Ocean Titans: Journeys in Search of the Soul of a Ship

By Daniel Sekulich

Book Overview

InOcean Titans,author Daniel Sekulich takes us on a fascinating journey as he delves into the world of merchant shipping. We travel to massive shipyards in Korea, across the North Atlantic in a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159921038X
• ISBN13: 9781599210384
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Lyons Pr
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

The life of a ship

As a seafarer, I always view books about merchant shipping with some trepidation. The exerpt from the prologue quoted on-line for this book included a reference to corridors on a ship; ships have alleyways instead, just as they have bulkheads and decks rather than walls and floors. Despite this small niggle, I bought the book simply because there are so few in the genre, and it's always interesting for a seaman to see how 'outsiders' view our environment when they get to know something of it. There are a few other small mistakes that the editor should really have picked up; a reference to 'salty brine' - what other type is there?, 'immense clipper ships like the Cutty Sark' - clippers were not immense, even by the standards of the day, and there are now ocean going tugs that are bigger. The author refers to captains still being able to perform marriages at sea, but I am certainly not aware of any statute that allows this, I think it is another popular myth. Later in the book a container ship burns through 20,000 tonnes of fuel a day! Probably just bad proof reading. Nevertheless I was glad I bought the book and, these few errors aside, it is a well above average picture of deep sea merchant ships and the people who man them, and a credit to Daniel Sekulich, the author. The book broadly follows the life of a ship, after the prologue which starts at the end on a ship at the breaker's yard at Alang in India, the author encounters firstly a consultant who co-ordinates for the prospective owner the design and ordering of the ship, a sort of project manager from conception of the owner's requirements right through to when the ship completes sea trials. Next, we visit one of the largest shipyards in the world at Ulsan, Korea, for an overview of the construction process and the environment around the Hyundai 'company town'. After this we visit a shipowner in Monaco, where the author manages to get a surprisingly personal view of shipowning from the owner of the ship that Daniel visited completing sea trials at Ulsan. Following are chapters titled Masters, Engineers and Deckhands, where the author describes his time on the bulk carrier Antwerpen on a US East Coast voyage. Daniel describes well the naturally taciturn and wary manner with which seamen of all ranks regard 'outsiders' but the views he does get from them are I think representative of our type. Similarly, later in the book he meets the crew of a container ship whilst on a trans-Atlantic voyage. Probably the most illuminating chapter though is the penultimate one, where among other things, a Master gives his views on his 'relationship' to his ship, which are certainly similar to my own. There is mention of the increasing suspicion with which seafarers are regarded in many countries, especially the US, after the 9/11 attacks, and increasing restrictions on shore leave and the resultant hardships this creates. The author covers well the sense of isolation and loneliness that many if not al