Coastal Transportation training mariners on abandon ship procedures on the Salish Sea

The Curlew is the training vessel for Coastal Transportation

Every year in January, Coastal Transportation provides training for their mariners so they can be better prepared for any emergencies that might happen while they are at sea. 

Coastal Transportation ships cargo from Seattle to Western Alaska and the Aleutian Islands aboard five large, refrigerated cargo freighters that average around 240 feet in length. Their main terminal in Seattle is next to the Ballard Bridge, just east of Fisherman’s Terminal.

One of the training days is devoted to Abandon Ship training, using a 65 foot long boat called the Curlew. The Curlew goes out into Puget Sound, where the crew members in training don survival suits, deploy an inflatable life raft, and “abandon ship” into the life raft. 

They will spend several hours in the water, regardless of the weather. They spend the time practicing swimming techniques while in their survival suits, practicing the use of various signal flares, learning to deploy the raft’s sea anchor and oars as necessary, and in general gaining practical experience in what abandoning a vessel into a life raft might entail. 

After a few hours, the trainers in the Curlew collect the trainees, and everyone returns to our dock at the end of the training exercise.

While we hope it’s training no one will ever need, it’s best to be prepared for all contingencies while at sea. Other training days are devoted to firefighting at sea and medical emergencies. We run training several weeks in a row, so you may see the Curlew out offshore of Richmond Beach or Carkeek Park throughout January.

More information:

• YouTube video up on our channel focusing on Abandon Ship training,
• Coastal Transportation company webpage 
• Crew members and the jobs they work aboard our vessels