KNOWLEDGE HAS NO SUBSTITUTE

KNOWLEDGE HAS NO SUBSTITUTE

• F R Chowdhury 24 June 2021

To: Members of the Bangladesh Marine Community

A few days back I wrote about IMO and little bit about Bangladesh involvement in IMO.  I am sure you liked it. To-day I am going to write about something else.

We all know that Philippines is the largest supplier of seafarers to the international shipping. But when it comes to higher level of management ashore, Bangladesh leads the way. Certainly compared to our population we have the highest number of mariners ashore spread all over the world. Look at our community in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, UK, USA and Canada. We are proud of it. We want it to continue that way. It has been possible because of hard work and determination of our mariners. Others praise our knowledge and ability to correspond in English.

The world of shipping is changing. Instead of two superintendents (Marine and Engineering) they now like to have one Technical Superintendent – preferably one with dual certificate or an engineer who can look after all technical requirements. The owners want even more. They want the man to have enough knowledge of commercial and legal aspects of shipping. It is with more knowledge that we can stand and face the new challenges. With the sole motive of helping the community, I can recommend three books.

1. Maritime Law – Answer Book; Published by Practising Law Institute; Written by Charlie Papavizas and H. Allen Black.   
2. Compendium of Maritime Labour Instruments (including ILO-MLC-2006) published by European Commission.
3. Diplomatic Handbook – by – Ralph G. Feltham

There are many more books. But these are the ones that I consider essential for our community. The third book is definitely essential for diplomats but it contains so much about international affairs that I think our community will find it very useful. With best wishes.

Fazlur,  1 – (N)   <fazlu.chowdhury@btinternet.com>