Suez Canal blocked

Skipper thinks “ thank god for that - let’s have a beer“
Most of the old men I've sailed with have used the line "I get paid what I do because it's me that carries the can when things go tits up". Well, tits have gone well and truly up a few times in my time but, strangely, there was never an old man ended up carrying that can. Company Standing Orders negate responsibility. Get the signature of those below you in rank saying that they understand their role and responsibility then your are immune. If everyone onboard gets their subordinate's signatures then they are all protected. Unless of course, the ship's cadet can teach the ship's cat how to write. You end up with a huge inverted pyramid of responsibility where the cadet, low man on the totem pole, carries all the blame. I've seen it in all its glory.
 


Most of the old men I've sailed with have used the line "I get paid what I do because it's me that carries the can when things go tits up". Well, tits have gone well and truly up a few times in my time but, strangely, there was never an old man ended up carrying that can. Company Standing Orders negate responsibility. Get the signature of those below you in rank saying that they understand their role and responsibility then your are immune. If everyone onboard gets their subordinate's signatures then they are all protected. Unless of course, the ship's cadet can teach the ship's cat how to write. You end up with a huge inverted pyramid of responsibility where the cadet, low man on the totem pole, carries all the blame. I've seen it in all its glory.

its the same on construction sites, the top gaffers claim that they have all the responsibility for the safety of all the men etc.. but as soon as something goes wrong, the fingers start getting pointed and inevitably its the man on the bottom that gets held responsible.
 
Most of the old men I've sailed with have used the line "I get paid what I do because it's me that carries the can when things go tits up". Well, tits have gone well and truly up a few times in my time but, strangely, there was never an old man ended up carrying that can. Company Standing Orders negate responsibility. Get the signature of those below you in rank saying that they understand their role and responsibility then your are immune. If everyone onboard gets their subordinate's signatures then they are all protected. Unless of course, the ship's cadet can teach the ship's cat how to write. You end up with a huge inverted pyramid of responsibility where the cadet, low man on the totem pole, carries all the blame. I've seen it in all its glory.
Sounds like you’ve read the standing orders. Read them and understood them.

Are you on the Parish Council?
 
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Feels like I know a lot more about vessels now. Even listened to a podcast with some bloke from maersk in the taxi to work this morning. Never knew what a reefer was until today
 
If you were a terrorist or rogue state, sinking a ship in that bit of the canal would cause huge disruption to world. Could you even get a sunken ship out of that bit?
 
Feels like I know a lot more about vessels now. Even listened to a podcast with some bloke from maersk in the taxi to work this morning. Never knew what a reefer was until today
Some are saddled with the "burden of knowledge". I'm recently retired from 45 years within the industry and I find incidents like this interesting. More from a correcting the mis-information (I'm being kind here) by enthusiastic junior journalists and sh!t newspapers than that put forward by experts. That said, the BBC have a local go-to rentaquote expert from a local university who must live on a different planet to everyone else.

It's a big subject for me personally and that's why I like to bang on about it. There's so much about shipping that never gets heard until it hits the fan. :)
 

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