Stretching from Land's End to Dover,
this is the busiest seaway in the world.
And come hell or high water...
Three, two, one. Fire it!
No amount of training can ever prepare you
for what we faced that night.
..it's open for business 365 days a year.
Over 90% of the world's trade travels by sea.
It's not just TVs and refrigerators, it's everything around us.
Teeming with every type of vessel...
Everyone on board reckons their job is the hardest.
..and a rich diversity of wildlife.
It's kept safe by those who patrol its seaways.
Just drag him onto the boat!
Their actions standing between triumph...
CHEERING
..and disaster...
Ease off. Ease off.
..on the unpredictable waters of the English Channel.
Today...
'193 Falmouth Coastguard.'
..the Royal Navy Air Squadron receive a distress call
about trapped teenagers.
'193, we're airborne at Culdrose.
'We could be on scene in five minutes if you require immediate evacuation.'
A new ferry captain takes the helm as the weather closes in.
It's very challenging in the fog.
Some of the nerve-racking bits are reduced visibility,
manoeuvring the ship,
sometimes you can't even see past the fo'c's'le which is only
25 metres away.
And in Southampton Dock...
Yeah, we're just on our way to the ECH Park now.
..engineers race to fix the port's giant forklifts...
Just giving it a little hit where we'd free it up so it would start,
but not in this case.
..as a backlog of customers mounts up.
You can see there is a bit of a queue starting to form.
The bustling waters of the English Channel are full of every
type of vessel imaginable.
From giant cargo ships delivering all manner of goods to our shores,
to pleasure boats simply messing about on the water.
But perhaps the ones that are most familiar to many of us
are the ferries.
Top deck from seaways one.
'Good morning.' We're expecting about 180 tourists at the moment.
No, my love, if you can go over onto the walkways, please.
A staggering 3.4 million cars and 15 million people
travel on these vessels every year to France and Europe.
'Landing on. Happy?'
Start beside. Out. 2P2.
The quickest route is across the busiest shipping lane in the world,
the Dover Straits.
And all ferries crossing it run to very tight schedules
with no room for error.
The maximum draft and total number of persons on board?
With so many high-value commercial vessels navigating
just 21 miles of water from Dover to France, safety is paramount.
Four-man BA team making an entry into the port alleyway
aft end of deck seven.
Last year we met chief officer on board the Delft Seaways,
Mark Miller, as he put the ship's crew
through their paces in a dramatic safety exercise.
Dover Coastguard, Dover Coastguard.
We have a fire on board. We require immediate assistance.
These drills we do weekly. They're very important
so that all the crew are fully trained in abandon ship procedures
in order to facilitate if such an incident does occur.
Since then, Mark's taken a step up the career ladder.
It's my first week as captain, so no pressure.
Go into the middle. All right.
It's daunting.
I'm responsible for the whole ship, the passengers and the crew.
Every deck officer aspires to be a captain at some point
during their career, and the buck stops here, basically.
Captain Miller is in charge of the 35,000 tonne Delft Seaways,
operating between Dover and Dunkirk.
We all good to go, Mike? Full check sheet?
We'll be coming off the berth,
heading up towards the western entrance.
It's a flood tide,
so I'll start my turn a little bit earlier into the tidal with some
extra power and we'll go through the middle of the western on the way out.
OK? OK.
He may be in charge now,
but it's a far cry from where he began.
I started off as a deck trainee, became an AB,
became a quartermaster, became a junior officer,
then became a first officer, chief officer and now a captain.
It's taken me 24 years.
Could have done it quicker.
HE LAUGHS
It may have taken him a while to become a captain.
Hello, Steve, it's Mark.
Can we start up and go standby two and two, please?
But the sea is definitely in Mark's blood.
Cheers, thanks.
I come from a seafaring background.
My dad was Royal Navy
and there's no doubt in my mind he would be very proud of me.
Having successfully made it out of Dover Port and into open sea,
Captain Miller now faces weather conditions which even
the most experienced of seafarers would struggle with.
It's very challenging in the fog.
