Women in shipping have come a long way. They navigate or command ships. They help draw up national maritime regulations. Many are in the top echelon of shipping corporations. But how far have women really gone in an industry that has been dominated by men for centuries? Yesterday, we got an inkling from a press release issued on behalf of the World Shipping Council (WSC), whose members operate some 90% of global liner ship capacity. (more…)
We recently did our bit to support the Save Our Seafarers campaign by visiting the SOS website and sending off the online letter of appeal on piracy to UK Prime Minister David Cameron. We wanted to dispatch the template letter to other world leaders but we held ourselves back. Surely, we thought, there are ways to get the politicians to act other than e-mailing petitions, which is a form of spamming. The paddle-for-125-miles campaign of British maritime executive James Tweed is one. Here are a few others: (more…)
The escalating brutality of Somali pirates is appalling. But we don’t know what to make of the new anti-piracy campaign that was launched on the 1st of March by the same groups behind last year’s End Piracy Now! drive. The campaigners have dubbed it “Save Our Seafarers (SOS)” and they’re calling on people power – by the millions – to pressure governments to crack down on the maritime thugs. Have they been mesmerised by the revolt in Libya against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi? (more…)
The international shipping community is loudly cheering the recent rescues of the hijacked chemical tankers Samho Jewelry and Bunga Laurel. We’re glad as well, but we’re not about to hyperventilate. The successful commando operations are small triumphs in the protracted war on piracy. The problem is that more people may now look upon the use of force as the best – and even the only – way to deal with the Great Plague. Unfortunately, BIMCO and three other shipping associations do little to counter this gung-ho attitude in their joint press release, which we reproduce here in full. ~Barista Uno (more…)
