Wait you want to pay somebody else? Nah.
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Wait you want to take some of the decision making away from the office? Nah.
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If you want to have an actual conversation about this, please dm me. Would like to hear why you would not want to create more jobs, create an atmosphere of inclusion in an industry that is severely blinded by their history and mentality. Look forward to having that conversation with you.
Iām 100% sure youāre missing the sarcasm.
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Not missed, just a bit shocked that on a subject like this, we canāt have a discussion without the petty sarcasm and worthless comments. Hence why our industry has a problem.
So you knew he was being sarcastic and were shocked by itā¦ and your response was essentially more sarcasm?
Sadly it comes down to money. Staffing an extra position on the ship year round and fleet wide gets expensive fast and without a legal requirement I donāt see that being something that companies just volunteer to participate in with a few exceptions.
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Iām not sure what your plan is. First of all, what is a DEI officer? Iāve never heard the term. Who trains them? What are their qualifications to deal with diversity issues? Where are you going to find 1,000 of them?
Every ship Iāve ever been on or seen has a poster of the Designated Person Ashoreās name and phone number. Supposedly available 24/7. We used to call ours around 0300 on a Sunday morning - and he preferred it that way. This guy is completely out of the chain of command, and his literal job is to address issues that are not being dealt with appropriately by the onboard command.
In this young ladies story, shame on every person who know about this and did not a fucking thing about it. You want to see how fast an office can react? Send an anonymous email to the DPA about something remotely questionable onboard occurring and watch how fast things happen. Iāve done it.
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It sounds like there were a whole bad cultureās worth of issues not being dealt with appropriately on this particular ship. Maybe Iāve just never been exposed to a vessel where drinking was allowed, but that scenario seems out of line for many reasons. I wouldnāt for a second blame alcohol for creating a rapist where there wasnāt already one, and certainly many of the sexual harassment and assault stories donāt include it, but what fuck kind of ships are MLL running these days!? DPAās serve a purpose, but waiting for honest confidential reporting canāt be the only line of accountability.
Ending sea year I donāt see as the solution. That acknowledges thereās a problem and accepts defeat. Cadets need real world training. I learned far more in two months commercial shipping than six months on a training ship. Interesting that one outcome of the prior sea year hiatus was supposedly sat-phones or increased communication protocol. Itās all good to be able to quickly report harassment or assault after the fact, but that does nothing to change the environment that fostered that behavior in the first place.
All that to say I donāt know the answer, but itās good to see some public attention.
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I asked this academy third type guy about the pool. Itās basically an uncovered deck ballast tank they fill with freshwater and they were on a āwet shipā which means you can drink underway. Iām gettin my fuckin thirds.
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I really donāt think that MLL has any āwet shipsā under the US flag like APL or Matson have. Your young friend may think that or was told that while onboard, but I would wager there is a very clear and strict policy against alcohol and drugs onboard. I could be wrong, but the last time I worked for them it was not an option. I did observe at that time a very loose culture of indifference with that rule, mostly from the engineering side of the aisle, and I subsequently chose to not pursue a career there. That was back in the USSM days though.
I think that adults should be allowed to have a beer or two after work, but what is described in this allegation is far from moderate drinking. No good comes from binge drinking like this on a ship or anywhere for that matter.
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Probably. The stuff heās telling me you canāt just make up though. They wanted to hire him after graduation. I donāt want to put too much of this ships business out there but it doesnāt sound like a bad little run. Still too many days at sea for me though and iām not getting oceans stamped on my ticket anyway in case MARAD callsā¦ ex-squid.
I hope most rapists, racists, harassers & assholes in general can keep a lid on it in a public settings but get them drunk & theyāll show their true colors. I WOULD blame alcohol & a loose drinking policy for playing a large contributing factor in sexual harrassment. The groper that I mentioned in comment #8 was on that ship for 7 years previous, did a great job on board but had a reputation of doing stupid things while drinking. No way he would have grabbed a womans private parts sober. In my older age I figured out to stay off the dock when Iām on a ship that has a tent & coolers at the bottom of the gang plank & only drink 2 beers if on a vessel that allows it for Sunday barbecues. Iām 100% confident I wonāt be grabbing or cursing anyone but thereās too many variables with drunk people. I donāt like it but understand companyās 0% tolerance policy because all the stupid stuff stupid people have done drunk.
Alcohol policies (official & hidden) should be evaluated when investigating a solution to the misogyny/harrassment culture.
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This sort of hiring practice doesnāt work with the MEBA or MM&P with regards to a 3rd Mate or Engineer. Does the AMO allow this?
I donāt know anything about those. Last time I sailed union I was an AB, Local 25 and SIU but even then, if they like you, you have a home.
I told my CE about this. The first words out of his mouth were āSounds like a witch hunt. She probably didnāt want to workā.
This is the mindset of a lot of people out here and itās absolutely uncalled for.
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And over the many years, business have not hired and found new positions to gap social issues or anything of the sort? I donāt believe DPAās are positioned to honestly handle harassment and things of that nature, they are there for ISM non-compliance if needed. You donāt need to train 1000 new people, it doesnāt have to be on every vessel, this position (like a Safety Coach) could roam the Fleet, give advice and training on diversity and inclusion issues throughout the Fleet, assess onboard relationships and people. The maritime industry doesnāt have an IQ issue, it has an EQ issue.
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Blame alcohol? Alcohol is a choice, alcohol does not force its way into ones mouth. You really should not blame anything other than the person, and their self-control and lack of such. Even addiction starts as a choice, then manifests to control over someone, but still, I donāt think anyone should blame alcohol.
I would definitely blame a loose alcohol policy. If itās not supposed to be onboard, then it shouldnāt be onboard. If itās supposed to be onboard, it should be monitored.
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I also mentioned loose drinking policies. I blame those too. I love beer as much as the next guy, probably more but telling mariners to learn to control their alcohol will never be the solution to anything because many never will. Thereās a lot of science that shows alcohol consumption affects motor & decision making skills. Iāve noticed many experienced female mariners & military personnel with their wits about them avoid the tent & coolers at the bottom of the gang plank too or leave a lot sooner than their male counterparts for a reason. Alcohol makes the stupid stupider. It should be tightly controlled or banned to prevent problems. About the young lady in the blog, alcohol was a contributing factor without a doubt. Everyone, including her would have acted differently if they were sober.
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The lopsided ratio of males to females should not make a difference but unfortunately it has an effect on some males with left over Neanderthal traits which booze only makes worse.
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