THE SHIP DOCTORS, THE UNSUNG HEROES

“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” and in the marine industry, we have multiple links that form the chain.

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- Capt. Robert Vaz, Chief Operating Officer, Navguide Solutions

From the hardware and the ship's crew to managers, charterers, owners, and various authorities, each plays a vital role in ensuring the vessel runs smoothly. However, sometimes the hard work of some may go unnoticed; these are the people I refer to as the Ship doctors. Like any situation, there are two sides to every story. In this brief article, I aim to highlight some of the challenges these Ship doctors face.

Mr. Jackson has just arrived after conducting technical inspections on three ships in West Africa. As usual, he places a box of chocolates in the pantry and is about to take his seat when the Technical Director calls him and says, “Good job, Jack, but tonight you have to leave as the ‘Grand Lady’ is detained in port for suspected oil pollution.” Jack simply nods and leaves.

The Managing Director calls Capt. Singh, who is on a conference call with the owners, who are very upset because during a PSC inspection in China, their vessel, the “Morning Star," was detained, and Capt. Singh returned from this vessel a week ago.

Mr. Jackson returned to his table and switched on his computer. He looks after six ships, but he was out of the office for almost a week and was checking mail intermittently. Suddenly, he receives a call from the Master of one of the vessels, who is very upset that Mr. Jackson has not been replying to his emails and has never taken his calls. Their vessel is heading to New York, and they are expecting a US Coast Guard inspection.