There once was a time when the Captain of a Ship inspired awe. He was someone who had so much powers that once the his ship cast off the jetty, he was He. God. There was not much the owner of the ship or the cargo could do but trust Him to get the ship home. He sometimes was part owner too. His crew were no better than slaves unless He was the benevolent sort. If he didn't like your face, he could make you walk the plank! Well He could. He may not because he needed you to scrub his quarters clean.
He ran the ship the way He wanted. Everyone else just got round to accepting it.
And now, I wonder if he has not become a Slave. A mechanical robot signing away on redundant weather messages and irrelevant Navtex messages.
( the text progression:
1. Show how powerful the captain was. How skilled he was. A man maanger. The final word.
Used to be part owner.
Now he has become powerless. He has lost his skills of management. He cannot or need not make decisions)
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
We don't want to live in fear.
While I was sailing, the CSO had asked us for our views on armed guards. And I had developed a rationale not in favour of armed guards.
I was concerned because of
1. the risks inherent in these arms by just placing them on-board.
2. The risk of the pirates using even more dangerous weapons in response, leading to
increased risk of crew injury or death.
3. How trained are these guards? How can my company who would employ them vet them?
4. How will I as someone with no training in use of such weaponry authorise the use of these arms. And if it doesn't need my authorisation, then will that amount to ceding command to someone else?
5. If there is a fatality following the use of these arms, how am I going to show that there was an imminent threat that precipitates the use of such proportionately dangerous arms. Or is there no need to show such threats? In which case can't I go on a shooting spree?
6. Where do I as the Master stand in what could be alleged to be a cold blooded brutal murder? What if I were implicated and the world puts its arms up and disowns me?
This was a view I held for a while during which I had replied to the CSO's query. But very soon, my views changed. It started with a conversation with another sailing Master. And then the many times my heart skipped a beat when a fishing boat came towards you only added to my anxiety. Once somewhere east of the Rondo Island, the CE wanted the engine stopped for repairs, and as I slowed down I had a boat start its engines and head towards me. And I had my heart in my mouth. I increased speed again. Very soon I realised that they were harmless fishing boats. But how do I know. And I was no where close to a country called Somalia.
And we had no citadel.
And then I started slowly thinking how would it be if I had armed guards. They could fire warning shots. They could puncture the boat. They could potentially save us.
I fully understand why no organization including the IMO is committing to armed guards.(IMO has urged states to facilitate the passage of ships with armed guards- # Egypt#) But I think they too should understand why we feel safer with them on-board. We don't want to be keel hauled. We don't want to be hanging by our feet with our heads under the sea. We don't want bullet holes in our body. We don't want to be sodomized. We don't want to live in fear.
My vote is for armed guards. Please don't say no if we ask for armed guards.
I was concerned because of
1. the risks inherent in these arms by just placing them on-board.
2. The risk of the pirates using even more dangerous weapons in response, leading to
increased risk of crew injury or death.
3. How trained are these guards? How can my company who would employ them vet them?
4. How will I as someone with no training in use of such weaponry authorise the use of these arms. And if it doesn't need my authorisation, then will that amount to ceding command to someone else?
5. If there is a fatality following the use of these arms, how am I going to show that there was an imminent threat that precipitates the use of such proportionately dangerous arms. Or is there no need to show such threats? In which case can't I go on a shooting spree?
6. Where do I as the Master stand in what could be alleged to be a cold blooded brutal murder? What if I were implicated and the world puts its arms up and disowns me?
This was a view I held for a while during which I had replied to the CSO's query. But very soon, my views changed. It started with a conversation with another sailing Master. And then the many times my heart skipped a beat when a fishing boat came towards you only added to my anxiety. Once somewhere east of the Rondo Island, the CE wanted the engine stopped for repairs, and as I slowed down I had a boat start its engines and head towards me. And I had my heart in my mouth. I increased speed again. Very soon I realised that they were harmless fishing boats. But how do I know. And I was no where close to a country called Somalia.
And we had no citadel.
And then I started slowly thinking how would it be if I had armed guards. They could fire warning shots. They could puncture the boat. They could potentially save us.
I fully understand why no organization including the IMO is committing to armed guards.(IMO has urged states to facilitate the passage of ships with armed guards- # Egypt#) But I think they too should understand why we feel safer with them on-board. We don't want to be keel hauled. We don't want to be hanging by our feet with our heads under the sea. We don't want bullet holes in our body. We don't want to be sodomized. We don't want to live in fear.
