No, they are not Imperial Walkers
Today, June 25th, is the IMO sponsored International Day of the Seafarer. This celebration is intended to increase the awareness of the indispensable services rendered to all of us by the 1.5 million seafarers who deliver more than 12 billion tonnes of goods yearly, comprising 90% of all world trade. Without seafarers, the world as we know it simply could not exist. The problem is that shipping is literally an offshore industry. Unless, something bad happens, ships, and the seafarers who sail them, are largely invisible to the general public.
I was reminded of this recently after a photo first posted to Reddit reappeared on Facebook. The photo posted above, was captioned, “Taken at Boston Logan airport. Please tell me it’s not just me.” It was clear from the comments that many, if not most, had no idea that the objects they were seeing were container cranes, and not Imperial Walkers. (I doubt anyone really thought that they were war machines from Star Wars and yet, it was clear that many had no idea what they were. One might have thought that the proximity to the container ship might have been a clue.) By the way, the longtime rumor that the AT-ATs, the Imperial Walkers from Star Wars, were modeled after container cranes, turns out to be simply an urban myth.
It speaks volumes that so many do not recognize a container crane. On the other hand, why should they? Where once ports were located in the center of cities, container ships, tankers and dry bulkers now call at isolated terminals, out of sight and out of mind. It is easy to be become disconnected from the ships and sailors who bring us everything that we need, and so often take for granted — from oil, grain and ore to the overwhelming majority of manufactured goods, including the computers we use to read blogs on the internet.
So on this International Day of the Seafarer, it is a good time to recall that ships do not cross the oceans by themselves and to be reminded of the men and women who sail them every day and night in all conditions and hazards. Thank you, seafarers.
One big problem is that we, as a nation, have a very small, almost non-existent merchant marine. Things like the Jones Act, the high cost of labor, lack of government support and a systematic dismantling of our marine industries has left us relying on foreigh flag vessels and crews for much of the movement of goods.
Ed,
I am a U.S. Merchant Seaman, and while some of what you say is true, your attack on the Jones Act is not, it protects U.S. maritime jobs.
Also Merchant Seaman do receive unusually high wages when you consider the hours worked.
David,
While the Jones Act does protect U.S. Merchant Marine jobs, it is overly restrictive. Some modification of regulation is needed to generate more jobs in a U.S. based Merchant Marine Service. Further, the U.S government should be doing more to subsidize jobs in the industry or there may come a time when we need merchant mariners and they won’t be readily available. The fact that we had to ship materials in foreign bottoms to fight the Iraq war should serve as a wake up call to the nation. God help us if we ever find ourselves in a 1941 type situation again.
The problem with the US shipping industry is, to quote Pogo, “we have met the enemy and he is us.” The US subsidized shipping into extinction. Both Operating Differential Subsidy and Construction Differential Subsidy paid shipowners and shipyards to be inefficient. Over time it became unsustainable economically and politically as subsidized US operators could still not compete with more efficient foreign carriers.
Today the Jones Act is facing its own political crisis. Cabotage trade has traditionally meant coastwise trade (cabo, from “between the capes.) The Jones Act version which includes distant islands is a rather expansive interpretation of the concept of cabotage. The remaining deep sea US flag ships are largely owned by foreign owners and subsidized by taxpayers.
I wish I had a succinct answer to reviving the industry, but I do not.