tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89302411652233098192012-01-26T18:36:51.790+05:30A sailor's fifth columnmanuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comBlogger2211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-30749132449886921002012-01-26T13:06:00.002+05:302012-01-26T18:36:51.806+05:30

The Algerian authorities say they have foiled an Al Qaeda plot to ram suicide boats laden with explosives into ships in the Mediterranean. Told you. The Moor's next sigh

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-86570206816023371072012-01-26T07:11:00.001+05:302012-01-26T07:37:03.846+05:30

Note to Shipmasters: If you must screw up, then for heaven's sake don't screw up where the cameras can see and record you, because then you will be drawn, quartered, and fed to the lions. The long knives- and longer pencils- will be then out. Reporters - made instant nautical experts complete with Perry topsiders adorning their feet- will tell the world that you are an incompetent coward.  Your

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-89327163588910832892012-01-19T08:07:00.000+05:302012-01-19T08:07:54.177+05:30

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-39924916225458820962012-01-13T10:59:00.003+05:302012-01-13T11:01:37.125+05:30

Shipping has never organised itself enough to influence political decision making that impacts geopolitical events, even if those events end up in a war that threatens it directly. However, shipping usually ends up paying the price- and first, whether the price is financial loss or sailors' lives- whenever armed conflicts occur. Governments across the world will react, often robustly, when

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-49831655690555325162012-01-05T08:09:00.001+05:302012-01-05T08:10:01.720+05:30

The reactions of the pillars of the international shipping community, as they grandiloquently like to call themselves, have been even more surreal in the last few months as the number of successful Somali pirate attacks have dwindled. Those of us who have been following, with some interest, the moral turpitude that has become the hallmark of a bunch of people who have got used to being paid for

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-4845947888408224712011-12-29T07:58:00.001+05:302011-12-29T07:58:29.371+05:30

As I write this around Christmas, a Common Entrance Examination for Indian Ratings for the batch scheduled to start just a week later- on January 2, 2012- has just been held. Or should I say has been held yet again, for this is the third CET that the Board of Examination For Seafarers Trust (BES) has conducted since September for the same batch. (One could quote Goldfinger from Ian Fleming and

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-45313740312434588542011-12-22T11:11:00.002+05:302011-12-22T11:20:14.086+05:30

They have taken another ship hostage in the Gulf of Aden,(Industry chorus: Something must be done, something must be done),But hey, we make more from piracy than those Somali highwaymen,This wonderful show must go on. They are torturing our crews for months on end!(Industry chorus: Something must be done, something must be done),Fortunately they are all Third World Seamen,This is how the West

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-31885969653222066032011-12-15T12:56:00.002+05:302011-12-15T12:57:50.017+05:30

The last thirty years have seen a revolution in the wheelhouse. The next thirty, I suspect, will change our engine rooms forever. However, this change will be more complicated, I think, and will require a lot more preparedness and considerably better management of resources than shipping seems to be capable of. I also suspect that the calibre, certification and training of our engineers will be

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-36622655066163021732011-12-08T09:12:00.002+05:302011-12-08T09:13:26.452+05:30

Those in the container trade are calling it a consolidation; looks more like a shakeout to me.  Soon after industry leader A.P. Moeller-Maersk merged some of its Asia to Europe services saying that it was prepared to outlast the competition in difficult times, news came in last week that the second and third largest container companies in the world- Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM- have

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-27393360873356819282011-12-01T08:20:00.001+05:302011-12-01T08:21:16.339+05:30

Some of the sound bites coming from India's maritime regulator in connection with marine education and training are interesting; I particularly liked the comment made some time ago by the Director General of Shipping that maritime training institutes should make a profit and not look to profiteering. Absolutely correct. The recent Directorate General of Shipping (DG) decision to issue a

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-40080539696158254032011-11-24T12:13:00.002+05:302011-11-24T12:18:39.099+05:30

                                 Money being counted on the Philipp to pay the crew Its founder, the made-famous Von Trapp and his wife Maria, were the inspiration behind 'The Sound of Music', but that halo has been decisively knocked askew today. The shenanigans of Hamburg based shipowners Vega read like the script out of a French- or should I say German- bedroom farce; the only difference is

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-71649788277867398912011-11-17T10:30:00.000+05:302011-11-17T10:30:34.705+05:30

<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-82619668045798652102011-11-10T05:58:00.003+05:302011-11-10T21:41:33.886+05:30

I hope shipping does not react the way stock markets across the world did last week in response to the latest Greek bailout; the euphoric unthinking rise in indices did not hide for long the deep structural problems that exist in many economies across the world. Two days later came ILO warnings of a likely dramatic drop in future global employment and the associated 'ignition' of civil unrest.

