Comments by "Comm0ut" (@Comm0ut) on "What's Going on With Shipping?" channel.

  1. A skilled educator can make any subject interesting. Sal on point as usual and each video is a useful lesson.
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  2. Nice to see India understand it needs to be a MARITIME power despite its large land mass. India would benefit by developing a strong shipbuilding industry to compete with it's geopolitical rivals. BTW is harboring a vessel stolen by pirates an act of war? Somalian government de-facto suppor of piracy should be actionable, not that there is much to do to a permanently failed state other than gunboat diplomacy.
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  3. The purpose of the mission is a political gesture, but also useful to highlight lack of US naval preparedness. Efficiency is completely secondary. Washington is pretending to care about Palestinians to offer plausible deniability to our frenemies (who don't care about them either and certainly aren't insane enough to import them). The show of expensive activity will likely serve its purpose. Meanwhile Israel can finish its punitive constabulary mission in Rafah. The important part from a US military perspective is to show (the public feel, they do not think) US capability is constrained by decades of neglect and that our Navy desperately needs a collective overhaul before war breaks out over Taiwan. Beijing is watching and will see how UNprepared the US is even for a small feelgood mission. The CCP will watch and learn.
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  4. Europe can afford to have naval power projection and is immensely wealthier than it was during the early Cold War. Vacation time is over.
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  5. Most import consumption is trifling waste in the first place so the less of it one buys the more money available for useful things. Imports mostly fund ENEMY societies like mainland China so the less the better.
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  6. Any geographic/strategic choke point is inherently a liability. The Canal is now a more costly obstacle.
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  7. To be realistic all interceptions to to a black market is make the surviving shipments more profitable, the reason no version of "prohibition" works in practice. Demand reduction is much more complex so many nations, especially those preferring punitive methods on ideological principle, will never use them. Capitalism is adaptable and when one chemical is less available something else, often worse, replaces it.
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  8. Containers leave time to abandon ship. I'd rather see than than be on an LNG tanker afire in the middle of the ocean.
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  9. How common IS maritime incompetence? Are there any notably bad carriers?
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  10. Densely storing vehicles is generally a bad idea but desperation is the mother of invention.
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  11. Which is more abundant, competence or stupidity?
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  12. Vehicles make for impressive fires even without battery or fuel tank! I worked salvage long ago in the cutting torch era in Jersey City and if spatter ignited an interior there was much entertainment, especially if it lit off after the hull was deep in a horizontal stack (think "dominos"). Vehicles are basically built to burn.
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  13. The corsairs attacked US flagged vessels. Not a US vessel? Not our problem. Companies which flag their vessels with joke third world nations to avoid paying taxes deserve to lose their ships. The US is the US business, not parasitic foreign flagged shipping companies.
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  14.  @CraigTheBrute-yf7no  Russian shill bringing irrelevant events in to chitpost detected.
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  15.  @durgan5668  The point was to get one over, not drive it. The usual "Lemon Lot" cars swapped between G.I.s for many tours handled most of that. In the 1980s some bases had their own small salvage yards (just a parking area) where G.I.s could harvest parts for free. A nice arrangement all around. Of course German standards are geared to coerce car replacement so a bit of otherwise irrelevant rust served that bureaucratic purpose, and AAFES sold many new rides in Europe or delivered in CONUS.
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  16. That ship wasn't Israeli.
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  17.  @Colinpark  Which makes it more than worth it since a mere training exercise would be ignored. Never forget for a second most people are completely incapable of understanding anything but drama. Intelligence is neuro-divergent so emotions must be used to guide human processes.
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  18. Artificialy reefs are wonderful for aquatic growth and fishery support. It had its day but in 2024 it's nothing but scrap shaped like a ship. Now it can entertain (its purpose was to entertain passengers after all) divers for hundreds of years.
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  19. Worse than my ex-mother-in-law on a hot day.
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  20. Europe should be restoring its navies to Cold War levels. Order requires control of the sea which like everything else Europe supposedly values was neglected to save money. This is primarily a European and Asian problem because the US does not depend on this trade for national survival (economic disruptions would provoke all the right things like insourcing and new trading partners perhaps in the undeveloped parts of the Americas). Europe and Asia should pay to solve it.
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  21.  @ryelor123  That presumes the cargo will liquify and escape quickly enough to pose a problem.
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  22. Define "worked" as the issues in play are very complex.
