he’s off back to the largest ship in the world.

“I can’t think of any ship I’d rather captain, this is the top command, it is a dream come true.

“I could be working at the fancy of some billionaire on a yacht, but there would be no sense of purpose, and it just wouldn’t be the same.”