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-22652968740079177652011-11-03T05:24:00.003+05:302011-11-03T05:46:38.620+05:30

 Filipino mariners are under fire again. The flashpoint this time is the Rena grounding and oil spill in New Zealand- the country's largest environmental disaster. The Rena was manned completely by Philippine nationals, and questions are being asked about their competence.  The Green Party has called for an investigation on the adequacy of Filipino seafarer training; referring to the action taken

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-90419715889819322202011-10-30T08:36:00.000+05:302011-10-30T08:36:34.758+05:30

<!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-27073907720124951452011-10-25T08:13:00.010+05:302011-10-25T08:38:53.845+05:30

I am convinced that the solution to piracy is impossible not because of lack of political will, but because it suits some Western nations to either have it flourish or to ignore it while they play their usual internecine geopolitical games with well-used blinders on. Or give vent to greed. The 'international community'- a euphemism that actually means NATO to the cynics amongst us- is not

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-78418601391266455842011-10-22T06:04:00.004+05:302011-10-25T19:46:13.505+05:30

("White man's burden" -a Kipling poem and a justification for colonial and imperial plunder that pretends that colonialism was a noble enterprise because the natives benefited from western civilisation) At the end of last month, a glittering programme was launched in London that claims that it will assist seafarers and families traumatised by piracy. The Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-46111425922275518082011-10-20T12:23:00.005+05:302011-10-20T18:17:53.728+05:30

It may seem that the hammering that shipping has been subjected to in the aftermath of the ongoing global economic cataclysm is the reason why many firms are reverting to their old habits of treating seafarers like dirt. Old tales of double accounting, seafarers paying for jobs, withholding of documents, delaying of salaries, signing of inequitable contracts et al are being retold. The industry

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-55895678282191914812011-10-15T13:01:00.000+05:302012-01-26T13:03:48.347+05:30

                              graphic  AFP Gen. Carter F. Ham, Head of U.S. Africa Command, was not talking about piracy last month when he warned of the threat of a pan-African Al-Qaeda linked terrorism network capable of endangering Western interests across Africa. He wouldn't: I sometimes feel that the world needs a press release issued by pirates and terrorists announcing their latest

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-483849268688761542011-10-06T06:37:00.002+05:302011-10-06T06:49:08.140+05:30

If you thought that life on cargo ships is tough, here is a look at the horrifying conditions that thousands of seamen Shanghaied into the global deep sea fishing fleets- both legal and illegal- face routinely today. Slum like living conditions, 18-hour workdays and beatings are commonplace- and rape and even murder is not that unusual. The abuse and denial of human rights is staggering as it is

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-74940727840576757692011-09-29T13:21:00.002+05:302011-10-20T14:03:33.263+05:30

For those of you who may not yet know, a Common Entrance Examination has been conducted for Indian ratings recently. This, along with a physical test, will henceforth be mandatory for all Indian ratings who will then be guided, according to their preference, to the many approved training institutes across the country. Additionally, The Board of  Examinations for Seafarers Trust will continue the

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-65282343723863664172011-09-22T13:44:00.002+05:302011-10-02T06:37:29.400+05:30

Whatever happened to the desperate seafarer shortage shipping was jumping up and down about just two years ago? When I hear the industry, their spin is that the recession is what happened, and that shortage concerns will rise again once the global economy stabilises. That is a lie.  Or, rephrasing the last sentence more charitably, those who say this are either clueless, incompetent or malign.

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-79016787182473951862011-09-15T11:40:00.002+05:302011-09-15T11:40:55.880+05:30

I should have guessed something was not quite right with the Electrical Engineer when I ran into him ashore in Gdansk. I asked him where he was going; instead of replying, he silently pulled out a dozen prophylactics from his jacket pocket. I left him and went on my way slightly concerned. This was 1986 and Chernobyl and just blown up not so far away; maybe the Lecky's brain was irradiated.

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-70997147904341830752011-09-08T11:05:00.000+05:302011-09-08T11:05:49.431+05:30

It was supposed to be akin to the second coming, the fourth pillar of a regulatory regime that -along with the STCW conventions, MARPOL and SOLAS- would ensure quality shipping and seafarer rights forever. The ILO's Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 was a result of a resolution backed by governments and ship owners made way back in 2001. Five years later, when the ILO adopted the MLC in 2006,

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-65325357800032291332011-09-01T07:00:00.000+05:302011-09-01T07:00:44.417+05:30

Viewed in conjunction with other intelligence reports, the interrogation of the nine foreigners- five Yemenis, two Tanzanians, one Kenyan and one Somali- at Porbandar after the Indian Navy's operation against the vessel 'Nafis-1' 170 miles off Mumbai two weeks ago have confirmed that there exists a strong linkage between pirates, terrorists and elements in Pakistan- and beyond. Actually,

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-58803223133037871702011-08-25T07:24:00.002+05:302011-08-25T07:46:50.863+05:30

We just don't learn. My cynicism with the U.S.' Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management and Regulatory Enforcement (BOEMRE) was validated last week when Shell Offshore- owned by Royal Dutch Shell- was granted 'conditional approval' to drill in the Arctic's Beaufort Sea next year. Another brick in the wall of Arctic devastation has been laid; humanity will pay much more than the $3.5 billion Shell

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-63554062466301518262011-08-18T07:40:00.000+05:302011-08-18T07:40:14.170+05:30

To the many who are asking- after the Pavit grounding and the Rak Carrier sinking- "What is wrong with India's maritime security?" I have a one-word answer. Everything. Another slightly longer answer to the same question: What is wrong with maritime security is corruption and its fallout, because Indian inefficiency is the bastard child of another perverted disease- corruption. We are saddled

