Wonder if any of our Nautical Advisors, Surveyors, Shipping Masters, would go on board a ship through the Gulf of Aden . .

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/iaf-chief-flies-su30mki-to-assure-it-is-safe/213941-3.html

Pune: A week after a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter plane crashed leading to grounding of the fleet, IAF chief NAK Browne on Wednesday took an hour-long sortie in the aircraft in Pune, in an exercise aimed at restoring the confidence of pilots.

The Air Chief Marshal took off from Lohegaon air base and was accompanied by Wing Commander Anurag Sharma, Commanding Officer of the SU-30 MKI squadron, based in Pune.

Addressing the air-warriors after the sortie, Browne said, "I wanted to be here to not only fly the SU-30 MKI but also to assure you that our SU-30 fleet is in good and capable hands."

IAF had temporarily grounded the fleet of nearly 120 Russian-made Sukhois to carry out checks after an aircraft that had taken off from Lohegaon base crashed on December 13.

"The Chief has been restoring the confidence of pilots and all the air-warriors in these fighter aircraft. He personally wanted to ensure that the Sukhois are safe," an IAF spokesperson said.

Browne is on a working visit to Lohegaon base, which he had commanded as the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), from 2001 to 2003.

Stressing that the force personnel have been doing an "excellent job", the air chief said the momentum of building up the new SU-30 Squadrons needs to be maintained.

"Our people should remain our highest priority because it is then, that a cohesive team translates itself in to a success story," he said.

Officials also said that the IAF chief performed several different manouvers on the plane.

"The sortie of course had a profile and the aircraft performed several tasks during the flight," they said.

The report of the Court of Inquiry (CoI), which was ordered after the December 13 crash, is yet to come but the Sukhois resumed flying duties from Monday. Russian experts have also been called in to assist in the probe.

IAF has also deployed the Sukhoi-30 MKIs in North Eastern region as well and Browne was touring one of these bases when the crash took place.

Sukhois have been serving in the IAF for over a decade and has registered a sound safety record with only three crashes so far.

Two of these crashes took place in 1999 owing to the fly-by-wire control system, which were repaired by the force.

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I wonder what our Deck side Nautical Advisor, Engine side Chief Surveyor and for that matter the Radio Chief at DG Shipping would do if they had to sail onboard a ship in the Arabian Sea piracy affected areas?

Note what the Air Chief said:- ""Our people should remain our highest priority because it is then, that a cohesive team translates itself in to a success story,"


Have any of us in all our lives EVER heard of any of our Nautical Advisors, Engine Surveyors, Radio Surveyors, Ship-management managers, Shipowners even SAY ANYTHING remotely like this, leave alone DO anything about this.


A few steps away from the office of the DG Shipping is the office of the Shipping Master and MMD. A few days ago I received feedback of what was going on there, as well as a video clip of the "activities" therein, and am currently taking legal opinion and permissions on posting the video online because the building also houses some Defence offices and there is the issue of the identity of the person involved. That should take a few days, because this is only for safety's sake, and the issue of prohibiting photography at Government Offices or premises of Public Authorities was taken care of me a few years ago in context with photography at airports and in airplanes - the DGCA subsequently issued a circular saying it was permitted here:- http://dgca.nic.in/manuals/Procedure%20Manual%20for%20Regulation%20and%20Information%20Directorate.pdf

Take a look at Chapter 11.

Why is taking photographs of illegal activities on ships and in shipping offices so important?

Well, from the seafarer's point of view, simple:- take a look at how the crew members (Master and 2nd Officer) of the RENA are looking forward to 7 years in jail for "altering records".

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/12/21/Rena-crew-faces-new-charges-after-spill/UPI-33011324473801/

Which Merchant seafarer has not altered records at some stage or the other, and will be backed up by the unknown owner for doing so?

All parts of a larger puzzle - and the solution lies at the DG Shipping office's doorsteps. They HAVE to start walking the talk on caring for their seafarers first - just like the IAF Chief did.

Technocrats are of no value after some time, if all they do is warm chairs, and prefer to be surrounded by sycophants.

++++

A blacklist of defaulting owners and shipmanagement agencies is the need of the day

Here's a report which should interest most seafarers, who face such issues on a regular basis, I wonder if DG Shipping has done anything about it so far?

