Kodiak drill conductor course trains mariners to lead safety drills

The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association will offer a two-day Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor Course in Kodiak on May 27-28, training commercial fishermen to become certified safety leaders aboard vessels.

AMSEA has trained about 9,500 fishing vessel drill conductors nationwide, according to a CDC training outreach document. The nonprofit maritime safety education organization designs its workshops to help commercial fishermen lead onboard safety drills and meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements. AMSEA and Alaska Sea Grant have held similar classes in Kodiak before, including a January 2023 session.

The class will cover how to respond to just about everything that could go wrong at sea. That includes cold-water survival skills, EPIRBs, signal flares and mayday calls, man-overboard recovery, firefighting, flooding and damage control, dewatering pumps, immersion suits and personal flotation devices, helicopter rescue, life rafts, abandon ship procedures and emergency drills.

Participants who complete the training will be certified to lead emergency drills covering cold-water survival, man-overboard recovery, firefighting, flooding control and abandon-ship response aboard commercial fishing vessels.

The course timing coincides with the 68th Kodiak Crab Festival, which runs through the weekend.

AMSEA says the class meets U.S. Coast Guard training requirements for drill conductors on commercial fishing vessels. The organization serves Alaska commercial and recreational mariners through safety education programs.

The course runs May 27-28. The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported the class announcement.