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-68292922631335759552011-08-11T11:39:00.000+05:302011-08-11T11:39:22.371+05:30

I am here to tell you that the continued failure of the international community to bring political stability to Somalia- or its futile efforts at the IMO and everywhere else- will soon result in a near-spectacular increase in piracy out of that country. This will happen because the Somali famine is the biggest humanitarian disaster on earth today, and pirate gangs will soon attract thousands

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-38529742897057793782011-08-04T06:59:00.002+05:302011-08-04T07:00:25.164+05:30

The newspapers carried two stories towards the end of last month. In one, the Kerala High Court ordered Air India to pay Rs 75 lakh (approximately USD 170,000) compensation to each of the families of last May's Mangalore air crash victims. Air India had earlier tried to offer compensation based on the income of the deceased- many on the flight were from low income families- until one of the

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-77299349134519285702011-07-28T14:01:00.000+05:302011-07-28T14:01:26.100+05:30

Almost eighteen thousand ships transited the Suez Canal last year. The Suez- erstwhile 'Highway to India' during the British Raj but equally vital to East-West marine traffic today, cuts sailing time between Mumbai and Europe by almost four and a half thousand nautical miles- roughly two weeks. That is a lot of time and money, especially when one multiplies the numbers by eighteen thousand. Last

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-32704836006855780862011-07-21T15:53:00.000+05:302011-07-21T15:53:01.182+05:30

Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that the devaluation of Indian officers is already happening. Shipowners are becoming increasingly cagey about paying a premium for officers that have questionable calibre, lower academic ability or understanding, poor language or communication skills and thin commitment to both the job and the organisation. That this circumspection extends to trainees is

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-80086554371103765562011-07-14T11:24:00.001+05:302011-07-14T11:25:33.929+05:30

Shipping often complains that the world is seablind, referring in exasperation to the public's poor comprehension of all things maritime, especially to the criticality of seaborne trade to their lives and economies. Judging by the same yardstick, shipping is no better, except that it is 'shoreblind' instead. For it largely ignores, or underplays, events around the world that forebode

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-51774334607482478012011-07-07T11:07:00.000+05:302011-07-07T11:07:25.330+05:30

(Or, a welcome slap in the face) The saga of the MV Suez has ended with a slap in the face of Indian civil society in general and the Indian Government in particular. What should have been an opportunity for India to display robust and emphatic action to support its hostage mariners degenerated instead into a game of brinkmanship with the Pakistanis on the high seas in which Indians have come off

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-91625016634669260082011-06-30T12:15:00.005+05:302011-06-30T19:09:04.740+05:30

One will often hear older officers say that there is no charm left in sailing anymore. This succinct statement says much; the unattractiveness of a career at sea today has as much to do with the death of this charm as it has to do with many other factors that are more readily recognised by us. In the first half of my career at sea, starting from the late-ish seventies, the romance was very

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-21539007723448745212011-06-23T11:24:00.000+05:302011-06-23T11:24:53.727+05:30

A week or two ago, I happened to run into a cadet while on a holiday up north; he had recently returned after his first nine month stint as a trainee at sea. This youngster sought my advice after telling me a nightmare of a story. And, although I have no means of verifying what he said, the way he said it left me in no doubt that his tale was essentially true. Grant me this much, that after

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-86769894164302825462011-06-16T07:02:00.001+05:302011-06-16T07:02:12.486+05:30

Question: Why does a gay man come out of the closet?Answer: Because- like the maritime industry- he cannot see anything. So it comes to pass that the industry that specialises in publicising the well known comes out of the closet once again. Much like its earlier responses to issues like seafarer fatigue and criminalisation, it finally acknowledges- even broadcasts- what everybody has known

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-47948499550544207472011-06-09T11:22:00.004+05:302011-06-09T11:23:33.722+05:30

In November 2010, the European Commission’s stopped recognising STCW certificates issued by Georgia. The derecognition came about after the European Maritime Safety Agency’s inspected the Georgian system in 2006 and 2010, and after Georgian attempts to rectify identified shortcomings was considered ‘inadequate’. The EU’s action meant that sailors who were STCW certified in Georgia after the

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-32480842377957763062011-06-02T10:12:00.001+05:302011-06-02T10:14:17.170+05:30

(the usual suspects need not apply) One has only to see the concerted official Indian response to much of the west coast of India being declared a war zone by insurers to realise how quickly creaky bureaucrats can get their knickers in a twist and begin to actually act. The Maritime Safety Committee at the IMO has recently seen fervent pleas by the Indian delegation that the IMO rescinds its

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-63308466492643849482011-05-26T11:00:00.000+05:302011-05-26T11:00:54.758+05:30

Words will never express the outrage I feel at the torture, then partial paralysis, coma- and, eventual demise of Capt. Prem Kumar in Delhi. He, his ship and his crew were taken hostage off the Seychelles last year, but the story of the ‘Rak Afrikana’ hijack can be read elsewhere. This is just a place for my salute to the man and a sailor’s wishes for inexhaustible courage to his family. Words

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-31405765859867271742011-05-19T12:22:00.000+05:302011-05-19T12:22:03.996+05:30

