Mediterranean migrants: quotes from their life-savers
French artist Alfred Guillou depicted the horror of being shipwrecked and drowning at sea in his heart-wrenching 1892 painting, Adieu! (pictured above). Today, life is imitating art as people continue to flee from Libya to seek asylum in Europe. Thousands have died on...
IMO raking it in from STCW and other publications
In contrast to the ILO's policy, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) does not provide free online access to the full texts of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) and other IMO...
The wellness training craze: compassion for seafarers?
The international maritime community is going gaga over wellness training. One UK-based seafarers' charity even wants to make it mandatory for seafarers. That idea is pinheaded but not really surprising. The shipping industry has a weakness for buzzwords which tends...
Lighthouse photographs and reflections on life
A lighthouse is more than what the Cambridge Dictionary says it is: “a tall structure by the sea with a flashing light that warns ships of dangerous rocks or shows them the way into a port.” It serves to inspire writers, painters, photographers and anybody whose mind...
What’s in a name? The boat vs. ship question revisited
What is the difference between a boat and a ship? I am posing this old question again because, try hard as I may, I cannot find a satisfactory answer that would put the matter to rest. If the conundrum can befuddle seafarers and other maritime professionals, what more...
A reply to Filipinos who defend maritime cadet slavery
How dumb and foolish can some people be? The use of maritime cadets as unpaid labour by Philippine manning agencies is a clear case of exploitation. I would even call it a form of modern-day slavery. Yet, many Filipinos think it is perfectly normal. The arguments they...
A great Chinese exercise for everyone, on land or at sea
Several years ago, my interest in Chinese philosophy and healing led me to pingshuai, a simple hand-swinging exercise (pictured above being demonstrated by Yao Huai-Ying on the far left). This basic form of qigong was developed by Master Lee Feng-San Sifu of the...
Sign of the times: captains criminalised for sea rescues
The noble tradition of saving lives at sea, which British engraver Henry Edward Dawe depicted in his 1832 print They're Saved! They're Saved! (pictured above), is under attack. This year, two German captains of rescue vessels operating under the umbrella of Sea-Watch...
The joy of childhood and the sea celebrated in art
Les enfants n’ont ni passé ni avenir, et, ce qui ne nous arrive guère, ils jouissent du présent. (Children have neither past nor future, and, that which hardly happens to us, they rejoice in the present.) ~ Jean de La Bruyère, Les Caractères (1885)What has happened to...
Wanted: a new code of conduct for seafarers
This is a new version of an article originally published in Marine Café Blog on 27th February 2015. I have retained much of the original. ~ BU The shipping industry talks incessantly of seafarers’ rights. The maritime unions and charities have made a fetish of it. How...
20 wonderful quotes for those aspiring to be sailors
Isn't it sad? Many young men and women are responding, not to the lure of the sea, but to the siren call of the dollar. Surely, there is more to seafaring than just money or the chance to travel the world. A sailor's life can be fulfilling in many ways, but it is also...
A dishonest ship manning agent in Manila exposed
The following is a true story. It happened many years ago. I am narrating it to throw light on a scam, which, although not as widespread as the theft of millions from the dollar remittances of Filipino seafarers, is nonetheless outrageous. To protect the privacy of...
