ONBOARD Magazine Spring 2018

COMMENT
WHAT A WASTE
Michael Howorth asks, “Why are we forced to waste
money on publications we never even look at?”
OK listen up, I want you to nip down
to your local bookstore and buy
yourself the complete set of Harry
Potter books by JK Rowling. I am sorry to
say it will set you back a bit cash-wise.
Next I want you to put them on a bookshelf,
there will be no need for you to read them
because you know the story anyway and
for those of you who don’t, you can watch
the movies and get the general idea. Now
after you have kept those books for a year I
want you to burn them! Do that just before
you go down to the same bookstore and
buy yourself another, almost identical, but
very slightly updated version of the same
thing. Sounds bonkers doesn’t it? But that
is exactly what the flag states are doing
when they insist that superyachts carry
hugely expensive publications that no one
looks at, no one really needs, and only contain
information that is, if we care to look for
it, freely available elsewhere.
The cost to the yachts is astronomical
and the wastage absolutely shocking! The
Cayman Islands Shipping Registry for example,
mandates that CI Flagged vessels carry costly
and rarely looked at publications on board. The
International Telecommunication Union (ITU),
a specialised agency of the United Nations
(UN) that promotes international cooperation
to improve telecommunication infrastructure
in the developing world, publishes three of
them. The agency makes a huge amount of
money selling vastly overpriced reference
documents and lobbying flag states to make
their carriage on seagoing vessels mandatory.
radio stations, while a third specifies the
carriage of a maritime manual listings. In
the case of large yachts, each tome is as
useless as the other. Yacht Captains I have
spoken to, never look at these publications
and some of the honest ones even confessed
to me that they don’t even know what
they are for!
What makes matters more frustrating
is that the Cayman Islands last updated
their notice on what should be carried by
yachts 14 years ago. The notice makes no
reference at all to the use of equivalent
electronic versions, which can be used
in lieu of old fashioned paper publications
that cost the earth to ship to yachts
scattered around the globe. Many yachts
do not realise that by using CD versions
of the books huge shipping costs can be
avoided. And while we are on this point, may
I point out that my computer and the one
I owned before that, does not even have a
CD slot so I view the CD as being as dead
as yesterday’s porridge.
Together these three publications cost the
yacht a staggering £870, and for what?
Steve Monk, Managing Director of DaGama
Maritime, a company that focuses on more
professional navigation management and on
board crew training, frequently finds that
the cellophane has not even been broken off
the CD case when he goes to see clients.
When he then informs them they must pay
for a new edition, they are to say the very
least he tells me, ‘A little miffed’.
The cost to the yachts
is astronomical and
the wastage absolutely
shocking!
Among these publications is List V, a list
prepared and issued, every April, by the
ITU, to be carried by all ship stations for
which a Global Maritime Distress and Safety
System (GMDSS) installation is required. Do
you know where your own on board copy is?
And if you do, when was the last time you
looked for it? I am guessing the only time you
did that was at the last audit! Somewhat
shockingly despite its huge cost, List V
was when first published, useless because
due to an ITU administrative error, a large
number of vessels from one particular flag
ship state were not included.
Another example of waste is called List IV,
a list of coast stations and special service
So what is the way round this? I have an
answer and because I am no longer serving
as a Captain, I will tell you what I used to
do. I created an on board order for the
publications but kept it on my computer but
never sent it off for fulfilment. Whenever
the Cayman Islands Surveyor challenged
me, I pointed out that it was on-order and
that seemed to be the end of that! But if
they ever try to cut up hard about it, may
I suggest you point out that their own
shipping notice differs from the form ‘Y’
carried by their inspectors when it comes
to what should and should not be carried.
You then borrow a copy from the yacht the
next door berth assuming of course that
they know where their copy is!
ONBOARD | SPRING 2018 | 5