First, a warning: these plans are copyrighted and trademarked. Intellectual property rights and all that, you know. (As you will see later, one doesn’t need to have much intellect at all to have intellectual rights.) I have developed unique communication software that can be custom tailored to meet individual management requirements for quick and cheap communications between ships and the

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-67689600126909255162011-05-12T04:39:00.000+05:302011-05-14T02:28:12.687+05:30

Phoenix, Jeannette Vogel The tale of the Phoenix- the sacred firebird- is near universal. Although the Greek version is the most well known, Chinese, Roman, Japanese, Russian, Turkish, Persian and Indonesian mythology has similar stories to tell. And, according to some, so do Indian sacred writings with their references to Garuda, the vehicle of Shiva. The Greeks say that the Phoenix lives for

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-85270153730739595422011-05-05T18:53:00.000+05:302011-05-05T18:53:43.948+05:30

Shipping pundits, following savants from the political and financial world, seems to have rediscovered old jargon in a new bottle- Nassim Taleb’s ‘Black Swan Theory’. Taleb had theorised, in his famous 2007 book, that unexpected events of large magnitude and consequence are the ‘Black Swans’ of history; these events are impossible to predict and therefore are known only after they occur. The name

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-68281642443713213912011-04-28T11:04:00.000+05:302011-04-28T11:04:19.692+05:30

Baniya: (Hindi)- grocer, trader, merchant, small businessman.  The sobriquet ‘Soft State’ sits dismayingly well on India’s shoulders. For years, its diffident stance on Pakistani terrorism and Chinese expansion have been two main points of reference as to why it has earned the moniker. I now add Somali piracy and terror to the list: I do so with the knowledge that the Indian navy has been

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-12776509628959704382011-04-21T14:31:00.001+05:302011-05-01T04:58:13.614+05:30

The MV Iceberg 1 was taken by pirates on March 29 2010 with 24 crew, one of whom died last November of ‘malnutrition and distress.’ Another had to be ‘tied down’ because he had lost his mind and had threatened to kill himself. The owners, Azal shipping, broke off negotiations for ransom months ago. The crew- including 6 Indians- has been held for more than a year. They ran out of food, medicines

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-33723539569494910892011-04-14T15:30:00.000+05:302011-04-14T15:30:39.556+05:30

I will be amongst the first to generalise and say that shipping needs more commitment from the youngsters that are coming out to sea today. Alas, commitment is a two way street, so it would be nice if the industry, too, showed them a bit of what this scarce commodity might look like. Even more unfortunately, the usually un-committed, always noncommittal and often self-servingly corrupt body

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-82912818188417290152011-04-07T10:38:00.000+05:302011-04-07T10:38:28.494+05:30

Shipping reminds me of a reluctant bride the way it behaves sometimes; it knows what has to be done- and by whom- but it will try everything else first, and usually for the wrong self-serving reasons. It then runs hither and thither like a headless chicken as the sky begins to fall, appalled as if its modesty has been outraged. Take for example the issue of armed guards on ships passing through

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-55220645414236039402011-03-31T12:59:00.000+05:302011-03-31T12:59:03.375+05:30

A moment, first, to bow to the Japanese. Their discipline, stoicism and sheer humanity in the face of catastrophe is a lesson to us all. From the father who bought just four bottles of water because he wanted to leave some for other shoppers- despite near panic when the water in Tokyo was said to be irradiated and unsafe for infants, to people who simply put fallen items back on supermarket

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-49502869439869400132011-03-24T12:29:00.001+05:302011-04-05T21:34:50.002+05:30

“Two percent of the ship’s beam,’ the logistics manager told me once again with what he thought was authoritative finality. “That is enough GM and stability for any ship, including this one”. “Two percent!” he exclaimed, clearly getting carried away. “On this ship, that is less than forty centimeters. That should be your minimum GM.” Our feeder container ship had just berthed, and the man

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-33543575744847182572011-03-17T18:12:00.002+05:302011-03-18T06:44:22.270+05:30

(RAPE fund author seeks senior position in industry) I recently invited myself to an anti-piracy conference (Just myself, because I don’t much care for dissent). The objective of this high powered (in my own mind) summit was to examine the problem of piracy, express suitably simulated outrage and, in line with the blistering ideals of the IMO (blistering, because those same ideals should be

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-18936096651672689022011-03-10T11:24:00.000+05:302011-03-10T11:24:08.854+05:30

Much more effective than meetings with checklists and management manuals or diktats disgorged by senior officers or management ashore, I have found aboard vessels, is an approach that is quite the opposite. I believe that a management style that invites crew input into the decision making process is far more efficient and safe, and makes for a ship that is happier- and therefore more productive.

