By Michael Grey* The old ideas are always the best, it is said, and if you are in the mood for cliches, you probably agree that they invariably come around again and again. It is interesting to see the efforts that are being made to “sell” careers at sea and to try and persuade …
On our Forum: The awesome challenge of improving life at sea Read More »
By Michael Grey* Decades ago – with the country suffering a government-appointed “wage freeze” and half the workforce out on strike – there was a cartoon which seemed to resonate with the afflicted of that era. It featured a well-fed and suited boss sitting at his desk, glowering at a miserable-looking supplicant, who was clearly …
On our Forum: Navigating in the new world of many nightmares Read More »
By Michael Grey* It may offer less in the way of adventure, while an enthusiasm for foreign travel is universal these days, but the sea career still remains attractive to a surprising number of young people. Those organisations offering scholarships for cadet training report there is still plenty of demand out there, even …
On our Forum: Solving the dilemma of shore-side post demands Read More »
By Michael Grey* As England battled Saharan temperatures, the depredations of climate activists and queues of multitudes trying to escape by air and sea, I returned for a week to my Northumbrian roots. The train ran on time, and while it may not have offered the silver service of yore, its extraordinary speed and friendly …
On our Forum: Measuring the local impact of giant cruise ships disgorging many people Read More »
By Michael Grey* It’s those darned “stakeholders” who are the trouble once again. It is one of those words which was unknown in an earlier era of free speech, when you could be quite clear about identifying those you were talking about, without having the lawyers or twitterati on your back. Now it has become …
On our FORUM: Safety at stake on the world’s oceans Read More »
By Michael Grey* It was the annual “Day of the Seafarer” last week, not that anyone outside the maritime world actually noticed, although some institutions, managers and maritime employers made kindly pronouncements about the value of these essential workers. It came a few days after the publication of the latest Mission to Seafarers and …
Do you know the name of the first navigator who used “weather routing” on his voyage from Europe to faraway lands and back? It wasn’t Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Juan Sebastian Elcano, Walter Raleigh or any other famous name from the XV or XVI centuries. It was a much lesser-known figure. Antón de Alaminos, …
*By Michael Grey There has been no end of sincere concern expressed about the frequency of fires inside containers, which are still running at a rate of one serious event every six weeks on average. This statistic never seems to change from one year to the next, and that doesn’t begin to do justice …
On our FORUM: A mounting dilemma: burning boxes on the world’s containerships Read More »
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 »