mv RENA conviction-attacking the symptoms, not the disease

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/union-calls-overhaul-after-rena-sentencing/5/125220

Cheapest FOCs with overworked 3rd world crews are NOT the solution.

Friday, 1 June, 2012 - 15:47

The Maritime Union is calling for a complete overhaul of New Zealand shipping policy to avoid a repeat of the Rena disaster.

Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Joe Fleetwood says the main problem is that New Zealand desperately needs a shipping policy.

Mr Fleetwood says the jailing of the Rena's Master and Mate was a case of attacking the symptom but not the disease of deregulated Flag of Convenience shipping (Editorial note: see more information about Flag of Convenience shipping below).

"The approach for the last generation has been for Government to abdicate its responsibility to ensure standards in the maritime industry."

As long as Flag of Convenience shipping was given a "free ride" in New Zealand waters, Rena style incidents were "almost guaranteed".

"The surprising thing is how long it took for a shipping disaster of this type to happen, not that it did happen."

Mr Fleetwood says the Australian Government this week passed Shipping Reform Package bills to regenerate Australian owned and Australian crewed shipping.

New Zealand, by contrast, was still locked into failed deregulation policies from the 1980s.

"Do we need more Rena style disasters to get the same action on merchant shipping in our waters?"

Mr Fleetwood says the reintroduction of cabotage (giving priority to New Zealand owned and crewed shipping) was now back on the agenda following the Australian developments.

He says that it was extremely disturbing that a maritime trading nation like New Zealand was now completely dependent on global shipping lines and Flag of Convenience vessels.

"We need a New Zealand shipping line to ensure our maritime and economic security."

There were a number of other basic changes that could be easily made to rapidly improve safety in the industry, such as the mandatory use of dedicated shipping lanes, which could have prevented the Rena disaster.

Greater regulation of shipping was required to monitor fatigue, safety standards, and the condition of vessels.

"The crew are under enormous pressure for faster turnarounds from the owners. In this environment, errors and bad judgement will continue."

Increasing the liability on the owners and charterers of vessels was obviously required.

The Maritime Union had also lobbied the Government previously to the Rena Disaster for the provision of a quick response vessel to assist for shipping or offshore oil and gas industry emergencies.

Mr Fleetwood says the deregulated and "toxic" competition in the entire maritime industry was responsible for many problems in shipping and ports.

He says the recent moves to remove foreign flagged charter vessels from the New Zealand fishing industry were an acknowledgement of the crisis in the wider maritime industry.

The changes had vindicated a long running campaign by the Union to get the fishing industry cleaned up.

The problems experienced with Flag of Convenience shipping in New Zealand waters had many similarities, and had to be dealt with in the same way.

Mr Fleetwood says the Maritime Union welcomed the growing political support for New Zealand shipping from opposition parties.

What is Flag of Convenience (FOC) shipping?

A flag of convenience ship is one that flies the flag of a country other than the country of ownership.

Cheap registration fees, low or no taxes and freedom to employ cheap labour are the motivating factors behind a shipowner's decision to 'flag out'.

Some of these registers have poor safety and training standards, and place no restriction on the nationality of the crew. Sometimes, because of language differences, seafarers are not able to communicate effectively with each other, putting safety and the efficient operation of the ship at risk.

In many cases these flags are not even run from the country concerned.

Once a ship is registered under an FOC many shipowners then recruit the cheapest labour they can find, pay minimal wages and cut costs by lowering standards of living and working conditions for the crew.

Globalisation has helped to fuel this rush to the bottom. In an increasingly fierce competitive shipping market, each new FOC is forced to promote itself by offering the lowest possible fees and the minimum of regulation. In the same way, ship owners are forced to look for the cheapest and least regulated ways of running their vessels in order to compete, and FOCs provide the solution.

A Master Mariner speaks out about fishing on the Indian coast . . .

Identity protected by request. Comments welcome:-

BTW: That article in Moneylife about another incident of loss of fishermen's lives off Kerala - I wish there would be some scathing reportage on the manner in which the fishing boats are allowed to operate. They display lights that are anything but Colreg compliant. They jam VHF frequencies with their ceaseless chatter seriously interfering with watchkeepers concentration and ability to send out/ listen in on safety/distress traffic. They always want/claim right of way - even when they are not engaged in fishing and thus are just power driven vessels. They cut across bows with gay abandon giving heart attacks to young OOW's who may have been given strict CPA's to maintain by Masters in their standing/nigt orders.

There is not a single 'no-fishing' zone established at the entrances by any of the coastal state governments for any of our busy ports. Mumbai port approaches are a nightmare for navigation due to the clutter of fishing boats. The DGS shrugs its shoulders (in reality it has no powers over fishing vessels and near coastal and inland waterways vessels). Coastal admins do not enforce even the basic requirements e.g. radar reflectors, proper nav lights, clear display of registry and name (so that ships can report violations), they do not publicise the means of lodging complaints e.g. contact details and address of office responsible etc - against navigation rule violations.

It's a mess. Those guys getting run over - they asked for it. I have no sympathy for them - having faced inumerable anxious moments myself in my career. All this whine they give about nav lights being costly or radar reflectors or painting their boats brightly (for better visual detection) is bunk. Or claiming that they have the right to impede safe navigation in constrained waters (e.g. port entrance zones) when they clearly know that the freighters too have every right to navigate in safety.

+++

This is the article referred to:-

http://www.moneylife.in/article/maritime-incidents-involving-fishermenmdasha-deeper-issue-impacting-our-global-economic-status/24024.html

+++

More of my stuff here:-

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Diary-of-a-Divorced-Delhi-Male/
http://matescabin.blogspot.com/
http://joyroc.blogspot.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vm2827/

India Maritime Week 2012 -

India Maritime Week was held in Delhi from the 17th through 21st of January 2012. Organised by Gateway Media of Singapore and Hyderabad. Here's my report, as carried first at MoneyLife:-

http://moneylife.in/article/the-deeper-message-from-the-india-maritime-week/23271.html

The deeper message from the India Maritime Week

http://www.indiamaritimeweek.com/

January 28, 2012 08:20 AM |
Veeresh Malik

The participants at the IMW were reminded that if they wanted the freedom to grow, they had it, and there was no point in simply bringing up old issues. The approach was that the IMW heralded a solution oriented future, and was not going to be the complaint centre

There is a theory doing the rounds in the backrooms of power in India, quietly gaining strength with those for whom national interest takes precedence over anything else, that the Bombay-Calcutta axis of commercial power enhanced by the alignments of maritime trade as elevated in the post-Mughal colonial eras is about to self-destruct and implode into a natural end. This may not be very palatable to many, but then the truth is usually anything but bitter, and is more than wishful thinking by rival ports and cities and the people behind them which have come from literally the deep blue ocean and taken large chunks of cargo away from these two traditional city-ports.

