I wake up to find the threads for the last 12 hours are
Cooking at Sea
Brown water to Blue water
What Can Merchant Mariners Learn From Volvo Ocean Race Sailors?
Cooking at Sea Horror Stories
Updates on the Sewol Tragedy
Best Nautical Movie Scene
Star Ferry in Hong Kong 120 years old
The Merchant Marine Is Of Critical Importance Says US SECDEF Mattis At Kings Point Graduation
and I am the only person who replied to that last one which is the only thread with any “REAL” substance
this is becoming more and more the norm where I log on only to find a bag of marshmallow tropics here and this is one too many. this once treasured forum where I would pound the table with my shoe is nothing more than a knitting club these days. There I has said what I have been needing to say for a long time however I leave you with a question:
Maybe I should do a video with beef instead of my jelly roll. It’s possible people just want to read something or learn something fun. Maybe you could start some more “serious” threads.
Good grief. Didn’t you start a thread with the word “marshmallow” in the title just a couple of days ago? Now you’re complaining there’s too many marshmallow threads? Maybe the problem is just you?
I wanted to stay polite on this forum but I have to tell you I take my work pretty seriously, seriously enough to write a book on the subject to help others. How many books have you written on your area of interest? Go throw marshmallows at someone else. Or send me the whole bag so I can make a batch of fudge.
I went years without making a comment on this site & only read the threads that dealt with the CG because I knew Cavo was a good source of information. Back then it seemed many of the threads would whittle down to a few online bullies insulting one another. Those same few bullies were also quick to insult newbies who didn’t understand something. It was embarrassing & a lot of unprofessional antics were happening on the Professional Mariner Forum. I like the tone now a days better & I haven’t noticed any negative impact on the content because of it.
Maybe you have no interest in reading or hearing about things like Star Ferry in HK, but there may be others that like to widen their horizon a little, or may have fond memories of Star ferry and Hong Kong.
Is your world so narrow that you cannot stand hearing about anything that lays outside your sphere of interest, or doesn’t fit with your view of things?
I know you used to be the feared “big bad wolf” here, but it appears that you are being overtaken by development to a more international forum.
I hope I have helped defang the wolf at least a little bit.
PS> Nice to see you have found the cap lock key again!!
Perhaps it has something to do with the state of the industry. At the inception of this site the oil business was booming and since most of the posters were from the USA they were fully employed. Could find another job the next day, that is over. Now the active number of US mariners on vessels has gone down by over 80% I would guess. The few that are left of that group don’t want to be caught making any controversial statements on social media because big brother is watching.
So one is left with retired folks of many nationalities and those who have interesting stories to tell. I also happen to like the cooking at sea bit myself.
80% reduction in active US mariners since the oil price collapse ???
I certainly don’t see that big number.
I can see maybe 50% reduction in the oil patch. Maybe 20% in the coastal tug and barge trade. The Inland tug and barge trade is huge; have they had any significant reduction? Any deepsea reduction? Any harbor reduction? Passenger and ferry reductions? Yacht reductions?
I might believe a 20% reduction in jobs for all active mariners, but certainly not an 80% reduction.
But the good news is that things are looking up for seagoing employment. Companies seem to be advertising more, and actually hiring more. Some companies are even struggling to find good people with the right type of experience. Most importantly, my phone is ringing a lot more often.
In 2014 Transocean had over 24,000 employees. They currently have a bit over 6,000. And Transocean is the company that is actually surviving this downturn better then any of the other contractors. I’m pretty sure the service companies have similar numbers. Just to put some numbers to it all.
I recall seeing somewhere O&G sector was about 50% of the total of the U.S. maritime sector, anyone know if that’s correct?
As far as the forum, I’d guess about 75% of members were O&G, seems like less now. I don’t think overall numbers drive forum usage as much as growing or shrinking. When things were booming lots of discussion, mariners jumping for higher pay, better conditions etc.
I can’t agree with everything you said in your last post. Especially the part about the 80% decline in active mariners. But if you correct, it would be ironic because the OP was one of the most critical & outspoken against southern OSV operators & bayou OSV mariners but now reminisces about the supposed “good 'ol days” when so many more of them were around.
IMO, trolls who can make things saucier like new things & current events to troll over. So they move to different news outlet once the maritime threads start to bore them. The professional mariners & new to the industry will stick around. I think that is why things are now more civil & professional.
I also agree with you about the cooking threads. I like to eat well & cooking is a hobby of mine. If I don’t want to read a thread, I won’t, no one is holding a gunto my head.
