Capt. Wasantha travels 'Through Deep Waters'

Capt. John Priyantha de Silva, a veteran master mariner's novel 'Through Deep Waters' will be launched at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on April 7 at 5 p.m.

Through Deep Waters' unfolds the eventful years spent by a Sri Lankan sailing over the seven seas of the world. He captures vividly the thrills, joys and the agony of meeting, interacting and parting with many a soul from different walks of life, from different continents, during his extraordinary journeys round the globe.

'Through Deep Waters' this master mariner reminiscences his journey from the very beginning. It is not only about the life and experiences at sea but also on dry land. The pages carry a message to readers of all ages.

Media consultant Edwin Ariyadasa will deliver the keynote address whilst Edmund Jayasuriya and E.M.G. Edirisinghe will evaluate the book. Veteran media personality Daya Abeysekara will conduct the proceedings.


Reposted from Daily News Online

Through Deep Waters by Captain John Priyantha de Silva Launched at the Sri Lanka Foundation

Through Deep Waters by Captain John Priyantha de Silva was launched at the Sri Lanka Foundation on amidst a pleasant downpour.  

Family, friends and well wishers were present to welcome author Captain John Priyantha de Silva to his destination, after years of tumultuous  literary sailing.

The book was reviewed and discussed by Kalakeerthi Rohana Pradeepa Edwin Ariyadasa, E.M.G. Edirisinghe and Edmund Jayasuriya.

Kalakeerthi Rohana Pradeepa Edwin Ariyadasa observed the springing of new literary talent from the armed forces and went on to commend the complexity with which Captain Priyantha de Silva has been able to  make a picture perfect record  of his memories from childhood. 


'Romantic spirit' 

"His autobiography is not only a rosy picture," observed Ariyadasa and went on to speak at length about the 'romantic spirit' of the author.

"Romance has been an outstanding feature in his life," said Ariyadasa and went on to speak of the writers 'international affairs' that sent ripples of laughter from the calm and engrossed audience.

Literary maestro Edwin Ariyadasa went on to say that the book Through Deep Waters is not only a celebration of family life but a celebration of the religious spirit.

"For 21 years he has had a unique childhood," observed Ariyadasa yet again venturing out on to  another unusual feature  of the book and went on to applaud the writer's obedience to his parents.

Another literary celebrity, E.M.G. Edirisinghe went on to say that he  had been enriched by the book. "It  is written in simple language and is so spirited," said Edirisinghe and went on to observe that Captain John Priyantha de Silva thanked God every time he achieved something.

"Sea life can be boring and frustrating," said Edirisinghe and went on to appreciate the writer's style that takes the reader to a "different world."

Captures meaningful moments

Another great literary personality in Sri Lanka Edmund Jayasuriya went on to draw an argument as to whether the book is an autobiography, novel, journal, letter, log or memoir.
"It is not an autobiography, but a memoir," observed Jayasuriya, boldly and rightly,  and went on to say that it is a memoir that captures  and highlights meaningful moments in one's past.

Clearly moved by Through Deep Waters, Jayasuriya said that the book is a blend of humor, tragedy and pathos.

Through Deep Waters is a different experience on the shelves of Sri Lankan bookstores. The book is unusual - for it takes the reader the world over. It is about people, about life and about experiences.

Using real characters, the writer, with his literary skill has presented to us a book that will tell us that life is not all smooth sailing - that here, there and everywhere, human feelings, human relationships and human bonding reign supreme.


- Ranee Mohamed

Reposted from The Sunday Leader on Line 

Nicaragua Approves Rival to Panama Canal, to be Built by Chinese Company

In this photo, people push a boat into Lake Nicaragua, near Granada, Nicaragua. A multi-billion dollar Chinese plan to plow a massive rival to the Panama Canal across the middle of Nicaragua was headed for approval by the leftist-controlled National Assembly Thursday, June 13, 2013, capping a lightning-fast approval process that has provoked deep skepticism among shipping experts and intense concern among environmentalists.

 
 A multi-billion dollar proposal to plow a massive rival to the Panama Canal across the middle of Nicaragua was approved by the leftist-controlled National Assembly Thursday, capping a lightning-fast approval process that has provoked deep skepticism among shipping experts and concern among environmentalists.