Witness the following winds of change, globally and in India, as weather-vane indicators:

• Large historically strong port-cities from powerful nations worldwide have re-invented themselves as banking and trading centres as the physical ports themselves have moved away. Examples —London, New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Tokyo and even Shanghai. However, they have also re-invested vast sums of money in building up the support infrastructure to make themselves global cities. Can we say the same of Kolkata or Mumbai, which have more or less, simply changed their names? Can the Kolkata or Mumbai Port Trust start to try to emulate the methods adopted with changing times by, for example, the Port of New York Authority, which has become a huge infrastructure company now known as the “Port Authority of New York and New Jersey”?
• Vast chunks of the commercial aspects of shipping have moved to inland cities like Toronto, Geneva, New Delhi and some inland cities in the states of Connecticut and Virginia in the US. Even land-locked Mongolia is emerging as a maritime registry of some clout. Within India, shippers and customers inland now often have the upper hand over the ports, shipping lines and agents, which also dictates not just cost control, but also timelines demanded of the shipping industry. Shippers from upcountry inland centres who had to go and beg for everything they wanted in port cities even as recently as 10 years ago, will and do demand real-time solutions in their own town, or will simply not use those ports again.
• Within the Indian context, the states which appear to be racing ahead with building ports and allied inland infrastructure are Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Industry as well as consumption is already following them. The realities with Mumbai/Maharashtra andKolkata/West Bengal and their satellite ports are there for all to see, in comparison, which is sad, no doubt, but as put forward by one of the speakers, “time and tide waits for no-one”. Broadly, a clarion call has gone out to these two ports—shake up, or ship out.
• Forget removal of cabotage, the message was that the government was going to make concerted and joint efforts to assist coastal shipping, though at this juncture the inter-ministry co-operations required were as hazy as the intra-ministry co-operation missing from within the various arms of the ministry of shipping. A call went out that like in inland water navigation, the cobwebs of the DG (Directorate General) of Shipping be removed so that coastal and inland shipping in progressive states could go forward like it did in Goa. This is a fact—the biggest stumbling block for coastal shipping in India has been our own shipping governance.

In this context, the first ever India Maritime Week (IMW) held in Delhi from the 17th through to the 21st of January, was a mirror to all that is going up and down, or better still, like the ocean tides, flowing in or out, along our coasts and connected aspects. Incidentally, one additional reason for holding this now to-be annual feature in Delhi was that it removed any trace of regional bias between coastal states and local power brokers, which has been the bane of similar attempts in the past. Holding this event in Delhi, straddling all aspects of the maritime industry, means that there was no Bombay club, Calcutta adda, Madras coffee-shop, Cochin spice or any other parochial or communal bias. This was simply—pan India.

The IMW also spanned seamlessly the complete spectrum of issues related to the role of shipping in securing and strengthening a country and its economy. Intermodal linkages (road, rail, inland water), ports, maritime industries (ship-building, repair, dredging), technology (software and hardware), people (HR onboard as well as skills development onboard and ashore), coastal shipping, passenger movements, ship-owning, finance and domestic as well as international regulations were just some of the issues where information was shared, and discussed, freely and frankly, often between disparate groups who were inter-dependent but rivals. In addition, this being Delhi, governance was present in full force, and made some important announcements which will have very deep bearings on the larger issues of national interest.

In addition to the inaugurals, where there was some plain speaking by various arms of the central government on past mistakes and future path forwards, were the surprise star sessions which sort of provided additional inputs on where the industry and therefore economy was headed. These included:

• Real time status reports and plans of some of the private ports in the country, previously known as ‘minor ports’ but having now over-taken the major ports, also known as ‘non-major’ ports. The simple fact that such ports have aggressive marketing and sales personnel posted not just in inland centres in India but also abroad shows how far this business has come from a day and age when the trade had to beg for berths—as they often still have to do at the government-run major ports. To observe the marketing managers of some ports actively networking and hustling for business was such a refreshing change from what it is like with the ‘major’ ports.
• Inland waterways seem to be stealing a march over all other forms of domestic transport, including linkages to the North East through Bangladesh. House-full to overflowing sessions. Freed from the shackles and cobwebs of the moribund DGS, this seems to be shooting ahead in eastern UP, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa and even Kashmir. Gujarat appears to be blocked here because the Gulf of Kutch and Khambat are still under the ‘control’ of the ancient Merchant Shipping Act, and the islands are being slowly denied good sea service by rules designed to frustrate, but some changes are proposed here too.
• Deliberations on how to turn around the central government-run major ports brought out some surprising numbers—the realisation from just about 8% of the land owned by the Bombay/Mumbai Port Trust, currently locked in by legacy tenants, would be more than enough to dredge and re-modernise the complete Mumbai/JNPT/Butcher Island/Nhava Sheva Port complex and leave enough money for outright purchase of one or two satellite ports not too far from Mumbai. The thinking here is that the PPP (public-private-partnership) route or seeking funds from the Centre is not really necessary for the Port Trusts when the major port trusts already have the asset base to take things forward on their own. The message was—if you don’t take your land back from your tenants despite being able to, then don’t come with a begging bowl to the Centre.
• A session on petroleum imports (liquid and gas) and their storage moved on from the known numbers and projections to new alternate scenarios of impact of renewable energy and storage of both crude and gas in underground caverns, as well as issues of energy security and micro-generation of power using wave generation around ports. This is more than symbolic, since many of the larger oil companies—foreign and Indian—and their related entities are quietly re-inventing themselves as energy companies with eminently green credentials—where a continuous increase in consumption of energy does not mean a concurrent increase in the consumption of fossil fuels, solid, liquid and gas.
• Some plain and straight talking by the ministers who attended as well as the civil servants and technocrats from the ministries and shipping boards as well as infrastructure segments of the government would have gone down hard with the industry. PPP was the preferred route, long-term investment with Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) was expected, security considerations were top essential and in that context ‘denied’ on security grounds by the intelligence services meant ‘denied’. Customer is King, and if you don’t satisfy him, then don’t blame us if they somehow go via Colombo, was another message which the Sri Lankan delegates, waiting in the slips like their cricketers, were snapping up. Mention needs be made of co-operation between India and Sri Lanka in developing and re-vitalising Sri Lankan ports. All bets need to be covered, right? Right.

