Even Keel Abhijith Balakrishnan

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

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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




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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 


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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. 

 


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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




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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. 


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