STCW-2010 has come around now. It was really elating to see its contents. The new revision does not seem to be so much about the technicalities of training the seafarers as it is about the man-management. The resolutions passed in the Manila Conference, which set the ground for the present STCW convention, gives an impression that the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has made some deeper impact on the IMO, although only on the administrative side.
Isn't it too obvious to say that we Indians are not yet technically sophisticated enough to address the real issues such as those of Environmental Protection, and, Design and Ship Construction. The STCW is about men-management only.
Nevertheless, small but critical step it is by this country of vast seafaring manpower export. Only, what clicks to me for once is that, I think, we are in some urgent need to come out of our national obsession of men-management. In the era of specialization, the men-management obsession is not going to bring the best solutions even for the problems that our national obsessions itself deals in-- that of managing man, and resolving the inter-personal troubles. The good side of Indian seafarers, i note, still remains that even with our interpersonal troubles, the ships still continue to run, and on most occasions as smoothly as would ever do . Our operations on ship continue to provide better outcomes than many nationalities we see around. Only, the negative impact is that we might never come out as a leader in the business overall; we will just lead a small department of it.
Nevermind how small the department we manage is, what is further required is that we rise above the problems we commonly see in our departments and find some final solutions to them. Perhaps that might pave way for us to start finding interest in other businesses as well, those related with shipping.
Shipping, a short introduction I will do over here for myself and for others who read this blog, is not just about going out to sea as a seafarer. The business starts with finding the right commodity to export and a buyer to buy that commodity. The buyer and sellers need a transport means across the oceans . One enterprising man wakes up with a dream of owning a ship, whom we call the ship owner,( eg the SCI). He invest his money in the construction of ship, for which he collaborates with a bank for financing of his dream-work. the construction is carried out by another type of enterprising-man, the shipyard owner, (eg Cochin, Korean yards, Chinese yards), who arranges for steel plates fabrication and its rolling, welding, casting, an so on. Obvious enough, the yard owner needs to liaise with some steel plant owner, who in turn, depends on local or international mine owners/contractors(e.g. So many which we have in the land of Laloo, bihar, and in Karnataka, Orissa, Jharkhand).
Isn't it interesting that in this big chain of inter-serving businesses which produce capital goods, the manpower industry has not yet featured.
Well, the governments cut-in in the shipping right from the construction of ship, itself. The Solas, Marpol, Colregs, LL codes, LSA/FFA codes, and other construction codes chip in their pieces of scriptures from this stage itself. Easy to think why we don't contribute much on these sets of legislations. Well, it is not that these legislations find their end application out at the shipyard itself. But STCW does not find it bigger applications definitely.
Once the construction is about to be over, it is then that the ISM and STCW pave in, and take control and command for rest of the lifetime of the vessel.
Perhaps due to our vast population, which causes us to face a survival issue right from the start of our life as human being, we tend to be obsessed with what our neighbour is doing. We call it by the misnomer called Competition. I recently had one blip thought on this point--Would it be right to call the struggle for survival in the climate of high population , a spirit of competition. There is no health in this struggle, there is no growth, there is not much evolution.
A healthy competition is when the competing parties are Independent; when new innovations are happening, when the consumers are benefited. We see this kind of competition in the Software and IT field. In shipping, it is possible too but not when our people are around.
Continuing further the story of shipping business, now that the Ship yard had delivered a ship to the ship owner, which is financed by a bank or a financial institution, the shipowner gives to away to some other person whose regular job is to be contact point for day- today leasing out of ship for the commodity to be transported between the buyer and the sellers . This man is called the Ship Brokerer. Once the ship is brokered to any of the two , a buyer of the commodity or the seller of it, the party which takes the ship is called the Charterers. The commodity , once it is put on the ship to be transported, is called the cargo.
It will be interesting to mention at this point that the commodity is although exchanged in large volumes, it's nowadays often bought or sold between the owners who often do it in smaller volumes over the counters , which are often set over the Internet. The small owners and traders of this commodity are none other than people like us, who are called commodity tarders.Many of us the common people , are stock market investors in commodities as well. Perhaps we would be knowing many of them personally too.