There is most certainly a deep realisation within the government and others that India’s complete future as a nation is at an inflection point, and is also intricately linked with India’s economic strength, which in turn depends a lot on the maritime strengths. The message is loud and clear—there is no more time to waste, the country has a large coastline, those states and ports and support services which move ahead will be given all support, those who continue to waste time and bicker may need to be aware of the consequences. There are nine state governments with coastal assets, there are some central government assets along the coast, the North East states have a good chance of being linked to the oceanways through Myanmar and/or Bangladesh, and most importantly—the country is not willing to accept a lack of efficiency any more.

If there was one message that went out from the IMW in Delhi, then it was this—the new ports in India are now the destinations of choice for trade, import, export and domestic. And if the older ports and their cities don’t provide this vital service, then nobody outside is going to mourn their change in status. To be given guided tours of the old dock systems in Kolkata and Mumbai and realise that things are so much still the same in both of them as they were decades ago, when this writer first joined a ship, may excite those seeking heritage and vintage thrills, but brought out titters and sniggers of “same shame” from some of the assembled delegates.

And then you are shown real-time satellite feeds and video clips of the newer ports, along with first-hand feedback from friends still sailing whose ships call these new generation Indian ports, and get invitations from more friends working at these ports—and you say to yourself, wish it was easier to secure permissions from the other authorities currently paranoid about security to bring this message to our own people that this, too, is India. And then you head into the exhibition area of the IMW, and suddenly, all this and more on display there.

The IMW should have had a “public day” for general visitors. Or place a mobile exhibition outside Red Gate, Indira Docks, Mumbai and Netaji Subhash Docks, Kolkata, for the people of those cities to see what their ports and cities could be.

The aim of the government is to put up at least 130% of projected capacity, both in captive and common user facilities, of all shipping-related needs, after which, may the most efficient survive and flourish. The participants at the IMW were reminded that if they wanted the freedom to grow, they had it, and there was no point in simply bringing up old issues. The approach was that the IMW heralded a solution oriented future, and was not going to be the complaint centre—and that was clear to see at IMW 2012 in Delhi.

(Veeresh Malik started and sold a couple of companies and is now back to his first love—writing. He is also involved actively in helping small and midsize family-run businesses re-invent themselves. Mr Malik had a career in the Merchant Navy which he left in 1983, qualifications in ship-broking and chartering, a love for travel, and an active participation in print and electronic media as an alternate core competency, all these and more.)

How secure is communication at DG Shipping?

We are all aware of how secure paper and paper communications are at DG Shipping's office, and its subordinate offices, in India. Nothing more needs to be said about an organisation where touts flourish openly outside their offices, and all documents are available, easily. At a price, ofcourse - though if you want them genuinely, it is another question.

But now look at the electronic communication part of things?

As a seafarer who was also the head of an infotech company, I got some youngsters to run an audit on the DG Shipping website, as well as the MMD website. What they told me was so shocking, that I do not wish to share it here - or anywhere else, except by printed hard copy to the relevant people.

But just as an example:-

# Private email addresses are happily used for official eMails, in direct contravention of all Government of India policies on the subject, by officials at DG Shipping. For example:-

"dgcommcentre@satyammail.net"

How secure is this otherwise open email address, then?

# While the website claims that the site is designed, hosted and maintained by the DGS Computer Cell, the truth and reality are otherwise - and very easily traced back to a certain private company with interests also in the maritime education field, amongst other things.What is this all about, then?

# The sanctity of question papers for the written exams is in doubt - this has often been rumoured about, and basis the above, needs an exhaustive audit. If the exam question papers are rattling around in the same servers, then??

# What is with the over reliance on Internet Explorer and MS, why is DGS not using technology which can be read open source too?

# The website is not optimised for usage on mobile phones or Mac/Apple.

# Most of all, the website layout is thoroughly confusing and the search functions do to not work well.

On the ground level, for seafarers, the "instructions" on the website as well as the forms on the website are not in concurrence with actual practice onsite in the offices. If seafarers have some queries, they are told to refer to the website - but then the actual practice is way different. Score one for the tout-babu nexus again.

Is it too much to expect a half-way decent website from DG Shipping, please?

+++

incidentally, this is the security of our information on the DG Website, asprovided for on their own terms and conditions, here:-

http://dgship.gov.in/privacy.html

Our Disclosure of Your Information

We will not disclose your information to anyone outside of DGS or other Allied Offices, except as described in this section.

We may disclose aggregated anonymous statistics about many Users to advertisers, content and service providers and other affiliated and unaffiliated companies.

We sometimes engage third parties to perform services for us, including in connection with this Site, that require us to disclose Users' Personally Identifiable Information to them. If we make any such disclosure, we will require such parties to keep the information confidential and to use it only to perform the services.

We may from time to time wish to disclose your information to third parties that wish to market, or provide information about, their products and services to you. We will only do so after obtaining your permission. The only other times we may disclose your Personally Identifiable Information collected on this Site are as follows:

• In the event of an asset sale, merger, consolidation, restructuring, reorganization, liquidation or other similar transaction involving DGS or this Site, we may transfer some or all User information, including Personally Identifiable Information, to the successor company.
• We will disclose your Personally Identifiable Information when we believe such disclosure is required by law or for the protection of persons or property.
• We may disclose your Personally Identifiable Information with your consent, as well as when disclosure is necessary to accomplish the purpose for which you provide it. For example, when you request information from advertisers in the "Reader Services" section of our publications, we will disclose your Personally Identifiable Information to the advertisers you specify.