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  23. Sounds like the US needs to REinvest in (grossly) neglected capabilities preferably before our forces lose blood, treasure and quite possibly battles due to political leadership neglect (including everyone who declines to make a stink for career reasons!). Question for Sal, what would you like to see their REPLACEMENTS incorporate? That speed alone is a liability sailing against opposition. Being three vessels deep in a key capability is not a good look. How many and what configuration (to be loss tolerant) should the US consider? We cannot expect not to lose vessels. The post-WWII honeymoon ended with the cheap missile and drone age for which our most likely opponent builds many of the parts. (Fun fact, the US trade deficit with the country owned by the CCP is vastly greater than their entire war budget.)
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  24. Anyone who failed to convert away from home heating oil DECADES ago had it coming. The OPEC crisis should have been a hint and that was half a century ago.
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  25. All complex systems operate at some level of dysfunction. Inspection and maintenance are easy and tempting for unprofessional management to ignore, even basic work if there aren't enough personnel who know how to do it right and/or specialty parts, tools and equipment. 2025 is a long way from 1991 when the USSR dissolved by mutual consent after the Warsaw Pact voluntarily dissolved. Without an empire to serve it (including the industrial might of Ukraine) and looted by its own leadership, funding and human resources have been severely constrained since. Mansions in London don't buy themselves. A senior technician of 1991 is an old man or deceased in 2025. Complex system operation and maintenance has many aspects not taught in books, especially how to keep systems going without ideal support. Not everyone can SAFELY bodge tired systems to get more use from them. Learning those skills is based on experience and mentoring. (That's also why defense industries like shipbuilding take many years to reconstitute to high quality performance levels.)
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  26. They would lose. The Egyptian military is a jobs program, a business and a way to control the Egyptian people. Egypt has no external enemies that matter. Egypt has no power projection, no suitable logistics, and the distance is much too far.
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  27. The brass have exactly what they enabled.
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  28.  @CHMichael  Those were mostly minor constabulary wars of choice in strategically irrelevant backwaters. The US has had zero peer or neer peer opponents but we're prone to leadership failures both political and military which lead to unwinnable conflicts or Pyrrhic victories of zero value to our public.
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  29.  @ssl3546  Technicality is one thing, but reasonable presumption based on reality is another. The fix is legislation banning ALL alcohol consumption after an incident UNTIL the person has been tested. Being a drunk is a choice not a need and there is no excuse for wanting booze shortly after an incident except to conceal prior booze consumption. Humans are a scurvy lot who must be monitored and credibly threatened with harsh punishment to keep malefactors in line. That has never been different nor can it be. Trust but verify and leave no place to hide.
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  30. With whose donations? Other museum ships go begging for donations as it is and every addition thins the donor pool further. How much are YOU prepared to donate? How much have YOU donated to other museum ships? People love spending other peoples money. It's just a relic, that era is dead and gone, and the remaining people who remember it will be likewise in the next couple decades. Ship preservation is staggeringly expensive. Now the sea will be its grave and divers can amuse themselves while marine life and fish thrive in their new artificial reef.
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  31. Internet banking is adorable but I keep cash and paper checks because I predate the craving for convenience. I also use online services but those are compartmented (no debit cards, Visa can afford better lawyers than I!). I get paper statements so I've records in case of need. There really is no coldly pragmatic reason not to have multiple ways to access my money and what is not coldly pragmatic...is silly.
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  32. Yemen was fighting the spectacularly incompetent so-called armed forces of Saudi Arabia whose nepotism and incompetence are famous among those tasked with attempting to train them. KSA has a culture of "face" which prohibits building competent forces (but not chopping up dissident reporters).
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  33.  @michaelrmurphy2734  Also note those breaking yards are pretty much the only source of steel for their regions. Unless resale of used ships were forbidden most will end up there for simple economic reasons. The workers rights issues are a matter for those backward third world governments. Human life has no value in those countries and never did. Their cultures, their rules which of course are completely predatory.
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  34. Fuel gas poweplants are vastly lower maintenance than coal. That's a key reason those not familar (I learnt it as an aside during welder training) assume coal competitive with natgas. Exporting the mess to China and getting paid for it is a bargain. In the US fracking killed most of the coal industry (specialty coals excepted). Natgas doesn't leave tons of residue in tailings ponds to pollute drinking water when it eventually escapes. You're likely too young to remember "killer smog" but those were impressively foul and the more recent variety best confined to geopolitical enemies which a high tolerance for collateral damage. Exporting pollution to eager customers is a win.