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-09/pune/28241398_1_ship-owner-sailors-navy-officer

Rs 1.5 cr compensation awarded to ex-merchant navy officer

TNN Dec 9, 2010, 05.04am IST

 

PUNE: Deepak Divekar, a former merchant navy officer, has been awarded compensation of Rs 1.56 crore by the Arbitral Tribunal of Justice S C Pratap, following a judgment in his favour on Oct 30, 2010 vis a vis his former employer, Kuwaiti shipping company United Arab Shipping Company and its shipping agent Killick Marine Services Ltd.

The company had allegedly blacklisted him following allegations of drunken misbehaviour, unprofessionalism and causing communal disquiet while on board. Divekar said he intends using the money to set up a trust fund to provide legal aid for similarly-affected sailors who remain unemployed after a shipping company blacklists them.

Addressing a news conference here on Friday, Divekar, who was subsequently forced' to quit his shipping career for lack of employment, said that the allegations of unprofessionalism came after he opposed the decision of his captain to purchase 100 MT of non-potable water while on board M V IBN Abdoun at Statia terminal in the vicinity of the Caribbean islands in 2000. "The water was unfit for human consumption, as was subsequently proved by the fact that two other officers, apart from myself, as well as crew members like the bosun and fitter suffered from severe stomach problems," he said. Repatriation at the next port (which was in Russia) was not possible.

The vessel arrived in India on Sept 27, 2000, said Divekar. "Though I requested the shipping agent, Killick Marine Services Ltd, for help, I was refused it. I had no option but to seek medical help on my own, despite the terms of the contract that if an officer is signed off on medical grounds, it is the duty of the ship owner - in this case, the United Arab Shipping Company - to reimburse the amount."

Following this episode, Divekar says he could not get a job with any company, as the company charged him with drunken misbehavior, unprofessionalism and causing communal disquiet while on board. "The mental grief this caused my family was immense. I was also at a wit's end with regard to fulfilling my responsibilities towards my ailing parents, sick wife and young son," he said. "To earn a living, I was subsequently forced to cash in on my resemblance to Pakistani general Pervez Musharraf. This bagged me some acting roles, but this is not what I am trained for."

The arbitration between the company and its agent as respondents, and Divekar as claimant lasted eight years. "In a decade, I have aged 25 years. There's no question of a career at sea for me, any more. However, I hope this trust fund will help hapless sailors like myself who face the wrath of a powerful employer without adequate defence for want of funds," he said.

What's the real nutrition on the food you get on ships lately??

http://www.moneylife.in/article/development-and-free-marketsmdashdoes-it-mean-mncs-will-sell-us-back-our-water/20197.html

Healthy low-cost food and natural water to consume are important for all of us. Is there a conspiracy to force us Indians, in the name of "development" and "growth", to consume more and more unhealthy food and beverages?


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Especially important from the point of view of food served on board - increasingly not healthy, nutrition unknown.  Please read this and escalated to your company, manager and others respondible.

what's quality of life like in your experience, onboard?

Recent developments in mercantile maritime matters worldwide, certainly when in the so-called developed countries and possibly also elsewhere, wherever IMO's writ allegedly runs, tend to also bring out two aspects, neglected or simply getting worse without contest, for far too long:-

1) The quality of life onboard, including accomodation, food, recreational facilities, communication/internet and safe manning. Add to that the kind of care given by the owners for small things like cabin linen/towels, and you get the idea.

2) The real truth behind the ownership and operation of the ship including beneficiary ownerships as well as other details often kept hidden from complement and port state authorities. This is having impacts on seafarers way beyond simple criminalisation.

In other words, it is even more important now than ever before, to be aware of as much as possible before signing up to go onboard a ship. Even if you have been with the company for a long time. Things are changing very rapidly in the real world, and working for the shipping fleets, especially those registered in offshore tax havens, is not as simple as it used to be - matter of fact it is, to give an example, as dangerous as taking a lift on a dark night in an unregistered can going through certain parts of India.

This writer has come across more than a few cases lately, where seafarers suffered because they didn't take basic precautions in advance, and here are some which stand out:-

# Reach on board and discover that cabin accomodation on what was obviously a very shoddily built ship meant that even the top-4 officers shared a toilet. Which may not sound like a terribly bad deal, but what makes it worse is if the single toilet itself keeps packing up all the time, and simply can not get fixed.