Releasing kidnapped Indians - the difference between seafarers and shore-staff

Can YOU spot the difference in the way the Ministry of Shipping and DG Shipping take forward matters for seafarers, and how the Ministry of External Affairs does so for others?




Here's a report from Mail Today/India Today:-


http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/pranab-mukherjee-helped-free-kidnapped-indian-in-yemen/1/165246.html


http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=21122011

Pranab hand in freeing kidnapped Indian

Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury/ New Delhi

FOR Sukumar Roy Chaudhury ( 65), a Delhi- based geophysicist, his tour to Yemen was meant to provide a boost to his career. Instead, it turned out to be a nightmare. Chaudhury was abducted and held captive by the infamous Hussain gang for 10 days before he was freed a few days ago for a ransom of ` 5 crore. An IIT alumnus, Chaudhury is employed with a Faridabad- based oil and gas company. He was sent to Yemen to work for a local company with which the Indian firm has a tie- up. Chaudhury was kidnapped along with three Kazakh engineers when they were on their way to the work site, 150 km from the Yemeni capital, Sanna. A ransom of ` 10 crore was demanded for his release. While in captivity, Chaudhury was made to sleep on the floor and was given food once a day. Fortunately, he was allowed to use the phone. This enabled Chaudhury to contact his wife Anita who immediately got in touch with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to secure her husband’s release. It has been learnt that Mukherjee acted swiftly and moved the ministry of external affairs ( MEA) to secure his release. It was nothing short of a secret mission launched by the MEA which saw Chaudhury being freed without much hassle. Though there were fears that with the government’s involvement the kidnappers could raise the ransom amount, the deal was finally settled for ` 5 crore. Currently lodged in a five- star hotel in Sanna, Chaudhury is expected to be back with his family in a few days after the legal formalities for his travel are completed. +++ And here's a report from the MASSA Newsletter of September 2011 for what the owners, agents and DG Shipping are doing for the seafarers stranded / kidnapped in Somalia especially those on the fully RPS compliant DG Shipping approved Indian Government authorised articles and agreements, working on Indian CDCs:- Meeting of OMCI Shipping with MUI / NUSI / MASSA for updating status of Asphalt Venture crew held captive in Somalia on 19th September, 2011. Capt. S. B. Kundargi, Secretary, MASSA attended the meeting and following is the gist of the meeting. Representative of Owners stated that owners are finding it difficult to continue expenses on account the seven seafarers held captive in Somalia. NUSI countered that all expenses will have to be borne by Owners as being done so far. Similar views were expressed by both at the meeting with DGS also. DGS has advised OMCI to discuss with Capt Vinay Singh on counseling methods used. They may also contact V Ships and Capt Rangnekar. Owners will now contact Red Cross directly without DGS involvement but keeping DGS advised on developments. DGS advised that pirates generally have been allowing medicines to be delivered to hostages and OMCI/Owners should check with family members on requirements and arrange accordingly. OMCI stated that their representatives are in regular contact with the seven seafarers. All are healthy but some with complaints of skin infection. They are kept in huts and are being shifted to different locations. 3) Meeting on 22nd September, 2011 in DGS Conference Room to discuss Creating Awareness about Merchant Navy in Tier 3 and 4 cities. The preliminary meeting of the committee for working out modus operandi to create more awareness of seafaring profession was held under the chairmanship of Joint Director General of Shipping on 22.09.2010. ++++ And then, the same DG Shipping had this meeting:- The modus operandi to create more awareness of seafaring profession: The Chairman explained the need for creating awareness of seafaring profession. The steps taken earlier on this issue were discussed. It was pointed out that during 2007-2008 road shows were arranged with involvement of INSA, FOSMA, & MASSA. Help lines were also introduced by MASSA & FOSMA. However, all these activities are at present practically not functional due to various reasons. Mckinsey report has indicated that there is additional demand on requirement of manpower in world shipping, which indicates that, the requirement of Indian resources in the coming years is going to be doubled. Hence, this issue needs detailed deliberations to work out a feasible road map to attain the target. Formation of sub-committee is, therefore, the primary need & this group itself may be formed as a sub-committee. It was also pointed out that the financial support to the project may also be forthcoming from overseas agencies for specific initiatives. FOSMA and MASSA representatives pointed out that if efforts have to be put up to create an awareness among the general public regarding the seafaring profession, it will be advisable to conduct road shows and to target students of 10 to 12 standards preferably during the start of the academic sessions in schools and colleges. They were also of the opinion that quality of marine training is declining and opined that a system shall be evolved by which the responsibility of academics will be with Indian Maritime University and the responsibility for the competency will be with Directorate General of Shipping. General awareness can also be created by printed material, electronic media & road shows, among other means. INSA was of the concerned view that there is a huge turn out from the Maritime training Institutes but due to lack of training berths, there is excess manpower available. The training is at present commercialized. Hence, awareness of seafaring profession is not warranted at this stage. The need for quality in training has to be given priority at present. Perhaps evaluating and benchmarking for the training institute may help the students choose the correct institute. After a detailed deliberations on the issue the following decisions were arrived at which can be put forth to the National Shipping Board. 1. The issue on creating awareness of seafaring profession has to be looked into comprehensively considering the present manpower availability, quality of training imparted, management and control of training institute, etc. 2. Considering the above it is advisable to have a two track approach as follows i) Enhancing the quality of training including controlling of the training slots in view of training berths, by controlling & monitoring by weeding out infructuous institutes, encouraging the 100% placement granted instead, i.e. sponsorship for admission for training. ii) Creating awareness of seafaring profession by following means. Awareness programme- multiprong approach - counseling in schools, advertisements, participation in education fairs, e-media, visual media, etc. Both these functions can be parallel taken up in a gradual manner. 3. The sub-committee has suggested that the above members may work on this issue and give their specific and elaborated recommendations after subsequent meetings. +++ Truth is this:- when senior seafarers go to DG Shipping for help in such cases, then people like Capt. Harish Khatri are reported to have told them to get out or he will call the police and have them arrested - forgetting that in this day and age these things are so easily recorded, both audio and video. Do our shipping administrators think that we are still supplicants dependant on them, isn't the DG's interview in SAARC Journal quoted below reason enough for them to hang their faces in shame?