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-36542075267565596012011-03-03T13:51:00.001+05:302011-03-03T13:52:22.700+05:30

The global economy is still coming to grips with the aftermath of the Jasmine revolution- a phrase originally coined for the Tunisian uprising but now which I will apply to the infectious unrest that has spread across the Arab world and even beyond, with pre-emptive detentions and website curbs being enforced in faraway China. Unfortunately, commercial shipping faces exceptional and additional

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-19385947114490390212011-02-24T19:45:00.001+05:302011-02-24T19:46:34.206+05:30

Once upon a time there was a kingdom with a long coastline by the sea. The king’s otherwise idyllic life was much disturbed by just one fact; the kingdom had a long connection with the oceans- and maritime trade- going back thousands of years, but hardly anybody wanted to work on ships anymore. This was a big problem. Other kingdoms threatened to eat into our kingdom’s maritime manpower market

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-85043002449249523292011-02-17T08:21:00.010+05:302011-02-18T06:56:26.192+05:30

In line with similar laws across the world, Section 299 of the Indian Penal Code defines “culpable homicide” thus: "Whoever causes death by doing an act with the intention of causing death, or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death, commits the offence of culpable homicide." I now accuse

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-19513256412651454322011-02-10T09:04:00.001+05:302011-02-10T09:06:16.497+05:30

Somewhat like the much hyped ISO certification, the term ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ can mean anything you want it to mean. This is nice, because the idea of propagating your organisation as a socially responsible and caring one is seductive. When an industry’s core activities are often seen as shady or dishonourable, this idea can be more- a diversionary tactic, for one: witness some of

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-49105389919123047252011-02-03T10:28:00.000+05:302011-02-03T10:28:13.322+05:30

The world continues to feed off piracy more than Somali pirates do. And so it is unsurprising that the maritime industry, in the year that the IMO’s annual theme is “Piracy-Orchestrating the Response’, continues to talk, not act. The theme is more cacophony than melody: the toothless global response to piracy has, in any case, as much to do with callousness as it has to do with impotence,

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-51657417670902082682011-01-27T14:08:00.000+05:302011-01-27T14:08:44.598+05:30

The mood seems to have turned bearish in the last few weeks. The possibility that countries in Europe are actually in bigger trouble than we previously thought may have spooked everybody initially, but that does not fully explain the funk that the maritime industry seems to be going through today. To add to the grey, reports in the last month or so- particularly one from BIMCO and another one

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-88104828035444563322011-01-20T16:40:00.000+05:302011-01-20T16:40:57.322+05:30

`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away'.                                                - Shelley On the 13th of January, the Indian Shipping Minister unveiled the “Maritime Agenda 2010-2020”. The sweeping maritime plan for the

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-17680485466499039402011-01-13T14:37:00.000+05:302011-01-13T14:37:12.273+05:30

We within the industry should learn to respect the sailor first before we demand that the world outside give him his due. Frankly, the repeated derogatory comparisons the fuddy-duddies within shipping make against mariners in comparison to the workforce in other industries- and, indeed, with other disciplines of study- have become unamusing, even tiresome. I have been privileged, in the last

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-76043968024194706602011-01-06T13:50:00.001+05:302011-01-06T13:55:22.236+05:30

Shipping loves to tom-tom its commitment to safety, or perhaps it just loves the endless process of amendments to the STCW conventions that hint at it. For those in the lucrative business of consultancy or regulation in the formulating, mandating and selling of new training, the road is often the destination, and resolutions at the IMO or elsewhere often a substitute for results. That the process

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-43186342864239184752010-12-30T22:13:00.000+05:302010-12-30T22:13:59.156+05:30

Dr. Mohammad Haneef is said to be ‘delighted’ this week after having been awarded a ‘substantial sum’ –reports suggest a million Australian dollars- as damages for wrongful arrest by the Australian government in July 2007. The Indian born doctor was detained at Brisbane airport for suspicion of terror related activities; two of his second cousins were involved in the Glasgow airport terrorist

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-82798807832096846272010-12-23T06:20:00.000+05:302010-12-23T06:20:10.970+05:30

Like ants and scandals, numbers continue to crawl out of the woodwork in the last few weeks. And, like discreetly plunging necklines, what they accidentally reveal is riveting. The ‘BIMCO/ISF 2010 ‘Update on the Worldwide Demand Supply of and Demand for Seafarers’ says that there is no shortage of ratings today. That is right; we do not need any more ratings right now: the supply and demand

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-30302210736397780192010-12-16T12:58:00.000+05:302010-12-16T12:58:05.833+05:30

The phone rang a couple of years ago at six in the evening. “Captain, this is Chaotic Shipmanagement,” a voice told me. “We are sorry that we have had to prepone...” “Is that an actual word, prepone?” I wanted to know. “We apologise,” the voice went on, ignoring the sailor as usual, “but you will have to join tomorrow instead of next week since we have royally screwed up as usual. Therefore,

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-18751281365453493882010-12-09T07:10:00.006+05:302010-12-11T05:42:58.352+05:30

Things they don’t tell you at Harvard Seamanship School: • After numerous pirate attacks off the Indian coastline, including one on the SCI tanker Guru Gobind Singh just 300 odd miles from Goa at the end of last month, the Indian Navy was sent out to chase a mother ship- the hijacked Polar- away from the Indian coast. Success was claimed- and reported- in Indian newspapers on Dec 1. The very

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-64551360454912398632010-12-02T10:46:00.000+05:302010-12-02T10:46:46.367+05:30

Some of those in shipping that are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel have resumed their hand wringing in earnest. We did not do enough to attract or train mariners in the last couple of years, they say. We lost another opportunity. What will we do now with the accursed seafarer shortage? This behaviour is typical and does not surprise me in the least. It appears to me that at least some

