Book Review: Into the Raging Sea
Rachel Slade, Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm and the Sinking of El Faro. Ecco, 2018. On October 1, 2015, Hurricane Joaquin brought down the El Faro along with every member of its 33-person crew. Boston-based journalist Rachel Slade’s
Book Review: Learning about bravery from survival at sea
Louise Beech, How To Be Brave. London: Orenda Books Press, 2015. 370 pp. This book is a tapestry of two stories compassionately woven together by Louise Beech. The narrative combines the present-day story of Natalie, a mother coping with her young daughter’s
Lifeboats – a last resort?
When the Titanic collided with an iceberg twenty minutes before midnight on April fourteenth, 1912 the world became aware of the importance of the humble ship’s lifeboat. Many of the passengers and crew could not escape the sinking ship and
Remembrance
November is the calendar month of remembrance, this year on November 11th in London and around European capitals the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One will be remembered. World War One ended on the 11th month on
Book Review: The Deadly Life of Logistics: Mapping Violence in Global Trade
Deborah Cowen, The Deadly Life of Logistics: Mapping Violence in Global Trade. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014. 328 pp. This book is both revealing and concealing. There is something to learn in this book, but its academic jargon does not
Book Review: The Human Element in Container Shipping
Burkhard Lemper, Thomas Pawlik, Susanne Neumann, ed. The Human Element in Container Shipping. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2012. 174 pp. This volume is a collection of essays that explores the human element in container shipping. Though the editors note that the “human
Book Review: Sailors’ Society, 200 Stories from the Sea, 1818-2018
Nick Churchill, Melanie Warman, Charis Gibson, and James Leslie. 200 Stories from the Sea, 1818-2018. Southampton: Sailors’ Society, 2018. This is a commemorative book with 200 short vignettes about the work of the Sailors’ Society on the occasion of its 200th
No smooth sailing: ‘Utility men’ and manning agencies in the Philippines
by Roderick G Galam ‘If you stayed and worked here, nothing is going to happen to you.' These are the words of 23-year-old utility man, Anton, when speaking about his life chances in the Philippines. He feels stuck and concludes that he
What does shipping have to do with your faith? More than a little.
A new podcast teaches consumers a lesson in globalization, its promise, and its potential liabilities. Originally published in US Catholic. Most of us devote little thought to ocean-borne shipping. Yet it plays an enormous role in our lives, as around 90 percent of
Book Review: The Remarkable Life of Father Charles McTague
Richard L. Byrnes, Christ with a Priest’s Face: Spirituality in Action: The Remarkable Life of Father Charles Hubert McTague. 2002. 139pp. As the continuous stream of container trucks rumble past, the Stella Maris Chapel on Corbin St. in Port Newark, NJ