Maritime Transportation And Shipping Talk

When we think of a Sailor, we think of a man that is tuff and rugged after being exposed to all kind of weather and many kind of hard physical work. His hands are tuff and the skin is like leather after handling ropes and wires. The modern time Sailor is a product of the times. He is into hi-tech equipment and machines and have no knowledge of some of the old traditions and ways of working that brought us here were we are today. Old crafts like wire splicing and multi-strand rope splicing are in many cases just phrases that are used but nobody knows how to do this kind of work. It is hard to find a able body sailor that can actually do this kind of work. The ropes and wires that are used are ready made at the factory and the need for any sailor to splice is no longer there. The old craft is being forgotten. The reasons for this happening are many. We have done this in a slow and deliberate way so it might be to late to rectify it. Ships have been designed so the requirement from crew for knowledge has been changed over to hi-tech. The reduction of men onboard has been happening and this again has had a impact on what is left of time to do the various chores. Many ships today doesn’t even have a old fashioned AB seaman onboard. The crew consist of mate’s, engineers and technicians. You might have a professional cook or steward onboard and a Captain that is in charge. Crews have been reduced to a minimum safety crew determined by the size of the vessel. This is all in accordance to regulations for safe manning of ships. Vessel designs are done so that a lot of machines has helped to replace manpower. Hi-tech equipment has evolved to the level that we are seeing regular maintenance are being done only when vessel is in dry-dock for repairs or overhaul. The old time Sailor was going around doing regular maintenance work like greasing and painting. Today this is all done while vessel is in for re-fit at a dry-dock somewhere.

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