climbing the jacob's ladder

Piloting: the melody of safety. (or the new songs of the Chagres River) Captain Ricardo Caballero ------------------------------------------ My son and a few other kids, who have been playing the piano for some years, were honored to attend a  Master class by famous French pianist  Pascal Gallet. The classes were taught at the grand piano on the stage of  Panama's National Theater, where Mr. Gallet would give a concert the following night.   Sitting at the far end of the stage, a few meters away from the instrument, I could see the little young heads, tilted down as if they were  giving a last minute glance at  the music sheet with the melody they were about to play. One could sense the mix of excitment and anxiety with which the kids were filling the air. Even though this was not a contest, their performance was going to be "judged" by someone who was not their regular teacher. That must be scary, I th...

Seafarers  Captain Ricardo Caballero The Shipping industry has become extremely competitive. Hiring crew from "third" world countries can save shipowners some significant bucks. The Filipino, one of the most common nationality found aboard,  constitutes a large cut in expenses for many companies. Their salaries are normally well below from that of their "first world" counterpart, a situation which is considered fair bdcause it is "cheaper" to live in the Phillipines than, let's say, in France. But, for shipping the savings are not only in the third world crew remunerations but in the fact that these crews spend longer periods of time aboard than, again, their "first world" counterpart. Granted, third world crew benefit from this labor relation since it enables them to have good earnings if compared to their companions working ashore back home. It is also understandable that the Captain and officers, bearing more responsibility, ...

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...