We were sent this picture by the South African Maritime Training Academy (SAMTRA) showing some cadets whilst on a journey to the Antarctica. Nothing extraordinary or eye-catching here. It’s the kind of photo you would expect to see on Facebook. What’s interesting is the ice-strenthened training ship S.A. Agulhas (shown in background) and its role in African maritime training.
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In 2012 more than 340,000 Filipino seafarers were deployed overseas. If they were soldiers, they would be amongst the world’s largest armies – outranking those of the UK, Iraq and Syria. Being the top crew supplying nation is naturally a source of national pride. Some Filipinos even think that it makes the Philippines a maritime power. This is a grand illusion, as the recent Manila visit of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) audit team reminds us.
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It’s not the best of times for the Filipino seafarer factory. The folks from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) came visiting in April, saw what they hoped they would not see and left utterly dismayed. We’re not in the least surprised. Anyone who tries to reform the local MET (maritime education and training) establishment and the system of maritime governance is up against institutional inertia, inter-agency rivalry and inflated egos.
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Dutch-owned VSTEP recently sold a couple of NAUTIS simulators in Jamaica and Indonesia. This doesn’t seem such a big deal; new training equipment is always being acquired somewhere on the planet. But we find it significant. VSTEP’s latest strides somehow bolster our view that it is the simulator-maker to watch. They also suggest that some countries are taking crew training quite seriously – and that it would be foolhardy for Filipinos and other crew-supplying nations to take it easy.
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Today, Labour Day (International Workers’ Day), we’d like to pay special tribute to all the working women around the world. Farm hands and factory workers. Seafarers and office employees. And yes, mothers and housewives – they who work at home without getting paid for their labours. The following painting by Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh reminds us of women’s contributions, not only to feeding the world, but to building and maintaining civilisation itself. ~Barista Uno

Oil painting of two peasant women digging on a snow-covered field, by Vincent van Gogh ((1853–1890)

Ill health forced us to take an extended break from blogging. This was no welcome respite. Sometimes worse than sickness itself is the feeling of being inutile, of involuntarily standing still as Life passes by. But why complain? Even the healthy are subject to bodily dysfunctions, and old age and decrepitude soon catch up with all of us. Some seafarers have a harder time of it – like the ship captain who invited us to coffee earlier this year to seek our advice.
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No doubt, there are many successful women in the maritime sector. Some are so accomplished they outshine the menfolk – women like Katharina Stanzel or Mailyn Borillo, both of whom we’ve featured in our Portraits of Maritime Women series. On the whole, however, women are still struggling to find their rightful place in a male-dominated industry. With this in mind, we’ve collected the following quotations about women and gender equality. Five of them are from men, including two Muslim statesmen:
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Has all the stress on technology pushed good old seamanship to the back burner? The following video of a collision in the Singapore Straits on 3rd March 2013 is bound to raise the question. The incident, which occurred in the VTS Singapore Central area, was hurriedly recorded by a Mexican ship officer on board another vessel using his mobile phone. The man obviously held the device the wrong way (note the narrow vertical view). But what’s a little clumsy photography compared with clumsy navigation? ~Barista Uno

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UPDATE: The original uploader of this video has closed his YouTube account for unknown reasons. Here’s another video, a much better one, of the same incident:

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One press release caught our attention from amongst the latest bunch that we received recently. It’s a brief announcement from Elaborate Communications about its services being retained by the Singapore Shipping Association. Elaborate, a top-notch UK public relations outfit, is to highlight SSA’s work in behalf of its members and its role in furthering the growth of Singapore as an international maritime centre. Nothing earth-shaking but the release, in our view,  highlights the contrasting attitudes toward maritime PR in Singapore and Manila.
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Hong Kong is such a mercantile place that one would think the locals do nothing but make piles of money. Not so. Last week, the HK shipping community turned out in force for the second Sailors’ Society gala fund-raising dinner at the Island Shangri-La Hotel. Their generosity that night raised more than HK$1m (US$129,000) to help fund the Society’s welfare projects around the world, including HK$250,000 to sustain the work of a ship-visiting chaplain in Manila for an entire year.
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In spite of the doubting Thomases, scientific evidence of global warming and climate change continues to pile up. A recent study, for instance, by a group of paleoclimatology researchers attests to a warming trend over the past 130 years. Well and good, but scientific papers don’t make it easy for ordinary mortals to visualise the problem. A reader, Jessica Wallace, shares with us an interesting infographic developed by the LearnStuff.com folks. Take a look at How Climate Change is Destroying the Earth:
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Why wrestle with ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006? For those who need a short introduction to the new protocol and want to understand its ramifications without racking their brains, we recommend a newly published article about MLC 2006 by Darryl Anderson, managing director of Vancouver-based Wave Point Consulting and  MBA graduate of the Australian Maritime College. 
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Matt Gasparich of Maritime Training Services (MTS) alerted us to a film they’ve produced in support of Washington State Ferries and their workers. The ferry system is the largest in the US in terms of throughput (22.4-M passengers and 9.9-M cars annually) and the third largest in the world. It has been struggling to survive – hobbled by what has been described as ‘dangerous’ funding cuts. We’re pleased to share the video, which not only provides a close look at WSF operations but also highlights the importance of ferries in general. ~Barista Uno

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It’s amazing how often safety is tossed overboard in the name of profit. The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has issued a warning over the sale of counterfeit versions of its nautical charts and publications. Aside from failing to comply with SOLAS carriage rules and possibly Flag State and Port State Control regulations, such fake documents pose a danger to the safety of ships, crews and cargoes. So how does one tell the counterfeit from the real?
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Any tanker owner who hates the thought of figuring in the next oil spill or fire accident should check out Oceanfile. It’s a Web-based suite of applications for planning and managing all aspects of tanker vetting and inspection. After exploring Oceanfile, which is available via a subscription service, we don’t hesitate to recommend it to those looking for a way to enhance their tanker safety management using a structured and automatic appproach. We like it for two simple reasons.
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In early January IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu called for halving the number of lives lost at sea to no more than 500 annually by 2015. The IMO had better move fast if it is to reach the ambitious target. The spate of maritime accidents continues with its wrenching toll on life and limb. We hear voices of exasperation – the most recent coming from the ITF (International Transport Workers Federation) and from one of our readers.
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Latest word is that the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) inspection team may come in October to verify the Philippines’ compliance with STCW (International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers). Another visit is expected before then. Whatever the final dates agreed, this will be the last round of EMSA checks before the European Commission decides in 2014 on whether or not to continue recognising Filipino seafarer certificates. What can we expect from the 2013 visits?
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Women have, arguably, gained wider acceptance in the maritime sector. This is especially true in Western societies, where more women are making their mark and being recognised in what’s traditionally been a male-dominated industry. But what about the rest of the planet? IMO (International Maritime Organization) has 170 member states and three associate members (Faroe Islands, Hong Kong and Macau). Have the old prejudices toward women really gone away? The following image suggests that they have not:
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What does it cost to secure a ship against pirates? An estimated $1,500-2,500 per day per person (depending on who one uses and the number of security team members), and the shipowner has to pay for each ship on each transit. For an escort vessel, $20,000 or more per day. The expense could be dizzying for owners with a number of ships to protect, but it need not be so. James Canning Sr, president of FTS-Maritime Security, has an idea that could dramatically reduce the costs.
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Manila-based International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) won the International Public Bidding Process for the Design, Financing, Construction, Maintenance, Operation and Exploitation of the Specialized Container and General Cargo Terminal of Puerto Cortes in Honduras. The announcement was made during a public hearing held on 1st February 2013 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
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