A Mariner’s Notebook – Professional Mariner

Maritime education funding: Let’s level the playing field

During the holidays, my wife and I were leafing through old college photos when I came across one of me in my white cadet uniform, standing beside my mother and father. My parents had driven 850 miles from Spokane, Wash., to attend my graduation from the California Maritime Academy, where I received a Bachelor of Science degree and my unlimited…

Happy birthday, ITF! And thank you for having our backs!

Last year saw a huge worldwide upsurge in the number of merchant mariners who were stranded or abandoned. Close to 3,300 seafarers on 222 vessels were stuck on board for months or even years and owed over $58 million in unpaid wages. Although these incidents occur in every maritime country, most are on flag-of-convenience (FOC) vessels, such as the Vanuatu-flagged…

We may not be elves, but we are Santa’s helpers!

It’s that time of the year: the holidays. With this season comes the Christmastime excitement, when children eagerly await the presents underneath their trees. Mariners have always had a special connection with Christmas, too. Not only because the ships we sail on carry the vast majority of the gifts that are given, but because of our relationship with Santa Claus,…

A Mariner’s Notebook: FOC vessels shortchange the United States

For hundreds of years, domestic shipping companies registered their vessels in the United States, crewing them with U.S. merchant mariners. Then along came something called Prohibition, and things changed. In accordance with the 18th amendment to the Constitution, ratified on Jan. 16, 1919, it became illegal to manufacture, sell or transport alcohol in the United States. Since U.S.-flag vessels are…

Hard Hats for Mariners

The hard hat used by merchant mariners worldwide has its origin in war. The story began in 1914, in the trenches of Europe at the start of World War 1. With little to offer them protection from lethal head wounds caused by shrapnel from German artillery, millions of soldiers perished. Starting in 1915, various types of steel combat helmets were…

25,000 miles of mariners

On March 12, 2024, a 37-foot cabin cruiser with six people and two dogs aboard was severely damaged in gale-force winds and in imminent danger of capsizing near Decatur Island, in the inland waters of Washington state’s Salish Sea. The U.S. Coast Guard issued an urgent marine information broadcast (UMIB) about the vessel’s situation, which was picked up by watch…

It’s time to act, or we can kiss our independence goodbye

If you think that the “glory days” of the U.S. merchant marine have passed, there is good news on the horizon. But first, some context: After World War II, there were around 4,500 U.S.-flag ocean-going vessels — the world’s largest fleet. Today, there are a mere 180, about 0.2% of the world’s total. That’s happened because the U.S. merchant marine’s…

Two sides to every story

My first job in the merchant marine was at Crowley Maritime, working out of their Long Beach office. Assigned to the tug Saturn, we were heading back to the company’s home berth at pier 48. After we were secured, Igor, the mate on the vessel, told me to climb up to the dock and get the supplies and tools he’d…

An oath to the supreme law of our nation

The U.S. Maritime Service (USMS) oath of office: “Having been appointed in the United States Maritime Service, I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will take this obligation freely, without…

Don’t get burned

The merchant marine is a profession like no other, offering a myriad of options for anyone interested in working on a commercial vessel. For some, that might mean a tugboat handling barges in the Gulf of Mexico; for others, it could be a tanker running crude oil from Alaska or an oceanographic ship doing scientific projects off the coast of…