Editors l, researchers, and sources don’t get Pulitzers just the journalists themselves.
Yes!
The problem is all of this costs money. I am not complaining just stating the fact. Most are understanding but some (eg @c.captain ) are pissed I didn’t do more. It’s a lot of work. The good news is that most people are willing to help when we ask but the quality of the journalism is directly related to the amount invest… so the profits we do make are always fully reinvested.
ProPublica has a huge nonprofit war chest but they are unique. Everyone else (especially maritime press) is reliant on advertising $ which is decreasing rapidly to fund facebook ads and Instagram influencers.
We are doing better than most but only because we keep our costs at a bare minimum and continually reinvest in the site.
ha ha ha … “Instagram influencers” in the maritime industry. I’m curious what that followers count must be before the ‘influencer’ title is earned??
I had many followers … so I thought, I don’t trust Mark Zuckerberg so how would I really know?
But I had at least 20K to 21K at any one moment in time. And that’s just from unique, organic pics and videos. I even kept my clothes on and no selfies wearing my underwear … I promise.
But I bailed on social media last October, it was turning into a cesspool. Everywhere. Frankly, I still don’t get internet advertising. I found Facebook and Instagram ads (Twitter, too) more annoying than anything else. But I don’t know what the answer is. Personally, I’m not opposed to subscription accounts, if content is good and you can offer great “premium content” distinguished from the free newsletter stuff. Count me in if you go that route.
That was kinda a joke. Maritime Companies have started to pull money out of magazines and pour it into Zuck’s pockets but they aren’t savvy enough to do much on the gram.
As far as I know Captain Kate has the most on Instagram but she is awesome and doesn’t shill cheap products.
1 million is the number you need to get advertising attention which sounds like a lot but according to the NYTimes’ Nock Bilton there are millions of Instagram accounts with over a million followers (most influencer folly are bots). Nick’s movie “Fake Famous” is really eye opening.
The incestuous relationship between the USCG (as well as the classification societies) and the shore-based management of shipping and/or drilling contractors has been going on for many, many years. Without a doubt there are absolutely many, many good, ethical and professional people in the USCG. Where I have seen and experienced the failures of the USCG is with the leadership at the District and/or Command Level. This is where the USCG has prioritized politics, cronyism and corporate pandering over the safety of the mariner. The USCG will not hold shore-base management accountable or responsible for their illegal and/or disingenuous conduct that compromises the safety of the mariner. I have seen it, lived it and I have a plethora of documentation and evidence to support it. The bottom line is that the system is completely broken and has been for a very, very long time. It has been six years since my whistleblower/retaliatory termination from Noble Drilling. Things are no different today than they were six years ago. Take me out of this equation as what happened to me could happen to any of us. What does it say about the regulatory state of our industry when a Captain, who has been with his vessel between five and six years, is fired eleven days after reporting to a DPA/ADPA two illegal and felonious safety violations involving lifesaving equipment? The USCG did nothing. What is the point of a safety management system if people, especially Captains, are terminated for reporting safety issues? The Captain is the one individual responsible for ensuring the SMS is effectively used on board the vessel. What message is “management” sending when they fire Captains for raising safety issues? This creates a culture and environment where people will not speak up, out of fear of retaliation if there is something dangerous or unsafe. What makes it even more egregious is that at the time this was taking place Noble Drilling was already a convicted felon on probation…and still the USCG (and the DOJ did nothing). Unfortunately, this is why this “culture” is prevalent in our industry because “management” knows they can get away with it. They know the USCG will do absolutely nothing to hold “management” accountable or responsible and, therefore, there is no incentive for them to change their culture. Yet when there is a catastrophic maritime tragedy the USCG will be the ones to hold grandiose investigations and hearings to try to determine “how did this happen.” The impotence and unwillingness of the USCG to hold management accountable only makes our industry more dangerous. Perhaps, they are fearful of upsetting management and want to ensure their employment once their time in the USCG is over.
