learning how to put a stop to fires from engulfing their ship. Here, Royal Gazette reporter Neil Roberts tells how they are preparing to beat one of the greatest threats to the safety of crews and passengers at sea. Below he gives a first-person account of how firefighters train for one of the riskiest professions in Bermuda.

Firefighters are floating a new idea to heat up their drills -- by training crews on cruise ships.

Bermuda Fire Service will carry out regular drills on the Norwegian Majesty next year -- after teaching the ship's part-time firefighters during a two-month intensive course this summer.

Norwegian Cruise Line officials asked the brigade in September to train their fire crews to meet tough new international standards.

And shipping bosses have been paying $700 every Thursday so cooks, cleaners, waiters and even casino staff and dancers know how to tackle on-board blazes.

Now Bermuda's regular firefighters are preparing to step onboard ship for unique training drills of their own.

The ship, which does the weekly Boston-to-Bermuda run, has four fire teams of six crew members each.

But now they've decided it's all hands on deck in case of fire -- and 94 of 470 staff have passed the Bermuda Fire Service course.

The courses start with safety briefings, classroom lessons about the nature and behaviour of fire and then intensive training on how to use water, carbon dioxide and dry chemical powder extinguishers.

Then the real test comes -- in the extreme heat of the brigade's fire chamber tackling real blazes, battling through real smoke and working in the real pitch black.

"It can get up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit in there,'' said Lt. Mike Mullan, one of the course leaders.

"We've tailor-made the course especially for the cruise ship crews. They run through a whole series of different drills, tackling fires and using different techniques.

"Then we might place a 145-pound dummy in there for them to rescue. That's not that heavy but in the heat, the smoke and the dark, it certainly takes some lifting.'' The Norwegian Majesty's First Officer, Norwegian Havard Ramsoy, 26, said: "This is all part of a basic safety course we have.

"It involves firefighting, a first aid course and other safety instruction involving liferafts and lifeboats.

"The original firefighting courses took place in Miami but doing the Boston-to-Bermuda run, we felt it would be ideal to use our time here more productively.

"The International Maritime Organisation has set stricter standards which we must adhere to. And although the shipping line does have regular firefighters who check our practices, there are none on board.

"Everybody has two jobs. My other job is to drive the ship. I'm the navigator. But I also lead one of the fire teams.'' Divisional Officer John Pacheco, in charge of the cruise ships operation, said the new relationship with the ship would mean fresh drills for regular firefighters next summer.

"One of the best facets of this facility is the mutual trust we have built up with the staff on the ship,'' he said.

"They know what we are capable of and we know what they are capable of. And they can help us just as we can help them.

"They have already offered to allow our people to do drills on the ship. We were hoping to fit some in before the end of this season but now it will have to be next year. But that will give us a new outlet, a new avenue to train our firefighters in a different setting.''