Cockroaches on ship . . .

[Unregistered]

Hi,

I've not long joined a ship and have discovered we have cockroaches in the duty crew mess room.

Upon pointing it out to the Steward and Chief Cook, their immediate reaction was to say '' We have plenty cockroaches here! We have more in the galley, sometimes we kill them with hot water!''



What would you do if you weree in this situation?

Anyone had a similar situation?


PS - The Captain doesn't seem to be doing accommodation inspections. Bits of food all over Crew and Officers mess room, tables not clean, every generally lacking in cleanliness....

[alistairuk]

Cockroaches and insects exist on most ships (I won't say all, cause chances as they take a few months to arrive on new builds) - hopefully only in small quantities - its impossible to stop them completely given the size of the vessels and the areas traded.

We use Goliath gel to kill them, supplied by our pest management company. Does your vessel have cockroach monitoring traps? Basically sticky cardboard boxes that lets you monitor how big or little a problem you have.

I would suggest you mention it to your chief officer.

[Clanky]

Without knowing the exact situation it's difficult to advise you on what to do.

As Alistair said cockroaches exist on most ships, but that doesn't mean they should be accepted, if you are on an old cargo ship then you are unlikely to have a pest management company so all you can do is raise the standards of hygiene.

If you think that raising the issue with the safety officer / captain / chief off will help then go for it, if you think that they will shrug and tell you to stop being silly then it's probably not worth the effort. If you really want to make an issue of it then take photographs etc.

The truth is that while cockies are a bit gross, they aren't that big an issue really.

[Unregistered]

No, unfortunately the vessel doesn't have any insect traps, although I would have thought they would given that ************* . . . this is a large reputable (?) company.
Have seen cockies before on previous trips but think this situation needs addressing - going to speak to the C / O although a big crew change coming up and almost all officers and crew changing in the next two weeks so they've all got the channels. Doubt any of them would be fussed about doing anything about it so close to them signing off!

[Chiefy]

Cockie houses aren't actually standard issue and need to be ordered, though I am surprised there isnt any insecticide spray around the place.

Bring it up with C/O if that dosent work then bring it up to the Officers Rep for the Safety Meeting, however most will do something about it. Having the channels is no excuse. It should be brought under control and PSC will not be happy if they find them in the galley etc....

The only other possible solution is an e-mail to your training officer shore side asking their opinion and maybe their advice, but that should be the very last resort as it could cause mayhem if not handled correctly. Start with the C/O and then the Safety Officer / Committee.

As an additional thought (after doing some actual thinking) have you rummaged in your companies SMS Files / books, I'd be fairly surprised if there wasn't anything in there about this sort of thing given pretty much everything else seems to end up in there one way or another, might not mention Cockroaches by name but might have something about pests / hygiene etc however again how you present it to anyone has to be done with some fore thought and tact.

[GuinnessMan]

Hi,

I've not long joined a ship and have discovered we have cockroaches in the duty crew mess room.

Upon pointing it out to the Steward and Chief Cook, their immediate reaction was to say '' We have plenty cockroaches here! We have more in the galley, sometimes we kill them with hot water!''



What would you do if you weree in this situation?

Anyone had a similar situation?


PS - The Captain doesn't seem to be doing accommodation inspections. Bits of food all over Crew and Officers mess room, tables not clean, every generally lacking in cleanliness....

I was on a pre-purchase inspection a while back and came across a whole colony of the bloody things! When we pointed it out to the Captain his response was "Ah the cockroaches, good thing you didn't see the rats!". Needless to say, we didn't go near that vessel again.

Basically, bring it up with your Chief Officer. He is the safety officer on board and hygiene falls into that (even though the cook is responsible for the hygiene of the mess rooms and galley). From what you've described it sounds like your Captain is a bit lax in his duties, so if the Chief Officer does nothing then send a quiet email to your training officer and let them know. Failing that, take a look through your SMS as there will be a "whistleblower" number in there somewhere (however this is last resort, if it was one of our vessels, that Captain, Messman and Cook's feet wouldn't hit the ground as we would literally rip the ship apart to see what else they wern't "bothered" about).

[Chiefy]

Just for general Guidance....Chief Officer isn't always the Safety Officer, here it's the 3/E and another company it used to be the 2/N, however the Safety Committee Minutes will tell you who it is if you dont already know'

[Steve]

Just for general Guidance....Chief Officer isn't always the Safety Officer, here it's the 3/E and another company it used to be the 2/N, however the Safety Committee Minutes will tell you who it is if you dont already know'

Chief Engineer is "Ship's Safety and Environmental Officer" in the RFA, but bear in mind that the Second does a lot of what would normally be the Chief's role. At least it means the Safety Officer has clout, though perhaps not so willing to listen to issues.

[tlloyd1983]

Only had the displeasure of sailing with cockroaches once. They are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world. Needless to say, the Cookie and Steward should be keeping them under control, as best they can, once they're in, unless the ship is fully fumigated, you cannot get rid of them, only try your best to keep under control. Just so you know, they are quite harmless, they don't bite and they aren't poisonous. But.... they do carry diseases, and should never be around food, so prod the right people to try and get the Cookie and Steward to up their game a bit.

[penfold]

A less responsible person would suggest you gather a box of the little blighters and sneak it into the bridge/captain's cabin.

[minchmermaid]

I once sailed with cockroaches that were big enough to sign on!

If you are worried about something on your ship then you have to bring it up through the chain of command. In this case bringing it up at a safety meeting would probably be the most appropriate way forward as that would force the company to do something about it, but remember, if there is a serious safety issue then you don't need to wait for a meeting.

My last ship was infested with bedbugs and cockroaches. By the time I joined, the bedbugs were confined to the 3/E's cabin, despite the ship having been fumigated three times and new mattresses and bedding in each cabin. the cockroaches have already survived a whole shipwide disinfection and the bedbug fumigations and God knows what else. They are nigh on impossible to get rid off but basic hygiene plays a large part such as keeping food sealed up and keeping tables clean. If your crew aren't looking after the ship properly then make sure you do something about it. It's your home as much as theirs whilst you are there and you have the right to live ni a clean and safe environment.