A disgusting and glaring example of this is TOTE. The former USCG sector commander for Jacksonville, "Captain"Jeff Dixon, went to work for TOTE almost immediately after leaving the USCG and is now, nauseatingly, their President.
Unfortunately, it also seems that many mariners don’t seem to really care about the state of our industry as long as it doesn’t personally effect them and their job. Until, we, as mariners are more united things will not change.
As far as names go, I am of the opinion that if people don’t want to be called out for their disingenuous and unethical behavior then, perhaps, they should think about that before they behave in a disingenuous and unethical manner. I always sign my posts with my name, phone number and email address…
I should have worded my post differently. People in authority absolutely should be held accountable. I was thinking of working mariners and the like lower on the food chain.
I have worked in on shore management positions and at sea management positions and know full well the consequences of the antiquated way management of ships absolves the owners and contractors of ships of any responsibility. When things go wrong they blame the offshore manager whether captain or chief engineer as if those running the company have no oversight or direction in the matter of the operation of the ship. It is a great hypocrisy. In addition the government officials of many agencies that are paid to provide oversight to this industry in order to protect the public at large from disasters and the regulatory agencies that are paid to protect the seafarer are as far as I am concerned a waste of money and should be disbanded. Their record of protecting the public and the mariner does not warrant their expense. No one would miss them as they serve no effective purpose.
Just as blatant as having TOTE managers as members of the USCG/NTSB panels that were investigating the casualty. If you were a TOTE employee discussing working conditions you would know that the TOTE VP of Human Resources was a member of the Human Factors panel and either sitting in on your testimony or would be reading it as soon it was transcribed. Real incentive to open up.
I have found a few casualties where representatives of Persons In Interest participated in the NTSB deliberations but to my knowledge they were always casualties involving odd vessels, like Duck Boats. I can find no justification for having a corporate HR officer acting like a full-fledged member of the investigation team.
A similar situation existed in Engineering Panel.
And don’t get me started on the “examination” of the stability software
Sure, companies like that today consist of financial engineers led by a CEO who is likely a sociopath. Might not be wise to navigate those waters without local knowledge.
The DPA/ADPA was Vaclav “Jed” Jedlicka. I reported the safety violations to him on March 20, 2015 both verbally and in writing (email confirmation). I never heard from him again and I was fired, without warning, eleven days later on March 31, 2015. I would later find (out after my termination) that he was an active participant in the cover-up of one of the safety violations that involved lying to USCG Inspectors…fyi, he was a 27 year veteran of the USCG.
The first thing I tell people who are seriously interested in an NTSB investigation is that you should read the report for background and then dive into the docket to decide for yourself if you really believe what has been put in (and left out) of the report. The NTSB has revised their docket management software (thanks, guys) so none of my old links work, but I looked it up again in the new system:
You want items 96 and 97. It’s an amazing performance. On one side of the table is the head techie for Herbert Engineering (HEC), who produce the CARGOMAX software. (“Table” is a metaphor, this was a conference call). On the government side are two NTSB guys, two USCG guys, the president of HEC, another vice president of HEC, a guy from TOTE, a guy from ABS (who are half owners of HEC software division) and a lawyer who is representing the head techie and HEC. WTF?
None of these people manifest any software engineering or management knowledge whatsoever. They spend a cozy two hours batting whiffle balls back and forth and that’s it, we looked at the software, move along folks, nothing to see here.
The NTSB like the Chemical Safety Board used to be objective investigators. True, they had no regulatory power but their investigations were top notch. Why did they change their objectivity in their investigations? It’s like the FBI inviting members of the mafia to sit in on a RICO investigation.
Things worked out quite well for “Captain” Jeff Dixon. They rub our faces in it because they have been getting away with this type of activity for many, many years…and they know nothing will be done about it. That’s where their true arrogance comes into play.
Thanks for your contribution, Jeff. You articulate (very well) a real problem for all of us and this entire industry. As you say, we all know it and I agree 100% that it is broken.
Yes.
