Watch: Intro to YWAM Ships Newcastle
Captain - Rotational - Papua New Guinea
Master:
The Master is in the broadest of terms responsible for safety and navigation of the vessel. Ensuring all legal requirements of both local and flag state are met and upheld. The areas the Master is not responsible for are the community, stewards and programmatic elements including scheduling and itinerary of vessel. The Master has complete authority in Navigation and Safety categories and cannot be over ridden by the Ship Manager, however the master reports directly to the Ship Manager and is hired and fired by the Ship Manager in conjunction with the vessel’s DPA and organizations CEO. It is one of the most key positions in the organization.
It is important that the Master understand quickly the DNA of how the floating YWAM community is to run according it’s international values. This again can be very different but is totally necessary for the success of the mission. Motivating volunteers to work hard and do a good job is not easy when a pay check is not involved. The relief Master typically has little to no experience with motivating this kind of crew and should lean heavily to the Ship Manager for advice when facing personnel issues. Motivating a volunteer to give their best continuously is a challenge even in the best of environments. It takes both roles of the Ship Manager and Master to work as a team to accomplish this so a safe and professional healthy YWAM family environment is maintained.
When long term YWAM crew make up about 2/3 of the ships company, it is in an ideal situation to keep the YWAM DNA healthy and thriving. However during the initial period of operating a new ship this ratio is typically not the case. Both the Ship Manager and Captain will have to work very hard to build community.