Jim Dolan and I had a discussion about a bilge pump repair that went awry and almost simultaneously we expressed frustration about the bizarre variety of bilge pump control installations in boats. We commiserated that in sinking investigations it was always a puzzle to actually figure out how the bilge pumps were configured and especially… Read more »
Pier-side ship repair firms are known to excel at assisting their clients under unusual circumstances. Take the photo above as an example. The General Cargo vessel suffered a breach to her hull as a result of a collision with a barge being pushed by a tugboat in the Chesapeake Bay. It was a cold and… Read more »
I joined the industry in 1981 and, before that, remember playing with the tarballs on the Dutch Northsea beaches. Things don’t always get better, but as far as international shipping is concerned, boy, have things improved. A huge portion of the credit goes to all the hardworking mariners who notice things that are wrong, and then come together… Read more »
As American parents, my wife and I went through the usual terrors of teaching the offspring to drive. Once we were reasonably sure our youngest could drive on her own, she asked us if we would pay for her Street Survival class. We had never heard of this program, and this is a shame, because it… Read more »
Capt. Terry Ogg published a thoughtful article on safety culture and training on Linkedin. The title is “Why it’s time to deep-six our current safety culture,” but within the article he provides an even better meme: The Whac-a-Mole Safety Game. The meme explains the tendency to simply hit at every possible human error that occurs and… Read more »
Maybe I am getting old, or maybe I am getting less stupid. But looking out of the aft cabin hatch for a quick run from Slaughter Beach to a ship at Big Stone Anchorage, I did worry a little about the ice building up on deck. I started thinking, “Am I nuts? Are we all nuts… Read more »
Ships, cars and airplanes are all quite reliable, but since they move and occassionally behave in unexpected ways, it is necessary to provide emergency systems to protect passengers or crew, or allow passengers and crew to escape. There are many such systems like seatbelts, air bags, escape slides, life rafts and life boats. The design… Read more »
Cold weather actually makes us busier. Cold weather makes people seek shelter so they pay less attention and cold weather makes equipment operate and fail in unusual fashion. It has been cold out (we almost had iceboat conditions on the river) so there is no time to ruminate any further. Instead I will post a few… Read more »
We all like to kid about acronym soup, and it is pretty difficult to keep up with all the new ones. I remember that as a young engineer I was always hesitant to ask in public, because I was afraid that asking the question would prove my ignorance. Somewhere in my career I crossed that… Read more »
December 15, 2011, in Rochester, New York to inspect a pier on behalf of the Department of Justice with regard to a fatal boater’s crash on a dark night in 2008 on Lake Ontario. It was surprisingly warm for this time of year, but the USCG Boatswain in charge of the 47 foot MLB and… Read more »