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Company News 2 Inventory of Hazardous Materials 4 Best Management Practices West Africa 8 A Message of Support
from Wavelength #72
Manning and Training A Message of Support
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Haruki Murakami
They say that when the storm is over, you will be a completely different person. And all of you are still coping, fighting against an invisible storm, which is called COVID-19 with patience, bravery and resilience. When the world froze in the face of this pandemic, you were the ones that remained in the front line carrying goods, offering your services around the clock. Despite the uncertainty that was spreading across the globe, you managed to remain mindful, courageous, supportive to your shipmates and inspiring to us all with the example you set. You are truly the unsung heroes at this time of distress. It is true that this pandemic has changed our lives. Most consider this has been a blessing in disguise. It may be the case that COVID-19 has offered us an unwrapped present of sincerity, patience and teamwork, which will eventually lead to connection and love. We have come to appreciate the simple things in our everyday lives that had previously gone unnoticed. We worked together as a team, and in the process built stronger bonds. Spiritual teachers believe that life will give us the experience that is most helpful for our evolution, for the evolution of our consciousness. Try to think for a minute what is different for you now during this period. Try to discover your blessing during the COVID-19 era. Notwithstanding, we could not agree more that staying away from home longer, away from your loved ones only made things more difficult. Waiting for your disembarkation, for the “good news” from the agent that crew changes are allowed to take place at a specific port, can be rather stressful. Therefore, we decided to contact your families and ask them to boost your morale by preparing a message of support, a message of love, a message to accompany you until such time that you would be reunited with them. When we initiated a request to our manning offices to collect messages of support from the Seafarers' families and/or other Seamen ashore, we could never have imagined how many messages that are full of love, support, hope and inspiration would be sent. We could not be more grateful for that! Nowadays, technology makes communication so easy and fast that these messages could have been delivered to each and every one of you directly through your families. Nonetheless, we preferred to engage all our Seamen's families in this effort to provide you with a kind word of support, acknowledgement of your important work, patience, hope and love. All the messages are sprinkled with positive energy, care and gratitude to all of you for remaining on board and performing your duty with care during this unprecedented era. We enjoyed working as a team to prepare these messages with your families. Most of the messages received were personalized ones, and therefore, were forwarded to their addressees. Still, we have collected some of them which were addressed to all Seamen on board and prepared this colourful collage.
By Chara Markatzinou, Training Coordinator Ultimately, the greatest lesson that COVID-19 can teach humanity is that we are all in this together. Remember, “Life’s roughest storms prove the strength of our anchors”. Our thoughts and prayers remain with you, while our gratitude to all our Seamen grows bigger day by day. The messages received were all very inspiring and touching. For this, we cannot thank you more. To close, we would like to share with you a “mantra” that was communicated to us by one of our Trainee Officers, Mr. Arun KUMAR. It is a short prayer to start your day, one that will give you strength and patience; one that will empower you.
“I am happy I am a divine soul I am a peaceful soul I am healthy My family is united and healthy”
Keep walking through the storm. Your rainbow is waiting on the other side.
The Antikythera Mechanism
Around twenty-one centuries ago, a Roman ship was voyaging along a well-established maritime route from Asia Minor to Italy via Rhodes. After leaving Rhodes, the vessel entered a treacherous stretch of water near the island of Antikythera, which became the ship’s final resting place. There she lay for almost two millennia before being discovered by sponge divers in 1900. Within a few years of the discovery, the majority of the artefacts brought to the surface were, in general, significant yet not unexpected finds. One item, though, was completely different from the rest. It was nothing like any other artefact recovered from a wreck before. The main bronze component that was still intact resembled a mouldy green rock. It was accompanied by smaller pieces and on closer inspection, seen to possess gears with triangular teeth along with a ring divided into degrees. For decades the function of the recovered device remained a mystery. Although mechanisms comprising gears had been mentioned in the writings of such historical figures as Cicero, not one seemed to have survived, so there was no reference point for experts to work from. What is more, the technology implicit in the observations made of the mechanism did not become available until sixteen centuries after the sinking of the ship off Antikythera. These facts became a stumbling block for researchers until the late 1950s, when scientists at Princeton deduced that the discovery was an early computer based on mathematical gear ratios that had been purposely made to predict the positions of celestial bodies. It was a remarkable deduction and one that provided a foundation for later research into the Antikythera mechanism. From the 1970s to the 1990s, X-rays were used to provide more information about the inner components of the mechanism. The images produced indicated that the Princeton researchers had been on the right track, but the resolution of these images was not good enough for mainstream historians to commit fully to the theory of the mechanism being an “ancient Greek computer”. On the other hand, sci-fi writers like Erich von Daniken did not hesitate to embrace the notion that it could well have come from an alien spacecraft. In the first decade of the millennium, advances in X-ray imaging, 3D mapping technology and CT scanning techniques allowed
further, clearer penetration of the corroded exterior of the mechanism to be achieved. These improved images prompted scientists and researchers in industry to delve further into the mystery of the Antikythera mechanism. Firstly, it was determined from a metallurgical analysis and an examination of the language used (ancient Greek) on a set of instructions within the mechanism that it had been made in the first century BC. Secondly, since the writing was in two different hands, it was believed that the mechanism was most likely The Antikythera mechanism (Fragment A – front); visible constructed in a workshop, perhaps is the largest gear in the mechanism, approximately 14 in Rhodes, where Posidonius had such centimetres (5.5 in) in diameter. Source: Wikipedia.org a facility at the time. Thirdly, despite some heated debate, it was agreed that the find was multifunctional, had been housed in a wooden box (fragments of wood had been found at the dive site) and had been worked by turning a handle at the side. This functions identified included predicting the positions of the Sun and moon relative to the constellations of the zodiac, determining the dates at times of future lunar and solar eclipses, forecasting planetary movement and counting down the days to sporting events like the Olympics. This information was displayed on dials positioned on both the front and back of the mechanism, whose workings have been replicated on models constructed by museum curators and others, one of which is on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens along with the original and all Reconstruction of the Antikythera mechanism housed in the other recovered objects from the the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Source: Wikipedia.org Roman ship. As regards the watch industry’s interest in the mechanism, the research and development department at Hublot has constructed a wristwatch-size replica of the original 20cm tall device. Their replica revealed ingenious features that have not been utilized in modern watches. Lego, too, have constructed models that show how the mechanism functioned and what complex calculations it was able to perform. The heightened interest that followed the dissemination of the mechanism’s enhanced images has led to a greater understanding of the workings of the incredible find made over a century ago. However, so many questions remain unanswered of the Antikythera mechanism, which not only had the ability to predict the future positions of several planets but also to identify these positions to an accuracy of around 2o per millennium. Sources: www.smithsonianmag.com, www.vox.com, www.youtube.com, www.mentalfloss.com