The problem is and has always been that the USCG is in the position to be the maritime industry police, the judge, and the jury. Add to that broken structure, you then “incentivize” the judge with a lucrative career post retirement from gov’t service!
No surprise, yes? I mean doesn’t the legal profession do the same? Lawyers take low paying, frustrating jobs as gov’t service prosecutors, in hopes to make a name for themselves then leap at offers from private sector powerful law firms that pay far more compensation?
The difference is the USCG is a “regulator” with every aspect of our industry. Personally, I just believe that is wrong. There should be some legal WALL that prevents anyone leaving the USCG from being employed in such conflicting positions within the private sector for 5 years … or something like that. Just my opinion, I have little faith any idea like that would ever be embraced by anyone else.
I also believe there needs to be an independent entity that takes administrative actions AWAY from the USCG.and is better at overseeing the care or punishment of US Seafarers. Clearly, that idea will stir the pot. But the USCG does a poor job of this today, i believe. They are too distracted by too many other missions.
Yessir. I agree. What changed …substantively … since the EL FARO disaster?? Anyone out there, please feel free to answer. What changed significantly after an old decrepit ship sank with all hands in a huge storm that EVERYONE knew was bad for the ship, given her chosen path? How do we operate differently today, given 33 dead people?
We did more after the EXXON VALDEZ and oil was spilled, fish died, the beach got dirty, yes? The industry and regulators all jumped in head first and created OPA 90.
But when an entire crew goes down with the ship, literally, nothing happens.
Here I disagree.
I do think the people in our industry do care, both ashore and on the water. I know many will argue my opinion. But my first hand experience is that most people onboard a vessel in most any job (brown water or deep sea) care enough to speak up, especially now that the rules have changed for the towing sector.
Where I see a SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE is when the people involved at the management level have prior experience as a licensed mariner and moved ashore into management (either deck or engine, its the same). Management that come from ‘administrative backgrounds’, (like the USCG!) flounder around with the conflict between doing what’s right and caving in to the superiors, due to cost (or other) issues.
Managers ashore who spent years at sea as a Chief Engineer or Captain, I believe, are more focused on doing their job the right way for the right reasons and are more willing to push back against their supervisors … because they know it’s the right time/place to make a stand. When it matters.
That’s just my opinion based on what I see the last almost 40 years working in this industry. From tour boats to tankers. The scale of the issues may be different. but the human aspect of it all is the same everywhere in the entire industry.
Great post, Jeff. Few would sign their name the way you did. So, much respect for posting the facts. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words. I agree and think you are 100% correct with your assessments regarding the USCG. In my opinion they have failed the mariner, miserably, because of this very blatant conflict of interest. And, despite how disingenuous and unethical this is nothing changes. This was epitomized with the fact that the former USCG sector commander of Jacksonville, “Captain” Jeff Dixon, has been working for TOTE almost immediately after leaving the USCG and is presently the President of TOTE Services. To your point, nothing has changed since the tragic loss of the “El Faro” and when the lead USCG “investigator,” “Captain” Jason Neubauer, is more concerned with pandering to TOTE’s lawyers and their corporate executives that speaks volumes.
It is no coincidence that the “compliance” groups of shipping and/or drilling contractors always seem to have several former members of the USCG in their employ. Same goes for the Flag States and the Classification Societies. It is a true “revolving door.”
In my situation with Noble, the shore-based management (my direct supervisor) was a fellow Mass Maritime Academy graduate and the VP/Chief Compliance Officer was also a Mass Maritime Academy graduate. Being former mariners, they are both individuals who should have known better. But when a cover up is exposed of illegal activity involving false logbook entries and lying to USCG Inspectors and the company is already on probation management is going to close ranks and their only objective is self-preservation.
The bottom line is that no mariner whether it be a Captain, Chief Engineer, Oiler or Able Seaman, should be retaliated upon for bringing attention to safety issues. Corporate cultures that behave in this manner are only inviting a potential disaster. The USCG has the ability to stop this but as we know all too well they have a consistent record of looking the other way and doing nothing.
Thanks, again.
