By Michael Grey* “She’s not answering her helm, Pilot!” It is not what anyone on the bridge of any ship wants to hear from the helmsman, particularly when the ship is very large, approaching a bend in the channel or some other nail-biting element of the passage from berth to sea. We don’t yet know …
On Our FORUM: Uncontrollable monsters on the high seas Read More »
By Michael Grey* “In the shipping industry,” an old Greek shipowner once said to me, “we operate not with the help of the government, but in spite of it”. And it is absolutely true, no matter where a shipping operation might be based, although some governments are more landlubberly than others. This statement, uttered more …
On our Forum: The ‘disgraceful’ HR and PR behaviour of P&O Ferries Read More »
By Evan T. Bloom* Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had tremendous impact on international relations globally. While the Arctic has generally been immune from external political pressures, the shocking developments in Ukraine led the seven states other than Russia that are members of the Arctic Council on March 3, 2022 to take the unprecedented step of formally pausing …
On our Forum: A new course for the Arctic after Russian invasion of Ukraine Read More »
By Michael Grey “They are lovely people who are going through hell”. It was a surveyor from DNV, who we happened to meet at Odessa airport, as we clutched our cardboard exit documents in the queue for what served as a departure lounge, whose words came back to me this week. It was a freezing …
On our Forum: Memories of Odessa… as Russian attack nears Read More »
By Alice Rogoff* For eight years since anonymous “little green men” from Russia invaded Crimea, the Arctic Council has continued to operate under the illusion of the Arctic nations’ “peaceful collaboration.” Russia, with its one-half share of Arctic landmass, has remained a member in good standing of the council and even become its chair, …
On our Forum: It’s time for an Arctic Council 2.0 Read More »
By Michael Grey Here is a useful motoring tip that you probably will not discover in your service manual, should your new, all-electric vehicle inadvertently burst into flames. While your natural inclination might be to run for your life, it is suggested that the terrifying fire might be smothered in a blanket, or better still, …
On our Forum: Beware of risks for ships carrying EV vehicles… Read More »
By Michael Grey* You would be, to say the least, extremely angry, if your car came to a grinding halt and the nice person from the emergency services looked up from the engine compartment and told you the engine had been wrecked because of the fuel you had been supplied by the filling station. …
On our Forum: Questions aplenty about ship fuel problems and ‘green’ solutions Read More »
By Michael Grey* It’s New Year’s Eve, when people of kindly disposition wish each other the hope that the coming twelve months might be happy, or even prosperous. So let me begin with such a wish for our readers, despite most of the evidence suggesting that much of what made 2021 such a miserable experience …
On our Forum: New Year thoughts on supporting seafarers and… handling fanatics Read More »
By Michael Grey* In the compromise that dictates the design of a ship, you don’t have to be cynical to observe that the needs of the crew come last, after the cargo, machinery and anything else that might remunerate the owner. The crew, it might be said “just fit in where they can”. It has …
On our Forum: Crew needs come last in revolutionary new ship shapes Read More »
By Michael Grey* As the governmental delegates to Cop26, safely delivered home after their Scottish excursion, start to work out how they can deliver their extravagant zero-carbon pledges by the due date, it is becoming manifestly clear that it will be neither cheap nor easy. It is very easy for politicians and environmental interests to …