MSC Readiness

Having no experience with MSC or Marad I have to ask, are MSC or Marad RRF vessels classed with a class society? I’m guessing since they are government or US Naval vessels that they are not. Something like 6 of your 12 life rafts being out of inspection or preventative maintenance on your winches might draw class’ attention. Either way, it doesn’t excuse the mariners or the companies who have hired them from not keeping the ship up to the owners standards. I’d have a hard time working for a company that wasn’t spending the money to keep the lifesaving equipment up to snuff.

I made a couple trips to DG. We were inspected by U.S.C.G. and ABS. AFAIK so were the other ships (class may have been different ).

The specifics to being chartered out to MSC are different, you meet their requirements, but the basics don’t change.

Just started re-reading Red Storm Rising and was struck by how true (and relevant) the following quote is in the introduction…

“From time immemorial, the purpose of a navy has been to influence, and sometimes decide, issues on land. This was so with the Greeks of antiquity; the Romans, who created a navy to defeat Carthage; the Spanish, whose armada tried and failed to conquer England; and, most eminently, in the Atlantic and Pacific during two world wars. The sea has always given man inexpensive transport and ease of communication over long distances. It has also provided concealment, because being over the horizon meant being out of sight and effectively beyond reach. The sea has supplied mobility, capability, and support throughout Western history, and those failing in the sea-power test—notably Alexander, Napoleon and Hitler—also failed the longevity one.” —Edward L. Beach, in Keepers of the Sea