This post was first featured in the fall edition of the Council Of American Master Mariner’s official publication Sidlights. You can find the article on page 18 of the PDF found HERE.
“The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.” Theodore Roosevelt
The maritime world is full of strict rules that may only be broken “in extremis”. The best know of these rules are “Never Turn Left”, “The Rule of Gross Tonnage” and my personal favorite “When In Doubt, Call the captain”.
Like a brimstone preacher we put the fear of god into heads of young cadets with the telling of these rules and back them up with sea stories of near misses and failure. The cherry on this sundae is often the saying “Take head young man, these rules were written in the blood of past mariners.”
I contend these rules are doing more harm than good. Here are three modern examples that lead me to this conclusion: [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · editorial
Do you have an environmental question to explore? We were recently asked to participate in a Blogger’s Roundtable discussion on the Exxon Valdez grounding that occurred 20 years ago today. Unfortunately, it was canceled but we were offered a direct interview with a topic expert in matters that relate to the incident. Where to start? Here is the response I wrote in an email to USCG Public Affairs:
The Exxon Valdez itself is too big of a topic, with too many misconceptions for us to cover with anything short of a book. We are, however, looking for an audio interview to fill our next podcast episode. I would like to cover something that is important but has not received much press. I am open for suggestions but here are some related topics suggested by our readers:
- Changes in mariner liability since the Valdez.
- The untold story of ballast – Why in-tank treatment alone won’t solve the problem
- Nuclear Waste At Sea – How do we detect and deal with dangerous foreign waste disposed of in international waters.
- Marine Pollution in the Gulf Of Aden – How global pollution concerns effect shipping.
- A look at what keeps the Captain Little, Commander Of Marine Safety, awake at night?
This email stems from internal debate here at gCaptain, mostly centered around the question: Are there still lessons to be learned from incident? The answer, of course, is yes but defining those lessons becomes troublesome as the topic has already been well explored. The question I keep returning to is: Have hey been explored too well?
Problems of this size and magnitude always bring me back to the lessons of Economics and Risk, a class I took while perusing my MBA. This class taught us that every activity worth pursuing, including the transportation of oil, has associated risk that needs to be mitigated to a level of acceptance. Elimination of risk is impossible because there are a limited number of resources available to solve problems and prevent unfavorable outcomes. Here is is the relation of these lessons to oil spill prevention today: [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · editorial, exxon valdez
gCaptain is excited to announce that Barack Hussein Obama was elected today as the 44th president of the United States Of America.
Just a few short weeks ago when I made my personal decision on which candidate I would vote for I also made the decision not to endorse a candidate here on gCaptain. This is not a political blog and we work hard to keep personal opinion far removed from our pages. It is an open blog meaning we quietly publish well written articles by those who’s point of view is contrary to that of our editors. We also seek out criticism at every turn but each article and comment published shares a common goal; adding value to our readers who, in turn, will be better informed to promote the safe operation of ships.
The only thing more rare to gCaptain than political commentary is the personal story behind these words but today is not your average day so here it is; I have met John McCain and he is personally responsible for getting me through a difficult time in my life. I voted for McCain in both the 2000 and 2008 Republican primaries and have full confidence his election to the presidency would have been a true asset to our country. I am also a Republican but I voted for Obama.
Today the maritime industry is facing a crisis. I don’t need to repost this year’s casualty list or share the 5 year forecast set by marine insurers to inform you of the trouble we face as doing so would only discourage hope. Today my country elected an individual who ignored the pundits and put in the hard work required to win. It’s true, Barack Obama lacks the experience or deep understating of maritime affairs to fully support our industry from Day 1 but what he possesses is a true willingness to listen, learn, take risk and put in the hard work to help us meet our industry’s needs. Ideals we share.
I ask all our readers to put aside their past, their voting record and partisan beliefs to help Barack get this ship underway. We will need teachers willing to help the public understand maritime affairs, we will need those with ideas to put in the work needed to make them happen and we will need heretics like Barack who are willing to assume the risk needed to stand up and call attention to the problems they so clearly see. We need hope and we need action.
I ask, regardless of your decision today or even your nationality that you join us in your support of Obama and his message of getting this ship of ours back on course. gCaptain intends to put our full support behind his message and relay it to our industry. If you are looking for motivation, here are his words:
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Tags: · editorial, obama, president
In “Refrences to Joseph Keefe”>another excellent article, Maritime Executive‘s managing editor Joseph Keefe is dead on with his assessment of salary (find the article HERE) and working condition improvements in this tight labor market. The following comment in response to a discussion with one Captain sums up the discord between shore side managers and shipboard personnel perfectly;
Gathering that he was earning well in excess of $100,000 per year with about six months vacation, I chided him for complaining about a job situation that a lot of people would kill to obtain. My comments were NOT well received.
Well had Keefe called any member of gCaptain’s staff we could have gently clued him in on the likely response. The reason? Well he lays out all the major points but let us add a few minor ones. Mariners currently in top positions aboard ship are loyal to their profession. We have seen tough times and stayed at sea to the protest of loved ones and in doing so have payed the price. From high points to low a mariners life is one of hard misses. Personally I’ve sacrificed being with my family on the day of my father’s death and missed the birth of his namesake, my first child, Jack. Mine is one of the least troubling stories but the hardships are not the primary reason for the discord; it’s the rewards, or lack there of. To show my point I offer some examples;
- Mariners in the first Gulf War bravely supplied the troops in countless runs to the war zone and in return received “all you can eat” overtime pay and handsome bonuses. For my wife’s 30 days in the war zone she received little more than a medal.