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-45998410797736268732010-11-25T11:21:00.000+05:302010-11-25T11:21:27.146+05:30

I distrust third party management consulting reports. They are usually commissioned by organisations with hidden agendas, are indicative of the commissioning organisation’s inefficiency (do you really expect a bunch of young hotshot MBAs with little business experience to know more about your businesses than you do yourselves?), and, after the dust settles, will be put away in fancy bookcases to

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-40175884581088955572010-11-19T11:34:00.000+05:302010-11-19T11:34:18.872+05:30

Considering how much you have learnt from me, my cat told me yesterday, rubbing itself on the leg of my chair, I should own the intellectual property rights to the book. He was talking about a treatise on shipmanagement that I have been threatening to write for some time. The only thing that has held me back, so far, is that I am sure that nobody will read it. But the cat, as usual, had a point

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-16319935283064116222010-11-11T17:34:00.001+05:302010-11-11T17:39:17.866+05:30

My calculator and I are confused again. For most of my working life I have been told, by the cabal sitting ashore, that crew costs are rising unsustainably and that we Indian sailors are- to use a favourite banality- ‘pricing ourselves out of the market’. So you can imagine my surprise when I read of a Lloyd’s List article that said that, since 2003, when the the International Bargaining Forum

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-18311785607305342282010-11-04T06:46:00.002+05:302010-12-30T10:47:41.559+05:30

I have long resisted commenting on the citadel strategy that is being flouted as the second coming by the best piracy management practices folks and their accomplices. Briefly, this Plan A involves the crew locking themselves up in a strong room on the ship when boarded by pirates- often the steering gear compartment- after tripping the engines and generators. The cavalry from the coalition

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-56429315850050282632010-10-28T16:32:00.001+05:302010-10-28T16:36:19.328+05:30

The currency wars, now well underway, may have started by being a predominantly US vs. China spat, but it has now sucked in far too much of both the developing and the developed world into the battlefield to be written off as just that. Outcomes are impossible to predict at this stage, although experts are going to town with their pet theories as usual. Regardless, I only know this: The

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-35702359623942229982010-10-21T17:51:00.000+05:302010-10-21T17:51:51.538+05:30

Any navigator worth more than a pinch of salt should know that GPS uses the WGS84 Datum, which often requires GPS positions to be corrected before they can be plotted on charts in use. All paper charts so effected will have printed, in the General Notes, something like “Positions obtained from satellite navigation systems are referred to the WGS datum; such positions should be movedx.09 minutes

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-61840548788735260492010-10-14T11:34:00.003+05:302010-11-04T06:54:14.806+05:30

(‘Snake eyes’- two pips on the dice- is the lowest score a gambler can roll in a game of craps. A loser’s roll, obviously) If the IMO, like its parent the UN, represents the will of the international community, then I have to say that where there is no will there is no way. On the first of this month, the IMO’s Marine Environmental Protection Committee met, deliberated and failed to reach

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-35307952083569279462010-10-07T12:47:00.002+05:302010-10-07T12:47:32.864+05:30

I am quite sure that for most of us internet connectivity is far more important than the phone or television- or even a car. I know that is what I would choose if I were told that I could have just one of these round the clock. I am quite sure, too, that most of us reading this are not seventeen or eighteen year olds deciding what we want to do with our lives. If I were from that generation,

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-18480456230445788732010-10-01T11:37:00.000+05:302010-10-01T11:37:34.214+05:30

Stena lines, the cross Channel ferry operator, brewed a mini storm in a small British teacup recently: Director Pim de Lange said it was hard to find British seafarers “unless you want types with fat bellies and covered with tattoos”. De Lange was happy with Filipinos, who he said were “jumping after a two month holiday to work again for six months.” (I suspect his joy had more to do with the 2.2

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-73878286906668561152010-09-23T13:22:00.000+05:302010-09-23T13:22:20.887+05:30

The Indian Government has deferred the implementation of the new Direct Taxes Code Bill by a year. Just as well, because this Bill in its present form threatens both seafarer wallets and the supply of Indian mariners to the global shipping industry. I should say at the outset that the DTC, a Code that will replace the old income tax rules in India, was tabled in parliament by the Finance

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-79603914005930923052010-09-16T13:13:00.000+05:302010-09-16T13:13:12.154+05:30

Although the headlines have tended to get stuck to the twenty three million dollars Chief Engineer Ioannis Mylonakis is suing his erstwhile employers for, I am more worried about something else that the Georgios M affair has thrown up: the apparent nexus between fake whistleblowers, the Mamidakis group as owners and managers and the US authorities. There is something seriously wrong when

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-17881952860371221732010-09-09T13:14:00.002+05:302010-09-09T13:18:30.717+05:30

There will be no need, really, to bring up shipping again in this piece, because the certain impact of these events on the industry will be obvious to anybody who has not spent the last decade or two on another planet. There is a covert war in progress right now. Instigated by the US against Al Qaeda linked groups, this is not being waged just in Pakistan or Afghanistan- where, as American

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-53993481260038095182010-09-03T14:13:00.000+05:302010-09-03T14:13:54.385+05:30