My vote is for armed guards. Please don't say no if we ask for armed guards.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
When we were cadets..........
Most of us who have been sailing for a while to be now wearing three if not four stipes bemoan the quality of officers and cadets that we come across. It would not be wrong to assume that we have resigned ourselves to the quality and our helplessness at not being able to do anything about it. We talk about the time when cadets had to spend not less than 24 months at sea. Those cadets it appears were more malleable and willing to be subject to what may now be termed extreme. But I also remember my Mates and Masters saying how easy a time I was having. How much more better the training was in Rajendra and also in Dufferin. How much more tougher it was. masts to climb .boats to row.
it will not be long before these very juniors who now we are not happy with will turn out with 3 or 4 stripes on their shoulders and repeat what all seniors seem to tell the juniors." during our time......"
For the present state we squarely blame the system that turns out graduates who come onboard after having learnt law and business in the last year. And they would have forgotten what azimuth is and how to compute an error. I feel there is a mis match in what the industry is demanding and what the institutes are supplying. On a personal level I feel that the students refresh basics so they are better prepared for sea. Preferably even add a semester or two that is spent at sea.
The institutes do well to build knowledge. And when these cadets come onboard they add to their knowledge- not always in the traditional manner; but by watching, learning from peers and superiors and from experience. And then they ( should) develop the skills by applying this knowledge to what they do- Practically. By doing this they reinforce the theory learnt earlier and consolidate all that they learnt. With time they become what we may term as good officers.
But what i feel is much more than the knowledge and the skill which can be developed structurally; it is the attitude that is the most important. A few of the officers who I would term have good attitudes take more than a few attempts to clear their exams. The ones who clear their exams in their first attempt may not necessarily be who I want onboard.
For me someone with a good attitude will be better motivated, will be more creative and receptive to knowledge- and not just in a mechanical manner. They will be more willing to accept responsibility rather than resort to " this was always the way it has been" or some such other excuses.
Knowledge and skills can be assessed and structurally improved.What do we do. If only institutes could churn out cadets with an A+ in attitude.
For now all I think we-everyone who can be an influence on the young impressionable mind- can do is set an example. The teachers in the institute, the recruiters, the staff in the office and then all of us onboard who want them to make us a cup of coffee!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Lost COC
How many of us would ever lose a COC? Well I would like to think no one. But life can sometimes play cruel jokes. Like it did with me. On returning from Madras after applying for US Visa and appearing for the ICS TC paper, I opened my certificate folder and found no COC. Where could it go? No where. After all it couldn’t go on its own. I set everyone at home on it. No one could find it. I went to the photocopy shop where I did take some copies. I never photocopied the COC . Still why take a chance. He did not have it either.
I look up the internet. Not much help there. I call up the office. And they could not help either. After all this must have been the first time some loser lost his COC. But I am not a loser. A loser is someone who never tries. If you try and you lose, you are not a loser.
Office gave me sage advice. They asked me to search at places I already did. They asked me to go to the Photocopy shop where I may have placed it. Well I did all that again. Same result.
But after so many mails I still don’t have the procedure. I called up MMD. Oh ! How they love to trouble you. They would almost never pick up the phone and the one occasion they did, they just picked it off the hook and let it be there. They have an email contact on their site. I mailed them too. Well I don’t think any one ever checks.
Nothing worked. I did not know what to do. But this being a certificate issued by the government or atleast on behalf of it everyone at home agreed that I needed to file a police complaint. I did not expect that to be easy. Two trips and explanations to the SI and everyone under him on what was it that I lost, I got it. All in all about 3hours gone. Still I would rate that as easy. They gave me a receipt for my complaint. One for a Non cognizable offence.
Then I had to go the MMD. In person. To see if phones were working. To be fair to them it was examination time and probably that is why the phone was off the hook.
At the counter the lady was helpful . She searched and gave me a list of what all I needed.
Well you need 2 sets of all the documents required for the COC attested by the company. Then an affidavit. And a notice in two dailies. They did not mention if it had to be a local paper of a Bombay paper. And so I got four done. 2 in Bombay and 2 in Kerala. If you are doing it in Bombay go for Free Press Journal and Hindustan times. You can have a lavish party with the money you will save had you used the Times of India.