What ails Indian Shipping (Another view . . .)

Here's a link to yet another brilliant article by Manu Mahajan on what really ails Indian seafarers lately, and the role that the employers as well as authorities have to play in this - it is pertinent to point out that one of the DGS babus previously apparently a Master Mariner was kind enough to tell a seafarer wgo had a genuinely serious issue that "did you think you can just pick up the phone and call me?" Said seafarer then told him, fair enough, if I can't call you on phone during office hours, then may be better come with a can of kerosene and do self-immolation outside his office, would that be better.

I have been at the other end when some other people have called the same dude, and he has been like "yes sir no sir 3 bags full sir", because that said person put it on speaker for my benefit.

http://oldsaltshaker.blogspot.com/2011/10/inside-shipping-war-we-do-not-see.html

Manu, as always, gets the point across with his sharp observations.

But more than that, it is the feedback I am getting from younger seafarers, many of whom are moving on to other options, that something is very wrong with the way the marine administration in India is ostensily functioning.

Let us have your views, too, and as always, confidentialities maintained.

+++

quotes:-

Today, I watch from the sidelines, sometimes anguished and sometimes angry, as this war damages the industry near-irretrievably. Thirty two year old Masters tell me why they are quitting. Young Second Mates talk to me with lesser composure and greater angst, but some of their reasons are similar to those of the seniors'. Young cadets tell me why they will quit 'within five years'. And ratings look shell shocked, convinced that the choice they made- or that was made for them by family, in some cases- was absolutely the wrong one.

The battle is one sided, but it is still being waged all the time, overtly and covertly, by almost every small and large minion at many- even most- shipowning or shipmanagement companies today. (Shabby treatment of seafarers is a given in government setups like the MMD or DGS too, but for reasons more to do with misguided bureaucratic self-importance than commerce).

The battle is waged when second rung clerks of often third-rate calibre are unleashed on crews at every interface with these body-shopping outfits. The overt battle has other weapons in its armoury when it comes to senior officers, who are more subtly made to feel inferior to their counterparts ashore, some of them ex-sailors now often unfit to sail for one reason or another. Officers will be often treated poorly at every stage of their interaction with the office, whether at sea or not. Even entry-level management trainees are treated much better ashore, especially in businesses with high attrition rates, but shipping must serve its hidden agenda; it must cut off its nose to spite its face.

A request to all those with complaints against Owners, Agents, DGS-MMD or others.

http://matescabin.blogspot.com/2011/10/blacklist-of-defaulting-owners-and.html

The number of hits and views on this article are surprising me. I agree, the authorities have been their usual delightfully vague selves as usual, that is what the truth is so what else is new - and so many of you appear to have no other avenues to take your issues to. It is well known that matters are reaching a point of intense frustration with seafarers for a variety of reasons and there often seem to be no options/

Agreed, I shall help, to the best of my resources.

But in all fairness, anonymous and slanderous complaints will not be entertained. And violence is certainly not an option.

I would like to see signed hard copies of complaints, if any, and shall protect identities wherever required. This is the least one can do, because more than a few messages of complaint appear to be motivated, and also appear to be from competitors trying to give other management companies a bad name. How do I know this?

Well, it is quite evident by the pattern - there appear to be some set group or groups which are targetting other management companies, and so, not over my shoulder.

If you are an individual seafarerer, however, please feel free to write to me, and I shall take it from there, step by step, to my best abilities.

Thank you and humbly submitted.

India's real maritime history, and why SCI's Golden Jubilee should be a wakeup call

Indian shipping industry not shipshape, despite 50 years of SCI being around


http://moneylife.in/article/indian-shipping-industry-not-shipshape-despite-50-years-of-sci-being-around/20404.html

As the shipping industry globally reinvents itself once again, where does it find India’s position—and why is the answer ‘dismal’ when in reality it should be ‘brilliant’?

+++




+++

Who is more corrupt, "us" or "them"? (Supply/demand side practicalities of corruption)

The easiest thing too do is to go into a self-flagellation mode on corruption. Oh, hai hai, we are a very corrupt people, race, country. But have you though - is it possible to be corrupt without the tools for corruption?

I am particularly proud of this article, along with the others on processed food, and dedicate it to my seafarer brethren. Please read, pass it on, comment. . . thanks.

http://www.moneylife.in/article/corruption-bad-tax-evasion-good-cooking-the-books-bestmdasha-basic-primer-from-transparency-international/20239.html

""Here is a simple number—The World Bank has endorsed estimates that in 2009, illicit financial flows out of developing countries were to the tune of $850 billion to $1 trillion. These were as provided by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), which made a strong case to interpolate TI's figures on supply-side corruption. It was done to understand, where the corruption money went, where did it go in, and more importantly, who or what motivated it. Likewise, it is estimated that the narcotics economy from mainly developing countries reached anything between $650 billion to about $1.1 trillion per annum in 2010—figures collated from various sources-so, where did it enter the global financial network?""

""let us simplify matters. In a typical scenario, who is more corrupt, who is guiltier—a sex worker selling her body in Falkland Road, Mumbai, for whatever reason, or the customer who pays for it, for whatever reason too? Or is it the landlord, the pimp, the cops, or the system that makes it possible for this transaction to take place? Who is more corrupt? In a typical scenario, we have all been programmed to blame the bottom end of the food chain, and believe that the person selling her body, is corrupt, but we know that is not really correct. It is like calling a bottle of liquor evil. ""

""evolved something called the "Financial Secrecy Index", which listed out on scientific empirical evidence a graded list of countries, where it was easiest to park stolen assets—to put it simply. And not just did these countries simply provide the facility for parking stolen assets—they actively and aggressively went about seeking these stolen assets, in most cases actively conniving with corrupt "supply side" countries and regimes worldwide. And then, to ensure that these stolen assets could not be tracked back, they made laws of their own which simply prevented any... transparency.""

