Chirag was in pirate captivity for over 7 months in 2010. Here he shares his trauma and torture while they had to live with pirates who beat them up. Leaving behind the trauma, Chirag focusses on the welfare of seafarers working with MHPRP and now ISWAN.  Here we discuss his days in captivity, what motivates him to do what he is, fradulent agencies, how easy is to get seaman books and how that may be adding complexities on board. Senior officers may have to deal with less than capable seafarers which adds to concerns on mental wellness as also on safety. We also discuss what ISWAN is doin ..read more

This is the first episode where Even Keel had two guests. Joanne Rowley and David Hammond. Jo is on the advisory board of Human RIghts at Sea, of which David is the founder and CEO.  In this episode, Jo discusses Sexual Harassment at sea while David discusses Abandonment.  Human Rights at Sea is a civil society advocacy for human rights founded in 2013. Jo calls upon everyone who has the privilige and resources to speak up for seafarers who don't. David mentions that it took a civil society group to bring attention to human rights at sea. Curiously human rights find a no mention in e ..read more

Seafarers are often placed in situations where they have to make difficult choices. In this episode, I speak to Capt. Vivek Menon on Mairitime Anti Corruption Network to understand what seafarers can do and what MACN does.  https://macn.dk/ MACN works towards its vision through three objectives that are elaborated in the MACN Mission: Capability Building, Collective Action, and Culture of Integrity What are the outcomes on MACN's collective action What are the outcomes? MACN’s collective actions have generated major outcomes, including for example: reductions in demands for facilita ..read more

Container ships sizes have increased dramatically without any change in number of crew. The ports may have spent billions of dollars to optimise existing infrastructure to enable these very large vessels to enter. The ships may not get any larger but the changes may already have stretched the crew to their limits of adaptability. While the size kept increasing, there has not been any significant change in the number of crew. Almost a similar number of crew have to manage lashings on a vessel that carries 10000 container or 20000 containers. Something will have to be compromised somewhere and t ..read more

Nyari is a second engineer who has written "Anchor My Heart". She has a sequel lined up. She is writing a third book which she descirbes as a Nautical Fantasy.  In this podcast, we speak about writing. We also pick up bits from her book and link that to life at sea. Nyari is also a TEDx speaker. The link to her TEDx talk is in the show notes below. She speaks of how seafarers are generally reluctant readers. We touch upon patriarchy and how life at sea for a woman seafarer generally is.  TEDx : https://www.ted.com/talks/nyari_nain_move_it_s_necessary_nyari_nain_tedxcvs?utm_campaign=t ..read more

In this episode, we discuss what P&I Clubs do, what it takes to make a career in a P&I Club and even discuss Mental Wellness.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message ..read more

Helen is a chiefofficer on container ships. She in interested in mental health and here she shares her own experience seeking professional help.  Resources  Having a knowledge of these health stipulations for your own country is probably a very good idea – just to know where you stand. The UK ones can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-approved-doctors-manual Resources available to seafarers for mental health: 1. Mission to Seafarers: https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/about/our-issues/mental-health 2. ‘The Mission to Seafarers launched the Seafarers Happine ..read more

Sanjam is dynamic and perserverant in her cause. She founded MaritimeSheEO and is on her mission to increase the presence of women in leadership positions in the maritime industry. She feels this is what could provide equal opportunities for women at all levels, specially at the entry level. An unwritten rule to not take women in can only be negated with women in leadership positions. She also runs Sita shipping or the Ladies compartment where she walks her talk In this conversation, she takes us through dinner table conversations at home, her inspiration to set up the WISTA in India and also ..read more

In this episode with Nari Shakti Puraskar awardee, Reshma Nilofer, we talk about a topic that often have people sitting on the fence. We think it is time all of you join in the conversation about diversity and inclusion. In this episode, we talk about gender sensitivity and inclusion in the Maritime Industry.  Title Music: Bipin Nambiar --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abhijith-balakrishnan/message ..read more

To Prosper and Thrive, you needed brave men to venture out.  And when men braved the oceans and ventured out to lands unknown, they became legendary. Who hasn't heard of a Christopher Columbus, a Marco Polo or  a Vasco da Gama. But who has heard of Juan dela Cosa, Anton de Alaminos, or Ahmad ibn Madjid. These were the men who showed the legendary navigators the way. their pilots. No matter where you came from the danger lurks when the waters narrow. When a ship would reach the coast, the captain would wait at anchor where he thought it was safe. He would wait ther ..read more