The gender-neutral language mania has not spared the shipping world. Several times I have been knocked on social media for advocating the use of “seaman” or “seawoman” in lieu of the over-inclusive and less accurate term “seafarer”. The objections usually come from feminists who will not tolerate any term which references only one gender. Using such words, in their view, […]
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The most grievous sin committed by many in the maritime press is not copy-and-paste journalism, which is rather common these days. Nor is it sloppy writing by reporters. It is the obliteration of the once-sacred line between editorial space and advertising space, the unabashed but often covert selling of the former for money or personal favours.
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Inspectors from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) will fly to Manila in mid-March for what would be their fifth inspection visit since 2006. The process has been overlong – like a spiral staircase that does not seem to end. It is time to cut to the chase and for the European Commision to decide on the fate of Filipino […]
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In a previous post, I spoke of monsters in the shipping industry. I used the term, of course, in the metaphorical sense. Believe it or not, however, maritime monsters do exist. They can be as hideous and dreadful as the mythical creatures found in art and literature, like the freakish whale illustrated in the 1621 book “Nova Typis Transacta Navigatio” […]
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Figuratively speaking, there are monsters in the shipping industry. Some are offshore like those depicted in J.M.W. Turner‘s 1845 painting “Sunrise with Sea Monsters” (shown above). Many more can be found on land. Although the monsters are not easily quelled, we should all hope that 2017 will be a propitious year, that more good things than bad will come.
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