Honestly, given a choice, I would not have employed about half the navigating officers that I was forced to sail with in recent times. Not that all were lousy, but too many were just not good enough. And, although I can well understand the imperative that requires that we put warm certified bodies on ships as fast as we can find them, I cannot understand why the maritime education juggernaut in

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-38042979133715424282010-08-27T06:59:00.001+05:302010-08-27T06:59:54.738+05:30

Although this piece is predicated on the Chitra collision in Mumbai, it is not my intention to judge events there; that would be presumptuous and premature. Before we jump in to condemn, as some seem to be doing already, it is worth remembering that any Master worth his salt has had his fair share of near catastrophic incidents- I certainly have had mine- and know that sometimes the difference

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-92132052238117677032010-08-19T10:13:00.000+05:302010-08-19T10:13:15.761+05:30

After the Limburg attack, part of a statement attributed to Osama Bin Laden:“By exploding the oil tanker in Yemen, the holy warriors hit the umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community...” Authorities in the UAE have confirmed that the explosion on the VLCC MStar in the Straits of Hormuz- a choke point through which around a quarter of the world’s oil passes- was caused by an external

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-81827331098699991122010-08-12T17:09:00.000+05:302010-08-12T17:09:39.316+05:30

The rape and subsequent suicide-or is it murder? - of a South African Cadet on the ‘Safmarine Kariba’ cannot be written off as an aberration. There seems to have been a pattern of sexual abuse of both female and male cadets across that particular Cadet programme. No doubt maritime lawyers will write tomes of opinions on the incident; the ship was registered in the UK, was in Croatian waters when

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-14184400294140593402010-08-05T13:21:00.000+05:302010-08-05T13:21:23.771+05:30

I almost dropped the cat when I read the headline: ‘IMO approves theme for WMD 2011’. Turns out I had panicked needlessly: WMD was World Maritime Day and apparently had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction, although one never knows with the IMO and its regulations. Anyhow, the theme for next year’s WMD, I am told, is “Piracy: Orchestrating the Response.” Hmm. Orchestrating, eh? Like

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-43191761791288719312010-07-29T17:52:00.000+05:302010-07-29T17:52:50.558+05:30

Can the maritime related industries in India’s eastern ‘Red Corridor’ thrive under the barrel of the gun? What happens to major port expansion plans when the underlying economy is in chaos? Will we see in the near future- like in tin pot dictatorships in Africa and banana republics in Latin America- ships loading and discharging in Orissa while heavily armed paramilitary forces guard gangways,

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-26007585504170530062010-07-22T14:03:00.000+05:302010-07-22T14:03:18.161+05:30

Many years ago, we had a main engine breakdown on a Ro-Ro ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean when the Technical Superintendent was on board on a routine inspection trip. As can be expected, his presence resulted in an extra flurry of activity down below. (Superintendents hate to be on the spot; this puts pressure on them to solve the problem quickly. They much prefer giving directions from

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-91090261908435047592010-07-15T13:25:00.001+05:302010-07-17T20:07:05.556+05:30

Judging by the statements that come out from many shipmanagement setups regularly, Indian seafarers had better be cautious. They are too demanding when it comes to wages, and, unless they change their avaricious ways, they will ‘price themselves out of the market’. These arguments are usually accompanied by the other old shibboleth of ship owners that have run out of better retention ideas: a

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-37870614401543145432010-07-08T14:56:00.003+05:302010-07-17T20:09:50.574+05:30

Never mind that the war is being lost: the good folk at the Manila STCW conference did what the Americans would love to do in Afghanistan and Iraq: declare victory and go home. Meanwhile, in the wake of the ‘Manila amendments’ (this nomenclature will long cause heartburn to many a presumptuous Indian) will be found the usual debris of the dashed hopes of seafarers. Bluntly put, the Manila

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-45905309713980636302010-07-01T15:26:00.000+05:302010-07-01T15:26:47.837+05:30

The disadvantages of reacting to partial sound bites from an authoritarian establishment pursuing single-minded geopolitical agendas couldn’t have been clearer: the world’s markets went into a tizzy when the Chinese central bank announced it would manage the Yuan more flexibly in future. Analysts around the world, no doubt fortified by advanced spreadsheets and financial models on their

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-48112354180265986352010-06-25T06:28:00.000+05:302010-06-25T06:28:13.170+05:30

Is the Indian shipmanning industry under serious pressure? Some of the seafarer numbers and remittance figures coming out of the Philippines make it appear so- although, in the absence of reliable Indian seafarer statistics (or indeed, any comparable statistics out of this country)- how would I know? We do not even know how many of our ratings are unemployed, though the DGS suspects enough are,

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-5990567837517230162010-06-18T12:55:00.000+05:302010-06-18T12:55:09.462+05:30

It is odd that, while the changing role of the Captain over the years has been subject to much scrutiny and debate within our industry (though not much action in terms of balancing responsibility and authority), the poor Chief Engineer’s changed fate has been ignored almost completely. His life at sea and the pressures put upon him have altered as much as the Master’s in the last quarter of a

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-22135472442304950892010-06-10T18:52:00.000+05:302010-06-10T18:52:56.748+05:30