The characteristics of a free market economy is always that it allows a business-upon-a-business to happen. They call it the stock markets, which a gambling of sorts.
Further, it's day-today working the ship requires manpower on it. It is now that we people chip in. The manning is done by people who are termed the Manning Agents. Similarly, for it's day-today operations and shore support, the ships also requires what we call the Operators. It is over here too that the ex-seafarers find a lot of employment once out from the seafaring. These are the two sectors where our national obsession resides.
The overall business of transportation of good( the commodities) from one place to another, by whatever means-- sea , road or airplane -- is called the logistics. Thus, the smaller arm of the business that deals in transportation by sea mode only is called Shipping Logistics.
Most of the shipping logistics companies , to my thinking, have set up a kind of unwritten agreement over their operation regions and business partners. Invariably, they all possess worthy and fit vessels; the only criterion for selection or rejection of a vessel is it's technical limitation, not the defects which are conventionally the cause of un-seaworthiness. This the present standard of competition. If the terminal cannot accept vessel of certain size , it is un-resolve-able constraint.
'Nevermind, there are lots of ships and all are worthy. Pick-up the one which fulfils the demand. That selected vessel might suffer same rejection elsewhere someday where today's rejected vessel will fill up.'
That sound to me the present style of business.
It is nice to see that safety and easiness in deliverance is achieved in this manner. there is no slogging, there is no killer competition. There is humanity.
Barring, when our nationality is around.
The STCW has focused on making life easier at sea. The resolutions are aimed to make life at sea as pleasant as it exist in other land jobs. It is so nice and good to read those resolutions. One resolution, no 8 or 12, talks of bringing internet also on ship for the welfare of seafarers.
ISM talks of 'just culture' in the companies, opens avenues of adsorption of our, seafaring king trained people, to find jobs on land, ofcourse in the companies with whom we worked as sailors.
There are increased concerns for the welfare, i can notice. A definite purpose to attract more youngsters to sea through its 'go to sea' campaign. These are some positive actions, maybe a little late for some but, god's gracious, not completely failed.
Social security of seafarers has also been taken up. There is new life in the present STCW.
Isn't it too obvious to say that we Indians are not yet technically sophisticated enough to address the real issues such as those of Environmental Protection, and, Design and Ship Construction. The STCW is about men-management only.
Nevertheless, small but critical step it is by this country of vast seafaring manpower export. Only, what clicks to me for once is that, I think, we are in some urgent need to come out of our national obsession of men-management. In the era of specialization, the men-management obsession is not going to bring the best solutions even for the problems that our national obsessions itself deals in-- that of managing man, and resolving the inter-personal troubles. The good side of Indian seafarers, i note, still remains that even with our interpersonal troubles, the ships still continue to run, and on most occasions as smoothly as would ever do . Our operations on ship continue to provide better outcomes than many nationalities we see around. Only, the negative impact is that we might never come out as a leader in the business overall; we will just lead a small department of it.
Nevermind how small the department we manage is, what is further required is that we rise above the problems we commonly see in our departments and find some final solutions to them. Perhaps that might pave way for us to start finding interest in other businesses as well, those related with shipping.
Shipping, a short introduction I will do over here for myself and for others who read this blog, is not just about going out to sea as a seafarer. The business starts with finding the right commodity to export and a buyer to buy that commodity. The buyer and sellers need a transport means across the oceans . One enterprising man wakes up with a dream of owning a ship, whom we call the ship owner,( eg the SCI). He invest his money in the construction of ship, for which he collaborates with a bank for financing of his dream-work. the construction is carried out by another type of enterprising-man, the shipyard owner, (eg Cochin, Korean yards, Chinese yards), who arranges for steel plates fabrication and its rolling, welding, casting, an so on. Obvious enough, the yard owner needs to liaise with some steel plant owner, who in turn, depends on local or international mine owners/contractors(e.g. So many which we have in the land of Laloo, bihar, and in Karnataka, Orissa, Jharkhand).