Some of the nerve-racking bits are reduced visibility,
manoeuvring the ship,
sometimes you can't even see past the fo'c's'le
which is only 25 metres away.
Avoiding big ships in the fog is largely done
by the bridge's radar systems.
But smaller boats like pleasure yachts might not be picked up
on the ship's instruments
and the only way to spot them is the human eye.
When we get down to two miles,
we'll have two officers on the bridge.
One will be myself and we'll have the officer of the watch.
To add to the pressure, Captain Miller is in the middle
of an ongoing assessment for a vital qualification.
I've got a pilot on board with me today
as I'm doing my Pilot Exemption Certificate for Dunkirk.
So the pilots travel with me to make sure that I can pass my exams.
It's standard practice for a harbour pilot to come on board
and help steer large ships into port.
But with these ferries making multiple channel crossings
every day, it's not practical to have a pilot every time.
What me doing this exam gives me is the exemption.
I don't have to take a pilot, I am the pilot for that port.
As well as the fog, Captain Miller's assessor, Patrice Ruyssen,
is aware of some unusual tidal conditions which will make
navigating into Dunkirk even more challenging today.
We have an exceptionally high tide today.
Since 18 years we know we don't have tides like this.
So the current is very, very strong today.
We are stressed because it's a very, very big ship for this kind of port.
Captain Miller may be traversing the busiest area of the Channel...
..but 700 miles away,
where this stretch of water meets the Atlantic Ocean,
the Royal Navy's 771 search and rescue squadron
based in Cornwall face challenges of their own.
Our location on the south-west peninsula requires us
to operate in the Channel for the majority of our rescues.
Lieutenant Commander Andy Watts knows only too well
how unpredictable these waters can be.
The harshness in the winter is fairly comparable
to anywhere that the world may offer
and therefore, to allow us to train in those conditions,
makes sure we're best prepared when we then deploy.
The crews operate 24/7
and at any point in the day can be scrambled in 15 minutes flat.
The Sea King helicopters they use were built in 1969.
This is a Mark 5 Sea King, fairly long in the tooth
and there's not many cars that you still drive 45 years old
but still doing very well.
RADIO CALL
'Thank you.' 'Where about?'
'90 bug my side. Bug low your side, please.'
'Bug low.'
'Cabin crew, light, noise. Low my side.'
'Testing.'
Today the crew will be rendezvousing with a Penlee lifeboat
down in the Channel for a winch exercise.
'Roger, we're ready when you are.
'If you can give us a course and speed when you are ready. Over.'
'No visual with them anyway.'
'Penlee, can you just confirm where you are?'
'193 Penlee lifeboat.
'We're approximately two miles west of Porthleven. Over.'
'We're just north of you. We're closing now.
'It should be just down now on the left-hand side.'
'Yeah, got him.'
We arranged with the Penlee lifeboats to do some essential training
to transfer our old personnel
and also to familiarise the crews from the lifeboat, because on many
occasions we need to winch them up as well as any casualties.
They plan to use the winch to put petty officer
Mark Richardson down onto the deck.
But first, as the observer, Andy needs to talk to the pilot
to get the helicopter exactly in position above the lifeboat.
'OK, just do a quick recce them. So you've got a solid boat,
'nice angle at the moment.
'One o'clock.
'Got three sets of whip aerials.
'At this height you are well clear of all obstructions.
'Going out for him now.
'Go on, dispatch. You're doing it nice and slow.
'In the back.
'Stay third of right. Two o'clock is your right.
'You've got about 20 yards to the right.
'It's at a good height. 18 yards.
'15 yards. Good, light speed.
'12 yards.
'Ten. Eight yards.
'Five yards.
'Three yards. One.
'Steady. And he's safely on the deck.
'Safely on the deck. Working it strong.
'Disconnect you and raise the winch until you're happy and visual.
'Back and left, please.'
Getting a man onto a moving boat from a moving helicopter
is a tricky business and something they constantly practice.
A lot of our calls, because of where we're located, is out to sea.
