Available in paperback / Kindle / Audiobook
Our lives and standards of living depend on commercial shipping which in recent times up till now has remained largely hidden apart from the odd ‘accident’ in the Suez canal, activities of Somali pirates, etc. We’re coming to understand how essential the smooth running of the global shipping system is to our daily lives and how easily it is disrupted with recent ongoing events in the Gulf region.
The book was published in 2014 and apparently read by NaBG 10 years ago but it feels like now with the world on the brink of global recession would be a good time to refresh our memories. Clare analyses shipping as a whole and sets it against the lives of the crews of seafarers responsible for getting their ships and cargo to the right place at the right time all over the world. He joins two Maersk container ships for the duration of several long journeys as a crew supernumerary to understand the fragile mechanics of the system and the unappreciated and mostly poorly rewarded people involved.
Reading this account will show just how dependent we are on the worldwide shipping operation….a good basis for a discussion…how worried should we be, how to make the system more resilient, is military intervention a viable solution, do we have any personal experiences when deep water sailing, etc.