Even Keel

Chirag was in pirate captivity for over 7 months in 2010. Here he shares his trauma and torture while they had to live with pirates who beat them up. Leaving behind the trauma, Chirag focusses on the welfare of seafarers working with MHPRP and now ISWAN.  Here we discuss his days in captivity, what motivates him to do what he is, fradulent agencies, how easy is to get seaman books and how that may be adding complexities on board. Senior officers may have to deal with less than capable seafarers which adds to concerns on mental wellness as also on safety. We also discuss what ISWAN is doing for the welfare of seafarers and how COVID has made things even more complex.    Resources 1. https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/seafarer-health-information-programme/good-mental-health/steps-to-positive-mental-health 2. https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/seafarer-health-information-programme/good-mental-health/psychological-wellbeing-at-sea 3. https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/seafarer-health-information-programme/good-mental-health/managing-stress-and-sleeping-well-at-sea 4. https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/news/2019/yale-study-reveals-worryingly-high-levels-of-depression-anxiety-and-suicidal-thoughts-among-seafarers --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

Seafarers are often placed in situations where they have to make difficult choices. In this episode, I speak to Capt. Vivek Menon on Mairitime Anti Corruption Network to understand what seafarers can do and what MACN does.  https://macn.dk/ MACN works towards its vision through three objectives that are elaborated in the MACN Mission: Capability Building, Collective Action, and Culture of Integrity What are the outcomes on MACN's collective action What are the outcomes? MACN’s collective actions have generated major outcomes, including for example: reductions in demands for facilitation payments in the Suez Canal; new regulations in Argentina that make it more difficult for officials to demand bribes (www.youtu.be/leWE3ebfuLE); and improved ease of operations in Nigerian ports, with the implementation of standardized operating procedures and grievance mechanisms. MACN Strategy: https://macn.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MACNStrategy.pdf MACN Impact Report: https://macn.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MACN-2019-impact-report-1.pdf  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

Nyari is a second engineer who has written "Anchor My Heart". She has a sequel lined up. She is writing a third book which she descirbes as a Nautical Fantasy.  In this podcast, we speak about writing. We also pick up bits from her book and link that to life at sea. Nyari is also a TEDx speaker. The link to her TEDx talk is in the show notes below. She speaks of how seafarers are generally reluctant readers. We touch upon patriarchy and how life at sea for a woman seafarer generally is.  TEDx : https://www.ted.com/talks/nyari_nain_move_it_s_necessary_nyari_nain_tedxcvs?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare You can buy Anchor My Heart here: https://read.amazon.in/kp/embed?asin=B07KNYZT7X&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_95E9ZN1BT0RCVHNK826W --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

Helen is a chiefofficer on container ships. She in interested in mental health and here she shares her own experience seeking professional help.  Resources  Having a knowledge of these health stipulations for your own country is probably a very good idea – just to know where you stand. The UK ones can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-approved-doctors-manual Resources available to seafarers for mental health: 1. Mission to Seafarers: https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/about/our-issues/mental-health 2. ‘The Mission to Seafarers launched the Seafarers Happiness Index in 2015 as a way to gauge the thoughts and feelings that seafarers have about their lives at sea. Our aim is to get the opinion of the overall seafaring community to help us understand the good and bad aspects of this challenging career path to help us build a case for change in the industry.’ Link to the Seafarers Happiness Index survey: https://www.happyatsea.org/survey/ 3. Here is a fact sheet from the university of Cardiff with some recommendations on how to improve the mental health of seafarers: https://iosh.com/media/6307/seafarers-mental- health-wellbeing-factsheet.pdf 4. Where do we go from here? https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/news/2020/mental-health-of-seafarers-what-has-the-industry-done-to-tackle-this-what-else-is-needed 5. Good mental health resources from ISWAN (charity! donate!) https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/seafarer-health-information-programme/good-mental-health 6. the support hotline for good mental health: https://www.seafarerswelfare.org/our-work/seafarerhelp 7. Uk government is aiming to develop guidelines for training in mental health management at sea: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/872270/Maritime_2050_-_People_route_map.pdf --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

Sanjam is dynamic and perserverant in her cause. She founded MaritimeSheEO and is on her mission to increase the presence of women in leadership positions in the maritime industry. She feels this is what could provide equal opportunities for women at all levels, specially at the entry level. An unwritten rule to not take women in can only be negated with women in leadership positions. She also runs Sita shipping or the Ladies compartment where she walks her talk In this conversation, she takes us through dinner table conversations at home, her inspiration to set up the WISTA in India and also what led her to take up a study to make a business case for gender diversity.  She also talks of a  very interesting MaritimeSheEO conference coming up on 23rd November. You could register for it here: https://myonvent.com/event/maritime-she-eo  https://www.maritimesheeo.com/  Sanjam can be reached on twitter @SanjamSG. MaritimeSheEO : https://twitter.com/MaritimeSheEO    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

