November 19, 2012

I don't like petitions

..but I have just signed my first one, at the MV Iceberg I Mariner's Action Group page HERE
I have also become a member of that group.

I have done so because the folk behind that group are seamen, a breed I instinctively - and unsurprisingly- trust, and they are trying hard to help the Iceberg I hostages- something almost all of us reading this are not doing.

I request you to give it some thought and sign the petition/join up there as a member. Many of us- seamen- are cynical about our industry, weary with the crap dished out to us, feel powerless to change anything, and feel that a petition will accomplish nothing. I know I usually do.

But this is not about you or me. This is about the crew of the Iceberg and their horror.

So please think about it. What if those good folk at the MAG get a million signatures on the petition? Something may be finally done then to save those hostages, innit?

In any case, you have nothing to lose if you sign except your cynicism.

.





2 comments:

Reid Sprague said...

Dear Manu,

Appreciate your well-expressed support, and your signature on the petition. Inertia and cynicism will always take their toll - I'm sure despots depend on that - but it's refreshing to see how energizing optimism & hope can be! I hope many take that away from your message.

I hope you don't mind my using your blog post to try to energize MAG followers on Facebook and on the MAG website. Thanks for fighting for the MV Iceberg 1 hostages. I look at them and think, "They could be any of us!" And I know you do, too. Most of us have sailed through that part of the world, or know someone who does.

Mariners Action Group has a member - a ship captain & one of our founders - who travels through those waters regularly. I know he thinks of the MV Iceberg 1 hostages every trip. It's a short step for him to end up in their shoes! Let's hope that mariners worldwide adopt that point of view and support these men, and the many others who are held captive along with them. Thanks again for supporting them!

Reid

manu said...

Reid,

Least I can do.

Please use this post- and any others here- in any way that you find useful.

I did more than a few months on a permanent run between Port Sudan, Hodeidah, Aden, Mukalla (last three all in Yemen), Dar Es Salaam and Mombasa. Always in the kill zone. I know how it feels- as do so many others.