# The messing onboard was on some 500/- rupees or equivalent per day pattern, which worked fine as long as the supplies were taken from the more reasonable parts of the world. However, stranded alongside in a port where there was a civil war ashore meant the sum of money did not really manage to do the needful, and for some time the Master went out of pocket till he signed off.

# The actual hidden beneficiary ownership of a particular ship was traced back to a person whose nationality and pending issues were not acceptable in a port the ship called. After some time the ship was released and sailed on, but the Master was held back, in jail, for about 7 months before he was able to buy his own wy out by himself.

# There are, ofcourse, increasingly more frequent cases of owners abandoning vessel and complement on board, not just due to piracy but also for a variety of other reasons. This happens through registered and unregistered agents, and you can not expect too much help from the authorities in such cases.

It is, therefore, increasingly apparent that you as Indian seafarers will have to look after your own interests. Make your own checklist before you sign on the dotted line, or stick with the well reputed companies, which have adherences and policies way better than what the authorities require of them. They may not pay as much, or may be more stringent on documentation and qualifications, but in the forthcoming turbulence in the shipping world and world overall - certainly worth it.

My view on piracy at sea - from India

Already published here, and there are a whole lot of other articles on this and other maritime subjects published there so do visit the good people at Idarat:-

http://www.idaratmaritime.com/wordpress/?p=317

As an ex-seafarer with a mosaic career ashore, spanning media, shipping, technology, politics, banking, as well as bouts of unemployment, every now and then – and now looking at going back to sea, if possible to write a book, it is difficult not to end up having an informed view and an opinion which is at variance with the views of many others, who have not had a similar variety of exposure. This is especially so when one sits down for longish evenings with shippie buddies, the sailing types as well as those ashore, variously. Some may call it arrogance. Others may refer to it as cynical. Those who know me will recognise the concept of battening down the hatches before sailing out of port. But yes, the fact remains, the big topic lately when old salts meet in India is more often than not, through the evening – piracy; and the criminalisation of seafarers. This has moved up, incidentally, ahead of last year’s favourite which used to be fatigue.
In other segments of society – and living in Delhi, there aren’t too many people with a grip on matters maritime beyond the random holiday on the coast or the once in a lifetime cruise – much of the perception of piracy is courtesy of a couple of very shrill television news (noise) channels with the usual bunch of sad crying elderly relatives and hysterical vapid young people with microphones in their hand. The reactions here are really not very relevant, either, which in a way also passes judgement on the Save our Seafarers movement which is aimed at trying to evoke public pressure. Face it – an average of 11 people die every day on Mumbai’s local train tracks – this is India’s premier city – and it has never made a difference to, or put any pressure on, the other 20 million there.
The point is this, and at the risk of sounding very cruel, there are a variety or realities at play here on the subject of piracy and risk to health; as well as other such terrible things to cargo and cargo owner interests, also the shipowners, in and around the Indian Ocean. This short article shall try and address them as well as try and place things in a way that may make sense to a largely European audience and readership. Without in any way being condescending, supercilious or patronising – or expecting others to be so too. However, all are requested to remember that when a ship went down anywhere in the world, a bell used to be rung at Lloyd’s – but today the calculators come out to figure out the bottom line in accounts – often before the hull touches the bottom of the ocean.
So, first off, right off the bat – and I have reconfirmed this from a friend who is the boss of a very large ship management company, and who has first-hand experience of his ships being held up off the Horn of Africa. When you increase wages, place higher insurance cover for the humans, underwrite suitable death and disability benefits, and cover the family for wages for the duration. And there will thenbe long lines of prospective applicants, certified or otherwise, outside recruitment offices from Mumbai to Marseilles, Shanghai to Salalah. Please accept and understand, that those who even imagine that piracy is causing a shortage of potential seafarers do not understand the economic realities in many parts of the world. Incidentally, this was not an original thought even when Joseph Heller wrote Catch-22.
Next, most real seafarers are still in “the sky is falling on our heads” position, when they are not surveying deckheads horizontally, they’ve been hit so often and so badly in the past that the reality of piracy does not strike them, it cannot happen to me. People coming back after being released from months under pirate control vanish off the radar rapidly – and many don’t get jobs at sea again for a variety of reasons. Yes, there are a few survivors hanging around the clubs and offices waiting to score a beer, or some money, while they relate and re-tell their tales, but they are simply not making the numbers and the right kind of waves. It is a bit like the family relative who has a sad story, is disfigured and ugly as well as full of woe, we all feel sorry for him, but we would rather not have him ride in our car to the family get together.