To Prosper and Thrive, you needed brave men to venture out.  And when men braved the oceans and ventured out to lands unknown, they became legendary. Who hasn't heard of a Christopher Columbus, a Marco Polo or  a Vasco da Gama. But who has heard of Juan dela Cosa, Anton de Alaminos, or Ahmad ibn Madjid. These were the men who showed the legendary navigators the way. their pilots. No matter where you came from the danger lurks when the waters narrow. When a ship would reach the coast, the captain would wait at anchor where he thought it was safe. He would wait there until the natives came out in their canoes and helped the ship to harbour. These, the last leg of the voyage, potentially the most dangerous and challenging, cannot be completed without help. If you needed to make this passage, you needed pilots. Without pilots, there would be no shipping. Without shipping there would be no viable commerce. There are references to pilots in texts as ancient as the Holy Bible. Once self employed, fiercely independent and mutually competitive, piloting is now what I think is an organised service to the community. I knew nothing about the history of pilotage. I still don't. I happened to speak with Rajesh a week or so ago. HE has been a pilot with a major Indian port and has over 7000 hours of pilotage experience. The conversation got around to his profession and its history. This got me interested. I invited him to come have a conversation here on Even Keel so you could hear his story. Title Music : Bipin Nambiar --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

This week on Even Keel, I talk to Capt. Rahul Varma. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-varma-57a09589) about Criminalisation and what seafarers could do about it. He speaks of procedural rights and why it is a everyday concern and how seafarers should be empowered to deal with it.  There are enough guidelines out there. The IMO is working on improving their current guidelines for fair treatment of seafarers in an accident to include the treatment of seafarers suspected to be involved in maritime crimes.  There is the casualty investigation code. The UNCLOS and MLC. These in itself maybe sufficient protective measures that are already available to deal with the criminal sanctions on seafarers. But the conventions, rules, guidelines, regulations, codes, in themselves cannot ensure fair treatment. The reality is more complex. Political. Emotional. A lot depends on the willingness of individual states - port states, coastal states, flag states, seafarers states - to recognise and implement and give full effect to the various conventions, guidelines and codes. It is more important for Industry organisations and seafarers organisations themselves keep the matter always burning. Not just smoldering.  References https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-law/case-study-criminalisation-of-87-indian-seafarer-in-indonesia-rights-available-but-denied/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rahul-varma-57a09589_seafarer-maritimeindustry-maritime-activity-6677914602426159104-LYfX https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-law/rights-and-duties-of-seafarers-upon-criminalisation Survey by Seafarers Rights International: http://seafarersrights.org/SRI-FT-flip-folder/mobile/index.html#p=1  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

In this episode, I speak with Capt. Arjun Singh Kalra. Arjun has set up his own business and recounts what he thinks are important for mariners before they step ashore. He tells me that we need to ensure we can sustain our family's needs for atleast 2 years before we take the plunge. We should develop domain knowledge  and should be a salesman. We should work with policy of sustainability and scalability. Learning to delegate and manage people are among what he considers as very important skills. All of these skills can be developed. Arjun spend a lot of time learning, reading and now networking. Among the reasons he counts among why he left sea are the opportunity for a steep learning curve available when ashore; and the monotony that sets in while sailing.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

In this Episode,we have a conversation with Capt. Abhay Kumar, Master Mariner with over 25 years experience across various disciplines in the maritime sector. We speak about criminalisation of seafarers and the unfair media. We mention Wakashio and the Beirut Blasts. Listeners, please send in your voice messages telling us how we could improve and what you would like to hear. And if you think you have a story to share, we could have a conversation. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

In this Episode, we have a conversation with author, trainer and Master Mariner, Capt. Vincent Fernandes. We speak about his book and touch upon some features of the ECDIS. And we speculate!  Listeners, please send in your voice messages telling us how we could improve and what you would like to hear. And if you think you have a story to share, we could have a conversation.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

This is the first episode where Even Keel had two guests. Joanne Rowley and David Hammond. Jo is on the advisory board of Human RIghts at Sea, of which David is the founder and CEO.  In this episode, Jo discusses Sexual Harassment at sea while David discusses Abandonment.  Human Rights at Sea is a civil society advocacy for human rights founded in 2013. Jo calls upon everyone who has the privilige and resources to speak up for seafarers who don't. David mentions that it took a civil society group to bring attention to human rights at sea. Curiously human rights find a no mention in either the MLC or the UNCLOS  URL: https://www.humanrightsatsea.org/  https://www.humanrightsatsea.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/HRAS_Abandonment_of-Seafarers_REPORT_APRIL21_SP_LOCKED.pdf  https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/Intro_Guiding_PrinciplesBusinessHR.pdf --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

Container ships sizes have increased dramatically without any change in number of crew. The ports may have spent billions of dollars to optimise existing infrastructure to enable these very large vessels to enter. The ships may not get any larger but the changes may already have stretched the crew to their limits of adaptability. While the size kept increasing, there has not been any significant change in the number of crew. Almost a similar number of crew have to manage lashings on a vessel that carries 10000 container or 20000 containers. Something will have to be compromised somewhere and this could show up in another 10 or 15 years when the ships get older.  The just-in-time nature of the container shipping industry has ships optimising to arrive at Suez just before the 2300 LT deadline. That is a time when there is a large number of vessels arriving causing traffic concerns. And then they have the Suez Canal Authority boarding. And then they have to pick up the lineboats. And by the time they think they can catch up sleep, it is time to weigh anchor and embark the pilot.    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

In this episode, we discuss what P&I Clubs do, what it takes to make a career in a P&I Club and even discuss Mental Wellness.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message

In this episode with Nari Shakti Puraskar awardee, Reshma Nilofer, we talk about a topic that often have people sitting on the fence. We think it is time all of you join in the conversation about diversity and inclusion. In this episode, we talk about gender sensitivity and inclusion in the Maritime Industry.  Title Music: Bipin Nambiar --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message