At one point, the Captain on the Ship while being highly respected, also carried great responsibility and had the ultimate accountability for everything on board. But this respect, responsibility and accountability has not come overnight, or just when the Captain wears his four stripes.

Without a shadow of doubt, shipping is a key enabler of our current way of life and the globalized world we live in today. The irony is that the average person is unaware of the significance or contribution of the shipping industry and how much we rely on ships working without disruption

The arrival of machine learning and artificial intelligence has taken efficiency to a whole new level. Software platforms can now suggest maintenance routines, recommend spare-part changes, and even predict breakdowns of machinery.

Malta Maritime Pilots

Interesting video by "JeffHK" from Hong Kong about the job of a maritime pilot.

Captain Matt Glass, a deputy pilot with the Houston Pilots, boards and guides the UAL Capetown on the Houston Ship Channel from the landing area outside Galveston Bay to the Manchester docks in Houston, a voyage of about 7 hours.

There are some problems that never seem to go away and one is the perennial difficulties in providing a safe way of getting pilots on and off a ship.

Great film about sailing on Kiel Canal (NOK) in Germany.

This is Paddy Rooney, Coxswain of the Carlingford Pilot Boat, on the lough which separates County Down and County Louth. The boat operates out of a small jetty at Greencastle - so called after it's Norman castle near the shore and not far from the town of Rostrevor with it's beautiful park and colourful streets. In this film Paddy and his crew rendezvoused with a cargo ship at Greenore Port - which is also a uniquely preserved 1800's railway village .

Throughout the world, mariners rely upon nautical charts to guide their voyages, to assist them in avoiding obstructions, and to note any special ocean conditions when sailing.