If you've got so far, you may also want to read this . . . http://treasureislands.org/ . . . especially in the context of . . . who or what does own all those FOC ships, then?

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.""

+++

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

+++

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

Record keeping at the DG Shipping office in Mumbai . . .

To give you an idea, for an incident involving fire on board a ship from one of the "leading" management companies, which also resulted in loss of life as well as total constructive loss of the ship. One asked for a copy of the enquiry reports and other documents - said enquiry continuing for a few years after the incident and pertaining to a lot that could be learnt for future generations of seafarers.

But what do you know? The answer I got to an RTI application filed almost 4 months ago, after due follow-up and First Appeal, has this to say:- "Being an issue over 11 years old, relating to the year 2000, the concerned files on this issue have to be traced from the official records of this organisation. Efforts are underway to do so, still. However, they have not been located, as yet, despite earnest efforts made towards that end by this office."

What does one say to this reality? Sure, the Joint DGS assures me of his best efforts to locate and retrieve, but is that what we have dropped down to at this office?

So, what do you do if you go to jail?

Relevant for some of us who may end up in jail or know somebody headed there . . .


http://moneylife.in/article/heres-a-jail-primermdashfor-those-about-to-go-in/15840.html


Very relevant for seafarers. Please take time out to read. excerpt:-


"Now, while inside—it is the first couple of days that are relatively tough. I use the term "relatively" because friends who have been inside tell me that even this is nothing compared to the ragging some of us endured as juniors on a Training Ship, or in engineering/medical colleges, or certain establishments training people to wear certain uniforms. Or in many of the hostels that dot our educational system."

Lok Sabha, Parliament, and Indian Shipping . . .

Lok Sabha is where matters of great importance are discussed and often also debated. In between other episodes, of course, which many of us see on television and most of us otherwise have no information about.

Now and then some questions and answers are also handled, to do with shipping.

Here is a sample from the recent past:-

The Government has been taking various steps from time to time for the growth of Indian tonnage. These include:-

(i) In order to create level playing field for the Indian Shipping Companies with their global counter parts, the Government has introduced Tonnage Tax regime in India since the year 2004. Further, the liberalized policy on ship acquisition has been introduced and acquisition of all types of ships has been brought under Open General License (OGL). Besides, 100% FDI has been permitted in ship acquisition and registration formalities of newly acquired ships have been simplified.

(ii) The Government of India has formulated the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP). It is a comprehensive programme aimed at various issues that need to be addressed to bring holistic growth in the Indian Shipping Industry. Under the NMDP, Shipping Corporation of India, the only Public Sector Shipping Company is in the process of acquiring a total of 76 new vessels with a total outlay of approximately Rs.15,000 crores, to be completed in phases till 2015. Of these, 22 ships have already been delivered and orders have been placed for construction of another 30 vessels.
The above information was given by the Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K. Vasan in Lok Sabha

So, now you know why Indian Shipping is still where it is.

Mahindra Reva - a car for shippies?

For anybody who has been on the motoring beat in India for the past
decade and more, a launch function for the regularly reborn Electric
Vehicle "Reva" is like the repeat last button for a favourite song -
you can never get tired of it, sometimes there are a few bits and
pieces added on or removed, and everytime you hear it, you discover
something new that you like even more. This time around, it was the
power back into the batteries from the new improved regenerative
braking systems, that would feed power back not only while braking,
but also decelerating.

But that's not all. Now christened the "Reva-i", it also has another
major "new" feature - the prefix "Mahindra". This brings in a complete
network of dealers all over the country, starting with the urban
centres, even though most of the sales are still in and around
Bengaluru. What this wonderful little runabout lacked was presence and
visibility in other cities - Mahindra hope to fix that by offering the
Reva-i on the same dealer floor next to their full range of products -
Logan, Bolero, Xylo, Scorpio et al.

Current controvery, environmentally driven, about large diesel
vehicles is also relevant. Mahindra has taken it on themselves to
pro-actively offer new technology vehicles - the little known Scorpio
Hybrid is one such example. The Reva-i fills a slot in the Mahindra
bouquet - those who buy a 4WD SUV can also pick up a Reva-i from the
same showroom. That is more than anything the whole clutch of
"foreign" manufacturers have done in India.

Essentially a two-seater two-door four-wheeler, the Reva-i comes with
lead-acid batteries in India, largely for reasons of cost. Ask them
about new battery technology, which they have, and you get shy grins.
The left seat is designed to fold, and using the rear hatch, a
full-size golf set fits in with a few centimetres to spare. With a
body made of ABS panels, repairs are as simple as mixing a pre-packed
solution, adding colour pigments, and patching things back on. Full
automatic (there is a forward, neutral and reverse "button" on the
dashboard), with a stated top speed of 80 kmph, you get three trim
levels - including one with air-conditioning.

Charging is by ordinary 220v 15 amps plug and socket arrangements -
assumption is that you have the facility for secure overnight parking
and charging. Like all batteries, it charges from almost emoty to 80%
in a short while, around 2-3 hours, but for the last 20%, will take
another 5 hours more.

This correspondent has driven the Reva extensively, and has seen it
evolve over the last decade into a very reliable local car, unlike the
earlier editions. (Some people may remember a Miss World contest in
Bengaluru, and the adverse publicity achieved then.) Likewise,
Mahindrahad also launched an electric 3-wheeler, named "Bijlee", way
back in 2002 - which wqs soon put aside.

The new Reva-i, however, has proven itself in developed countries. And
now, as the song goes, its time for India. Waka waka, reva-i.
What we would like to see in the newer Revas:- LED lamps, new
generation batteries, proper two-door two-seater configuration instead
of pretending and trying to be a 4-seater, certainly more subsidies
and exemptions, and as our model portrays - more head room.
(Reva also has a technology tie-up with General Motors, primarily
announced for an electric version of the Chevrolet Spark, on which we
look forward to hearing some more soon.)
+++
Please see the photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/vm2827

Hijacked ship with captured crew attacks Spanish naval warship . . .

