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Thursday 29 September 2011

Life onboard a merchant ship - a true exchange

Mails exchanged with a batchmate and friend . . . after my 6 days on a ship after 29 years:-

Me:- ""The big difference is that we used to have "after work time" for socialising, now it seems we don't have it. You work, then you work some more, and then you collapse with fatigue. When do you read books, socialise, listen to music, eat food as a means of exchanging conversation?Where is the space for intellectual evolution??""

Batchmate:- ""Believe me there is no time. For instance today I am at Mumbai inner anchorage and have been awake for almost 36 Hrs, because of port arrivals and other formalities, followed by  so many inspections and surveys going on. To top it up I have 11 persons from my Technical office which incidentally is in Mumbai. Even though I have shore pass but there is no time to go ashore, I can see the tall buildings of Mumbai and enjoy. Life on board with this e mail system has become really sad as people want instant replies and solutions. Guess it is the same story for people working ashore. All the best take care and keep writing.""

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And we want to try to attract the best of the best to the Merchant Navy??

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(This has been one of the most popular posts on this blog . . . I guess maritime fatigue and inhuman conditions on board ships tell??)

3 comments:

  1. would that be merely because of bad (/lack of) time management, you think?

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  2. I don't think it is bad time management, but it is more about overload of work, simple as that. VM

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  3. thats y i left merchant navy it sucks
    wrk frm 0400 hrs till 2100hrs
    horrible

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