The assembly dominated by President Daniel Ortega's Sandinista Front voted to grant a 50-year concession to plan and build the canal --with an option for another 50 -- to a Hong Kong-based company whose only previous experience appears to be in telecommunications.

The legislation approved Thursday by a 61-28 vote contains no specific route for a canal and virtually no details of its financing or economic viability.  It grants the Hong Kong company exclusive rights to plan and build the canal in exchange for Nicaragua receiving a minority share of any eventual profits.

Ortega's backers say the Chinese will transform one of the region's poorest countries by turning a centuries-old dream of a Nicaraguan trans-ocean canal into reality, bringing tens of thousands of jobs to the country and fueling an economic boom that would mimic the canal-driven prosperity of nearby Panama.

The currently estimated cost is $40 billion.

"One of Nicaragua's great riches is its geographic position, that's why this idea has always been around," Sandinista congressman Jacinto Suarez said during the legislative debate Thursday. "Global trade demands that this canal is built because it's necessary. The data shows that maritime transport is constantly growing and that makes this feasible. Opposing it is unpatriotic."

While the Hong Kong company has said almost nothing about the canal's route, it would certainly cross Lake Nicaragua, the country's primary source of fresh water. If one of the world's largest infrastructure projects ever is actually built, the water used by the canal's locks could seriously deplete the lake, environmentalists say.

Global engineering and shipping experts say those concerns are real, but lowered demand for massive container shipping and increasing competition from potential routes, including the warming Arctic, may mean that the Nicaraguan canal will simply prove economically unfeasible, adding to a long list of unrealized visions of moving riches from sea to sea across the country.

Either way, the quick march of the canal project through the National Assembly has set off a backlash from environmental and other activists, who held a series of marches this week to protest the granting of rights to the HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co., without any open bidding process or details of its financing.

"Nicaragua isn't for sale. Nicaragua belongs to all Nicaraguans and isn't the private property of Ortega and his family," the Movement for Nicaragua, a coalition of civil-society groups, said in an open letter to the country Wednesday.

When he took power in 1979, Ortega was a socialist firebrand whom the U.S. government tried to overthrow by backing Contra rebels in the 1980s. He was voted out of office in 1990 but returned after winning the 2006 election. Since then, critics allege, the 67-year-old leader has maneuvered to become president for life, using courts and electoral institutions that are stacked with appointees from his Sandinista Front.

In 2009 the Sandinista majority on the Supreme Court overruled limits on consecutive terms set by the Nicaraguan constitution, allowing Ortega to run for his third 5-year term. He won 64 percent of the vote, though opposition parties allege that total was inflated by fraud.

Other recent Nicaraguan presidents also have repeatedly tried to win support for a canal, without much success. Ortega, though has finally agreed on a formal deal.

North American companies are increasingly looking to factories and suppliers in the U.S. and Latin America rather than in Asia, where rising salaries in China are making manufacturing less appealing for foreign companies.

In addition, the global economic slowdown of recent years means large numbers of ships are unused, perhaps 5 percent of the global fleet. Many vessels are scheduled to be completed in coming years, meaning the percentage of idled ships could grow to more than 20 percent, experts said.

And global warming means that even the Arctic may become a viable alternative to crossing Central America by canal.

"Looking at the changing flows and where the growth is in the world economy, personally I'm not seeing it. I wouldn't invest my money in it," said Rosalyn Wilson, a senior business analyst at the Delcan Corporation, a Toronto-based transportation consultancy and author of the U.S. logistics industry's annual report.

"It's addressing a need that definitely is not here now and I'm not sure if it's `a build it and they will come sort of thing,"' she said.

Eduardo Lugo, a Panamanian port logistics consultant who worked for 10 years studying traffic demand for the Panama Canal's expansion plan, also questioned whether global traffic demand would support the high costs of the Nicaragua project.

"There's going be some growth in world trade. The big question is, what routes is that trade going to move on. That's the real challenge that Nicaragua faces," said Paul Bingham, the head of economic analysis at engineering planning firm CDM Smith, which specializes in large water and transportation infrastructure. "It's very easy to say trade is going to grow but that doesn't mean that Nicaragua is going to be in a competitive position to take advantage of it ... I'm not convinced right now."

