Simply put, an irony is an aspect of a situation which is contrary to what one would normally expect. A seagull perched on a No-Fishing sign is thus ironic. The incongruence between expectation and actuality, which frequently happens in the world of shipping, can be jarring.
It was not too long ago that strident voices filled the air with talk about depression at sea. The hubbub now seems to have subsided. The problem that was said to plague many seafarers, driving some to commit suicide, is no longer a hot topic for discussion.
The APA (Amercian Pschological Association) Dictionary of Psychology defines empathy as “understanding a person from his or her frame of reference rather than one’s own, or vicariously experiencing that person’s feelings, perceptions, and thoughts.” Clearly, there should be empathy if seafarers are to be treated more kindly by those who profit from them. So why is this word not used more often by advocates of seafarers’ rights?
A candid writer should not expect to be popular with those who wield some power and influence in the shipping world. On the contrary, he should prepare himself to be despised or, worse, ignored. This much I have learned in the 13 years that Marine Café Blog has been in existence.
Many folks in maritime Manila continue to justify the use of cadets as unpaid office workers and even as domestic servants. It instills discipline, according to one argument. What a silly statement to make.
I was an early supporter of the seafarer charities. I wrote about their fund-raising activities and praised them for their good deeds. Then they started to make a lot of noise about depression at sea. That made me pause and ask: why the sudden concern with seafarers’ mental health?
The shipping world was ecstatic when ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, came into force in August 2013. It was as though a new dawn in seafarers’ rights had come. But did it really? The reality is that the Convention, inclusive of the 2018 amendments, has some serious flaws.
Marine Café Blog had a post-Thanksgiving Day chat with Frankie the Sage Cat. As expected, he said a mouthful about maritime conferences, seafarer charities and other matters. For those not familiar with Frankie, he’s a real cat who understands humans in an uncanny way. He must be at least 12 years old now, but he still has a sharp mind.
I have always objected to the use of the term “the human element” to refer to seafarers. It not only sounds as cold as the periodic table of elements invented by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. More important, it objectifies seafarers and detracts from their humanity. The following works of art show just how human they are — no less driven by love and libido than the maritime bureaucrats and pedants who label them “the human element”.
Charity is a great thing. It uplifts the human spirit and acts as an antidote to greed. Unfortunately, charity in the shipping world has descended to the level of propaganda, corporate almsgiving and media spectacle. The maritime charities drum up a particular issue (e.g., depression at sea), and large corporations, their conscience pricked, donate money to the cause. The whole cycle is attended by publicity.
Ship manning agents may have wealth and influence, but they do not, on the whole, enjoy a good reputation. For this they only have themselves to blame. Many of these glorified clerks are rogues who protect their own interests and those of the shipowners they serve, not the interest of seafarers. The following are four of the most egregious acts that give the crewing business a bad name.
This is my last blog post about the decades-old scam involving the theft of dollars sent home by Filipino seafarers. No, the problem has not gone away. On the contrary, dishonest manning agents continue to skim money from the remittances of the men and woman who toil at sea.