But it was the affidavit bit that was giving me the jitters. I called up office yet again. Blank. I called up my mamman. He is in the Merchant Navy. Go to the court opposite the Azad Maidan near VT. Killa Court. And there I was. In front of the Killa court. I don’t know if I will be pulled up for saying what I am about to, but there were men in black coats selling their wares. Very much like another class of workers do. What did I want? And affidavit for a lost certificate. Do I have a police complaint. Yes I do. 300rupees. Ok. 5 minutes later I had an affidavit in hand. Complete with a notary’s signature.
Efficient? Super Efficient.
And the MMD needs a letter by the candidate. Who do you address it to?
Not mentioned. So I addressed one letter to the DGS and another to the Principal officer. I gave the letter to the PO at the counter. And the lady there was happy. And so I think it is not he DGS who should be addressed in the letter.
It took me two days to get the notice in the papers. My dad sent me the notices he put up in the local Mathrubhumi and Express in Calicut by courier. I called up an agent who handled these things and asked him to give me a quote. FPJ and HT were around a 1800/-. Mid day and Mirror around 2.5k. I’d rather not say what was quoted for the mainstream papers. Like I said earlier you could have a lavish party with the savings.
I then went to the MMD and was standing in line when I got a call on my mobile. The office. They don’t take applications on Friday. Sure?
Sure. Oh! I am almost at the counter. Another 3 people and I am at the window. So let me try. And the lady at the counter took it. The same friendly lady who told me what to do.
16th june 2009.That is when I will get my COC.
( written in May 2009)
I look up the internet. Not much help there. I call up the office. And they could not help either. After all this must have been the first time some loser lost his COC. But I am not a loser. A loser is someone who never tries. If you try and you lose, you are not a loser.
Office gave me sage advice. They asked me to search at places I already did. They asked me to go to the Photocopy shop where I may have placed it. Well I did all that again. Same result.
But after so many mails I still don’t have the procedure. I called up MMD. Oh ! How they love to trouble you. They would almost never pick up the phone and the one occasion they did, they just picked it off the hook and let it be there. They have an email contact on their site. I mailed them too. Well I don’t think any one ever checks.
Nothing worked. I did not know what to do. But this being a certificate issued by the government or atleast on behalf of it everyone at home agreed that I needed to file a police complaint. I did not expect that to be easy. Two trips and explanations to the SI and everyone under him on what was it that I lost, I got it. All in all about 3hours gone. Still I would rate that as easy. They gave me a receipt for my complaint. One for a Non cognizable offence.
Then I had to go the MMD. In person. To see if phones were working. To be fair to them it was examination time and probably that is why the phone was off the hook.
At the counter the lady was helpful . She searched and gave me a list of what all I needed.
Well you need 2 sets of all the documents required for the COC attested by the company. Then an affidavit. And a notice in two dailies. They did not mention if it had to be a local paper of a Bombay paper. And so I got four done. 2 in Bombay and 2 in Kerala. If you are doing it in Bombay go for Free Press Journal and Hindustan times. You can have a lavish party with the money you will save had you used the Times of India.
But it was the affidavit bit that was giving me the jitters. I called up office yet again. Blank. I called up my mamman. He is in the Merchant Navy. Go to the court opposite the Azad Maidan near VT. Killa Court. And there I was. In front of the Killa court. I don’t know if I will be pulled up for saying what I am about to, but there were men in black coats selling their wares. Very much like another class of workers do. What did I want? And affidavit for a lost certificate. Do I have a police complaint. Yes I do. 300rupees. Ok. 5 minutes later I had an affidavit in hand. Complete with a notary’s signature.
Efficient? Super Efficient.
And the MMD needs a letter by the candidate. Who do you address it to?
Not mentioned. So I addressed one letter to the DGS and another to the Principal officer. I gave the letter to the PO at the counter. And the lady there was happy. And so I think it is not he DGS who should be addressed in the letter.
It took me two days to get the notice in the papers. My dad sent me the notices he put up in the local Mathrubhumi and Express in Calicut by courier. I called up an agent who handled these things and asked him to give me a quote. FPJ and HT were around a 1800/-. Mid day and Mirror around 2.5k. I’d rather not say what was quoted for the mainstream papers. Like I said earlier you could have a lavish party with the savings.