And thirdly, not just here in India, but in many other parts of the world, fatalism comes with the territory, as does tunnel vision. This, again, is something that the present generation of perception makers in the West with their quaint black and white notions on selective human rights (Libya Dictator bad man, Saudi Dictator good man) do not seem to get to grips with. Kismet plays a large part in our lives, and nothing seems to take this option further than being at sea on substandard ships sailing at reduced optimal manning levels, so what can a couple of pirates do that an FOC rust-bucket can’t. Be aware, there are jobs being offered on “LPSV” (Large Pirate Support Vessels) in some ports in Asia, and people apparently accept. Just like young men from this part of the world accepted jobs as cleaners and cooks in Afghanistan and Iraq – it didn’t matter to them which side they worked on as long as the money reached home.
Right and wrong, pirate and banker, these are shades of grey which do not cut much moral ice with many people. They would love to be what are called investment bankers, but failing that, they see no reason in not putting similar skillsets at work for what is called piracy, too. Listen to “Ride Across the River” by Dire Straits, who sang it very well, indeed.
Having got this off my chest, another truth is this – things are changing now. There are people who simply refuse to want to go back on deep-sea voyages ex-India anymore. One indication of this is that the lower-paying, fully-taxed, jobs on coastal ships are suddenly full. No more room, thank you – and ‘till a year ago, you couldn’t get healthy people with two or three working limbs and decent eyesight to go near some of these coastal ships in India. That’s a solid truth, too.
Which brings us to the Government, currently busy pretending they don’t know that others know, that they know who actually whacked and hid somewhere in Europe on a small island or similar, what sounds like the total of all national turnover revenues since the British left – and therefore expect everybody to continue believing that the British are still responsible. It is very difficult to explain to our Government in India that even the British don’t believe that Cameron or Major before him had the skills to be able to do so. But we digress; we need to get back to the pirate kind of pirates, not our friendly colonial versions and their cohorts back home.
I am therefore directed to inform you, in triplicate, that the Government of India is currently busy passing the buck. Frankly, that is how it has always been, committees are appointed, reports sought and distributed and modified and discussed and opined on, mostly ending with a sumptuous dinner for all including the drivers. The Shipping Ministry issues notifications and adds another day to the SSO course that shippies on board are supposed to wave at the pirates; the Defence guys have their ships out there, but distractions like Libya have them racing up and down Suez like Iranian butter, and the External Affairs Minister rattled off Portugal’s speech the last time he went to the United Nations, so we know what he’s got upstairs is probably better than the khat the pirates chew.
But yes, the Government will do something someday soon, we just don’t know what and how, since it is probably an important secret matter of State impacting security so as honest citizens we are supposed to drink our tulsi ka juice and go to sleep in the corner, Government has said it will all be OK, it is OK. Not for nothing was George Orwell born in Motihari, Bihar, India. Truly, Big Brother’s best hope has been to officially hope that the pirates will have a change of heart towards Indian citizens currently in their captivity. In any case, who told them to go to work on ships; couldn’t they have stayed back and voted? Or paid bribes. Or something.
And then there are the shipowners. Here’s how it goes – the silence from Indian shipowners has always been and is even now, resounding. They have an association; it is called INSA, short for Indian National Shipowner’s Association. Their charter has not changed since they were formed, and it had more to do with disagreeing with the Government from London those days, to try and benefit Indian shipping. The Brits have come and gone, we hope, but INSA is still disagreeing with Government. Anyways, they are a strange bunch, and so we really don’t expect to hear much from them on the subject of countering piracy. Other than the dinner after the meetings, of course, somebody has to pay the bills.
Which leaves – nobody, Nil, Nada. Nobody else cares about things.
Wait – one lot does. There is always the grapevine to take into account and usually they are also closest to the truth.
And the grapevine says that this is no longer piracy. Nor is it somebody’s idea on how to collect tolls and taxes.
The grapevine says that the larger money managing corporates of the world have got into the game. As of now the skillsets are being refined in and around the Horn of Africa – but once finessed, the next locations could be anywhere. South Med, Malacca, South China Sea, East Africa, West Africa, Bay of Bengal – even the North Sea, remember the amazing case of the “Arctic Sea”, anybody? After all, I did say I had a background in technology – and that was in the payment processing industry. Some of what I have uncovered is not in any way different from the way, for example, some types of legit businesses make and move money on the flesh and porn business. Or the way multiple small remittances are moved across borders for making payments in the narcotics business. In billions of dollars every year.
Piracy in the Indian Ocean is increasingly another form of business rapidly going legit by simply being there. And seafarers have always been Giffen goods, replaceable, that’s the truth too.