It's very challenging
and that's the essential part of going out every single day,
training with a variety of different vessels,
lifeboats, yachts, larger vessels, to ensure, when it's called for,
in that dark night at 2.00 in the morning,
180, 200 miles from coast,
we can do it as quickly and effectively as possible.
They may have successfully got Mark onto the deck of the boat
but they're only halfway through the exercise
and still need to get him safely back up to the Sea King.
What goes down must come up.
'On top. On top. Good position.
'On top. Good position.
'He's attached. Raise the winch, he's clear.
'Go left to Lt. Clear left.
'Can you back in left?
'Get a bit of a swing.
'Raise the winch. He's coming clear. Call when you're happy.
'Happy visuals. Roger. Just dampen out the swing.
'Putting the cable out.'
Mark is back on board and in the nick of time.
Navy 193, Falmouth Coastguard. Over.
Falmouth Coastguard have contacted the helicopter.
Navy 193. We're airborne at Culdrose.
We could be at the scene in five minutes
if you require immediate evacuation.
Falmouth Coastguard. Roger. Many thanks. Stand by.
A member of the public has reported some
people in trouble between the rocks and the sea.
Update. So we've got two people cut off by tide.
They're waving on the rocks.
They've activated the lifeboat and the cliff rescue team
and we're just proceeding until we get called for either tasking or
we get told to wait.
So we're in the right position at the right time.
'Falmouth Coastguard. Roger.
'We can confirm there are now persons now waving by the rock form.
'Falmouth Coastguard, Navy 193. We're one minute from the area.
'We'll remain on top until you call for our assistance.'
Whilst we wait for Falmouth coastguards to decide
whether we're required, we're just now making our way towards
the scene so that if we're required, we're right ready to go.
Search and rescue helicopters are just one of the ways
the English Channel is kept safe.
And as well as the RNLI, their activities are coordinated
by the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
All ships in the Dover Strait,
this is Dover Coastguard information service broadcast at 1243 UTC.
They're responsible for monitoring all vessels in the Channel.
And do you have any dangerous cargo on board?
Primarily, we're looking at vessels crossing the lane.
We have a vessel here that is crossing the lane
and he should cross at right angles to the flow of traffic.
The reason for this is perspective to an oncoming vessel.
It's easier for them to calculate whether there is a risk of collision.
Obviously if we've got restricted visibility and at night-time,
then it can be a higher risk to all those involved.
In terms of search and rescue operations,
their jurisdiction stretches 12 miles out into the sea.
On the other side of the Channel, the French Coastguard look after
the 12-mile limit that extends from their shores.
Could you give me your last and next port and ETA, please?
The UK and the France...and France have search and rescue agents
which they're responsible for.
The north, the UK search and rescue agents,
and the south, the French search and rescue agent.
We have to cooperate if necessary.
Reading dispatch. Reading dispatch.
The main thing is to discuss
and to have some exchanges to make sure that we are not
running the same operation at the same times in different ways.
Like the UK Coastguard,
the French often have to deal with unusual callouts.
One time we found a kayak trying to cross
to the Channel islands.
It's far too long, but they don't know that.
They are totally not aware of the situation, even the distance.
It seems to be very close
but in fact it's more than 15 or 20 nautical miles.
As with their counterparts in Britain, the French Coastguard
may have seen it all, but there's one thing they have little time for.
Swimming the Channel is a uniquely British phenomenon.
It's like a motorway,
but in this motorway with a lot of lorries
and the merchant vessels are the lorries.
There is crossings.
There are crossing buses, coaches, which are the ferries,
and then you have some trawlers and you have some sailing vessels
in summertime especially, but all the year long.
You do not need really to have some swimmers in this area.
HORN TOOTS
CHEERING
Nowadays, all those who wish to attempt swimming the Channel
need to set off from the UK as France banned
the practice of crossing from Calais to Dover 17 years ago.
If really you want to swim a long time, you can go through a lake
and go around the lake if you want.
Crossing the Channel under your own steam from France may be a no-no,
but when it comes to more legitimate Gallic exports,
there's a good chance they'll arrive on our shores in Southampton.
