Personal matters and poor health kept us away from the blogosphere for a good while. We’re now back and ready to blog away in the Year of the Water Dragon, which roared off a fortnight ago on 23rd January. It’s supposed to be an unpredictable year, yet auspicious with many possibilities for good fortune. Instead of consulting some Chinese astrologer for what’s in store in 2012, we engaged in self-reflection and asked: why do we continue to blog? In the total scheme of things, does Marine Café Blog make one bit of a difference? Maybe or maybe not. What is clear is that blogging has become a personal urge.

We blog because we’ve grown sick of maritime journalism with the maritime press tending to focus on external events and the passing moment – on what’s happening and not why it’s happening and what it means for the future.

We blog because seeing the difference between what is apparent and what is real, between what ought to be and what is, can be a challenge.

We blog because nobody else would call the Filipino seafarer factory what it is – a seafarer factory.

We blog because we believe that Filipinos can do better than man other nations’ merchant marine fleets.

We blog because seafarers from both developing and industrialised countries continue to get the short end of the stick.

We blog because there are companies and individuals that are doing great but are not usually written about.

We blog because marine technology is constantly moving forward and because some new products deserve to be brought under the limelight.

We blog because piracy and global warming continue despite the good intentions of those who say they care.

We blog because marine accidents continue to take a heavy toll on humans, marine life and the environment.

We blog because some things that are part and parcel of the maritime world – such as maritime art and culture – seldom get the attention they deserve.

We blog because we are read by 82-year-old Captain Michael Cuanzon, who thinks we’ve mellowed down like some tired dragon but who remains one of our faithful readers.

In the final analysis, we are able to go on blogging thanks to our legion of readers. Not all of them always like what they read; indeed, some have chastised us and called us names for expressing certain views that do not conform to their own. Yet, what would Marine Café Blog be without its readers? Mere pixels on the computer screen, words without life. ~Barista Uno