More collisions off Mumbai Harbour!!!

As already published at MONEYLIFE . . .

http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/13600.html

The Nordlake, Sea Eagle and Vindhyagiri fiasco: An accident waiting to happen, but we will continue shipping in troubled waters

February 02, 2011 10:12 AM | 
Veeresh Malik

Certainly, the concept of duly mandated "rest hours" does exist-and it is the responsibility also of the Port State Control to ensure and see that this is adhered to—but then, at a port like JNPT, where berths are always congested, that would mean losing business while the ship's crew rested prior departure.

Are we tired of these repeated accidents outside Mumbai Harbour? Well, somebody had better start seeing, very soon, how tired the ship's crew are when they sail in and out of Mumbai.

The typical work schedule for crew and officers on a container ship calling Mumbai Port would be something like this:

An ocean-going ship would start port approach procedures, which typically requires all hands to be on specific multiple duties, at least four hours prior raising land. Add another 2-3 hours in the final approach, and then maybe a few hours at anchor, waiting for a pilot.

If weather is bad, or there is no room to anchor, then slow-speed steaming at full alert-since there is other traffic as well. Then, head towards the pilot pick-up point, another 2-3 hours of slow steaming, which is like trying to do a ballet in treacle. Pick up the pilot, another 2-4 hours before you tie up alongside your berth.

The shore unloading gangs don't even wait for the gangway to touch land before they start working the ship—which has to be turned around, typically, in less than 24 hours. During that time, the Master and crew have to handle a host of shore authorities, each more "demanding" than the others, and also look after stuff like running repairs, picking up stores, go through mandated security and life-saving/fire-fighting drills, and multiple other tasks.

In addition, bunkers have to be taken, surveyors and company staff have to be attended to, there is always some number of people signing off and signing on, handing over and taking charge-and all the while, cargo is being simultaneously unloaded and loaded-especially on container ships. Papers are being signed blindly, phone calls to family and friends, since the ship is now "in range", when else will you download your personal mail and answer it.

Safe to say, most people will not have had a wink for about 36-48 hours, when the ship is ready to sail out—and that's going to take another 4-8 hours of close quarters navigation. Interim, one has not had time to go ashore even for an idli or a batata-vada-leave alone catch up on shopping or the rest of the world.

And once you are out of Mumbai harbour, within a few minutes actually, you are smack in the middle of oil-field territory. More work, more proceed with caution, and more fatigue. Clear Bombay High, and now you are in pirate territory-more doubling up of watches and extra work, as well as lookout duties.

It would be interesting to see if one could get hold of the time-sheets for the Nordlake and the Sea Eagle. The truth behind this accident, amongst other truths, probably also lies within those fudged numbers, as it lies in other records being rapidly fudged all over.

And meanwhile, since trying to explain why shipping accidents happen outside Mumbai so frequently seems to be not so easy, this report ends with another quote from Lewis Carroll:

"When you are describing A shape, or sound, or tint; Don't state the matter plainly, But put it in a hint; And learn to look at all things With a sort of mental squint."

(Veeresh Malik started and sold a couple of companies, is now back to his first love-writing-and is also involved actively in helping small and midsize family-run businesses re-invent themselves).
+++

Why are shipping accidents happening with alarming frequency around Mumbai? Here’s a lowdown from the deck, at close quarters

""But I don't want to go among mad people," said Alice. "Oh, you can't help that," said the cat. "We're all mad here."" (Lewis Carroll)

This would have been funny in the context of ships colliding like so many bumpy cars at a fun fair, if it had not been for the fact that one of them was an Indian Navy warship with families onboard, and of all things on a day when the headman of the Royal British Navy was also in town visiting. But, as an ex-seafarer, this is about as close as it gets to the truth vis-à-vis the macabre state of affairs with matters maritime, in and around Mumbai lately.