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  35. That applies everywhere in transportation including aviation. "Good enough" really means "marginal".
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  36. Unlike Charleston, Savannah got state support for appropriate expansion and has a nice lead it should expand. Charleston NIMBYed itself which should be a warning to others. Zeihan should cease commenting outside his wheelhouse. He's an entertainer.
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  37.  @ravenbarsrepairs5594  Don't like policy? Vote.
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  38. The world is large and maritime accidents common. The public have no use for the information since no one not a maritime enthusiast or worker has reason to care.
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  39. They have serious economic post-colonial interests that make it a nationally profitable venture to remain engaged.
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  40. Containers of flammable materials could easily carry an internal fire suppression system appropriate to the cargo but that would (mostly) be too expensive vs. the risk of cargo and vessel loss. I use 40' High Cubes as machine shop and vintage motorcycle garage space and can inert a whole container with the industrial wheeled CO2 extinguishers I scored at auction. I placed them just inside my (added) personnel doors for that purpose. I can slap the lever, close the door and walk away but of course containers for shipping need an automatic system. CO2 is cheap and carbon neutral in most of its production so returning it to the atmosphere it came from is NBD. Automatic fire suppression is a long-solved problem for restaurants who mostly use food-safe agents. Maritime fire suppression is interesting so maybe Sal will grace us with a video on that and civilian damage control.
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  41. There is little reason to care about salving such a trivial vessel vs. getting into lifeboats quick as possible. Drowning for some rich corporation would be senseless.
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  42. The US has billions to buy offshore junk. It can certainly afford better wages for the American workers handling those products. As for "productivity", there is no avoiding those ports so what makes "productivity" relevant for either side when management and labor are under zero competitive threat? Access to the US is most of our trade and higher wages are much better than tariffs because they are not perceived the way tariffs are.
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  43. On what personal professional technical experience do you base that belief? I enjoy hearing from experts.
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  44. Houthi and similar actors have the advantage of expendable systems and humans. Western systems are not yet where we could deploy 24/7 loitering CAPs of expendable drones to smother enemy efforts. Conventional air dominance is prohibitively expensive to maintain over large areas even without firing a shot. Conventional air dominance is so costly even normal accident rates are expensive and CSAR a political disaster even if it succeeds. We need a way to smother enemy systems affordably with ubiquitous expendable assets. Even then only the West (and mainland China) could afford it. However high their quality other NATO navies are pathetically tiny and the best Sailors in history cannot be in two places at once. Rearming to "late early Cold War" levels is long overdue. Disarmament invited all these dispersed global problems because harmlessness is not a defense.
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  45.  Look_What_You_Did  This is Youtube and most Americans read therefore think at below HS level, yet they permit themselves opinions...
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  46. Search engines, what are they? 🤔
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  47.  @JonathanNation  Many mechanics quit that field because of low pay per hour worked (the dealer or shop makes the profit while tech pay hasn't come close to tracking inflation). "Welding" is mostly fab shop work slinging a wire welder on the low end of the pay scale. The structural and pipe business is much smaller and a young man's game. (Mike Rowe is a rich actor paid to make people feel good.) The reality of the trades is not some waterfall of money (for the workers). I'm a lifelong mechanic with machining and welding background, but I was smart enough to join the armed forces to vest a reliable retirement. The auto mechanics including shop owners I knew as a youth told me to avoid the field...in 1978. They were right. I enjoyed industrial mechanics but the companies I worked for left my hometown and/or no longer exist.
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  48. Greek owned? Where is the Greek Navy? Liberian flagged? Where is the Liberian Navy? Fortunately one or several ships = drop in a bucket. No defense will be 100-percent effective and if the major players truly cared about maritime trade they'd quit hiding under US skirts and invest in naval power. Failure to do so means no one else should care when they lose hardware.
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  49. ~$400/ton is a bit more than twice #1 scrap steel buy price at scrapyards or "absurdly low".
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  50. One less Belize-flagged tin can is interesting but not a serious problem. As for cables the sooner REDUNDANT technological solutions are deployed the better and this event is a useful trigger since it's far away from civilization. The more imports to the US cost the better for local insourcing of jobs which the rich deliberately exported. Change is opportunity to be exploited.
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  51. What is your professional marine salvage experience and why would it be worth the risk in a combat zone and what makes this ship worth salvage?
