climbing the jacob's ladder

Fatigue, a common element of today's seafarer's life. Captain Ricardo Caballero, Panama Canal Pilot I have to quote a Norwegian Chief Officer who I worked with over 30 years ago when I was just coming out of the package.  Being a "rookie" I was eager to score some points by going the "extra mile" in performing my duties, which weren't specific since I was only a cadet. He said to me "just because it seems as it can be done this time, it does not mean that it should be done all the time ". He said this while  I was inside a  double bottom tank of one of the lower cargo holds. It was well passed midnight. I had worked all day but I wasn't really tired and I had suggested him that I could finish the task before sunrise.  No, he said. It was my first ship, I was being prey by the excitment caused by novelty. It did not take me too long after I began sailing as a Deck Officer to understand what he had told me. I was on small ...

Listen to the "old man", he knows his ship. Guiding ships through the perils of a harbor or any other waterway can only be achieved successfully after gaining enough experience. It takes time to master every aspect of the geographical area in which you become a pilot.  As train to become Pilot you learn about the location of the buoys, the depths of the channels, the effect of the currents and tides, the available resources: you become an expert in ship handling and are the most apt source when it comes to "local knowledge". You also understand plenty about maneuvering different type of ships. Just by looking at the draft, size, and particulars of the ship you are capable to foretell its behaviour. In this regard you are also an expert. But is this all that you need to bring the ship safely to its destination? What is the role of the ship's Captains? Is he a figure not to be taken into account when we pilots take important decisions? I am wi...

Autonomous vessels, AI, and Piloting.  (Part 2) Captain Ricardo Caballero I still have not learned enough to have a well founded opinion on what to expect of AI and Autonomous vessels. Even if I did, it would only be that, an opinion.  What I can certainly do, based on my piloting experience, is try to figure out how all these technology would be implemented. Let's imagine that Autonomous ships are already in service worlwide.   Now let's say that a ship begins its voyage from point A somewhere in Europe, crosses the Atlantic, transits the Panama Canal, and then continues to point B, San Francisco. This is a typical trip for a fair amount of ships out there. The question is: to which degree, and during which parts of the journey is the ship exercising its Autonomy? And when I say autonomy, I mean without having the need of human interacting or making decisions. Isn't that what Autonomous mean after all?  Could the ship leave the termina...

Alcanzamos por fin LA VICTORIA? "it is turtles all the way down" Ricardo Caballero 30 de diciembre de 1999 fecha en que la bandera de los Estados Unidos de América fue arriada de una de las astas frente al edificio de la Administración del Canal para dejar en solitario a nuestra tricolor, para siempre. "Un solo territorio y una sola bandera" pasó de ser solo un eslogan de muchos años  a una realidad ineludible para los panameños. Después de casi un siglo de ocupación y tras años de  luchas, cuyos últimos protagonistas habían sido los mártires del 9 de enero de 1964 y el General Torrijos, el canal y la zona pasaban a nuestras manos. Para algunos, los mártires significaron la gota que había colmado el vaso de las ansías de justicia y Torrijos la figura, aunque cuestionable por muchos, quien  culminaría la lucha que al sellarla con los tratados de 1977. Recuerdo muy bien ese día. Un gran reloj descontaba los últimos minutos que le quedaba a la presen...

By Captain Ricardo Caballero Panama Canal Pilot Were "the good old days" really good? (seafarers version) I remember going to sea for the first time as a deck officer. It was not easy to adjust myself to working on a ship with a group of people from different nationalities and cultures. The Captain was Greek, and the Officers, except me, were also Greek. The rest of the crew was a mix of filipinos, sailors from 4 latin American countries, a couple of Canadian cadets, two Egyptians, and a few others from I can't remember which countries.  I do remember the Greeks complained about the present, saying that things were better in the past, saying that I had missed " the good old days". They did not specify what was good about those days. But I figured it would be the food aboard, the amount of crew, and the pay, which to me, was very decent. I recall that there was no time limit in my contract. I could stay for as long as I wanted. And I did stay for...

De Cerro Viento a El Dorado Salí de casa de mi madre en Cerro Viento. Se me ocurrió traerme la patineta que de niño usaba. Estaba llena de polvo y algo maltratada, pero no tenía nada que indicara que no se podía usar. "Para dónde vas con eso", preguntó mamá. Le contesté con una sonrisa, tal vés la misma de niño travieso que solía darle cuando me escapaba a patinar por las angostas aceras y calles del vecindario. Bajé por la calle por donde estaba la casa de mamá. Tuve que abandonar la acera porque o bien las veraneras u otras plantas que sobresalían por encima de las cercas de los vecinos me podían lastimar el rostro, o porque la misma se  angostaba debido a que los vecinos, para aprovechar hasta el último pedacito de terreno, habían construidos sus cercas o muros mucho más allá de los límites de su propiedad. Más allá de "la municipal", como alguna vez escuché decir al maestro de obra que erigió la cerca de la casa de mamá.  Y así lo habían hecho la mayorí...

Piloting, Autonomous Vessels, AI, and the coffee making machine.  By Captain Ricardo Caballero,   I am not a computer savvy. My  knowledge in programming and robotics and those sort of things is nil. I get lost in the sea of social media and easily entangle myself in the web.  All I have done for the last 25 years or so is to pilot ships through the Panama Canal. However, during the last couple of years I have done my best to catch up with technology, since it has enhanced our possibilities and improved safety in our field. But still, I have to admit that I am way behind the new guys when it comes to the newest technology. Artificial Intelligence, AI, is challenging humanity in every possible way.  It is changing the way most tasks are carried out these days. It is making life easier for some and, at the same time, harsh for others.    The truth is that since the wheel was invented workers began to be slowly replaced by some kind...