Good heavens! So now, first you get pirated or hijacked, then you get forced to use your ship to try and ram into a naval ship, which then fires back at you.


http://www.eaglespeak.us/2010/11/somali-pirates-using-big-mother-ship-to.html



The Izumi, a Japanese cargo ship captured in October 2010, was used to try and ram into the Spanish warship Infanta Cristina, which was escorting a merchant ship in the area, off the East Coast of Somalia on the 14/15 of November 2010.

Read the full report . . . amazing.

Regine Brett - at 90

Lady called Regina Brett wrote this when she turned 90 - and I read it years ago, came back to me when I was looking for something else. Sounds good, so here's this for all the young and younger seafarers . . .

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of "The Plain Dealer", Cleveland , Ohio . . . "to celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come...
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

So, you get it?

HE-Alert - the magazine for safety on ships

Now also available online at:-

http://www.he-alert.org/index.asp

Here's my short response to an article on a subject dear to me . . . read on:-


Richard Sadler's column (Alert/issue No. 23/May 2010) makes some very valid points on the relationship between finance/financiers and shipping/seafarers.

Here's my point of view, and please don't put it aside as "3rd World" because of my physical/geographical location on date - as an ex-seafarer who has been a shipbroker, into politics, as a freight forwarder, been part of bringing unitised cargo inland into India, on television as an anchor, within all forms of media and headed the Asia operations of a Silicon Valley tech company in the business of transaction management for 3 industries - financial, gaming and preventive defence - as well as fathered two investment bankers - and so I do think a bit of world view comes from New Delhi, too. Please also excuse the syntax and grammar - for the last one year I have been at it trying to also revive my CoC issued 1980 and that has been an experience, too.

1) The biggest flaw is that the seafarer is seen by everybody ashore as an over-worked donkey - which she or he is. The rest of the world has moved on, not just in reduced working hours, but the seafarer is still flogged on 4-on/8-off, or worse. Between IMO, ILO, STCW, ILO 147, ILO 163, ILO 180 and now ILO Super - everybody knows that the seafarer they visit on the ship is still subjected to something called "not undermining the authority of the Master" - in this day and age. The first thing that needs to be done, therefore, is to bring down working hours onboard, especially for deck watchkeepers, by the simple method of adopting a Master + non-watchkeeping First Mate, and 3 independent watch-keepers. At the very least.

2) The training for seafarers is still stuck in arcane subjects like magnetic poles, theory of gyro and other ancient art forms - when what is needed for interaction with shore staff is more a PR cum legal person. An average seafarer by the time he is 30 or so has spent more than 4 years learning about stuff that is going to be of no use to him, while the same time could be spent better in understanding the simpler art of collision avoidance, pollution prevention and acquiring basic economic skillsets. That's the next thing that needs to change. You want respect from your banker - you have to understand what he is saying.

3) Industry meaning shipowner - and I have spent some quality time lately with shipowners as well as taken part in piracy/hijack release discussions - considers the seafarer on board as a standing expense - whether alive or dead. As long as the CoC and other certification is in order keeping the ship seaworthy, it does not matter - the seafarer is a commodity to the shipowner. Barring passenger and cruise ships, it is better to treat the seafarer as somebody who eats too much food, and then cribs about everything.

4) Industry meaning cargo interests, port state staff, insurance the rest of them - in my part of the world, treats the seafarer as somebody from the bottom rung, like the hapless truckdriver. Somebody to hold as hostage for a period of time at no cost to anybody other than the shipowner, so why feed the seafarer in the period ad interim. For "food" read salaries, and other expenses. I have heard shipowners crib about paying salaries to seafarers who have spent months onboard ships arrested, hijacked or similar - or been jailed for alleged crimes committed while on duty.

5) On crew shore leaves, and the comparison to airline crew, very valid points. Where do we start - should seafarers demand shore leave as a right? Good heavens, even earned leave is deemed to be a "privilege" extended at the mercy of the owner, so what cost shore leave? So
would owners now start insisting that charter parties include clauses on shore leave for seafarers, or ensure additional "bonuses" in lieu, is that a thought the time for which is very overdue?
What I can not agree with, Sir, is the approach that we leave it to the bankers to administer these changes. Having been a vendor to the banking industry for the last decade, I would suggest that change in inertia level is one thing they hate. What we have to do is look within. Take, for example, the whole wonderful concept of GMDSS. Great. But how on earth did it evolve into something which did away with a Radio officer onboard, when in actual fact we need a Super Elecronics and Communication person on every Merchant Navy ship?

The cure, Sir, is from within. It is the seafarer who needs to say, OK, I am a Master, and I consider this ship unseaworthy if it does not have at least 1 more watch-keeping officer - and he then needs to work with the Port State, since the Flag State and its bankers sure will not assist.

Sincerely,
Veeresh Malik
New Delhi
India

(Courtesy of Alert! - The International Maritime Human Element Bulletin)

You, and technology onboard - whither goest thou?

How about this - if you have a gmail account, you will now be able to make free phone calls from your mobile phone number to any mobile phone number, anywhere in the world, for free if local and not more than 2 cents a minute for international. This may soon be available on any ship which has internet connectivity.

Will this increase or decrease your workload on the ship?

Or this - sitting on your computer, from anywhere, you can make a vast variety of Indian Government related payments - taxes, train tickets, car insurance, highway toll recharge, postal work, provident fund management, pension updates, the works. (Actually, correct that, anything but any payments related to our very own Directorate General of Sleeping, sorry, Shipping, and its Moribund, sorry, Mercantile Marine Department, where we still have to stand in lines at selected fixed times in dingy rooms with small windows to pray to the mini-gods behind the counters to be allowed the privilege of paying by demand draft or treasury challans in quadruplicate and talking to them.) So now also look forward to a time where instead of payments being made on behalf of the owners by agents, the ship can release funds directly to the authorities, and save on costs.

Will this increase or decrease your workload on the ship?

The more things change, the more there is a chance that some of us who feel that the door was shut after we got on, will try to freeze at some point in time or space. Our time was the best time. Any change or difference, even improvement, is viewed as an increase in workload.