Every day thousands of containers will arrive here with
goods from all over the world.
The port is a major gateway to the rest of Britain for the imports
we rely on for our day-to-day lives.
Around 100,000 tonnes a day is moved from boat to lorry, rail or storage.
The crane gets the imported goods off the ship and onto the quayside.
The crane will discharge the container into lane one or three
under the crane.
The straddle carrier works underneath the crane.
It picks a box up from the quay that's been delivered by the crane
and takes it to the stack and stacks it.
Whenever you go out shopping...
..you will find produce that has come from containers that have
come through the port of Southampton.
But each valuable bit of lifting equipment must be maintained
and fixed when it breaks down.
Got Chris and Paul on breakdowns this morning.
A small group of engineers is in charge of maintenance and repairs.
Be safe out there.
They have to do everything from fix a puncture on a giant tyre
to reprogramming software on board.
Chris Wells is one of the engineers in charge of the straddle carriers.
My job here is to keep this fleet of
straddle carriers that you see behind me running, really.
But it's not just me, there is a huge team of engineers.
We've got three shifts of about 16 blokes,
so it's a really big team effort.
The team from workshop 204 look after anything with wheels,
and the straddle carriers have their own nickname.
They're called vans here.
It got to me when I first come here about nine years ago now.
I couldn't understand why everyone was calling them vans
but now it's just the way it is and that's the way it's stayed.
They're big bits of kit, as you can see. No job is small on them.
They are an exciting piece of kit to work on.
Not a lot of people get to work on this type of kit.
This is our main sort of information centre for down in the workshop.
All the breakdowns that we have will come up on here.
It's also got a really clever system
where we can track a straddle carrier,
so for example, I got called up on my radio
that van 86 is coming back.
I just want to know whereabouts it was so I know how long I've got
and I can track him on a GPS that he's just about to round the corner
into the yard and then I can pop up and see what's up with van 86.
And in a matter of minutes, van 86 rolls around the corner to the
workshop with an electrics problem.
HE SHOUTS: Drive! Did you shut it down and start it back up again?
Some repairs are easier than others.
Easy breakdown that one. Some of them are, some of them aren't.
For example, that one actually only needed a shutdown,
which doesn't make us look that good, but...
At least he's out working now earning money.
A straddle carrier costs nearly three quarters of a million pounds
and weighs 68 tonnes.
It can carry almost its own weight - up to 50 tonnes at any one time.
Each straddle carrier is as high as three double-decker buses.
Back on the ground, the workshop engineers have been called
out to a breakdown on the quayside.
What's going on at the moment, we've got a carrier stuck out on the stack.
So we actually need to go and attend this.
So we can get him back here and then and work on him there because it's
no good being stuck in the stack
cos boxes may be needed out of that row.
Like a roadside recovery firm, they have a set response time
of just 15 minutes to get to the breakdown,
and the quayside is a challenging place to negotiate.
Our response time is now ticking,
so we promise to be there within 15 minutes.
Bit like the site's emergency services, really.
'25 on ship at two lids, crane 25.'
Driving along the quay, you've got to keep your wits about you
because we've got cranes constantly working.
They can be lifting containers off, could be lifting lids off,
which are these big things there.
And they're 50 tonnes each,
so you don't want one of them dropped on your van.
When Chris and his colleague Paul arrive,
they can see the container's stuck under the straddle carrier.
'Gate 20, mate.'
Yeah, we're just attending van 88.
Can I confirm isolations of rows either side, please?
Yes. All signed off, mate. Cheers, mate.
The container is badly dented.
Due to the box being damaged, the machine can't lock onto it,
so now we have to override the twist locks,
get them unlocked and then we can hoist up,
get the machine off the box then.
Chris and Paul have to climb 15 metres to the
top of the straddle carrier to get to the override switch.
What we're doing here, we've got a special key that allows us
to override the twist locks so we can get the machine unlocked...
..and hopefully get off the van.
With the engineers now in control,
they can release the damaged container
and the straddle carrier can get back to work.
