Clay Maitland

On a quest for quality in shipping

Watch your weight!

There is a certain category of shipper, I’m told, who is so dim (or so dishonest) that when a container is delivered to him for loading, will stuff the thing with cargo until the doors will barely shut. Continue reading

The ultimate obligation of a mariner

It is described as one of “the most fundamental duties of the mariner – the moral and legal obligation to go to the aid of those in peril on the sea.” Surely no decent person would even begin to argue with such a prescription, which so closely resonates with our humanity? Continue reading

All talk and no action

A great deal has been said, at the seemingly numberless conferences on (a) piracy, and (b) the Year of the Seafarer, that (c) there is a shortage of qualified seafarers; (d) that "criminalisation" of the seafarer is a growing problem; that (e) better training is needed; and that (f) we of the shipping community must do something about these problems. Continue reading

The Audit Scheme – an IMO success story

As I was sitting in the back of the main conference room at IMO two weeks ago, a fellow delegate leaned over and said; “Every so often, something happens here that is really important.” Continue reading