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  52. Our public are not competent to demand thus produce competent legislators because the nation is collectively ignorant and proud of it. The quality of American society has declined since the 1960s. We have entertainers not intelligentsia so other than tiny specialist communities (like this one!) there is no understanding of important issues.
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  53. Citations needed. Why would anyone believe anything from the heirs to the USSR who so desperately want it back?
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  54. What world war? Military ignorance and emotionalism are not insight. The "world" has little skin in this logistic inconvenience.
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  55. The burden of proof in debate is on the person making the assertion. What precisely is your evidence?
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  56. Much more importantly, the Jones Act supports American strategic sealift and helps keep shipyards available for future wars and other disruptions.
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  57.  @Alwayswilling  Post your expertise dealing with Palestinians and why you imagine there would BE any qualified Palestinians familiar with deploying those specific systems? Why do you ASSUME they would do it right? What is that idiotic babble about "real and lasting value" coming from? Contractors like KBR deliver value consistently building whole bases overseas. Think about more than GOP vs Dems for a second if that's even possible. Palestinians are Jihadist enemies of the US so letting them near US equipment just feeds that enemy more intel and offers opportunities for suicide bombers etc. Why would you want the enemy crawling all over US equipment? As a vet I'd want them as distant as practical. Also remember terrorists can infiltrate the Palestinians so hiring them is a security failure.
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  58. Beautiful moneymaker for the salvage company! Those tanks are much less expensive as open-tops but there's no reason they couldn't be capped with basically a flatrack with fireproof gaskets if they needed to be moved without spillage. The open-top boxes are common for road accident response though and may have been available from stock. Dragging those junkers through populated areas requires extra precautions in case of re-ignition so the tub containers are a good call. Modern recyclers can quickly disassemble those vehicles for scrap but there may be additional processes required for legal reasons.
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  59. Zeihan is what stupid people think smart people look like. He is a mere entertainer but most Americans read therefore think at an eighth grade level so he's popular.
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  60.  @theprimechuck  Only insurance companies can do that which is an insightful idea.
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  61. Sounds like a shipper problem to me. Add a protection tariff to shipping transiting the Red Sea. Don't pay the toll and it's between shippers and Houthis.
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  62. Seems a shame our primary education system is so broken we have people who don't understand the current situation yet permit themselves opinions.
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  63.  @simonjusticier333  There are no battleships outside of museums.
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  64. Deterring Serbia is an obvious part of the original deployment. If the US gets distracted they may get froggy.
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  65. Does Israel own sufficient shipping to transload cargo at ports distant from incoming rockets and missiles?
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  66. Why should the Navy care about foreign vessels sinking far away from the US? This is not a US problem nor should US divers be risked to bother with it because it is of no importance. It's only a cargo ship and few less years of service is of zero importance to the American public.
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  67. Bridges should be replaced by tunnels because if a tunnel fails shipping is not interrupted.
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  68. Wise observation re: ILA using Fecesbook! Facebook has absolutely the wrong audience! That venue is for the least intelligent general audience (niche groups and Marketplace excepted) and it shows. ILA should engage younger more tech and socially current members to help modernize the message and more importantly promulgate it to less reactionary audiences. Of course the US public will blame the strikers for taking action rather than strikers for acting. The US unions are regarded as enemies by non-union workers in our permanent bucket-of-crabs so they'll get little help moral support or otherwise.
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  69. Meds. Now.
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  70.  Look_What_You_Did  < Botpost with zero content detected. Lack of building capacity is real and testable.
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  71. Hauling these auction lot junkers is inherently dangerous AND securing them is really a job for a mechanic. (Lifelong mechanic here, jets on down.) Car carriers are unsafe because their makers CHOOSE to EXTERNALIZE risks. Firefighters should take no risk to put them out. The US should require exporters to perform pretrip car battery REMOVAL. Warehouse tugs fitted with a front-mounted wheel lift as used on repo trucks could shuttle them easily. For now, prepare to lose those vessels and don't risk firefighters for them. Reduced exports should that happen improve the US used car and salvage market! Go hard with safety regulations and heed no snivelling. COERCE COMPLIANCE by vigorous enforcement (paid for by exporters) and fine generously.
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  72. If it's not US-flagged then it's not a US problem. Any intervention is more a recreational gesture.
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  73. Who that lived through the OPEC crisis v1.0 believes that nonsense? Do some homework because what the average person thinks about everything usually varies with facts.
