Rose George (1) (1969–)

I've decided to add the merchant marine to the list of industries where I'd rather not work. Shipping stuff by sea has become incredibly cheap, and the quality of life on board container ships has suffered as their owners have looked to cut costs as much as possible.

This is combined with the unethical but totally legal practice of choosing your own country of origin (with most companies choosing the ones with the least cost and/or oversight), which leaves the crew at the mercy of uncaring legal systems when they're stiffed by their employers.

Turnaround times while in port have shortened to less than a day, meaning that shore leave is short when the crew gets any at all. Maersk (and other companies) forbids families (due to piracy), drinking (for obvious reasons), and plenty of other things that would make a seafaring life less monotonous.

I knew most of this before reading the book, but I was happy to see it fleshed out.

If I enjoyed the book, why'd I give it three stars? The content felt padded out. The journey itself could have been a long article. The piracy chapter was way too long, as were some of the other non-narrative portions of the book. It was worth my $2, but it would have benefited from substantial trimming.… (mehr)