Dangerous ships

[j.sabourn]

#9.. John going back to 1968/69 when running from Japan to the East coast of the USA and up the lakes with steel products to Chicago for the motor car industry, the securing of the steel cargo was usually a battle of wits in Japan as the cost of timber and rope was a huge cost item to the shippers. I was usually taken ashore to celebrate the completion of loading whilst the tomming off and other securings were being done. I wasnt as thick as to think there was no ulterior reason for this as on coming back to the vessel I had to inspect all the securings and sign as being adequate, and I made sure I did, as you can bet your bottom dollar there was a call for more material for securing, and the shippers crying into their sleeves as the addittional costs moved upwards. There has always been short cuts and chances taken in shipping , and depending on people , depended the danger to the vessel. Bad securings has always been there either through monetary gains or just sheer laziness on behalf of those who should have known better. Timber for some reason was always hard to come by in Japan. There would certainly have been more wailing and gnashing of teeth if they saw what happened to the timber and dunnage on completion of its work, it was burned by the US authoritys as a health risk. Cheers JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Metal used on ships of today is a it different to that of our time.
Many are composite metals which can be lighter and stronger than just steel.

Gone it would appear are the days when the third officer would have a chart in which he would plan and assign the cargo.
Now containers do not always carry what the manifest may say, a lot to be said for loading on the quay side.
Particularly id cases of spirits.

[John Cassels]

Thanks lads for all the comments , very interesting. I too have sailed on many types of ships with many kinds of cargoes but the most dangerous was in the
early days of containers - early 1970's. A mix of non awareness by the deck watch , shoddy stevedoring etc. The worst things I saw ranged from lashing wires
hanging over the coaming when a pontoon was replaced to one twistlock not in place so the complete tier was resting on only 3 corners both of which could have
had disasterous consequences. Luckily in those days we only went 3 high but the potential was there for something far worse. There was no excuse of course
for stevedores letting the above happen , also for lashing checks not being done properly.
On modern box boats , I hate to think of the consequences if these things happened nowadays -- or perhaps they have ?.

[John Cassels]

I would really like to contribute to this thread , but my loathing for these appalling people and their EU doctrine would render me not objective.
Needless to say , I can only hope that my own country will follow the UK'S lead and leave this doomed club before it is too late.

[happy daze john in oz]

Well John, if the opinion polls are to be believed the Fog may well lose the election next year to the far right.
EU does need a major shake up if it is to survive.

[John Cassels]

That's the thing about opinion polls , they can be manipulated to give any result you want. I think the EU will survive but at what
cost to the northern european countries. Whilst there are record numbers of people visiting food banks or living rough , our own
political leaders have sanctioned the " gift " of 750 million euro to southern countries. The far right here is unfortunatly really far right
with not much to choose from in the middle.