Disqus - Latest Comments for Capt. John

Re: What Are You Sinking About?

Capt. John — Sat, 19 May 2007 12:01:57 -0000

Yeah this is our all time top favorite commercial too!

Re: Alaska Cruise Ship - New Mate, Wrong Turn

Capt. John — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:29:12 -0000

Forum question of the day:
Do our Academys prepare 3rd Mates for thier first bridge watch?

Go here to comment:
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/forum/comments.php...

Re: Wanted: Captain, 3rd Mate & future scapegoat

Capt. John — Sat, 26 May 2007 00:51:30 -0000

Good Catch

Re: Windoc arial view | gCaptain.com

Capt. John — Mon, 28 May 2007 23:49:08 -0000

Sure is, it's right here:
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/windoc-incide...

Re: The Caspian Sea Monster | gCaptain.com

Capt. John — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 02:22:13 -0000

Yep. Right here:
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/worlds-fastes...

Re: The Deadliest Catch - Rogue Wave Edition

Capt. John — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:16:54 -0000

We agree!!

Re: Video of the Emma Maersk - World’s Largest Container Ship

Capt. John — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 00:35:22 -0000

Awsome thanks for the footage! Please feel free to add anything else you come up with to our Forum or submit it as a Discoverer Story:
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/forum/
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/discoverer/submit.php

You'll have to register for each separately but it'll be worth it.... promise.

Thanks again,
John

Re: Environmental Impact and Salvage of M/V Pasha Bulker

Capt. John — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 08:30:23 -0000

Wow, I've gotten a flood of emails thanking me for this post... but the thanks go to Ian, MarkL, Pilot, and the rest of the comments published here! Thanks guys, we all appreciate the updates (PS can I talk any of you into writing for this blog?). -John

Re: gCaptain Tip - Confined Space Entry with PASS Device

Capt. John — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:55:00 -0000

Mike,
You just have the tank watch and the guy doing the inspection carry a wrench. Every few minutes the watch bangs once on the deck and the guy in the tank responds with one bang. Same thing....2 bangs means get out of the tank (or get ready for me to leave).....5 or more means I'm in trouble.

No matter where inside the tank you are the wrench can normally be heard.

Re: Empress of the North - Photo Essay

Capt. John — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 03:29:28 -0000

Roger,
I apologize for the confusion. The photos were not taken by me, I was just reporting the story. They were taken by a passenger of the ship and uploaded to a public photo sharing website. At the time they were labeled "public" but I guess the photographer changed their mind. If you have a yahoo account then you can go to the following page, click "send flickrmail" and ask the photographer for a copy:
http://flickr.com/people/83384129@N00/

I hope this helps,
John

Re: Response to LNG Crewing Agreement Post | gCaptain.com

Capt. John — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:52:38 -0000

John,

Thanks for responding!

My post was more direct than usual but that's because the subject matter is closer to my heart. My father worked the FDNY’s Rescue 3 in the Bronx (with a Navy SEAL) and died of cancer from Agent Orange exposure in '99. Also I presently work on a ship with crude oil and natural gas capabilities and as Chief Mate I'm the designated Security Officer aboard.

The fact is I agree with 90% of your post. I went through bootcamp with both the Navy and a maritime academy, they are very different. Also my roommate from the navy is now a SEAL platoon leader. I have discussed the matter with him and you’re post is correct in implying that we do not have the capability of defending against a direct attack…. but do we need to??

Mariners are not professional firefighters but we do fight fires, we are not medics but need to take care of our own sick/wounded, we are not Coast Guard rescue swimmers but do need to rescue others. What we are good at is using our available resources to work through problems and be self reliant when resources are not available. This is our expertise.

My problem with your post is not questioning our lack of qualifications to defend against a direct attack it’s your questioning our ability to prevent our ships from being used as WMD’s. If a ship was attacked at sea we would send a piracy distress signal, take measures to disable the ship and those not on duty could hide for days without being found. The ship might be detonated at sea but would never make it into port.

If the ship was attacked in port then that’s the responsibility of the professionals; the USCG, FBI and local police but an American mariner in a US port will be able to sense trouble and sound the alarm faster than a foreigner, they will also have a better idea of who to call and how to direct operations. The same goes for a “sneak” attack. It’s the responsibility of the port to prevent unauthorized people from getting to the ship we are only the last line of defense. If you think this scenario is credible then you need to shine light on the people whose job it is to defend ships, namely the Port Authorities and USCG, not us.

The threat of internal attack is a different matter. Our strongest defense against this is in our numbers. The average complement of a merchant ship is 21-25 people, that’s it. We eat meals, watch movies, work on deck and live in very close quarters together for months at a time. For this reason being on a merchant ship is very different from being on a navy vessel. In the navy you are in similarly close quarters but does the navy captain know the middle name of each crew member? Does he know that Seaman Frank’s baby had a cold this week, that the galley hand has a gambling problem or that the wiper’s first cousin is in jail? A merchant ship is like a small rural town while a navy ship is the big city… which do you think is easier to defend from sabotage?