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  74. Mostly on the internet but not in Real Life. Get out more.
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  75. Robert Capa might have a word were he able. 🤣
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  76. Everyone not a worker wants logistics workers to do it for free. There is no working class unity outside unions but if union members (return to) demanding a fair shake they can get it.
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  77. Just posting words means nothing. Either make a coherent comparison or go be schizophrenic somewhere else.
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  78. America does not have an intelligent public to recruit from. The average US reading level is ~7th/8th grade.
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  79.  @wgowshipping  Nothing, it's another troll. Adults speak in specifics. This is Youtube home of bots and what's called "slide thread" posters. Thanks for your work but only people who are seriously interested in this subject can begin to benefit. Mental defectives are quite common among trolls.
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  80. Trucking like dock work is drudgery best automated out of existence. Truckers want automated docks but their own jobs are also better automated. No one is special and after deregulation there is little point in most trucking jobs.
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  81. The Navy has multiple carrier battle groups for good reasons.
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  82. That would be Tehran.
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  83. This is the NY/NJ metro area after all. Who got bribed to what personal financial benefit? Find then follow the money.
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  84. Since when does the US depend on Chinese imports for FOOD? Only LUXURY foods are imported. The US is a massive net food exporter.
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  85.  @TLBLibrarian  By what specific metrics did you determine they're "overpaid"? Assertions require evidence, not feelings. If a man believes a thing he should be able to prove it in court.
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  86. Increased import costs bode well for inshoring.
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  87. What shipboard measures can be taken to interdict contaminants? If contaminants make it to the combustion chamber that process is broken. Since it's easier to control what you possess it would be optimal to process fuel shipboard with the goal of being "omnivorous" when fueling. Particulates and water can be removed so what else is getting through the fuel system and specifically why?
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  88. Looks hilarious from where I'm sitting, but I love watching corrupt businesses like VW humiliated.
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  89. Of course because they have sufficient electrical power to power networked sensor and weapons systems. Ukraine is like the Iran-Iraq war, primitive forces bashing each other because neither prepared well.
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  90. Examples of hogging more people can see in person are on empty vs. heavily loaded flatbed trailers. Empty, the deck will be slightly convex. Fully loaded the trailer frame flattens considerably. The obstacles near Kerch bridge also narrowly channelize traffic making for easier sea mine kills if Ukrainian drone boats can get close enough to deploy them.
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  91. What's with all these irrelevant shillposts? Why are you dumping stupid worthless non-shipping-related comments? This is not an American vessel nor is it in America nor was it bound for America. Grow up, child.
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  92. Philippine governments made a mistake by ejecting US forces. Pride and vanity have a price and Beijing is well aware the relationship between the Washington and Manila is weak. The US does not require basing there for national survival, merely the luxury of regional hegemony which is not even close to the same thing. OTOH Manila has a choice between Chinese and US patronage with China aggressively seeking regional dominance. As the PI was indefensible in WWII (refer to the history of War Plan Orange, like Wake Island etc its fall was expected) it will be difficult to defend in future as Beijing invests in sea power. (The trade deficit between China and the US more than pays for the entire Chinese armed forces, making their military essentially free at US expense.) The average American could not tell you what "Merchant Marine" means. They're not capable of interest beyond trifles and only the relatively rare technically inclined people have the slightest curiosity. Unless someone with economic skin in the game invests money in publicity this will not change even slightly.
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  93. Surface to surface missiles that hit fixed targets are not the same as those sophisticated enough to hit moving targets. Ya might enjoy reading up on the relevant hardware. To hit moving vessels requires radar to find them then either drones or aircraft for the strike, or sophisticated anti-ship missiles. Only the drones are cheap and the rest require sponsors or sellers like Iran or NK. Helicopters close enough to board are extremely vulnerable unless they have escorts. Have a Navy friend (it will make an interesting video) on to give a decent briefing on the subject as those fellows will be able to talk ranges and capabilities.
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  94. Wasting over a trillion dollars making more enemies in GWOT did amazing damage to US peer warfare readiness but no one who matters dare point that out.
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  95. The greater scandal is the LCS was a mistake no one had the sense to abort. The US military is direly in need of reform but does not produce or reward reformers.
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  96.  @lance8080 There are plenty of trains. Most rail is freight. However there is not plenty of LAND for rights of way in 2024. Giving away rights of way to persuade railroad investors to build them was fine in the 1800s, but no one has enough money to double the size of the rail system. Automating trucks is dirt cheap by comparsion. I'm a railfan (not a "foamer", IYKYK) since childhood but the necessary preconditions to return even to mid-last-century rail coverage do not exist.