All right, that's that one sorted. I'll now hand that back to control.
Ask them to move the barrier box.
And we've already got our next job coming in,
so we're off to that one now.
PHONE RINGS 20 to control.
Back in the workshop, the supervisors are used to dealing
with emergency repairs.
Breakdown is a breakdown, so it's the same as your car.
You start it in the morning, you're expecting it to start.
So, you know, and when it does start everything's fine,
you go and do a journey,
you get a puncture halfway along on your journey, whatever happens.
So...
that's what's happening here on a daily basis.
We're all professional engineers.
These machines are covered in electronics,
heavy, mechanical, hydraulics.
Every system is built into a mobile machine,
so the lads aren't just specialists on one piece of equipment,
they've got to know all systems.
Outside, straddle carrier 45 has come in with a fault.
Paul's first up the ladder to see what's wrong.
I've just checked the water level, that's a little bit low.
I just want to check the engine oil level now as well.
See, I imagine that's probably low as well.
Check the level.
As you can see, that's the add mark and that's the full mark,
so we're slightly low.
We'll go around and top the level up to the full mark.
There are sensitive electronics inside these cabinets.
So when these machines go over the bumps all round the site,
it can throw some of them out of it.
So they just need to be checked over.
Initially, all seems OK, but Paul has to get past an electronic
control mechanism that's come from another part of Europe.
Typical, this one's still in German.
Is it? Now you've got to change the lingo?
Got to try and change the language over.
At the moment, and I'm just trying to look on the, erm...
refuel pad and the fault history,
but, erm, as I've come to it,
this one's actually set in German at the moment,
so I'm just checking my notes
to find the correct parameter to change it to English
so I can understand it a bit better.
The engineers are problem-solving in almost all conditions.
Gets about minus-five anyway,
or...we've been up here in the snow before.
Really got to wrap up then.
If the wind conditions get up too high,
we can't come up in, say, these cherry pickers.
Er, and if the winds get too high,
then the straddle carriers and the cranes aren't used,
so then, we won't be going up them then.
Paul puts the instructions back to English,
and it's nearly ready to go.
Paul's just tying up a few bits up there.
He'll be down and that's when I'm going back to work.
With everything working,
straddle carrier 45 can get back on the quayside.
But just when they think they're done...
MESSAGE HEARD OVER RADIO
..another machine's in trouble.
The trucks waiting to be unloaded are backing up,
and it's down to Chris to respond.
We're being, er, sent here, there and everywhere
trying to find a machine.
On board the ferry Delft Seaways,
Mark Miller is making one of his first Channel crossings
as a new captain.
So far on this trip,
he's faced unusually high tides and fog,
all while being assessed by a steely-eyed French harbour pilot.
It's standard practice for pilots to help steer large ships into port.
But if Captain Miller can get a Pilot Exemption Certificate,
his skills will be all the more valuable to the ferry operator.
Four knots by the end...
slowing all the time for the berth.
Erm, the wind, at the moment, about six knots off the berth.
Happy? Happy.
In the last few hours, Captain Miller's safely overcome
some of the Channel's most challenging conditions,
but now he faces one of the biggest tests for a new captain,
safely docking his 35,000 tonne ship
in the narrow ferry port at Dunkirk.
I'll take the steering.
Got it, thank you.
It's always the captain's responsibility
to bring the ship to a safe stop.
A mistake at this crucial stage in the voyage
could jeopardise Mark's new position as captain.
I've got a point down here,
if you look on the, on the belting,
that lines up with the position mark ashore.
So I have a rough estimate of where we're going to stop.
Um, it does change slightly with tides.
He may be the man in charge,
but he has to rely heavily on his crew.
Heading?
Heading is... 71.
I can't concentrate on everything,
so there's a man up forward counting is in,
I've Joe backing me up,
reminding me of what the wind's doing, the speeds,
how the ship's reacting.
And then I concentrate on doing everything
as slowly, gently and safely as possible.
You've always got to be focused.
