We have all had our moments dealing with surveyors representing Flag States.
Some have been good and easy to handle discussions, others have left us, as professionals, wide eyed and open mouthed in surprise at the attitude some take.
Recently we became aware of one such conversation and we report it here verbatim.
Needless to say our lips are sealed when it comes to identifying which Flag State Surveyor said this!
First lets set the scene – The Flag State Inspector is at a Managers office discussing the carriage of armed guards and the additional proviso that those doing so must be classed as seafarers and signed on as crew.
Flag: “OK you can have armed guards on board – but they have to pass a seafarer’s medical examination
Manager: “Oh but what if the guard fails the lantern test?”
Flag: “OK they can still have a certificate but it would be limited and they wouldn’t be allowed to keep a lookout”.
Manager: “But they’re employed to do precisely that.”
Flag: “Well they won’t be very effective if they can’t differentiate between side lights and mast head lights, will they?”
Manager “ Er.. to our knowledge, pirates tend not to exhibit navigation lights.”
Flag: “OK then. Well they can keep a lookout as long as it is a lookout for pirates but they mustn’t keep a look out for ships.”
Manager: “Perhaps then we’ll tell them to look the other way if they see a ship coming”
Flag: “That would work”