Maritime news . Week 32
When is a seafarer not a seafarer?
Steven Jones, founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index, writes about the growing concern of riding squads.
When is a seafarer not a seafarer? It sounds like the start of a lame dad joke, and in many ways, it is. But the answer is far less amusing: when they’re aboard as part of a supposedly temporary riding squad.
The latest Seafarers Happiness Index (SHI) reveals growing tensions as some owners are increasingly turning to euphemistic riding squads to get work done and boost numbers on their ships.
Why shipping players should trade the market, not the turmoil, in the coming months
Political and economic risk blindsided the market in the first six months of the year, we need to be smarter in H2, argues Thomas Zaidman, managing director of Sagitta Marine.
Shipping has a herd mentality when it comes to the news; running towards the light when the story is positive and holding back when it appears bad. The trouble is that in the era of the perma-crisis in which we find ourselves, this is a far too simplistic response to be instructive.
The challenge of the current business environment is the way it combines an uninspiring macroeconomic picture with short-term volatility of such magnitude that it can prompt near-paralysis.
Let them eat biscuits: The tone-deaf wellness messages undermining seafarer support
Dr Jens Tülsner from Marine Medical Solutions writes for Splash today.
The maritime industry says it cares about seafarer wellbeing, and I believe it does, but too often the way it shows that care completely misses the point.
Health campaigns aimed at seafarers are increasingly modelled on office-based wellness trends: calorie counting, restrictive diets and generic lifestyle advice. The reality is, this approach does not just fall flat at sea. It actively risks harming the very people it is supposed to help.
China Launches First & World’s Fifth Carrier Rocket Maritime Recovery Ship
China has launched its first and the world’s 5th carrier rocket maritime recovery ship and has become the second after the U.S to have such a vessel.
The launch of Xingji Guihang, or Interstellar Return, is a major step for China’s reusable rocket maritime recovery technology.
The ship will support recovery work for the returning first stage of the SQX-3 reusable launch vehicle developed by Beijing-based private rocket maker iSPACE.
The firm said that it aims to conduct an orbital entrance and maritime recovery test flight around 2025 end.