But meanwhile, on a ship not too far away from you and me, things are evolving and changing even more rapidly. As an example:-

On the bridge you now have electronic ECDIS charts that are capable of being updated courtesy the internet and communications equipment that can handle most things automatically. Down below, in the engine control room, a variety of redundancies has taken care of much maintenance and possible equipment failures. As far as new-age technologies go, the shipping industry has been right there, ahead of the rest of the world, for centuries now - and that's a simple fact. Not the latest is the use of neural netoworking technology to help predict problems. Wait a bit more, and they will soon second guess your inner most thoughts, too. The technology already exists, it is just the cost and the resistance to change, both of which will be overcome ashore in due course.

What takes longer to change is the attitude of the man on board, and worse, the attitude of his ex-seafaring contemporaries ashore. One has encountered people in offices ashore who will not walk to a filing cabinet in the next room or open the data on their own computers, choosing instead to fire off one more email to the seafarer on board, content in his knowledge that mail from office is still treated with respect - and fear - on ships.

Which is also the biggest complaint onbboard ships against new technology. The loudest wail one hears is that all this technology causes more workload. This is like blaming the booze inside a bottle - instead of blaming the person who bought and drank it. The technology is waiting to be used, but many of us onboard will not do so or take the effort to master it  - and here's an example from the '70s when I was a cadet.

The company wanted copies of the log books for some voyages gone past, and we had a brand new photo-copying machine onboard, which in my unasked for opinion as a cadet was more than enough. However, the Master was of the opinion that since they had copied logbooks into logbooks in his days, the same needed to be done, and so it was done. Sitting in the same ship's office with a brand new photocopying machine, yours truly spent all his spare time copying the log book by hand. For weeks.

Went to the office a few months later, as it so happened I carried the old log books with me, and was asked why did I do it, why did I copy everything down by hand, they needed photo-copies.

+++

Today all one hears is complaints about how people ashore, be they port, state, flag or company, keep demanding all sorts of information. There are those Masters and Chief Engineers who will make heavy weather of each request for information. And then there was this email from a batchmate, one of the better Masters at sea, if I may say so, with varied experience ashore, who said this:-

There is tsunami of paperwork and we have to accept - NO work is done without doing the paperwork, even when you visit the toilet. The problem regarding paperwork is because we compare them with our early days of command and due to total dependency of shore staff to feed them with all information. Infact I have now developed a checklist and reporting system, which if sent to me by masters from ship then I or even my wife can monitor ship's performance from my bedroom. So much spoon-feeding and uncalled for reporting which the inexperienced office staff wants is tremendous and most of incoming messages request for response ASAP, including yours, maybe. So, now a master is a glorified Head Clerk / PRO, who is expected to be sitting infront of the computer all the time during the Head Office working hours, otherwise there you get a phone call! Life is different onboard after ISM, after the "overriding authority" said to be given to master by companies and after company various departments depend on various reportings - daily/weekly/fortnightly/monthly/quarterly/Pre-Arrival Port/ In-Port Report/Departure Report/ etc and etc..... I can go on and on. I have the basic computer skills if not more, but can't tide over the paperwork tsunami very easily. But systems can be made and placed in position, if you learn to carry the shore staff with you.

That's the key phrase - at sea with all this technology at your disposal you are now no longer a ship far away - you are an extension of the commercial part of things. Which is the real truth - the ship is out there to make a profit for the stakeholders, and all the technology provided is supposed to assist you. Get used to it.

So either you learn to master it, or you move on, and make way for a generation of younger people who will do so. Luckily, there is a shortage, otherise can you imagine what would be the fate of Masters and Chief Engineers who have not bothered to upgrade their computer and technology as well as information gathering, dissemination and public relations/protocol skillsets?

+++

It is high time that an infotech usage course, maybe a module teaching seafarers more than the usage of things like word and excel, was made part of the whole certification process.

Somali piracy now all over the Arabian Sea.

And here is where Al jazeera television gives us seafarers a different camera eye's view on the issue of piracy in the Arabian Sea.

http://www.marinebuzz.com/2009/07/03/somali-piracy-al-jazeera-videos-reveal-more/

The latest attacks, 300-400 miles west of Mangalore and Mumbai, reportedly by speedboats launched from mother ship / deep sea trawlers, makes this appear as more than just some bad dream that will go away.

The bigger issues here are:-

# psychological impact of ship's complement, especially the Master, when heading through the Arabian Sea. Imagine a voyage from, say, West Coast of India to literally anywhere in the world. Are we even aware of what the Master has to answer from crew, onboard ships with nothing more than fire-hose and SSO certificates, when we also know that other ships in the area are carrying armed guards?

# will the crew/officers get their wages when captured is another issue which the Master and company do not have an answer for. A quick poll indicated that people expect atleast triple wages while captured, and some heavy insurance in case of any damage caused during the capture.

One way out would be for the authorities, DGShipping, to ensure that all ships carrying Indian seafarers should:-

* provide insurance equal to total salary paid out monthly to their families while under capture by taking out policies equal to 24 months, and then pay the hardship allowance at twice that again when released.
*provide death/disability insurance equal to atleast 120 months total salary for all seafarers trading Arabian Sea.

This would obviously be in addition to the normal insurance and other benefits in case of any incidents.

I have met some people who have been released after hijacking, or after they were jailed abroad, and most of them have had their spirits broken.

Your views, please? Why should being captured by pirates be treated as anything lesser than a major disability, while on active duty??

Do you know that some seafarers have had to beg for their wages, and what their families are going through while the breadwinners are captured??

Georgia, the country, capital is Tbilisi.

I have a regular reader in Georgia, come on, who that?

OK, here's something more on Georgia - the country - their "ticket" is acceptable and on the white list. Helps a lot of people who, for any reason, may be stuck with their CoCs.

http://maradgeorgia.org/Circ_No_10_280409.pdf

Norwegian pattern exam, objective, go for it. And Tbilisi is a lovely place for a lot of things, not too expensive either. And Batumi beats the whole lot. Can get there by train, too, from many places.