Over the weekend an old chum of Maritime CEO’s launched an e-book, which we have been fortunate enough to gain an advanced copy. Maritime Double Shots is – as the name suggests – a strong wake-up call for standards to improve in shipping, penned by Barista Uno, a well known blogger from Manila whose portal Marine Café Blog is high up on Maritime CEO’s list of must-read sites.
The e-book is a collection of “aphorisms and reflections”, Uno says, gathered from hundreds of articles posted in Marine Café Blog over the past several years.
“I was driven to go into book writing by the very nature of journalism and blogging,” Uno explains, adding: “Both are ephemeral. Journalists and bloggers can have humongous egos. But in the end, what they write is really a passing show. I wanted something more lasting — a record of sorts, something people can look back to and relish again like hot, home–brewed coffee.”
Uno recommends the 62-page tome to merchant mariners especially ship officers, shipping executives, maritime educators and anyone who has more than a passing interest in things maritime.
Uno discusses crew training, women at sea, human rights and ship safety among a host of other topics.
As with his blog there is strident criticism of much of the industry, and one senses Uno has a yearning for yesteryear in much of his writing.
As a former journalist Uno reserves some of his sharpest words for the fourth estate. A whole chapter is dedicated to maritime journalism, a sector Uno tells Splash, that “has gone down the drain” in the past decade. In the book he lashes out at “silly” awards shows, says the line between editorial and advertising integrity has long since been buried and maritime titles these days reek of “sameness and monotony”.
Mercifully he still likes Maritime CEO!
A second book, Close Encounters in Maritime Manila, is due out soon.
Maritime Double Shots is available initially from Marine Café Blog in PDF format only. Details about the book and how to purchase a copy can be found by clicking here.