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  97. Fuel requiring tanker transport highlights how vulnerable logistics really are to disruption far away from a combat zone. One drone with one payload can easily end a civilian tanker at trivial cost to enemies. Any ship can instantly become a blockship (whose use goes back thousands of years in war) disabling valuable seaports. There should be emergency plans for rapid wreckage removal in emergencies including, if necessary, ecologically-indifferent destructive methods for use during war.
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  98. Good if they do because it will FORCE redundant comms which should have existed in the first place. Redundant rapidly deployed satcom is the way to have rapid redundant backup out of reach of third world terrorists. Most internet use is amusement not survival. Weak "single point of failure" systems appeal because of low cost but if continuity between Europe and Asia is degraded that's a fine incentive to build redundant backups AND cough up the money for sufficient naval power to protect sea lanes.
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  99. When the bridge is replaced what options exist to protect it, for example building obstacles constructed like breakwaters at standoff distance to ground approaching ships before they can strike the bridge? For example say 100 meters worth of concrete tetrahedrons could halt a vessel by grounding well before impact. The ideal fix would be a tunnel but that would take too long to design and construct.
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  100. Turning homes off at the master is preferable so know where yours is before you need to, for example if your home plumbing springs a leak.
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  101. Those aren't colonists, they're Americans visiting. I love how the clue-averse shills come out for these threads. There is zero excuse for not knowing the difference. For example many US Christians go there to visit their holy places.
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  102.  @tjiofdgxjwnjktjs  I'd prefer they came back in bags or urns either being easier to transport.
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  103. Not to anyone with a clue. AL is ancient history and security has evolved considerably by then. Embarking people Israel permitted to enter is not like embarking random people in times before security was taken seriously.
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  104. I predict neither possible victor is even capable of having sufficient interest to study the subject. Find a key lower-ranking person who can afford to care about the issue. Remember you can only give politicians votes or money. Nothing else matters so any shipping-related intitiatives need to come from SENATORS whose states are most affected (which being coastal states with money should not be too hard if the effort is made). The average American reads therefore thinks at roughly 8th grade level which would be horrific if they knew enough to care. Shipping will never be a mainstream political issue because the average moron isn't able to understand why it is critical to their quality of life. Promotional efforts must be laser focused to do any good.
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  105. If you assume everything is a staged event that does not make you insightful, just simplistic.
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  106. Steel is impressively flexible. If ships were stiff as glass they'd promptly snap.
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  107. I'd like to see an episode devoted to maritime inspection and maintenance management including successful standards and practices and how systems degrade over time. Without a professional working culture including professional supervision and leadership it's easy for problems to be ignored and work put off until Something Bad happens.
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  108. ALWAYS seek real subject matter experts. Anyone who is not should be ignored. The average idiot cannot process that idea or even the information in this video so their lazy, lesser minds naturally prefer simple, affirming and wrong theories. Conspiracy theory appeals to the weakminded because they can feel "safe" attributing EVERYTHING to conspiracy. The human desire to have "special insight" is typical and also explains religions. Such people are not rational and refuse to question their own processes.
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  109. GWOT rot happended and SENIOR UNIFORMED LEADERSHIP FAILURE happened over DECADES. Armed forces programs outlive mere POTUS who have far less influence than plebs imagine. Failure to speak up is why we have Sal having to do that while politicians in uniform concentrate on their careers knowing that public ignorance shields them from scrutiny.
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  110. What suitable commercial hydrography assets exist? Perhaps that mission is best outsourced rather than replacing a government vessel which lacks a combat mission. The crew issue on other vessels could be addressed by using ex-Manawanui crew elsewhere to reduce crew overload.
