Bribery and corruption at sea

[Steve Singleton]

You got off lightly. (Shrugs one's shoulders!)...
Suez...& most of West Africa...Lagos-Apapa in particular.... in the early '70's.... It was rife. Probably still is. Probably worse.
Nothing would surprise me. I left the MN briefly in 75...did a couple of years ashore...
Then joined a company with a Chemical Tanker.... "Where we off to then, lads?" "West Africa" They said....
I couldn't believe it: I'd come out of the MN to get away from such nonsense (Mildly put.) only to return to the same cess-pit of corruption.... Nothing had changed. It was worse.
I was once almost arrested in Monrovia by the Chief of Police of Liberia for saying I could not "personally" serve him his triple whisky & ice because there was no exit from my side of the bar to the room where he was sat...10 feet away..... His goons all groaned...... It was that close. Very.
All behind me now of course....but how I came out of it all, alive...still amazes me.
I loved being at sea.... but West Africa is the pits......Ghana, the Ivory Coast, & Togo .... Not so bad...but the rest: Forget it.

(Edit; And of course... we now have the rampant Piracy Problem...when will seafarers be safe?)

[Steve Singleton]

Liverpool? Really? Are you SURE? But Hey, Ho!.... It was as bad as you recall... I was there too.

Given the recent nonsense in the Met Police, for example...are we confident in any of our forces? (Sorry! "Services".)
But we must put such incidences into perspective: We no longer live in an environment of the type "Dixon Of Dock Green" enjoyed:
The scum amongst us is now very mobile. Very "Tech Aware".....
We should never lose sight of the fact that over 98% of people working in the Police are dedicated to doing their utmost to protect and serve their communities...
To condemn such hard-working dedicated people striving to make a difference ...because a bad apple shows occasionally... serves none of us: As a Society or as a Police Force.
Remember: WE get the Police we deserve: If we, as a society, fail in our duty as citizens...then we are doomed. Knocking the Police at every opportunity is not the way forward.

And yes...the Police are their own worst enemy at times. They fail to connect. They fail even law-abiding citizens...they even target, law-abiding citizens for "misdemeanors" in the interests of revenue: Bernard Hogan-Howe, North Wales Police: I fell foul of his draconian, underhanded deceptions... as did many.... Allegedly, in his view, to "improve road safety".
It was nothing of the sort: He wanted a bigger budget... End Of. And the Milk Cow of the motorist provided it.
He went on, I believe, to the Met...where he ignored repeated claims of police brutality..."Cruel & inhumane treatment by officers"...
(And was he not replaced by Cressida Dick... totally inept...by any yardstick...yet gets a mega pension...? WTF is going on?)

But...again... Hey, ho! It's all documented somewhere, I'm sure.

Just Google it.....

[Steve Singleton]

I rather think we have to accept that Bribery & Corruption has indeed become more the "norm" in countries where it was less prevalent than before.
I'm not talking about a "pound note" at the Dock Gates as in many comments here...but at a much higher level.

And, may I say this...rather hesitantly...nobody has mentioned the word "slavery"....
This surprises me because from what I can see, we have "slaves" employed on fleets of fishing boats, working in appalling conditions around the world.
Yet... No authority is questioning this state of affairs.... I see various news items that report on the situation... yet nothing is done.... Why?

Surely, if we can topple the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol...because he was a slave trader 200+ Years ago...we should be questioning MODERN DAY SLAVERY?
Not only at sea...but in the sweatshops of the "Major Brands" that depend on it?

(Oh... I forgot to mention the thousand+ tons of mostly polyester, brand new "fashion-unwanted" clothing currently sitting in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile.)

Just a thought..... which seems to be more than the woke brigade is capable of! Guess they are far too busy shopping eh?

[j.sabourn]

PS to #20 The same person was up with me who Sargent had given 6 months seatime to for stuttering and told to come back when could talk properly. He was up the same time as me with Stevens , who failed him again. He plucked up courage and asked Stevens if it was because he stuttered on one of the questions , and he told me Stevens had replied I couldn’t care less whether you stuttered or not, you gave me the wrong answer. He did at a later date get his certificate , stutterless no doubt. Anyone who thinks they can’t be failed for stuttering think again, an examiner has every right to fail someone they think who is not up to the job, and a stuttering master or any ships officer would be incapable of carrying out his duties in an emergency at least. Although I did sail with an engineer once who stuttered badly.Was very embarrassing at times as sometimes didn’t have time to stand there and listen to the end of his story which always took longer to tell. JS

[j.sabourn]

In contrast to all the stories of corruption by officialdom and otherwise Shanghai in 1976/77 seemed on the face of it to be the other way. There was no tipping for services and a taxi driver would not accept as was against the law. On the other hand have already said how I was taken ashore and reprimanded for supposedly over working the crew and not giving them time off to visit certain Chinese propaganda receptions during working hours they had set up as stage dramas . The reprimand turned out as a hang Sai contest with the Chinese Whiskey . What a hard life it was ? Mao Tsi Tungs wife was in prison in Shanghai prison at the time , and I was issued with the small red book in English on Maos thoughts that he left to his people after his death. At that time the taxis were the only private cars around apart from government limousines , Shanghai was a sea of bicycles and ringing of their bells . Today I believe is totally different. JS

[Graham Shaw]

........ Although I did sail with an engineer once who stuttered badly.Was very embarrassing at times as sometimes didn’t have time to stand there and listen to the end of his story which always took longer to tell. JS

Yes John,and it is such a temptation to attempt to pre-guess his or her finishing sentences for fear of being considered impolite.
Mind you,it didn' seem to bother Bert and Charlie HERE !

[Neil Morton]

Not pennies John, it had to be a pair of half crowns at least.Never made it to second but dished out the catering dept. stores on the Gothic mate.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Graham.
Stuff the bribery, any one can have my tears after watching that. Two of the best.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Japan, an interesting culture where tipping is considered an insult.
But does corruption not live there?

AS pure as they may wish to appear one has to consider that at some point it must exist

[j.sabourn]

I always paid over the top for my Ashanti beer John 200 yen a bottle , in the Japanese bars it was 120 yen .JS

PS That was daylight robbery.