Insights

Notes from the desk.

What we learn placing crew across six sectors — certification, crew changes, and the things that decide whether a berth gets filled on time.

A crew transfer vessel alongside a quay, bow ramp raised

Latest

What actually delays a crew change

It is almost never the flight. Nine times out of ten the reliever is sitting in an airport because a document expired three weeks ago and nobody was watching it.

Crew Change29 July 20262 min

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An officer of the watch at the bridge controls of a survey vessel

Certification15 July 20263 min

The watchkeeping certificates owners actually ask for

A certificate of competency is the start of the conversation, not the end of it. What separates two candidates on paper is usually the endorsements sitting behind the ticket.

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Jack-up installation vessels and an offshore support ship alongside under a storm sky

Offshore Wind30 June 20262 min

Crewing offshore wind is not crewing offshore oil

The vessels look similar from a distance and the rotations sound familiar. The staffing problem underneath is a different shape, and treating it as one costs owners good people.

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Container gantry cranes and stacked boxes on a terminal quay

Cargo Survey11 June 20262 min

What a useful cargo survey report contains

A survey report that only records what was found is an archive. One that records what was found, how it was measured, and what it means is evidence.

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A trailing suction hopper dredger under way in a port approach

Dredging27 May 20262 min

Dredging crews and the tickets that matter

Dredging sits awkwardly between merchant shipping and marine construction, and so do its crews. The certification questions follow from that, and they catch people out.

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An offshore support vessel with a clear working deck manoeuvring in a harbour approach

Offshore8 May 20262 min

DP experience, and what owners actually mean by it

Everyone asks for dynamic positioning experience. Almost nobody specifies which part of it they mean, and the mismatch shows up on day one of the mobilisation.

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A general cargo vessel making way through a heavy following sea

Payroll22 April 20262 min

Payroll across flags: the questions that decide it

Crew payroll rarely fails on arithmetic. It fails on assumptions — about which state's rules apply, and to whom, and from which day.

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Detail of a trawl net, float line and chain on a quayside

Fishing3 April 20262 min

Recruiting for the fishing fleet

The hardest sector to staff in this business is not offshore. It is fishing, and the reasons have very little to do with pay.

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