Captain’s Corner – Pacific Maritime Magazine

Captain’s Corner: The Evolution of Safety

In general, as a society we like to believe we have evolved, and are continually evolving, to make the world a smarter, safer and overall better place. Technology has taken us to unimaginable heights to make tasks easier, more efficient and hopefully safer. New cars are well equipped with a massive amount of safety tech devices from lane-departing alarms to blind-spot indicator warnings and a host of other innovations that alert the driver and try to mitigate human error as much as possible. The trucking industry has electronic logbooks for drivers that record distance and working hours along with highway…

Doing More with Less

It would appear that “doing more with less” could be the unofficial motto for today’s society, especially regarding the workplace. Restaurants, offices, tech companies and many other businesses are feeling the squeeze of being short staffed and finding it hard to recruit and retain qualified long-term help. What does this mean for the employees who are in the workforce? It means doing more than your normal duties in your job description. While it is a fact that sometimes you just do what needs to be done to perform the task at hand, this extra effort is creating an environment for…

Where Have all the Mariners Gone?

At this point, I believe it’s no secret that finding experienced, qualified and reliable workers has been a challenge for many employers, especially those in the maritime sector: I have touched on this a few times in my past columns. Unfortunately, we are continuing to see this trend follow us as we approach the halfway mark of 2022. It has prompted many to ask, “Where have all the mariners gone?” At first, I really didn’t give it much thought. But I began to have to confront the question more and more as it was coming up almost daily in my…

Captain’s Corner: Off to Sea

Off to Sea Considering the limited pool of qualified and experienced U.S. mariners to fill job vacancies as of late, I felt there would be no better time than the present to write this piece. The result of this shortage has given way to some incredible employment opportunities for brand new, entry-level sailors. With that being noted, recently I have encountered some very basic, yet valid questions by these “greenhorns,” and it made me think back to my very first trip to sea. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or what to expect, what to do once…