QM2 Chart

JS
Re. weather routeing.
Every time we got routeing advise it always seemed to put us where the bad weather was if we had followed their advise.
Nowadays many charterers insist on the ship owner/manager participate in weather routeing, which is not cheap but if not entered into then insurance premiums can go up or the charterer may refuse the ship. Once entered into weather routeing woo betide any Master who disregards any recommendations given to him by these services and uses his own experience to change the ships route to avoid weather/ice or use his experience of Ocean currents to gain speed. Weather forecasting has come a long way with computer modelling based on years of observation but still nothing can beat the experience of the man on the spot.
Its just another example of how control has been taken away from the Master but having said that the lowering of standards and experience of todays mariners has in part led to this
rgds
JA

Just another nail in the coffin of anyone going to sea nowadays and expecting to have to use their own inititave. Really like a bus driver stuck to the route or get fired. When thinking and moping around ashore, does well to think on these things and remember to be glad you are not experiencing such oneself, and say hurrah, I''m retired. Cheers John S

---------- Post added at 11:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 PM ----------

Re the Capt. Phillips saga, in that case do have a genuine case for suing then. If would lose job for not obeying Ocean Routing for weather, the same must stand for areas of Piracy moreso. Cheers JS

Having read a bit on the Captain Phillips court case , it seems that his decision actually to save fuel and time , in the interest of his company , endangered the crew , this being as you said John the critical point in the action . It does make me wonder how much the company would have pressured him though , and sickens me that Hollywood would , if the court action is true , glorified a gung ho fool

I personally look on these cases with a jaundiced view. In most our times at sea we were expected to make these decisions for ourselves, this is what we got paid for. Nowadays a Master is no longer a master as we knew, Engineers are not watchkeeping and hands on engineers as we once knew, ABs are no longer ABs as we once knew. No spliced wires and such, acceptable, as all have to have ferrels instead. Doubt in normal shipping a seaman ever gets to steer the ship, in the offshore world is a very rare occurrence. At least the couple of years I served on the lowest of the low standby boats and anchor handling supply vessels, all required a bit of knowledge and a great deal of practical seamanship. As regards anchor handing the job has got easier due to the advance of labour saving devices and saves getting your arms pulled out of your sockets at times, still requires a lot of decision making by all employed in the work, and no place for shirkers. You or someone mentioned some time ago about having to have risk assessment form regarding safety of life at the likes at the Piper Alpha. I can assure you if that had been the case and the crew and myself had adhered to such there would have been no survivors, in fact a couple of seamen who lost their lives might still be alive, however given the same circumstances believe they would still have done. To us older ones, myself personally I only play lip service to some of the more stupid regulations they bring out, however for younger persons now taking up the sea as their profession they are going to be brainwashed to unthinking persons who are ultimately going to have to keep on reading instructions on doing the correct thing. The sea like that you can keep, you can train monkeys to do that. Perhaps a few in the shipping offices giving these instuctions might like to go turn about with those on the ships. Cheers John S

Take UK Television and the adverts are offering loans with 1453% interest , or a lawyer to chase your claim against the bank for insurance you bought , or for bad investment decisions that you can blame on your bank , we are bombarded by Ambulance Chasing lawyers pleading for us to sue someone , In 1995 we started the No Win No Fee system , and we have tumbled backwards ever since , Whatever way you look at it the lawyers are still making the money , but we are paying for all the claim in our day by day expenses