Backers of previous canal plans have argued that the Nicaraguan route would prove more economical than Panama's because it would handle ships with far larger cargo capacity.

But the Nicaraguan path would have to be roughly three times as long as than Panama's, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) long, a fact that Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano said "gives us even more of a competitive advantage."

"It isn't easy," Quijano said. "The terrain is really complex, more than ours."

Wilson also said the project could have serious impacts on Lake Nicaragua,  also known as Cocibolca, because of the amount of fresh water that would be used to operate the canal.

"It takes a lot of water to run locks," Wilson said. "Is it going to be done in such a way that's not trading away another part of the country's economy down the line?"

"We're at a crossroads because either you use Lake Cocibolca for floating boats or you use it for drinking water, but you can't use it for both things at once," said Victor Campos, assistant director of the Humboldt Center, an environmental organization.

Roberto Troncoso, president of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives, said China's government may be encouraging the new canal as a way to establish a route independent of the Panama Canal, which is perceived as remaining under heavy U.S. influence.

"The money is totally irrelevant," he said. "We're talking about national hegemony. China is looking to turn itself into the predominant economic power.  Whoever dominates trade, dominates the world."

The United States has taken no official position on the Nicaraguan canal.

The Chinese company has declined to comment on the record about its funding and backers.

According to local records, HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. head Wang Jing has also been a director of about a dozen other companies, some current and others that have been dissolved.

He also heads Beijing Xinwei, a mid-sized telecommunications firm that, according to Chinese media, was partly owned by a large government telecoms equipment company, Datang, which sold its shares in a 2010 restructuring. Chinese media have reported that Beijing Xinwei made a profit of 650 million yuan (about $100 million) in the first eight months of last year.

Panama and Nicaragua were the top contenders for the route of a trans-ocean canal from the first arrival of Europeans in Latin America. A French company began excavating the Panama canal in 1880 but work was halted by rampant tropical diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. The project was sold for $40 million to the United States, which finished it in 1914.

The building of the Panama Canal cost an estimated $375 million and involved the excavation of 286 million cubic yards of earth, three times more than the Suez Canal.

Historians say 5,609 people, mainly West Indian workers, died during its construction, on top of the 22,000 dead during the period of French control.

Reposted from Fox News



 

The Panama Canal: The Culebra Cut (Gaillard Cut)

The Culebra Cut - Under construction 1907

One of the greatest barriers to a canal was the continental divide, which originally rose to 110 metres (360.9 ft) above sea level at its highest point; the effort to create a cut through this barrier of rock was clearly one of the greatest challenges faced by the project, and indeed gave rise to one of the greatest engineering feats of its time.

When Goethals arrived at the canal he had brought with him Major David du Bose Gaillard, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Gaillard was placed in charge of the central district of the canal, which stretched from Pedro Miguel Locks to the Gatun Dam, and dedicated himself to the job of getting the Culebra Cut, as it was then known, excavated.

The scale of the work was massive: six thousand men worked in the cut, drilling holes in which were placed a total of 27,000 t (60,000,000 lb) of dynamite to break up the rock, which was then taken away by as many as 160 trains in a day. Landslides were a frequent and major problem, due to the oxidation and weakening of the underlying iron strata in the rock. The scale of the job, and the frequent unpredictable slides, tended towards chaos; but Gaillard overcame the difficulties with quiet, clear-sighted leadership.

On May 20, 1913, Bucyrus steam shovels made a passage through the Culebra Cut at the level of the canal bottom. The French effort had reduced the summit to 59 metres (193.6 ft), but over a relatively narrow width; the Americans had lowered this to 12 metres (39.4 ft) above sea level, over a much greater width, and had excavated over 76,000,000 m3 (99,000,000 cu yd) of material. Some 23,000,000 m3 (30,000,000 cu yd) of this material was additional to the planned excavation, having been brought into the cut by the landslides.

Dry excavation ended on September 10, 1913; a slide in January had brought1,500,000 m3 (2,000,000 cu yd) of earth into the cut, but it was decided that this loose material would be removed by dredging once the cut was flooded.