At the end of the day,
you've got to land a very large ship
that weighs a lot,
that's got a lot of momentum with it, so therefore, you've, you know,
you've got to land it as softly as possible.
Um, not just for the ship's sake, but for everybody on board.
And the idea of the game is
that you make everybody's passage as comfortable as possible.
Around about a metre off.
Probably about four metres or so from the second part.
A quarter of a knot.
Landing on. OK, mate, fast, please.
OK, Delft Seaways, four and a half. Weigh fast, weigh fast, all and out.
It's been a challenging crossing,
but the ship is now safely dockside.
OK, very good, Captain. Thank you very much, thank you.
And local pilot Patrice seems suitably impressed.
I think that he will be a good captain for the company
and you have a good management on the bridge.
They're a very good team,
so he has no problem with this kind of ship and this kind of crew.
To be honest with you,
that, I thought, was heavy landing for me.
Um, I'll be completely honest.
I'm normally, I'm normally a little bit gentler.
The mood may be light up on the bridge for now...
..but nine decks below in the engine room,
things aren't quite so smooth.
TELEPHONE RINGS
Hello, bridge. Captain speaking. Hi, Captain.
Yeah, we've got a problem with main engine number two.
We need to change an injector
erm, so, er, if it's OK with you, we'll disable the engine.
How long will it take?
It should be back in within an hour.
That'll be brilliant, OK.
All right, thank you. Cheers. Cheers, bye.
Dan, we've got permission from the old man.
We've got to change injector number seven
on main engine number two.
All right? OK. We'll get the engine shut down.
The fuel injector ensures
that the diesel is distributed as evenly as possible
around the engine cylinders.
It's one of a diesel engine's most complex components.
Do you think you'll be able to manage it?
Yeah, I'll be able to. All right.
Let's go on out.
For apprentice engineer Dan, this will be a first.
I've always been into mechanics.
Like, my dad's a mechanic.
I've been around cars and bikes my whole life.
Hey, Leszek, can you come and give Dan a hand
with this injector change on main engine number two.
Coming from car engines that are small,
you lean over them,
where as this is taller than me, so...
It's a lot different, yeah.
Take charge of the job.
Leszek's here to assist you.
And, er...all the best.
A ship this size has four engines,
but can function with just two.
However, it's vital that all are in good working order
in case of any emergencies.
So this is a big responsibility for Dan.
I've let him have a go at doing this one in charge him self.
So he'll call the shots, he'll make all the decisions.
Erm, he's got a good hour and a half to do the job,
so hopefully, he should make it in time.
This ferry is due to head back into the Channel soon,
and these repairs need to be done
well before final manoeuvres into Dover.
It's imperative that any craft heading out into the sea
is well maintained. And those that aren't
can often find themselves encountering the emergency services.
Down in Cornwall, 771 Squadron Sea King helicopter
has been out on a vital training mission.
We've done training today with the winch,
so, in terms of me operating it
and Mark going down as a winch man.
We're all familiar,
we've done some winching with that also.
So the right-hand seat pilot
and everybody's familiar with the procedure that we would employ.
But just as they're completing the operation,
an emergency call out comes in from Falmouth.
INDISTINGUISHABLE RADIO REPORT
Sending them to investigate reports
that a group of youngsters are stranded on coastal rocks.
Navy 193, we're airborne at Culdrose.
We can be on scene in five minutes if you require immediate evacuation.
Falmouth Coastguard, Roger, many thanks, stand by.
Quick to respond, the 771 Squadron's helicopter soon arrives.
Can you see them? Yeah, visual.
All right, we'll just check they're the ones.
The visual. Yeah, so they're about 300 yards from the beach.
We've three survivors in wet suits, teenage boys.
Er, we are ready to lift them off.
They do a lot of coasteering along here, don't they?
They are definitely in trouble, are they? Yeah, I think so.
Roger. Well, we'll lift them anyway. We've got a call.
Andy decides to put petty officer
Mark down on a nearby rock to assess the situation.
And we are ready to back for the one drop-off.
OK, ready in the back, permission for the winch and outboard.