The actual and real truth on what really happened off Sunk Rock, outside Mumbai Harbour, will probably never come out. The ships and those connected will not be the only casualties, since truth already has taken the leading role there, and obfuscation shall certainly follow suit. Certainly, there shall be enquiries, and in all likelihood licences and certificates of competency will be suspended as far as the merchant ships Nordlake and the Sea Eagle are concerned.

In addition, the Indian Navy is bound to take some sort of steps towards trying to find out why one of their warships, the Mazagaon Docks built Vindhyagiri is now taking sounding, when it should have by rights been floating peacefully—waiting to be decommissioned next year, incidentally.

But first, some interesting sidelights on the Vindhyagiri itself-a Leander Class frigate built under licence for the Indian Navy, based on a design that evolved from as early as 1931. The Pakistani Navy had a few too-though they decommissioned the last of theirs, the Zulfikar in 2007. The Brits themselves decommissioned theirs in the '90s, mainly due to the ship's dated design and high running costs. To say the least, these were Indian Navy ships which could be called obsolete, even before they were launched in the '80s. But then, that's never prevented those who decide these things from buying obsolete ships, or building them.

So what happened off Mumbai harbour, then, on Sunday evening? One ship sank, one stands arrested and one more may find itself in trouble soon. That's one part.

Here it makes some sense to take a little diversion, and refer to the Capt PVK Mohan report on the aftermath of the MSC Chitra and Khalija III collision, August 2010 off Mumbai. Constituted by the ministry of shipping, it made some very relevant and pithy recommendations, including the core issue of communications and vessel traffic control in and around Mumbai. It also made some more recommendations about the lack of communication between the various authorities involved in ensuring the safety of navigation and allied services along the Indian Coast.

Sadly, recommendations of such reports are not binding on anybody, and so—truth be told—everybody does pretty much what they feel like in the channel off Mumbai harbour. This is old tradition from well before the days when the Patricia simply "ran away" from Bombay port in 1974—to start a new chapter in international shipping. That is the first truth, while the blame game has just about begun, with the Indian Navy declaring its innocence even before any sort of formal enquiry has begun. Everybody talks, very few listen, and nobody takes any cogent action. And the guilty who are smarter just run away, every time, to rule the waves another day.

The second truth is that there seems to be no control over lifeboat capacity and number of people onboard Indian Navy ships on family day events like this. Certainly, there may have been exemptions, and there are traditions for such days out—but in this day and age, one would have expected that some precautions of the Life Saving Appliances sort would have been taken—like making the wearing of life-jackets compulsory for all those families on deck. Or controlling alcohol on board, too.

As seafarers, we know ours is the second most dangerous profession in the world, but we have no right to expose our families to the same—regardless. If nothing else, an enquiry on this aspect—of how there were almost 700 people on a ship rated for about 300—needs to be held and corrective action taken. The writer needs to make it very clear that loss of life was a real danger in both incidents, in August 2010 and now in January 2011, and it is only good luck as well as better seamanship on the part of the rescuers that ensured lives were not lost.

The third truth is that ships behave very strangely in narrow channels, especially when in close proximity to other ships—and in this case there were at least three ships involved in navigating in a complicated manner at very close quarters to each other. Two were cargo ships, container ships in this instance, with not the best of responsiveness—and difficult to handle inside restricted waters.

Also, since they can move relatively fast, and are on tight schedules—prone to and apt to over-speed when approaching and leaving ports, is Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

There is no single rule that governs matters in such cases. The "Rules of the Road", as applicable to vessels, are suitably complicated enough to provide for multiple interpretations. What makes it even more complicated is that Naval ships by sovereign rights are often a law unto themselves when operating in national waters—and it is a wise merchant seafarer, as well as one who will have a longer career, who gives any and every Naval ship a very wide berth. Always. Respect as well as safety. In my days at sea, we would slow down when passing naval ships, and dip our ensigns in salute.

And stay very far from them.

Now we start treading in dangerous waters—and that is that basic skill-sets in navigation and ship-handling are not exactly at the top of the pyramid when assessing the capabilities and possible future career graph of Indian Navy Executive Branch officers. As a matter of simple fact, officers ex-Indian Navy have to, rightly or wrongly, go through the full procedure to acquire their Certificates of Competencies to sail onboard Merchant Ships—which says it all.