History of the Panama Canal: The United States and the canal

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 and the rush of would-be miners stimulated U.S. interest in creating a canal between the oceans

Theodore Roosevelt, who became president of the United States in 1901, believed that a U.S.-controlled canal across Central America was a vital strategic interest to the U.S. This idea gained wide impetus following the destruction of the battleship USS Maine, in Cuba, on February 15, 1898 Roosevelt was able to reverse a previous decision by the Walker Commission in favor of a Nicaragua Canal, and pushed through the acquisition of the French Panama Canal effort. George S. Morrison stood alone on that commission for the Panama location and argued for the change. Panama was then part of Colombia, so Roosevelt opened negotiations with the Colombians to obtain the necessary rights. In early 1903, the Hay–Herrán Treaty was signed by both nations, but the Colombian Senate failed to ratify the treaty.

In a controversial move, Roosevelt implied to Panamanian rebels that if they revolted, the U.S. Navy would assist their cause for independence. Panama proceeded to proclaim its independence on November 3, 1903, and the USS Nashville in local waters impeded any interference from Colombia.

The United States formally took control of the French property relating to the canal on May 4, 1904, when Lieutenant Jatara Oneel of the United States Army was presented with the keys; there was a small ceremony.

The newly created Panama Canal Zone Control came under the control of the Isthmian Canal Commission during canal construction.

History of the Panama Canal: Construction begins

The Great Culebra Cut in 1885

Construction of the canal began on January 1, 1881, though digging at Culebra did not begin until January 22, 1881. A huge labor force was assembled; in 1888, this numbered about 20,000 men, nine-tenths of these being afro-Caribbean workers from the West Indies. French engineers were well paid and the prestige of the project attracted the best of France's engineering schools, but the huge death toll from disease made it difficult to retain them — they either left after short service, or died. The total death toll between 1881 and 1889 was estimated at over 22,000.

Even as early as 1885, it had become clear to many that a sea-level canal was impractical, and that an elevated canal with locks was the best answer; however, de Lesseps was stubborn, and it was not until October 1887 that the lock canal plan was adopted.

By this time, however, the mounting financial, engineering and mortality problems, coupled with frequent floods and mudslides, were making it clear that the project was in serious trouble. Work was pushed forward under the new plan until May 1889, when the company became bankrupt, and work was finally suspended on May 15, 1889. After eight years, the work was about two-fifths completed, and some $234,795,000 had been spent.


The collapse of the company was a major scandal in France, and the role of two Jewish speculators in the affair enabled Edouard Drumont, an anti-semite, to exploit the matter. 104 legislators were found to have been involved in the corruption and Jean Jaurès was commissioned by the French parliament to conduct an inquiry into the matter, completed in 1893.

The Panama Canal 1881 - 1889

The French achievement

Although the French effort was to a large extent doomed to failure from the beginning — due to the unsolved disease issue, and insufficient appreciation of the engineering difficulties — its work was, nevertheless, not entirely wasted. Between the old and new companies, the French in total excavated 59,747,638 m3 (78,146,960 cu yd) of material, of which 14,255,890 m3 (18,646,000 cu yd) was taken from the Culebra Cut. The old company dredged a channel from Panama Bay to the port at Balboa; and the channel dredged on the Atlantic side, known as the French canal, was found to be useful for bringing in sand and stone for the locks and spillway concrete at Gatún.

The detailed surveys and studies, particularly those carried out by the new canal company, were of great help to the later American effort; and considerable machinery, including railroad equipment and vehicles, were of great help in the early years of the American project.

The French effort lowered the summit of the Culebra Cut along the canal route 5 meters (17 ft), from 64 meters (210 ft) above sea level to 59 metres (193 ft), over a relatively narrow width. In all, it was estimated that 22,713,396 m3 (29,708,000 cu yd) of excavation were of direct use to the Americans, valued at $25,389,240, along with equipment and surveys valued at $17,410,586.

History of the Panama Canal: The French project

1888 German map of the Panama Canal (includes alternate Nicaragua route)

The idea of building a canal across Central America was suggested again by German scientist Alexander von Humboldt, which led to a revival of interest in the early-19th century. In 1819, the Spanish government authorized the construction of a canal and the creation of a company to build it.