Almost fifteen years ago, a shipping company I was sailing with asked me if I would go for two months on a ship chartered by them plying in Southeast Asia. My job, a Cargo Superintendent’s, was to oversee the operations in all the ports that she called. This was a liner service where we did our own cargo bookings and so greater involvement was required from people on board; involvement we Masters

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-85468735120481060352010-06-03T15:37:00.000+05:302010-06-03T15:37:33.801+05:30

It is quite incredible, even inexplicable, that there is so much misinformation going around in the age of the internet and cheap communication. Take CDC’s, and the confusion about that basic (and these days, essential) seafarer’s document. A google of ‘Indian CDC’ throws up 810,000 hits, the first one being the DG Shipping’s website. The NAMAC site a little lower down explains things much

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-23225744158587964942010-05-27T16:39:00.000+05:302010-05-27T16:39:05.480+05:30

Readers may also find ‘The Niger Delta, the next Somalia?” interesting – published in the same column ten months ago, in July 2009 History, as Marx would say, is repeating itself. It is now tragedy. Soon it will be farce. About a week ago, five armed men in a speedboat boarded, ransacked and beat up all the crew on board a ship at anchor in Apapa, Nigeria, in the Gulf of Guinea. Five

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-9264831970770733192010-05-22T06:10:00.003+05:302010-05-22T07:02:04.952+05:30

Something happens, usually when my cynicism is at its peak, which suggests that there is still some hope left for the seafarer. This happened last during the Hebei Spirit episode, when VShips stood beside the two officers who were obviously innocent; their eventual release from detention is as much a tribute to that firm’s tenacity and sense of fair play as anything else. VShips put their money

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-30392560801572197162010-05-14T04:58:00.000+05:302010-05-14T04:58:26.570+05:30

As I write this ten days after it exploded and sank, the Deep Water Horizon calamity, because that is exactly what it is, will be a game changer- and not just for the oil industry. We in commercial shipping may distance ourselves by making a distinction between an oil rig and a ship, but the average Joe does not, and neither will regulators and governments that look aghast at the devastation that

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-42059039915460589482010-05-06T20:26:00.000+05:302010-05-06T20:26:52.846+05:30

“The Old Man is ok,” the Filipino Chief Officer told me cryptically. “But there is a problem when he drinks with the Old Woman.” The Old Man was obviously the Captain, and the Old Woman not so obviously his wife, who was a broad shouldered thirty something year woman who was hardly old, or even frail, as I found out to my cost later. The problem, the Chief explained, was this: The couple used

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-72441728612693555762010-04-29T11:45:00.000+05:302010-04-29T11:45:23.145+05:30

Economies across the world seem to agree that the worst is behind us, although the regular sceptre of countries on the verge of financial meltdown is worrying. The impact of the Greek fiasco, with its owners controlling a large chunk of the global shipping fleet, is likely to be more deadly than earlier ones like Dubai, Iceland, Ireland and others, one would have thought. Not so, say recent

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-72866679232078535032010-04-23T18:43:00.000+05:302010-04-23T18:43:45.286+05:30

The grounding of the Shen Neng 1 in the Great Barrier Reef threatened, at one point, to become the greatest environmental disaster in Australian history, but that is not the real problem. The incident will undoubtedly result in tougher regulations, perhaps compulsory pilotage around the reef and thus increased costs for ship owners, but that is par for the course. The Shen Neng 1 is either

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-79779294048700225052010-04-15T12:41:00.000+05:302010-04-15T12:41:33.352+05:30

I must admit that I have mixed feelings about the spate of maritime news that has hit the Indian media around the National Maritime Day this year. On one hand, and as is usual, the reports was not salutary, and therefore hardly conducive to making seafaring more attractive as a career of choice; they nullified somewhat the ‘Seafaring- Career for Opportunities’ theme of the NMD. Another usual

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-22113354738901368392010-04-08T06:00:00.000+05:302010-04-08T06:00:41.551+05:30

I am of the opinion that the vastly improved communication at sea today results too often in situations where the same communication is actually detrimental to the safety of crews and ships. GMDSS requirements have resulted in superior communications at the Master’s disposal, no doubt. This enhances safety of life at sea, but much what it gives with one hand it often takes away with another.

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-60690735547384365322010-04-01T14:21:00.000+05:302010-04-01T14:21:19.936+05:30

Many moons ago, when I was in college and Mumbai was Bombay, I bought an olive green T-shirt from a hole in the wall shop in Colaba. Emblazoned on it was the invitation: “Join the army! Go to exciting new places!! Meet exciting new people and kill them!!!” Perhaps because I had flat feet and would have been rejected by the infantry anyway, I joined the merchant navy instead. At least I got to

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930241165223309819.post-28619726796017860722010-03-25T16:42:00.001+05:302010-03-25T16:43:28.127+05:30

Foreword: If there is one thing that strikes me as I compare the two maps above (the second one depicts the existence of Al Qaeda linked cells), it is that almost all the choke points for shipping are next door to countries that have a proven- and considerable- Al Qaeda franchise, including in North Africa, the Malacca Straits and Yemen. Amongst these, the Gibraltar and Malacca Straits and the

manuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877326791974408297noreply@blogger.com