Isn't it interesting that in this big chain of inter-serving businesses which produce capital goods, the manpower industry has not yet featured.
Well, the governments cut-in in the shipping right from the construction of ship, itself. The Solas, Marpol, Colregs, LL codes, LSA/FFA codes, and other construction codes chip in their pieces of scriptures from this stage itself. Easy to think why we don't contribute much on these sets of legislations. Well, it is not that these legislations find their end application out at the shipyard itself. But STCW does not find it bigger applications definitely.
Once the construction is about to be over, it is then that the ISM and STCW pave in, and take control and command for rest of the lifetime of the vessel.
Perhaps due to our vast population, which causes us to face a survival issue right from the start of our life as human being, we tend to be obsessed with what our neighbour is doing. We call it by the misnomer called Competition. I recently had one blip thought on this point--Would it be right to call the struggle for survival in the climate of high population , a spirit of competition. There is no health in this struggle, there is no growth, there is not much evolution.
A healthy competition is when the competing parties are Independent; when new innovations are happening, when the consumers are benefited. We see this kind of competition in the Software and IT field. In shipping, it is possible too but not when our people are around.
Continuing further the story of shipping business, now that the Ship yard had delivered a ship to the ship owner, which is financed by a bank or a financial institution, the shipowner gives to away to some other person whose regular job is to be contact point for day- today leasing out of ship for the commodity to be transported between the buyer and the sellers . This man is called the Ship Brokerer. Once the ship is brokered to any of the two , a buyer of the commodity or the seller of it, the party which takes the ship is called the Charterers. The commodity , once it is put on the ship to be transported, is called the cargo.
It will be interesting to mention at this point that the commodity is although exchanged in large volumes, it's nowadays often bought or sold between the owners who often do it in smaller volumes over the counters , which are often set over the Internet. The small owners and traders of this commodity are none other than people like us, who are called commodity tarders.Many of us the common people , are stock market investors in commodities as well. Perhaps we would be knowing many of them personally too.
The characteristics of a free market economy is always that it allows a business-upon-a-business to happen. They call it the stock markets, which a gambling of sorts.
Further, it's day-today working the ship requires manpower on it. It is now that we people chip in. The manning is done by people who are termed the Manning Agents. Similarly, for it's day-today operations and shore support, the ships also requires what we call the Operators. It is over here too that the ex-seafarers find a lot of employment once out from the seafaring. These are the two sectors where our national obsession resides.
The overall business of transportation of good( the commodities) from one place to another, by whatever means-- sea , road or airplane -- is called the logistics. Thus, the smaller arm of the business that deals in transportation by sea mode only is called Shipping Logistics.
Most of the shipping logistics companies , to my thinking, have set up a kind of unwritten agreement over their operation regions and business partners. Invariably, they all possess worthy and fit vessels; the only criterion for selection or rejection of a vessel is it's technical limitation, not the defects which are conventionally the cause of un-seaworthiness. This the present standard of competition. If the terminal cannot accept vessel of certain size , it is un-resolve-able constraint.
'Nevermind, there are lots of ships and all are worthy. Pick-up the one which fulfils the demand. That selected vessel might suffer same rejection elsewhere someday where today's rejected vessel will fill up.'
That sound to me the present style of business.
It is nice to see that safety and easiness in deliverance is achieved in this manner. there is no slogging, there is no killer competition. There is humanity.
Barring, when our nationality is around.
The STCW has focused on making life easier at sea. The resolutions are aimed to make life at sea as pleasant as it exist in other land jobs. It is so nice and good to read those resolutions. One resolution, no 8 or 12, talks of bringing internet also on ship for the welfare of seafarers.
ISM talks of 'just culture' in the companies, opens avenues of adsorption of our, seafaring king trained people, to find jobs on land, ofcourse in the companies with whom we worked as sailors.
There are increased concerns for the welfare, i can notice. A definite purpose to attract more youngsters to sea through its 'go to sea' campaign. These are some positive actions, maybe a little late for some but, god's gracious, not completely failed.
Social security of seafarers has also been taken up. There is new life in the present STCW.
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