OK, ready on the backboard
and right in your two o'clock about 35 yards.
30 feet of cable out.
Third and right, your two o'clock, 30 yards.
Border right. Right and forward.
This is rescue 193, over.
Right only three o'clock, 20 yards.
Bringing the Sea King close into the cliffs
is an exacting operation.
Back and right, half past three, 12.
Ten yards.
Up and over the rocky area, eight.
Back and right, half past three.
Three yards.
Four o clock, two, one.
Steady, steady.
Safely on the rocks.
The noise of the Sea King's rotor blades can be a distraction,
so the helicopter pulls away.
I think they're giving us that they're OK.
So I'll just check and make sure there's nobody else.
Nobody else further along this rocky section.
He's coming across now, one of them, to him.
It turns out they're simply traversing
the tidal areas of the rocks for fun,
which is known as coasteering,
and don't need assistance.
Mark is winched back on board.
The lifeboat and cliff rescue team are stood down.
The I winched down and they gave me the OK sign.
So, straight away, I knew they were all right.
They were wearing wet suits, they were wearing boots and gloves,
so I knew obviously, they weren't hypothermic,
they weren't trapped, they weren't cold.
Being a local boy myself,
I know they do a lot of coasteering along that side of Maenporth.
So when I initially seen them, I thought it was probably the case.
A local or a local tourist, probably a tourist,
not from around here
has called with good intentions and, but...
this is what we're here for, this is our job.
Better to be safe than sorry.
All callouts have to be investigated in case of emergency.
And for this helicopter team from Culdrose,
a day of winch training has been put immediately to good use.
The reason these guys do what they do.
I feel amazing. CREW LAUGHS
I feel like the Lynx advert.
CREW LAUGHS
Yeah, you see, every job is different
and we keep our spirits up
with a little bit of, er, good, er, cooperation back there
and chat after the job.
Just to make sure that no-one's head's a bit too big.
Time to head back to base and wait for the next callout.
200 miles away in the busy port of Southampton,
engineers Chris and Paul are still hard at work.
Yeah, we're just on our way to the ECH Park now.
They've been called out to
a broken-down empty container handler, or ECH.
It is essentially like a giant forklift, yes.
Capable of lifting nine tonnes.
ECHs are essential to the smooth running of the port.
As you can see, there is a bit of a queue starting to form.
Today, with the trucks waiting to load and off-load containers
starting back up...
We'll have two cut through there, won't we? Give them a... Yeah.
..it's vital any breakdowns are fixed as soon as possible.
It's been reported to Chris that the ECH has broken down and won't start.
But he won't know what the problem is until he investigates further.
Want to give it a tap?
Chris thinks he knows what it might be,
and he's opted to use a particularly sophisticated piece of equipment.
While Chris works on the engine, Paul tries to fire it up.
HE HAMMERS
Just try plugging the van in.
Sometimes the starter motor will get stuck,
and just giving it a little hit will free it up so it will start,
but not in this case.
It could possibly be a slightly flat battery,
so just doing a basic jump-start,
a bit like what happens on a car.
Er, we've got extra batteries on our van
that we plug into these machines.
Give them a bit of a jump when they need it.
Good?
Yeah, hang on.
ENGINE STARTS
Success.
With the engine started...
Is there anywhere you want this ECH 16 put?
..time for Paul to get this empty container handler
to where it needs to be.
You don't know what you're going to face.
I just take every day as it comes,
and all days are different here, which is nice.
And you won't really get the same day again and again.
It's why, personally, I couldn't work in an office.
Chris may be suited to his job,
but by the time he gets back to the workshop,
true to form, there's another problem.
Just had another call.
ECH 23, which is an empty container handler, forklift, er...
They're gagging for machines over there.
There's a bit of a queue of lorries.
So we better go over and get ECH 23 going.
Yeah, 20.
MAN ON RADIO: Yeah, the driver 75 has already set off on the next route.
There's only eight ECHs.
Not all of them are working all at the same time,
cos we have maintenance on them, et cetera.