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  111. Europeans should be very glad they're not represented by American labor organizations. The general US public know nothing of labor history (or anything else that's not a childish trifle) so they fail to demand effective, ethical unions. US culture is fundamentally bootlicking towards the rich who easily buy the allegiance of the thoughtless "booboisie" (as H.L.Mencken referred to them). Our unions aren't very good at PUBLIC outreach, ceding the narrative to the bosses. I took care to avoid any career needing a union because I'd have an enemy employer and a questionably effective advocate! It's sad and will not change much unless the economy coerces activism. Our recently averted (by government order) rail strike is instructive and the workers did poorly. Compare US railroaders sick pay and leave benefits to those of the (much more efficient and modern) northern European rail systems. The freight safety situation is also horrendous. https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/natural-gas/120222-us-railroad-strike-averted-after-congress-steps-in-biden-signs-legislation https://www.nytimes.com/article/ohio-train-derailment-timeline.html
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  112. Just how bad in general are bottom-feeder shipping outfits and what (guesstimated with all appropriate caveats) volume of shipping is neglected dangerous junk no one sane should permit in their harbors? Humans are not trustworthy (the proudest most sensitive to "face" often the least) creatures and professionalism differs considerably even in so-called first world nations. I'm not ideologically suspiscious. That's a side issue. What do interest me are safe operating practices since safety and quality maintenance cost money which is a major incentive to neglect.
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  113. There is no excuse for making OBVIOUS mistakes then repeating them against repeated examples of failure. Modern war doesn't leave time to fix screwups....unless casualties don't matter. Sailors will die because of Navy incompetence.
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  114. That depends on what SPECIFIC piece of equipment failed and how it failed. The incident report should be interesting.
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  115.  @willw8011  My various contractorbros would disagree, and they worked in more hostile environments. Had my back not been bad I'd have made bank joining them.
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  116. The US Navy demonstrates decades of gross institutional incompetence that would not have been tolerated during say the early Cold War. GAO should place agents in all the armed forces since they proved they cannot be trusted to police themselves or to tell the truth unless cornered. The end of military ethics, heavily corroded during GWOT, is a senior leadership failure of monumental proportions that leadership can never afford to admit for personal career reasons. (The USAF teaches about Billy Mitchell because he tubed his career unrequited, not as an example to inspire other potential martyrs.) The American public permit this because they're mostly (Sal being a noble outlier!) indifferent to civic duty. The American public need to grow up and stop worshiping the military and trusting the armed forces to be competent because ALL humans require TEAM oversight. Public neglect costs lives in war. Veterans do not hallucinate the sun shines out our posteriors and no one else should either. Modular ships can at best only do one thing at a time and the other modules do NOTHING in port. That this idea was not instantly scorned is degenerate. No one will suffer a career hit for such obvious idiocy. The Navy gets away with no oversight because like the rest of DoD no competent civilians OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM exist to ride herd on them. Failure is inexcusable but one is punished because the US armed forces are a self-licking ice cream cone. They failed in A-stan (and lied about it for two decades). They generated a Pyrrhic victory in Iraq. They cannot manage AFV or Naval procurement and aren't very good at aircraft. This is because there is no cost to those in charge for screwing the proverbial pooch.
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  117. They're not needed for this operation so why would that matter? It's a short trip across part of the Med, not evac'ing Saigon.
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  118. Given the US only uses our armed forces for constabulary wars of choice the more circumstantial deterrence to misbegotten stupidity by our civilian "leadership" (political hacks all be they Demublican or Repocrat) the better. While the US abandoning NATO is a start, dying so Taiwan can get rich selling us chips isn't the brightest idea and should be next on the budget chopping block.
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  119.  @danielch6662  The region itself is hostile and non-state actors have drones and missiles. "Bases" are not interchangeable.
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  120. ICE fires abound too. (Ford cruise control kickoff Kapton diaphragm, Ford ignition switches, GM ignition switches etc). Leaving harnesses CONSTANTLY HOT is easy on designers but not too bright from a safety POV. Never forget the craven desperate greed behind the used vehicle industry outside the US. Expecting professionalism from bottom feeder shipping outfits is absurd. It must be enforced in a manner where PEOPLE not businesses are punished. Pull the batteries. Salvage yards do. It is not rocket surgery. ICE, hydbrid, BEV, whatever. Yank them and store in containers such that the containers can be jettisoned over the side. Simple racks and latches can be remote controlled turning containers packed with batteries into "rectangular depth charges". This is not exotic, it's basic fab. A ship loaded with auction junkers is begging for fire UNLESS the batteries are removed which they can be. Vehicles can be loaded by a warehouse tug fitted with common wheel lifts as used on wreckers or wheel lift forklift attachments. The second requires nothing but COTS components. The reason I mention this is it's not going to happen because shippers don't care (or they'd already be doing it).
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  121. The German submarine commander rescuing two Sailors and radioing the base at Queenstown was an act of a more chivalrous age. Chivalry in WWII would get U156 attacked despite towing lifeboats from Laconia.
