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Liner duty: junior naval officers complete bridge training on cruise ship
24 January 2025
Junior Royal Navy officers Luke Orrin and Matt Handisides were given the rare opportunity to guide a cruise liner and complete their qualifications.
Thanks to an exchange scheme between HMS Collingwood and the Merchant Navy, the duo joined P&O Cruises’ mighty MV Iona as deck cadets, working on the ship’s bridge alongside regular crew.
All warfare young officers must spend 365 days at sea to qualify as Officers of the Watch in the Royal Navy – allowing them to work on the bridge of a warship, safely guiding them on operations worldwide.
Even compared with Britain’s biggest warship, HMS Prince of Wales, MV Iona – which operates out of Southampton – is a leviathan.
At 184,000 tonnes she is nearly three times the displacement of the flagship aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales – and 60 metres longer.
It requires more than double the crew (1,800), accommodates up to 5,200 guests across 15 decks. They’re fed at 30 bars and restaurants, relax in four swimming pools… or ten theatres/cinemas/clubs/entertainment venues.
Whether 184 tonnes or 184,000 tonnes, the principles of safe seafaring and rules of navigation remain the same, from negotiating the ‘maritime motorway’ which is the Dover Strait, to manoeuvring a 344-metre-long vessel – more than 1,130 feet – in the confines of a fjord.
Having taken Iona to Norway, Matt and Luke (plus 1,800 shipmates) headed south to Portugal and Spain.
The experience was extremely rewarding working with such a professional bridge team piloting such a large vessel into some extremely tight ports
"Working with a crew from all over the world exposed me to other cultures and ways of working. And it’s given me a keen understanding of the considerations of the merchant fleet and how much overlap there is when it comes to the legal requirements at sea."
Luke added: “My time on Iona benefited me a great deal. It taught me not only how to keep a ship safe – especially one with around 7,000 people on board – but also how this part of the maritime industry operates compared to the Royal Navy which can be applied later in my career when interacting with cruise vessels.”
As part of the exchange programme, Captain Andrew Wolverson and Staff Captain Chris Kennedy were invited to Collingwood to see the training the Royal Navy offers – not least the new 3D/virtual reality bridge simulator suite opened last year.
Staff Captain Kennedy said onboard the Iona the two junior Royal Navy officers had represented the Senior Service “admirably and embraced the opportunities offered to them”.
He continued: “The feedback from the bridge team was very positive, praising their willingness to learn, watchkeeping standards and application of the collision regulations.
“Overall it was a fantastic opportunity for Royal and Merchant Navy to come together, share knowledge, experience and best practice and learn more about the differences and similarities in how we operate our fleets.”
Lieutenant Commander David Carter, the RN’s Merchant Navy Liaison Officer, said the exchange programme benefited both navies with “shared wins on learning and training” and that Carnival UK – P&O Cruises parent firm – had been “particularly helpful” in accommodating the two junior officers to complete their Officer of the Watch training.