So, usually, we only have about five or six working,
and obviously, it can soon get chocked up like this,
cos they can only take one container off a lorry at a time.
The job they're attending was reported as a faulty transmission.
An intermittent fault, like with one of these machines,
is a nightmare to track,
because there are so many individual systems on it,
but sometimes we get over here
and there's no fault found, so...
Unfortunately, we have to wait until
the fault comes up again and stays there,
so that we can find it and fix it.
Going over some rough ground, so...
Despite the gears on this giant forklift now seeming to work,
Chris must make sure it's fully operational
before he can declare it ready for service.
There we go, that's max out.
And then, it can do a spread of functions up there,
like side shift of the box.
And then, er, get it into place.
She's good, I've given her a test drive,
I've tested all the functions.
Er, she goes forward and reverse...
..and she hoists all the way to the top.
So, as far as I'm concerned with this machine,
it can go back to work.
With the empty container handler good to go,
it can now join forces with the others
and help clear the backlog of trucks.
PERSON ON RADIO: 20.
ECH 23 available in the yard.
Thank you very much. We need that one.
Yeah, I noticed.
Ha.
The movement of containers around the port may be back up to speed...
but still no time for a cuppa.
Chris has routine maintenance to get on with.
Is that what they use in Formula One?
Not quite this robust, I don't think.
I think theirs is a bit more special,
more expensive than this one.
Changing a tyre on the family car is a familiar job to some,
but replacing one capable of supporting 50 tonnes
takes a bit longer.
12 wheel nuts altogether,
so...they don't come off quickly.
Not Formula One speeds here.
Well, I use this trolley, first of all, to get it off,
and then, once it's on the trolley, I can then use a forklift,
go and put this over in the tyre bay
and get a new tyre back over.
Yeah.
Just doing this so when I pull it back,
it don't fall off the trolley and injure anyone.
Cos they're pretty hefty weight tyres.
These tyres don't come cheap,
and if this one hasn't fully reached the end of its life,
it'll be remoulded and put back on the vehicle.
Each tyre has its own number,
so we can't track where it is on the site,
like what machine it's been put to,
cos these are £2,000 apiece.
Right, in you come, straight.
Straight on. OK, hold it there.
OK. Down you go, mate.
It's been a long day for mechanical engineer Chris,
but at least it's the end of his week-long shift,
and he's earned a well-deserved rest.
This place will still be here in two days when I come back.
So, not long off.
And then, er...back to it and to do it all again.
As day turns into night on the English Channel,
not everyone's finished their shift.
On board the Delft Seaways,
newly-appointed captain Mark Miller is still hard at work...
as he approaches Dover in darkness.
Below decks, apprentice engineer Dan was earlier instructed
to change a fuel injector
in one of the ship's four massive diesel engines.
It's the first time he's ever tackled this complex job,
but Dan was told he must do it within an hour and a half.
It's a challenging job in cramped, hot and noisy conditions.
But in the nick of time, Dan manages to make this vital repair.
But until chief engineer Steve tests the engine,
they won't actually know if Dan's really fixed it.
Hopefully, if he's done his job right,
it'll start up first time.
In the noise of the engine room,
a thumbs up indicates it's all gone to plan.
MACHINE BEEPS
That all looks good, Ash. Good.
Just going to let the captain know
that his engine's ready for arrival.
Erm...I'm sure he'll be pleased, so...
Bridge are just going to give him a call.
TELEPHONE RINGS Here he is now.
Control room, Steve speaking.
Hi, Captain.
Yeah, that's main engine two injector change complete,
er...tested. Everything looks good.
Thank you. Bye.
So, job's done. Well done, Dan.
Captain's happy, so...
..well done.
And back on the bridge,
Captain Miller has a special celebration to attend.
The plan is tonight, um, go and have a dinner.
It's a celebration dinner for just commencing being a captain.
And you're late for your own dinner? I'm afraid I am.
Somebody had to work and nobody offered.
HE LAUGHS
Choosing a life at sea involves many sacrifices,
but it's the hard work and dedication
of all those who traverse these waters
that keeps the English Channel moving.