The project stalled for some time, but a number of surveys were carried out between 1850 and 1875. The conclusion was that the two most favorable routes were those across Panama (then a part of Colombia) and across Nicaragua, with a route across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico as a third option. The Nicaragua route was seriously considered and surveyed.
Conception

After the successful completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, the French were inspired to tackle the apparently similar project to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and were confident that this could be carried out with little difficulty. In 1876, an international company, La Société internationale du Canal interocéanique, was created to undertake the work; two years later, it obtained a concession from the Colombian government, which then controlled the land, to dig a canal across the isthmus.

Ferdinand de Lesseps

Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was in charge of the construction of the Suez Canal, was the figurehead of the scheme. His enthusiastic leadership, coupled with his reputation as the man who had brought the Suez project to a successful conclusion, persuaded speculators and ordinary citizens to invest in the scheme, ultimately to the level of almost $400 million.

However, de Lesseps, despite his previous success, was not an engineer. The construction of the Suez Canal, essentially a ditch dug through a flat, sandy desert, presented few challenges; but Panama was to be a very different story. The mountainous spine of Central America comes to a low point at Panama, but still rises to a height of 110 meters (360.9 ft) above sea level at the lowest crossing point. A sea-level canal, as proposed by de Lesseps, would require a prodigious excavation, and through varied hardnesses of rock rather than the easy sand of Suez.

A less obvious barrier was presented by the rivers crossing the canal, particularly the Chagres River, which flows very strongly in the rainy season. This water could not simply be dumped into the canal, as it would present an extreme hazard to shipping; and so a sea-level canal would require the river, which cuts right across the canal route, to be diverted.

The most serious problem of all, however, was tropical disease, particularly malaria and yellow fever. Since it was not known at the time how these diseases were contracted, any precautions against them were doomed to failure. For example, the legs of the hospital beds were placed in tins of water to keep insects from crawling up; but these pans of stagnant water made ideal breeding places for mosquitoes, the carriers of these two diseases, and so worsened the problem.

From the beginning, the project was plagued by a lack of engineering expertise. In May 1879, an international engineering congress was convened in Paris, with Ferdinand de Lesseps at its head; of the 136 delegates, however, only 42 were engineers, the others being made up of speculators, politicians, and personal friends of de Lesseps.

De Lesseps was convinced that a sea-level canal, dug through the mountainous, rocky spine of Central America, could be completed as easily as, or even more easily than, the Suez Canal. The engineering congress estimated the cost of the project at $214,000,000; on February 14, 1880, an engineering commission revised this estimate to $168,600,000. De Lesseps twice reduced this estimate, with no apparent justification; on February 20 to $131,600,000, and again on March 1 to $120,000,000. The engineering congress estimated seven or eight years as the time required to complete the work; de Lesseps reduced the time to six years, as compared to the ten years required for the Suez Canal.

The proposed sea level canal was to have uniform depth of 9 meters (29.5 ft), a bottom width of 22 meters (72.2 ft), and a width at water level of about 27.5 meters (90.2 ft), and involved excavation estimated at 120,000,000 m3 (157,000,000 cu yd). It was proposed that a dam be built at Gamboa to control the flooding of the Chagres river, along with channels to carry water away from the canal. However, the Gamboa dam was later found to be impracticable, and the Chagres River problem was left unresolved.

Panama Canal

Gates of the Gatun locks open for a cruise ship making its way down to the Caribbean end of the canal. The gates at both ends of the upper chamber are doubled for safety.

The history of the Panama Canal goes back almost to the earliest explorers of the Americas. The narrow land bridge between North and South America offers a unique opportunity to create a water passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The earliest European colonists of Central America recognized this potential, and schemes for such a canal were floated several times in the subsequent years.

By the late 19th century, technological advances and commercial pressure advanced to the point where construction started in earnest. An initial attempt by France to build a sea-level canal failed, but only after a great amount of excavation was carried out. This was of use to the United States, which completed the present Panama Canal in 1913 and officially opened it in 1914. Along the way, the state of Panama was created through its separation from Colombia in 1903.

Today, the canal continues to be not only a viable commercial venture, but also a vital link in world shipping.

The canal has three sets of locks. A two-step flight at Miraflores, and a single flight at Pedro Miguel, lift ships from the Pacific up to Gatun Lake; then a triple flight at Gatun lowers them to the Atlantic side. All three sets of locks are paired; that is, there are two parallel flights of locks at each of the three lock sites. This, in principle, allows ships to pass in opposite directions simultaneously; however, large ships cannot cross safely at speed in the Culebra Cut, so in practice ships pass in one direction for a time, then in the other, using both "lanes" of the locks in one direction at a time.