- Mariner’s salaries are just recently breaking above the levels (not adjusted for inflation) of those in the same position 30 years ago.
- Sailing 30 years ago was an enjoyable experience that did not entail constant communication with management. Email and “real” phone service didn’t exist.
- Port time is currently non-existent.
- The U.S. mariner has historically come at a premium to their foreign conterparts but the gap is closing fast.
- With the decline in the dollar we are suddenly being recruited be European companies that are offering considerable bonuses. U.S. companies are not following suit.
- Specialists in support roles, mostly from Europe, freely share their salaries which can be considerable higher than an American Captain’s.
- The majority of mariners live in areas (New England, Florida, California) of skyrocketing housing expenses.
- Mariners are now getting arrested for incidents that, as CAMM (The Council of American Master Mariners) put it, “were at one point considered mistakes”.
- Today civilians are more likely to ask you how you can work for an Oil Company than reply with a statement once heard often; “Wow, what an interesting job”.
In addition to these points the personnel shortage in our industry is not only a concern of company, it’s a concern for the shipboard management. The simple fact is positions are being filled by people who five years ago would not be considered ready for the job. In the past twenty years crew levels have been brought down to record low levels but overqualified crews “stuck” in positions they long ago mastered have kept the ships running smooth. Today an alarmingly high number of vessels list 100% of their officers as short-service employees (in the position for less than a year). This is not only a problem for officers but also for those on shore. Ships rely on a foundation of support from town that increasingly comes from managers lacking experience due to the same stratospheric rise in the number of promotions. These two factors equate to rising difficulties for Captains, Chief Mates and their counterparts in the engine room.
A manager recently asked a good friend of mine if he was ready for the big promotion to Captain, his response angered the boss. I can only assume the anger derived from the fact his statement was both accurate and troubling. He replied, “Hell no, I have no business being Captain. Professionally I’m not close to being ready but if I’m not promoted in the next few rounds you’re making a big mistake because I can run circles around my competition!” Not a good sign for those who need to trust the next man in charge of a 500 million dollar asset.
What he did not tell the manager is also reveling, “Why take a promotion for a few extra dollars and have to sit at a desk filling out paperwork, answering phone calls from town and dealing with petty squables. The captain use to have a stateroom twice the size of a seaman’s and fly to work in first class, now he just gets paid more.”
While the article was impressively accurate the following comments are not entirely correct;
His pay had been augmented three or four times in the past 18 months and his employers had confirmed that pay scales had at least doubled during that period.
While it’s conceivable that the payroll has double I’ve witnessed between 10 and 40% increases in senior mariner pay.
Gathering that he was earning well in excess of $100,000 per year with about six months vacation
“But you get Six Months vacation” is the first thing mariners hear during salary negotiations but it’s a misnomer. I don’t personally know a mariner who took less than 4 weeks of training classes last year and know many Chief Mate candidates who took between 12 and 16 weeks of class… that brings us down to 5 months “Vacation”. Subtract travel days, visits to the Coast Guard and days spent at the union hall and your down to less than 4.5 months (139 days).
The average American takes 15 days vacation, 8 personal days and 10 holidays. Add this to the number of weekends and (if my math is correct) shore side personel have 137 days off or only 3 days less than the mariner. Ever leave the office early on Friday or take a long lunch to visit the dentist? Mariners work 12 hours a day, every day which equates to nearly double the number of hours a “40-hour per week” American works during the year. Now I can begin to understand why gCaptain’s email box gets flooded with shore-side job related questions.
The number one reason for the discord is rooted by Keefe’s statement;
It is tempting to dismiss this as seafarer whining, but maritime executives everywhere had better strap on their hearing aids and listen to what their employees have to say. To do otherwise will only exacerbate the current crisis.
On the return trip for a promising shore-side job a prominent divorce attorney joined the discussion on NPR’s Fresh Air and said he often sits at the arbitration table looking at two people in love who share a life others only dream about and asks himself why. The reason is not that argued by either party, the reason is that neither listens to what the other is saying.
Mariners are being marginalized and management isn’t listening. Captains no longer have the power to solve problems aboard ship without approval from managers who frequently ask “Who died and left him in charge?”. This response filters down to the crew who justly assume their boss can not communicate their problems to distant offices ashore. This problem is exacerbated by the increased regulatory pressures, technological requirements, and industry opposition not to mention burdensome levels of training, paperwork and hands-on management from shore.
So while the “24/7 satellite television, e-mail, voice comms, excellent (but SSDD) food and media room” are nice do something that compensates me for the extra work I’ve taken on lately or double salaries instead of payroll.
What are management’s concerns? Not sure, I’m knocking on the divorce attorney’s door and just not listening!
-JD
This post is in response to Maritime Executive’s article:
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Tags: · captain, chief_engineer, chief_mate, complaints, editorial, jobs, joseph_keefe, management, marex, mariner, maritime_employment, maritime_executive, maritime_jobs, maritime_unions, merchant_marine, Offshore, oil_patch, shipping
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