That was a very interesting video, but if I was just leaving school, it would put me off going to sea. These big vessels are very efficient, and run with very small crews that have to work extremely hard. Mostly crewed by foreign nationals. The stays in port are kept to a minimum and they usually berth miles from civilization. Pretty awful living in a cabin where the only view out is the side of a container. I much preferred the old and inefficient Merchant Navy. The advantage then was that they were all as inefficient as each other, whatever the nationality. They had large crews and because they were mostly smaller vessels, there were more of them. Result – thousands of seamen gainfully employed by the big shipping companies both afloat and ashore, all paying income tax and most of them out of the country, so not being a burden on resources. Much longer stays in port, usually close by towns and cities. Older ships could be quite hot and uncomfortable, but they looked like ships and were the last stronghold of an interesting life of adventure on the high seas.

I sailed in 19 ships over 32 years, but my happiest memories come from the older ones where life was much less comfortable, but much less stressful as well. In my final two years, I went from a 27-year old ship that I had served in for 11 years and was extremely happy in, and moved into a brand new one in which I was more comfortable physically, but much less happy and contented. I took voluntary redundancy after two years of it – couldn't stand any more!

Bob