By Michael Grey* Will what we used to think of as “normal” ever return? Black swans used to be rare, but now they are coming by the squadrons, like migrating geese, as one daft occurrence succeeds the last in bewildering succession. There is a world shortage of lorry drivers, as they all opt to drive …
On our Forum: Stranger than fiction in a world ‘not far short of chaos’ Read More »
By Michael Grey* The results of an inquest in the UK on the deaths caused by a tram coming off the rails gave one pause for thought. The driver, it had concluded, had suffered a “microsleep” at the very moment he should have been applying the brakes and the tram had rushed on with …
The many challenges to one-man bridge operations (Forum) Read More »
Coinciding with growing evidence that many world economies are emerging from a devastating pandemic, this summer 2021 issue has a generally upbeat tone in its treatment of the two main features: an annual review of key developments at Canadian ports and how terminal operators are gearing up to meet demand flowing from economic recovery. …
I have always been terribly enthused by Oliver St.John Gogarty’s poem The Ship and its first stanza – “A ship from Valparaiso came/ And in the Bay her sails were furled,/ She brought the wonder of her name/ And tidings from a sunnier world.” It came back to me last week reading about all …
Trois-Rivières, Québec – Making the St. Lawrence River a high-performance economic corridor that respects ecosystems and riverside communities is the focus of Quebec’s new maritime vision: Avantage Saint-Laurent. Chantal Rouleau, Minister for Transport and Minister responsible for the Montreal region, in the presence of Jean Boulet, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity and …
Québec unveils its Avantage Saint-Laurent maritime vision Read More »
OTTAWA (Ontario) – Professional Licensed maritime pilots across Canada hold extensive technical and local knowledge. Today, the Canadian Marine Pilots’ Association (CMPA) is announcing the launch of a National Centre of Expertise that brings together pilots from every pilotage district across Canada and provides a unique source of expertise on technical matters, training and …
CMPA Launches the National Centre of Expertise on Maritime Pilotage Read More »
By Michael Grey* Nobody should be surprised that there has been something of a fight back by ship operators after the World Maritime University’s research earlier in the year showed up widespread “adjustment” in the recording of seafarers’ hours of work and rest (see A Culture of Adjustment). It was a shocking report, …
Justifying the unjustifiable on inhuman seafarer crisis… (forum) Read More »
PARIS – Ministers of transport from the 63 member countries, including Canada and the United States, of the International Transport Forum at the Paris-based OECD have agreed to use recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic to transform transport. The ministers noted that “the recovery from this pandemic offers new opportunities to reshape transport systems and …
OECD countries underline support to “greener” transport solutions Read More »
Hundreds of Chinese boats drop anchor near Ulleung Island in South Korean waters. (September, 2016) OFF THE COAST OF SOUTH KOREA — The battered wooden “ghost boats” drift through the Sea of Japan for months, their only cargo the corpses of starved North Korean fishermen whose bodies have been reduced to skeletons. In 2019, …
By Michael Grey* There will be few seafarers today who sail off to the Gulf of Guinea with a light heart and cheerful demeanour, any more than they did a couple of hundred years ago, when disease was endemic along its shores. It is a different sort of blight today, with the depredations of …
Shipping’s nightmare with the Gulf of Guinea pirates (Forum) Read More »