24 hour time-lapse of the upper chamber of the Miraflores Locks

Alutian Islands Valcanos: Mount Cleveland and Kasatochi

Mount Cleveland, also known as Cleveland Volcano and Chuginadak, is one of the most active volcanoes in the central part of the Aleutian island arc. It is a stratovolcano that comprises the entire western half of Chuginadak Island. The portion of the volcano that is above sea level is about 8.5 kilometers in diameter (5.3 miles) and rises to an elevation of 1,730 meters (5,675 feet).

The volcano has been the site of recurrent eruptions throughout the recorded history of this area. It has produced many eruptions since 2000. Ash plumes from these eruptions are a threat to air traffic between North America and Asia. Volcanic ash can damage the exterior of an aircraft. It can also be pulled into jet engines where it melts, accumulates and can cause engine failure. 

NASA - Cleveland Volcano, Aleutian Islands 

Four Mountains, an island grouping of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, United States. The chain includes, from west to east, Amukta, Chagulak, Yunaska, Herbert, Carlisle, Chuginadak, Uliaga, and Kagamil Islands. The two largest islands are Yunaska and Chuginadak. Chuginadak is mainly made up of the active volcano Mount Cleveland

Snow Capped Volcanoes, Four Mountains in Alaska's Aleutian Island Chain. 

On August 7, 2008, Kasatochi began erupting explosively with an ash plume maintaining an altitude of 35,000 feet and reaching 45,000 feet. As the eruption became imminent, it forced two biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evacuate the island.] An ashfall advisory was issued at the time for Adak Island. Prior to 2008, the last confirmed activity at Kasatochi was in 1899, but that was not believed to be an eruption. After the 2008 eruption the life on Kasatochi appears to have been destroyed. A research project was started in 2009 in order to study ecosystem impact and long-term recovery.

Kasatochi volcano, Aleutian Islands

Combating Depression Onboard

Even though we don’t always like to talk about it, depression is a very real condition that can affect the way you live. It can have an impact on your work performance, your mental and physical health, and your relationships.

For seafarers, depression can be especially prevalent, due to the long periods at sea, loneliness, and separation from loved ones. The stigma associated with depression and other mental illnesses is finally fading away, and there is no shame in seeking help. There are a few things you can do to help combat depression on board when outside counseling and guidance are not available.

1. Recognize that it can be difficult to live, work and relax in the same space

Living in close quarters is difficult, no matter who is involved. When you live, work, and relax in that shared space, finding time for yourself can be a challenge. Tempers may flare, frustrations may arise, and small problems can seem like big ones. Take a moment to recognize that what you’re doing is hard; there’s no way around it. Cut yourself a break when you need it.

2. Find healthy outlets for your emotions

As emotions build among crew members on a ship, it’s easy to manifest these feelings in unhealthy ways. Although it can be cathartic, fighting, shouting, throwing objects, and losing your cool isn’t a manageable way to function. Neither is keeping your emotions bottled up inside, which can put a strain on your mental health.  Look for healthy outlets like writing down how you feel or channeling your emotions into exercise.

3. Seek out someone to talk to when you’re onshore

Many ports have resources for seafarers who need someone to talk to.  Seek refuge in these facilities, where you can talk to a minister, counselor, or even a fellow seafarer. At Port Everglades, we offer multi-faith ministry services that can lend an ear to your feelings.  You do not have to be religious to seek the help of ministry services, we counsel and support mariners of all different faiths and backgrounds. Talking out your emotions can be a healthy way of dealing with them, and can better prepare you for the next time you feel low while at sea.

4. Take every opportunity to communicate with friends and family

Time is a precious commodity, so use it well. Regular communication with the ones you love – and who love you – can help keep you in a positive frame of mind. When possible, schedule these conversations ahead of time so you have something to look forward to. Use whatever form of technology is available to you, from a phone call to a video chat or even a simple email. Even a brief conversation can have a lasting positive impact on your emotional state.  




Reposted From Seafarers' House at Port Everglades.org

Reducing the Strain of a Seafaring Life

Away from family and friends. A growing problem for you?