Prudent seamanship is the captain’s core guidelines. Regardless of country of birth, religion, position… the Captain must know his crew and address concerns. Timothy McVeigh was no less of a threat than any foreign terrorist but both would have difficulty hiding their beliefs aboard a 24-person merchant ship.

When the next big war comes we are going to need qualified mariners we can trust. The US merchant fleet has been in decline for many years and now with burdensome USCG training requirements cutting into family time the number of Americans choosing this profession is rapidly diminishing. We are being attacked by our country’s apparent need for high consumption at a low cost. Until that changes LNG and other ships will be needed. Another problem; Due to ports being located in high population areas our state’s representatives in congress have bigger problems than helping mariners and can not defend us to the extent that a Midwestern Senator defends agriculture. So while the content of your blog post is mostly accurate the conclusion is false; American mariners do have significant means of preventing this scenario if not by physical means…. and while you correctly assess that the situation is not ideal I can honestly say that it is a big step forward not only in preventing terror but keeping American merchant mariners employed on ships and trained in the event of a larger war.

I enjoyed your article and appreciate your response. I hope you continue to shine light on this important issue but not expect the average mariner to be Coast Guardsmen, Navy SEALS or super-cops… that’s what we have them for our job is simply to give them as much help as possible.

-John

Re: Hospital Ship Comfort Departs to South America

Capt. John — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 07:30:56 -0000

Zack,

MM&P;'s Bridgedeck newsletter says:

Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS COMFORT, crewed by MM&P; licensed deck officers, left Norfolk June 15 on a four-month humanitarian mission to Latin America and the Caribbean. COMFORT will visit Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. At each stop, U.S. military doctors and nurses from the ship’s medical treatment facility will work with a variety of embarked governmental and non-governmental agencies as well as medical professionals from host nations to treat about 1,000 patients per day, providing medical care including immunizations, general and specialty surgeries, dental care and vision services. An embarked Naval construction force of Seabees will provide engineering support at each location, including medical facility repairs and minor construction projects.

Re: Pasha Bulker - Questions and Answers

Capt. John — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 08:31:19 -0000

Thanks for the updates guys!

Re: Pasha Bulker Swung Out but Leaking Oil | gCaptain.com

Capt. John — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:37:18 -0000

Thanks guys!!

Re: Environmental Impact and Salvage of M/V Pasha Bulker

Capt. John — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:39:03 -0000

Thanks everyone for helping with this amazing story!!

Re: Tanker White Sea Aground Off Coney Island | gCaptain.com

Capt. John — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 20:10:06 -0000

duym...sounds interesting. Did you run into anything non-routine besides the obvious?

Re: Ital Florida - Container Casualties

Capt. John — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:24:44 -0000

Thanks! We appreciate the link.

Re: Quote of the Week

Capt. John — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:58:33 -0000

It was well deserved!

Re: Nautical Trivia - What is that?

Capt. John — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:59:41 -0000

YES, they are 10-point dividers. So what can we use them for these post-loran days??

Re: Past and Future “Photo of the Day” picks. | gCaptain.com

Capt. John — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:33:51 -0000

Thanks!

Re: gCaptain Logo Store - Now Open

Capt. John — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:20:08 -0000

Jimmy,

Thanks. You're help is much appreciated.... plus I think you'll like them!

Re: Pasha Bulker - Questions and Answers

Capt. John — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:14:19 -0000

Thanks for the updates guys. I'll try to do a story post by the end of the week.

Re: Weapons Aboard Ship? | gCaptain.com

Capt. John — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:04:59 -0000

My opinions are mixed and I took like the sonic blaster idea. One item of note, however, the man who was operating the blaster for carnival was hit with shrapnel. The pirates saw him pointing the weapon and opened fire. Luckily they didn't have time to damage the unit (or him) before he aimed it correctly.

Re: +34 45-434 2958 …how do you dial that number??

Capt. John — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:59:51 -0000

I've never tried Gizmo but I will take a look.

Re: From Ship to Space - Rocket Platforms at Sea

Capt. John — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:40:11 -0000

Yep... we are just like Nick at Nite... the oldies just keep getting better to watch!

Re: When Kevin Rose says you’re a rockstar…

Capt. John — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 10:34:42 -0000

I'm interested in seeing how many friends requests you get by the end of the day!

Re: Top 10 Facebook Apps (from two perspectives)

Capt. John — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:41:55 -0000

I;m a huge fan of the "Where I’ve Been" map. Much nicer looking than "Where I've been" but after trying to enter 38 countries and 40+ states I gave up. An "add by list" option would be much better.

Also try CafePress.com's app if your a blogger!