I then went to the MMD and was standing in line when I got a call on my mobile. The office. They don’t take applications on Friday. Sure?
Sure. Oh! I am almost at the counter. Another 3 people and I am at the window. So let me try. And the lady at the counter took it. The same friendly lady who told me what to do.
16th june 2009.That is when I will get my COC.
( written in May 2009)
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
When Birds twitter on the Wheelhouse
Like Chinese whispers facts slowly turn to stories when they reach your ears. But what I write hasn’t passed too many ears and so I believe there is more of facts here than fiction. Of course you could doubt my memory for I heard this about 3 years ago.
A VLCC coming back to the Persian Gulf, after discharging at a South African port did not get to the PG with its hull intact.
It was only when the duty AB reported to the officer that he is seeing silhouettes of what are possibly rocks- off the bows- did it add some spark to an otherwise routine watch. The echoes from the rocks were written off as clutter- how could you have rocks when there is nothing around for over a 100miles off. The AB could hear birds too! It would have sounded like music to the ears; but not just then.
Just too late. The ship then went over the rocks off the Kuria Muria- off the Coast of Oman -like a car rides over speed breakers. Conrad’s Lord Jim must have felt something similar on that famous morning during the last few minutes of his watch onboard the pilgrim ship Patna.
The chart showed the ship to be well on her charted track. What happened then? It remained a mystery for not very long. The purple finder that was tracking the ship from its records found the ship was way west off course- by over a 100miles!( I don’t think it a fair question to ask why were people monitoring the purple finder were not alarmed) . And it had been so for the last 3 days or so. And no one knew.
Why? The GPS went in to the DR mode because of some fault in its antenna connectors. It did give an alarm. A small beep that was reset immediately as any XTE alarm or WP Arrival alarm would be. And no one noticed the small letters “DR” flashing on the bottom of the display.
Once the GPS went in to the DR mode and the first person to receive the alarm did not investigate its cause nor think it significant enough to talk to the others, no one else knew. And no one checked the DOP status. The small blinking characters “DR” did not catch anyone’s eye. Fear grips the mind when you contemplate what such an oversight could do.
The GPS with what ever little brains it has now began calculating the ships position based on the dead reckoning method. Use the previous course and speed. And so the ship was always on its charted course. A course that ran straight on for over 4-5 days taking the ship from somewhere NW of Madagascar to east off the Kuria Muria whence it was to head into the gulf of Oman.
The DOP is a term that is in most cases relegated to the textbooks once we wear our stripes. It is not a very fancy term that has gathered many eyeballs. It still remains obscure in the pages of manuals and textbooks. I feel it deserves a little more attention than it is being given. Spend some time and look up what the DOP values on the GPS receiver are. Higher the value, the lesser the angle between the satellites being tracked and so the more diluted the precision of the position given by the GPS. Press a few buttons and you get to the DOP status.
And these few buttons might one day save you from hearing birds sing when you really didn’t want to.
A VLCC coming back to the Persian Gulf, after discharging at a South African port did not get to the PG with its hull intact.
It was only when the duty AB reported to the officer that he is seeing silhouettes of what are possibly rocks- off the bows- did it add some spark to an otherwise routine watch. The echoes from the rocks were written off as clutter- how could you have rocks when there is nothing around for over a 100miles off. The AB could hear birds too! It would have sounded like music to the ears; but not just then.
Just too late. The ship then went over the rocks off the Kuria Muria- off the Coast of Oman -like a car rides over speed breakers. Conrad’s Lord Jim must have felt something similar on that famous morning during the last few minutes of his watch onboard the pilgrim ship Patna.
The chart showed the ship to be well on her charted track. What happened then? It remained a mystery for not very long. The purple finder that was tracking the ship from its records found the ship was way west off course- by over a 100miles!( I don’t think it a fair question to ask why were people monitoring the purple finder were not alarmed) . And it had been so for the last 3 days or so. And no one knew.
Why? The GPS went in to the DR mode because of some fault in its antenna connectors. It did give an alarm. A small beep that was reset immediately as any XTE alarm or WP Arrival alarm would be. And no one noticed the small letters “DR” flashing on the bottom of the display.