 

Long periods away from home, the reduced number of seafarers on each ship, quick turnaround times and increased automation all contribute towards the problem of potential loneliness at sea.

These trends have also reduced opportunities to develop a social life and for recreational activities at sea.

A seafarer’s absence can often be for six months at a time, wherever he or she is in the world. In China, a seafarer may have to work for a year before being allowed any leave. Three months is a short contract. No wonder the work (and therefore, the life) of a seafarer is often dominated by the experience of isolation and helplessness.


Eight ways to reduce the strain of a seafaring life identified by the SIRC study


•    Shorter trips (preferably no longer than four months)
•    Paid leave of a comparable length to sea time
•    Continuous employment, rather than employment by voyage
•    Training time to be added to leave period
•    Opportunities for partners (and children where possible) to sail
•    Improved access to cheaper communication
•    Increased contact between seafarers’ partners and their employers
•    Opportunities for seafarers’ families to make contact with each other while crew are at sea.

Away from family and friends: Study Finds Factors for Overcoming Isolation

Seafaring can be an interesting and rewarding occupation. But it can also take its toll of family and social life unless the sense of isolation felt by many seafarers is overcome.

Companies which want their seafarers to be stable, contented and safe should give some attention to their families, says a study from the Seafarers’ International Research Centre (SIRC).

“A seafarer’s life is all about freedom. He comes, he goes, he travels – but he still needs a base. Without a base, he has nothing.”

Loneliness, homesickness and “burn out” syndrome have been identified as the three main psychological problems among seafarers. These are caused by long periods away from home, the reduced number of seafarers per ship, and increased automation. But the biggest cause of stress found in a study of Australian seafarers was the relationship between home and work. Marital and family problems are known to contribute to suicides at sea.

The SIRC examined various facets of seafarers’ lives, and the effect on their families. Detailed interviews with 35 seafarers and their partners in the UK, India and China show that different pressures exist. But there is enough common ground to identify eight major factors that would mitigate the impact on the family life of seafarers in all countries.


How long at sea?

•    China: six months at sea and six months’ leave for local companies. Foreign shipowners require that a year or more be worked before a seafarer is allowed three or four months’ leave.

•    India: Similar to above for ratings, but shorter for officers – three weeks to six months, but mostly three or four months away.

•    UK: Three weeks to six months (mostly three to four months) with leave varying from equal time to two-to-one work to leave.

•    The overall picture: Only British women whose partners worked for four weeks or less found the period apart acceptable. All nationalities said they faced loneliness during absence, then irreconcilable emotional distances when they were together.

Demands on leave time

•    China: Training courses of up to three months can be required in leave time.

•    India: Ratings and petty officers may have to report in to the office, often a flight distance away, on their return.

•    UK: Less tangible, but exhaustion on coming home then worry about returning, caused by on-board stress and demands, have an impact on home life.

•    The overall picture: Leave time is not free of work worries for any nationality. Chinese and Indian seafarers have to do their training in their leave time. UK officers often return exhausted and take a long time to recover.

Ship visits and women sailing

•    China: Some companies now allow wives of senior officers to join their husbands for a voyage. Traditionally, wives have visited their husbands on board in port. But shorter turnaround times have reduced the duration, and journeys are often long and hard.

•    India and the UK: Officers’ wives, and some ratings’ wives, can sail – sometimes with children.

•    The overall picture: Women feel much closer to their partners and understanding of their occupation if they are allowed to sail with them. Those not allowed to sail regret it and feel shut out and alienated from his life on board.

Company support

•    China: The Seafarers’ Wives Committee is a channel through which wives can ask for help from other seafarers. This is helped by the fact that families in port cities live close together. Companies have traditionally supported wives, but economic reform has led to a reduction in their involvement.

•    India: Senior officers’ wives have good company support and access, but ratings’ wives are not informed and some feel deliberately kept in the dark.

•    UK: Company contact is low, and although wives are not intimidated, their experience and impression of the shipping companies are generally not good. They feel work schedules are unpredictable and disruptive to family life.

•    The overall picture: Company support of all kinds, no matter how minor, is valued and helpful. It is particularly important to be able to get in touch with a seafarer in an emergency, and partners like to know where the seafarer’s ship is. Contact with other seafaring families is valuable.

