Watching some mariners on youtube [1] and they take a pretty dim view on the idea of ghost ships, except in certain short haul scenarios. They cite that almost all of the maintenance takes place continuously while the ship is underway. While automation may reduce the bridge crew, until there are cheap robots that can perform all maintenance tasks - from overhauling engines, maintaining equipment, painting everything to protect from marine air, troubleshooting reefer units, to inspecting internal voids, not to mention routine tasks (docking, cargo operations), and emergency tasks (firefighting, damage control) - there's always going to be a decent number on board.
The Ever Given that got stuck in the Suez, was carrying $750+ million worth of cargo. I do not see how a few sailors on hand does anything for the profitability of the ship. Even if they were idle 99% of the time, seems like a reasonable investment.
Elsewhere, “quants” with PhDs in astrophysics collate historical data with information about geography, weather, stock prices, and ship movements, searching for opportunities to place stock market bets on global trade.
I know that this is just an inevitable/necessary part of a functioning market, but it somehow it also seems a little bit sad that this kind of human intellectual horsepower is spent on things like this. I could say the same thing about the smart people who spend their time doing things such as making social media more addictive.
Theoretically market quants are pushing the market to the limit of available info, smoothing over inefficiencies and reallocating risk. In practice they absolutely are not doing that at all and it's all a staggering drain, but the concept is cool. Like futures trading is probably a net positive, though that's the exception.
Well... that's what happens when academia depends on poorly-paid grad student labor. They accept too many people into PhD programs (relative to the demand for PhDs in academia) for the cheap labor. The over-supply also makes it easier to exploit tenure-hungry assistant professors and adjuncts. It's how colleges have managed to make faculty costs go down (in real-dollar terms) for three decades.
Lots of PhDs end up in high paid jobs not because that's particularly what they want to do, but because they literally can't find a job in academia. The fact that finance and tech pay well is just a bonus.
Elsewhere, “quants” with PhDs in astrophysics collate historical data with information about geography, weather, stock prices, and ship movements, searching for opportunities to place ads on mr beast videos.
flags of convenience routinely leave crew to fester offshore, and consider their welfare at best an inconvienience, not an obligation. They've left crew for years, not figuratively: literally years, on station, on minimal pay.
This is one reason maritime unions are so militant: they have to be, because the respect for rule of law is historically so scant in the shipping business.
"coffin ships" were a thing long before B. Traven wrote about it in 1926. The plimsoll line was invented because of the problems of lading and safety in the mid 19th century
When a ship exists for its insurance payout, then it's truly become data.
bragr|3 years ago
[1] https://www.youtube.com/@JeffHK
0cf8612b2e1e|3 years ago
bjelkeman-again|3 years ago
unknown|3 years ago
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LarryMullins|3 years ago
The guys who get paid the most, are also the easiest to replace with computers?
Robot ships crewed with human sailors sounds a bit dystopian.
SoftTalker|3 years ago
I know that this is just an inevitable/necessary part of a functioning market, but it somehow it also seems a little bit sad that this kind of human intellectual horsepower is spent on things like this. I could say the same thing about the smart people who spend their time doing things such as making social media more addictive.
ravi-delia|3 years ago
labcomputer|3 years ago
Lots of PhDs end up in high paid jobs not because that's particularly what they want to do, but because they literally can't find a job in academia. The fact that finance and tech pay well is just a bonus.
blitzar|3 years ago
FredPret|3 years ago
ggm|3 years ago
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/crews-are-abandoned-on-...
This is one reason maritime unions are so militant: they have to be, because the respect for rule of law is historically so scant in the shipping business.
"coffin ships" were a thing long before B. Traven wrote about it in 1926. The plimsoll line was invented because of the problems of lading and safety in the mid 19th century
When a ship exists for its insurance payout, then it's truly become data.