Clay Maitland

On a quest for quality in shipping

Lessons learned again?

April is said to be the cruelest month. It is memorable for disasters, from the Titanic to Texas City, Deepwater Horizon and so on. Continue reading

Does industry lack integrity when it comes to dangerous cargo safety?

Shipping industry conspicuously silent about Vinalines Queen death toll Continue reading

The Pavit – a 21st Century Marie Celeste?

Maritime history buffs may remember the story of the Marie Celeste, a sailing ship found abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean, which seemingly had managed to sail for months without reaching land, and whose crew were mysteriously absent. To this day, her mystery remains the subject of speculation. Continue reading

Happy birthday to us

This week I was in London to have my annual meet the press day and also to celebrate a year of this wonderful blog.

With over 160 posts and over a thousand visitors a month I would like to say a big thank you to my contributors in particular Michael Grey and to the readers whose comments have me enthralled.

Here is an extract of a video interview that I had with Ship Management International at the event… Continue reading

Mr Sadler’s modest proposal

Shipping, in its fragmented aspects, often resembles certain districts in the western Balkans.

So the news that our friend Richard Sadler, chief executive of Lloyd’s Register, has proposed a coalition of major shipping organisations is balm for the persistent frustration that many of us feel, when we blame everyone else for not getting things fixed.

I fully support his idea.

Since my endorsement of any new idea has, I hear, been considered by some persons to be tantamount to the seal of doom, let’s examine Richard’s suggestion while there’s still time.

Richard would like to see a coalition of interests emerge, that will among other things define shipping’s role in international commerce.

I believe that he is right. While one must surely respect the separate status of the various national… Continue reading

Are we surprised by lack of respect?

Michael’s excellent post on the total lack of respect for a master has generated some truly shocking feedback and I wish that more people like Capt.Rowe would comment on what is an increasingly infuriating situation. Continue reading

Our new Hamburg rules

Attendees at the Global Maritime Environmental Congress (GMEC) held in Hamburg earlier this month were able, during the course of an excellent programme, to discuss many of the maritime issues that demand to be addressed in a constructive way: openly, frankly and publicly. Continue reading

A [belated] welcome to the Portfire 40 initiative

When we first set out to establish this blog we put the key values of Clean seas, safe ships and environmental protection as our mantra and launched a ‘ginger group’ to convey our thoughts , but we really wanted to use the maritime community to drive these goals and help shape opinion. Continue reading

The growing trait of inertia

Some years ago, a famous personality named Malcolm Muggeridge, who at various times was an agent of MI6, editor of the now departed Punch, and general curmudgeon, entitled his memoirs “Chronicles of Wasted Time.” Continue reading

Weaving a web of education

In his New Year’s message, inaugurating 2010 as the Year of the Seafarer, Admiral Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), identified three goals for the year: Continue reading