nicthesailor

Yeah, that's because LRIT (long range information transponder) is always a paid subscription, while AIS is free. Something to do with security.

Evohe looks great! If they're ever looking for crew, let me know. If you've got any questions about Mercy Ships, feel free to ask - I'm sockysock79 at gmail dot com

I can't get home to NZ 'til the borders reopen, so I'm volunteering on a ship in the meantime. I'll touch base next time I'm in Dunedin :)

There's a growing demand in marine tech development and marine autonomous surface ships (MASS), which I've been following with interest. They generally need seafarers with an understanding of tech, and techies with an understanding of the sea.

If you're interested in going to sea, it depends on your background. If you want to work in the deck department, the simplest sector to get into is yachting; if you've got an electronics background (electrician/electrical engineer), you can often get a reduction in the sea-time requirement to become an electro-technical officer (ETO). Since there's a severe shortage of ETOs at the moment, that would be the best option. If you just want to get to sea ASAP, cruise ships always need IT folk to keep things running (well, not during the pandemic, but in normal times), and I volunteer with Mercy Ships (mercyships.org) who also always need IT folk (and electricians, plumbers, cooks, etc.), even during the pandemic.

You can track AIS near base stations on https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-12.0/cent...

If Evohe is a voluntary observing ship for the met bureau (many merchant ship are), you can track them deep-sea on https://sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml based on their last report (6-hourly reports). I hope that helps.

Lol. Fair question. I got lost online one day and ended up here. I like the relative civility and thoughtfulness of the discussions, so I usually lurk.

I'm also the default on-board IT support/education person, and I learn a lot here that helps me with that. I managed to get several computer-security-related changes pushed through a few ships back based on hackernews references.

No, I worked my way up from deckhand to chief mate on deep sea cargo ships. Got my master's ticket in January (finally).

The crew don't generally resent it - I'm friendly and approachable, just distant. I shut them down when they ask personal questions, but I listen if they want to talk about their problems. In a public area. With the door open. The rest of the time, I study, work, eat and sleep. It helps that I'm usually on 00:00-0600 & 12:00-18:00 watches, so I'm working during two meals and sleeping during the third.

Where there's a practical reason for physical contact, of course I touch people. Apart from anything else, I'm often the medical officer, but there's a difference between, "Help me with this mooring line," and, "I'm having a bad day, can I have a hug?" Even if I really could do with a hug.

And the types guys who do get in a huff about it? They're invariably the same personality types that make that rule necessary.

As a female seafarer (26 years at sea), I know exactly where she's coming from. Never mind touching, the times I've sat and talked about anything other than work (non-sexual, just friendly) have invariably resulted in at least one or two crew members either taking it as an invitation to harass me or assault me, or caused friction with the rest of the crew.

In my experience, I can be friendly, but I have to stay distant for safety (mine) and discipline (the whole crew).

Fwiw, I recently started writing for a well-known website.

When I asked if it's okay to link to sources, they told me I was allowed to if absolutely necessary. I should try not to because it takes readers away from our site, and they might not come back.

I suspect that many sites have the same line of reasoning.

I just tried to download the android app, but it says it's not available in my country.

You might get more volunteers and data if you remove the geographic restrictions.

That's a really good question: where to stop.

Would it be possible to filter them by type? Put them all on the site, tag them, and let people choose to display particular tags or categories.

Just playing with it now, and I love the idea.

Have you thought about adding the zoos and aquariums that are live-streaming their animals?

Mercy Ships is always looking for technical people. The job list is at https://apply.mercyships.org/CurrentOpportunities.aspx

Mercy Ships do free operations for people in Africa. The ship's crewed entirely by volunteers. If you're willing to give a chunk of time, it's both fun and rewarding.

To pump out, we need it to settle out of the cargo so that we can get it to the pumps. That works for certain types of cargo (iron ore and most types of coal are easy), but if it forms slurry instead, we can't get it out unless we can somehow pump the slurry out.

Normal bilge pumps can't cope with slurry.

Yes for the first part, but we definitely don't want to pump it back in for discharge.

Dry bulk cargo is almost always discharged with grabs and cranes, not pumps.

Seafarer here. This is basically correct, but the problem is mainly storage before loading.

Ideally, is mined, then either stored somewhere dry, out of the weather, or delivered directly to the ship in a covered train/conveyor belt.

In reality, it's usually mined, then stored in a big pile outside in the weather for weeks/months until it's loaded. It won't pass the pre-loading transportable moisture limit (TML) tests, so they falsify the results.

A cargo with a slightly high TML can appear dry on loading, but the vibration causes the moisture to migrate down to the bottom of the hold and cause the cargo at the bottom to liquify. When the ship rolls, this layer shifts, and the rest with it.

Obviously, if the TML is way too high, the whole thing turns to slurry.

Apparently in Greece they dig the bodies up after three years and put the bones in an ossuary.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34920068

What program do you use for VR?

Seafarer here. After bouncing from ship to ship from 1998-2009, and spending a few days in each place I was dumped between ships, I narrowed my options to Viana do Castello in Portugal, Edinburgh in Scotland, and Whangarei in New Zealand.

I ended up settling in New Zealand in 2009 because I love the culture, the fact that it's a long way from the rest of the world, it's affordable, and it has a lot of options for travel. I fly from there to my ship, then go home when the trip's over.