The Maritime Industry consist a vast network of organizations and people serving on different departments, professions, and expertise. The majority of the persons in the key positions of the maritime society consist of persons who once work onboard the ship. They were masters of their own craft. The knowledge that they acquire for the past years will serve as the foundation of future mariners. But the big question is, will they share that knowledge to others.

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The Ocean Waves, considered as one of the dangerous Force of Nature. A lot of people get fascinated with ocean waves and consider it as an adventure to witness such event. Mariners sailing the high seas experience a lot of this waves in the ocean. For new cadets, ocean waves can be considered as a bad experience. With all the rolling and pitching of the ship you can picture a lot of ideas in your mind how a person behaves once the ship got hit by the ocean waves. Knowing and understanding how ocean waves are made would most likely prepare you when you encounter it.

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After a party or a typical house dinner you start cleaning the bottles of wine, liquor, and beer. Did you count how much you and your friends consumed? Let’s say you have a little boy or little girl who idolizes you. Would you indulge yourself to alcohol in front of them? Before a night duty or shifting of watches, would you drink alcohol and later jeopardize your job and the people around you? When is it time to say “enough is enough” or “I have to stop”?

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An Officer in charge of the Navigational Watch or Officer of the Watch (OOW) as we all know comprises the Bridge Team. On merchant vessels, the watch duty officer is always accompanied with a look-out who is also a helmsman. In case the officer of the watch is a newly promoted officer, he will be performing his duties on the bridge under the watchful eyes of the Captain.

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Before we answer that question, let us know first what a Port State Control Inspection is. P.S.C. is the inspection of foreign ships in other national ports by PSC officers (surveyors) for the purpose of verifying that the competency of the master and officers onboard, the condition of a ship and its equipment comply with the requirements of international conventions (e.g. SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW, etc.) and that the vessel is manned and operated in compliance with applicable international law; as defined by wikipedia.

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With the new generation of seafarers and an increasing awareness regarding safety, we can consider the maritime industry as one of the safest job. With the implementation of ISM, reports are documented and signed by the crew onboard the ship. But to some extent, the reports that we read may or may not be an honest and straight report? How will we be able to know that we are getting an honest report? The extent of not getting an honest report could result to a serious accident in the future.

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Stowaways are part of the normal life of seafarers. We always find ways to prevent stowaways from coming oboard our ship. A lot of reports were made wherein stowaways were thrown overboard by the crew or captain of the ship, and left to die at sea. A lot of reasons arise whenever we talk about stowaways. It usually relates to poverty and hunger that forces them to migrate illegally. Stowaways transport to different countries on different “stowaway cargo carrier”, if you’d like to call it that way. They would go onboard General Cargo Ship, Container Ship, Tanker Ship, and all other kinds of ship that you can think of. It can either result to a successful migration or they may end up being caught onboard the ship. The worst part of it is when they are thrown overboard.

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A cadet on a maritime school aspires to become a good seafarer someday. With his learned knowledge he strives to embark onboard a ship in a good company. Working onboard the ship for more than 6 months even up to 1 year gives him a chance to upgrade his profession and for possible promotion as an officer. After a few years of working onboard the ship he suddenly decides to stop and start to work on land. Nobody knows the reason why.

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Minerva Marine Agency Inc., a duly registered and licensed manning agency of the “Philippine Overseas Employment Administration” (POEA) is considered as one of the fastest growing company in the Philippines.

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Upon arrival at port a seafarer would normally finished his job and turn over his duties in order to go ashore. After a 15 to 27 days of voyage at sea, we normally get excited whenever we see land. Putting aside the idea of having a visa, a typical seafarer would normally ask permission to the officer in charge in order to go ashore. Imagine the disappointment of a seafarer whenever his shore leave is denied due to not having a visa. Why do they really require seafarers to have a visa? We only stay a few days or most of the time less than 24 hours alongside a port.

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Knot tying consists of the techniques and skills employed in tying a knot in rope, nylon webbing, or other articles; as said by wikipedia. It requires skills of a seaman or commonly called seamanship, defined as the skills of a seaman onboard the ship. At school they usually teach us a lot of knot tying techniques. But we only use less than half of it. Learning the basics of knot tying complicates a lot of people. But once you get the hang out of it, you will find it less difficult to do.

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A sophisticated equipment known as the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) can determine the past actions or movements of the ship in the event of an accident. It serves as the ship’s “Black Box” if you would compare it to an airplane. How would a Voyage Data Recorder help us in terms of safety? Many accidents that involve two or more ships often resulted to human error. With the invention and implementation of the voyage data recorder, solving ship related accident cases will consume less time and better result.

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“Leadership is the ability to influence the crew through human relations and communications to make them do what you want them to do and still like it” – Capt. G. This is the most striking word that our guest speaker in our recent “in house training” said. It is also the most forgotten word onboard the ship. Pinoy Maritime will once again remind our Captains and Officers about Leadership. It may sound the same but it sure is implemented differently.

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Most seafarers are family oriented, especially all Pinoy Maritime readers. They work onboard thinking of their family, wife, or children. Did you know that cooking is one of the best ways of family bonding? It is a cheap way to spend time with your family and filling up your stomach at the same time. Do you want to hear the rest of the story?

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