There is a reason for this fourth truth—deck side nautical branch seafarers on Merchant Ships spend a large part of their time simply doing what has to be done-which is, navigating ships. On fighting naval ships, however, there are a whole host of other things to do—and navigation is often left to people to handle on a turn-by-turn basis. It is like driving a bus every day, or driving it once a month—by the end of it, you know who is the better driver, who knows the routes better, the whole nine yards.

Now we come to what could possibly be the real cause of such accidents—not just a fifth of the drop that cheers, which could also be a cause especially when approaching or leaving a port, or maybe even on "family days", but the fifth and most important truth—ego.

Yes, ego plays a big part in marine accidents of the "who will give way to whom" sort. If you have seen truck drivers arguing on crowded narrow roads on who will give way, you get an idea. Except that ours, at sea, are worse.

And further except for the fact that here we are talking of thousands of tonnes worth of inertia, all of them without brakes or immediate steering responses, playing chicken and sometimes even ship-rage in congested waters. It gets worse in clear visibility-in fog, or at night, with reduced visibility, at least, there is caution all around.

The airwaves around ports, or wherever ships tend to congregate, are full of "you give way", "no, I will not give way, I am deep draught, restricted in my ability to manoeuvre". Or maybe plain simple arrogant and cussed. Like, "I am from an ancient European seafaring heritage, so you native, you give way." True. This happens, too.

The seventh cause, unsubstantiated though darkly hinted on, is that there was an attempt on the part of the one ship to "get close" so that people could have a  better look and, this invites disbelief-wave at the people on the other ship. Certainly, waving at people on ships passing by has been a tradition—but you did it while watching them using binoculars. You did not pelt on converging or head-on or close quarters courses. Never.

However, when essential, if ships have to pass close to each other—as they do in narrow channels in their thousands everyday—then you don't wave. You call them up on radio, or you take guidance from shore-traffic management services, and you decide well in advance what actions you are going to take. Or you simply take action to stay well clear till you are well and truly past them. And then, afterwards, maybe you wave. In relief.

Behind every truth, however, lies a deeper cause. And the root cause for this sort of episode is that our older seaports have almost no accountability left in their functioning anymore. This has a trickle-down effect, and amongst those aspects that get impacted are the pilotage services, nowhere worse than with the centuries old Bombay Pilots. On one side you have a distinct drop in the levels of professionalism. On the other side is also the fact that navigation in and around Mumbai is all the more difficult because of the large number of wrecks dotting the area—and the vast increase in the amount of all sorts of traffic.

On a deadlier note is the simple fact that there is hardly any real re-evaluation of skill-sets once a person becomes a harbour pilot-revalidation of certificates of competencies are a simple paper formality without any real review or re-appraisal. Once a pilot, always a pilot—and in case of an accident, the old law is that the pilot was there ostensibly only in an advisory capacity.

In reality what happens is like this—a pilot boards an outbound or inbound ship, and has hardly any time to figure out the vessel's characteristics—or on how she will behave in varying conditions of depth, wind, current, sea, swell, speed, traffic, visibility and the rest of it-before moving to handle it in the most delicate and complicated part of its voyage. The crew onboard the ships has had a long day, and cannot wait to see the pilot off, before getting on with the rest of the ocean voyage or getting into port—and the pilot is in a hurry to disembark and get along with his life too.

Look deeper behind most maritime casualty or incident reports lately, and invariably the word "fatigue" creeps in, with the only profession in the world where a 100-hour week is mandated as legitimate. And worse—if the seniors are fatigued, which they certainly are while making or leaving port, then the rest are worse off. One true and simple side-effect of fatigue is that you cannot recognise the signs of fatigue in others.

And that's what the grapevine really tells us—that the officers and crew on both the merchant ships, the Nordlake and Sea Eagle, were extremely tired, and as a result made serious errors of judgement.

Moneylife » Life » Public Interest » The Nordlake, Sea Eagle and Vindhyagiri fiasco: An accident waiting to happen, but we will continue shipping in troubled waters   The Nordlake, Sea Eagle and Vindhyagiri fiasco: An accident waiting to happen, but we will continue shipping in troubled waters February 02, 2011 10:12 AM | Veeresh Malik