I originally posted this last year, right about this time. At that point I had never been to Africa. I didn’t know I would get to come to work in Africa. I had high hopes for how things would be working here.
I recently (July 2014) started working out of Angola and things here are not at all as easy going as I had hoped after watching the video.
The work is pretty much the same as in the Gulf of Mexico. Even the paper work is the same. It looks like the USA has infected the entire world with its CYA culture. 🙁
Lawyers and insurance companies have done a pretty damn good job of ruining the world!
WATCH: OSV Crew in Africa Performs Toto’s “Africa” in Viral Video | gCaptain
Great job by the crew of the Bourbon Peridot!
Working in Africa is one of the most dangerous places in the world for working seafarers. At least these guys still have a sense of humor. 🙂
It’s nice to see there are some places in the world where we can still enjoy doing our jobs. It’s encouraging to think that there is still some hope to find a shipboard job where its not all about the ISM, IMO, SMS, USCG, BSEE, and all the other alphabet soup that organizes our every move.
In the USA, the lawyers and accountants have taken all the fun out of the job. We would NEVER be allowed to do something like this here anymore. I see ‘no horseplay’ posted on almost every vessel now and the companies here do take that very seriously.
Someone would be hounding these guys about their JSA, and where the heck is their PPE? Gloves, safety glasses (with side shields), steel toes, long sleeved fire-resistant clothing, ear plugs, hardhats, etc. No one is allowed out the door here without all that on! 🙁
And OMG!!! He had a KNIFE! Not an alternative cutting device! He would be fired immediately! Sailors without knives are like birds without feathers. A necessary part of our garb has been stripped away from us. A safety item has been declared ‘too risky’ for us to use!! What total BS!!
No wonder most sailors who have been anywhere other than the USA are so desperate to get away from this place again and will work pretty much ANYWHERE else. Personally, I am willing to take quite a pay cut in order to enjoy my job again. Too bad that’s what they’ve done to this place. 🙁
Hey, anybody over there need a good DPO??? I’m available any time. 😉
Tres cool
‘Health and Safety’. It is the biggest money racket and personal freedom constricting regime in the world today. The easiest means of control. Nobody wants to be seen putting safety at risk. Ireland has gone H and S crazy too. Jeez, I used to carry a penknife everywhere on my adventures as a young boy.
Great post Capt Jill.