Once the GPS went in to the DR mode and the first person to receive the alarm did not investigate its cause nor think it significant enough to talk to the others, no one else knew. And no one checked the DOP status. The small blinking characters “DR” did not catch anyone’s eye. Fear grips the mind when you contemplate what such an oversight could do.
The GPS with what ever little brains it has now began calculating the ships position based on the dead reckoning method. Use the previous course and speed. And so the ship was always on its charted course. A course that ran straight on for over 4-5 days taking the ship from somewhere NW of Madagascar to east off the Kuria Muria whence it was to head into the gulf of Oman.
The DOP is a term that is in most cases relegated to the textbooks once we wear our stripes. It is not a very fancy term that has gathered many eyeballs. It still remains obscure in the pages of manuals and textbooks. I feel it deserves a little more attention than it is being given. Spend some time and look up what the DOP values on the GPS receiver are. Higher the value, the lesser the angle between the satellites being tracked and so the more diluted the precision of the position given by the GPS. Press a few buttons and you get to the DOP status.
And these few buttons might one day save you from hearing birds sing when you really didn’t want to.
The Bridge Team and paperwork.
No one will dispute how important an effective bridge team is. It could be the difference that will land you on the Takong Kecil or take you safe east off it.
There have been volumes written about the Bridge Team. The Nautical Institute spends a good deal of its energy in increasing awareness about an effective bridge team. And I am sure most if not every Master would agree how an effective bridge team lessens the weight on his shoulders.
Having sailed with ineffective team members many Masters have the habit and consequently the ability to multi task on the bridge and navigate despite the ineffective officer. This would mean that he could handle the situations leaving the sundry paper work to the duty officer effectively cutting him off from the active bridge team.
I am not in anyway implying that paperwork is meaningless. But I think anyone would agree that paper work is of an historical importance. The moment you plot a position, the ship has already moved at least 2-3 cables ahead. Now that plotted position doesn’t help except to show an auditor that the passage plan has been followed. An effective and continuous Parallel index is what will be most effective here.
A similar story plagues the record of soundings, the GPS log and every other log. There is even a terrestrial position fixing log. Now the duty officer has to read off ranges and bearings off the landmarks. Write that down in a log book and then plot a position. Effectively the ship would have moved a lot more ahead than just 0.4miles by then.
Yes the argument here could be to have two officers in addition to the master so that paperwork is not neglected.
But a more effective argument could be to reduce the irrelevant paperwork. Especially so when most of our ships have a printer for the GPS and the echo sounder. Can’t these printers effectively take over the role of record keeping so that you have a more active bridge team member who expends his energy in monitoring parallel indexes and soundings rather than recording them? And is more alert to the fast moving container vessel creeping up close on your stern.
The intention of this article is to set off a debate and improve efficiency and last but not the least, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT.
There have been volumes written about the Bridge Team. The Nautical Institute spends a good deal of its energy in increasing awareness about an effective bridge team. And I am sure most if not every Master would agree how an effective bridge team lessens the weight on his shoulders.
Having sailed with ineffective team members many Masters have the habit and consequently the ability to multi task on the bridge and navigate despite the ineffective officer. This would mean that he could handle the situations leaving the sundry paper work to the duty officer effectively cutting him off from the active bridge team.
I am not in anyway implying that paperwork is meaningless. But I think anyone would agree that paper work is of an historical importance. The moment you plot a position, the ship has already moved at least 2-3 cables ahead. Now that plotted position doesn’t help except to show an auditor that the passage plan has been followed. An effective and continuous Parallel index is what will be most effective here.
A similar story plagues the record of soundings, the GPS log and every other log. There is even a terrestrial position fixing log. Now the duty officer has to read off ranges and bearings off the landmarks. Write that down in a log book and then plot a position. Effectively the ship would have moved a lot more ahead than just 0.4miles by then.
Yes the argument here could be to have two officers in addition to the master so that paperwork is not neglected.
But a more effective argument could be to reduce the irrelevant paperwork. Especially so when most of our ships have a printer for the GPS and the echo sounder. Can’t these printers effectively take over the role of record keeping so that you have a more active bridge team member who expends his energy in monitoring parallel indexes and soundings rather than recording them? And is more alert to the fast moving container vessel creeping up close on your stern.
The intention of this article is to set off a debate and improve efficiency and last but not the least, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT.
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