Communication

•    China: More homes have telephones, but it is expensive to make international calls, and seafarers cannot call home easily because of fast turnaround times and out-of-town ports.

•    India: Indian officers’ households have phones and, commonly, email. But some ratings’ families have only recently had domestic phones installed. Ship-to-shore communication is especially important when couples are in an arranged marriage.

•    UK: Mobile phones and email make it much easier for families to communicate.

•    The overall picture: Communication is of crucial importance, allowing relationships to develop and be sustained, often over long absences. It helps seafarers to feel part of their families, able to take part in everyday events and make decisions.

Hidden costs

•    China: Seafarers are paid during their leave period, but at a much lower rate, so families have to cope with fluctuating incomes.

•    India: Seafarers often have to pay the costs of training, including travelling. Sometimes they have to pay big sums to secure a single voyage. Travel for wives to visit or join a ship has to be paid by the family.

•    UK: Some women work to help them to cope with their partner’s absence, but often have to take more flexible, and lower paid, jobs to accommodate leave periods. Others do not work because they feel it would be unfair on their children to have both parents absent.

•    The overall picture: The nature of life at sea imposes different financial burdens and work constraints on other members of the family.

It remains inevitable that intermittent separation from family and home is part of a life at sea. But home life is not detachable, and how separation is handled has a major effect on the health and morale (and therefore the overall fitness as an employee) of the seafarer. For too long, the role of partners and families has been a neglected, though vital, part of the success and sustaining of the shipping industry.

Shipwrecks in the Aleutians

The few people who live in Alaska's Aleutian Islands have long been accustomed to shipwrecks. They have been part of local consciousness since a Japanese whaling ship ran aground near the western end of the 1,100-mile (1,800-km) volcanic archipelago in 1780, inadvertently naming what is now Rat Island when the ship's infestation scurried ashore and made itself at home. Since then, there have been at least 190 shipwrecks in the islands. 

In the past decade, shipwrecks have become less frequent, but larger. In 1997 the Kuroshima, a freighter, ran aground on Unalaska Island—home to the Aleutians' only four-figure population—spilling 39,000 gallons (148,000 litres) of heavy fuel. In December 2004 a Malaysia-flagged freighter, the Selendang Ayu, lost power and crashed into the northern shore of Unalaska, splitting in half in a subsequent storm and spilling some 328,000 gallons of fuel, the worst such incident in Alaska since the Exxon Valdez was wrecked in Prince William Sound in 1989.

Then there are the close calls. On July 23rd last year the Cougar Ace, a Singapore-flagged car carrier transporting 4,700 Mazdas from Japan to Vancouver, rolled onto its side south of the Aleutians. Salvage contractors, aided by unusually good marine weather, were able to tow the listing ship into Unalaska Island's port of Dutch Harbor. In December, a bulk freighter loaded with wheat limped into Dutch Harbor with engine problems similar to those that led to the Selendang Ayu disaster.
 
In this section many large vessels meet unhappy ends in the Aleutians has to do with the geography of international shipping. The archipelago is a hazardous traffic median in the great circle route, the shortest path between ports on either side of the North Pacific. An estimated 3,100 large vessels thread between the islands each year on their way west, and a similar number travel the eastward route across the North Pacific just south of the Aleutians. 

Traffic is likely to increase along with the growth of international trade, but there are few safeguards in place. The nearest large rescue tugboats are stationed in Prince William Sound, too far away to be of much use. Vessels over 300 gross tonnes must carry automatic identification system (AIS) transmitters, but the two AIS receivers in the Aleutians only cover about 10% of the islands. Foreign-flagged vessels are not required to carry plans for oil spill response or salvage, except for ports where they intend to dock.
This lack of maritime surveillance and disaster preparedness is not unique to the great circle route, but the nasty local conditions are. The storms that routinely batter ships on the Bering Sea are legendary.

A full-scale safety review is in the pipeline, but in the meantime a big oil terminal on the southern end of Russia's Sakhalin Island could open this year, resulting in a spike in eastward oil tanker travel along the route. And the Bush administration's decision on January 9th to lift a moratorium on oil drilling in nearby Bristol Bay, where Shell hopes to develop natural gas resources, could further increase Aleutian traffic. Expect more wrecks.