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  122. How common are broken anchor flukes? The anchor was recovered and the fractured area doesn't reflect quality construction.
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  123.  @dosmundos3830  You mean over the third world which simps for the Kremlin.
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  124. How about LISTING all the foreign owned US port companies as a text comment WITH LINKS? That makes it easy to copy and paste. Manufactured opposition to American worker activism can partially countered by disseminating facts.
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  125. Anti-drone coverage will be key now that anyone with a drone and explosives can hit most anything they can reach. Most US vessels were built before drones were a credible threat.
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  126. Unlike the 1970s OPEC crisis the West is in much better shape to weather oil supply disruptions. Disruptions affect transportation less and less as BEVs and hybrids are fielded. Another "gas crisis" would further force the world away from enriching the corrupt Gulf states which they weren't sitting on oil would be irrelevant and dealt with accordingly.
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  127. People imagine the control works in that direction without any historic evidence of such. Superstition is the sole reason anyone outside Israel cares about Israel, and that superstition directs US policy towards sacred dirt.
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  128. I'd like to see a video specifically covering UN-professional shipping practices. corrupt shippers, pencil-whipped marine surveyor inspections etc. In every business some degree of corruption and incompetence is normal be it high or low, but the maritime world likely has many unique differences from other transport.
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  129. Yemen has no sovereignty outside Yemeni waters.
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  130. Observant enemy senior leadership know how easy it is to block US ports using blockships. Measures to prevent this should be considered before it happens. Terrorists could make short work of it with any of many practical explosive devices while infiltrating a foreign vessel isn't rocket surgery.
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  131. Trade disruptions would have the effect of tariffs without a trade war. Most US imports are trifles, not survival needs.. The "world" doesn't matter unless the US also benefits or the "world" can build their own damn navies. Infinite un-reciprocated charity should be questioned. If a few non-US flagged vessels registered in Bungholistan get captured or sunk the real owners can pay to sort it out including paying for security. It's only money. BTW most US oil trade is DISCRETIONARY which means IRL it is of no great benefit to our economy. We can pump more oil domestically while investing further in alternate energy if Persian Gulf oil is interrupted. It's not 1973 any more and Americans build BEVs just fine. I would like to see more Gulf instability to help coerce US and European industries off the petroleum teat because the oil exporting countries of the Persian Gulf don't deserve the money of free peoples. The only reason they get our money is (in the case of the US) logistics convenience for the oil companies and (in the case of Europe) failure to develop their own oil, gas and nuclear (though France does nukes better than anyone else not being ignorant Luddites) energy. Nothing else will do the job and the alternative is permanent slavish craven US and EU dependence on their Gulf cultural enemies. We've seen the EU can detach from Russia and the next tyrannies to defund are KSA and Iran. Sending money to Wahabis in KSA etc and Jihadists in Tehran is a function of greed not need. We pay them to oppress their own citizens while funding their wars.
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  132. Thanks to this channel I learned much maritime activity is an utter clown show, to include sending cruise ships into combat zones. That anyone would book a cruise through the area is hilariously absurd.
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  133. If owning nations cared about maritime safety they would flag vessels in civilization thereby to pay for adequate naval protection. They don't and won't because their general publics are not capable of interest in these subjects. Environmental damage may be an own goal since Houthi logistics include fishing.
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  134. Western values do not apply there nor are they at all relevant.
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  135. Everyone should bend the knee and work for free rather than inconvenience others. Why are intrasigient business worshipped rather than expected to do more than exploit their workforces?
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  136.  @mikekahl4745  "Free market" is an illusion and always has been. It is invoked when someone is butthurt then blames some nebulous system.
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  137. Funding is a CHOICE and the Northeast is rich. There should be a dedicated port fire department. Charge suitable port fees to fund it. The ship wasn't worth any serious risk. It's just steel and if it burns down, it's scrap steel. I've worked in auto salvage yards which are what that upper deck looks like.
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  138. Key is the American public (outside professionals and the tiny few genuinely interested) do not understand or care about shipping AT ALL and have not done so in the past several decades. Most outside the issue of military reform don't know that issue is not remotely of public interest because it's more complex than the trifles they prefer to mental engagement. Combine those nationally self-inflicted problems and here we are.
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  139. None who didn't know exactly what they signed of for, and none whose departure from this mortal coil would not mean one less Jihadist.
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  140.  @BrentRichards-vp1cg  The US economy does not depend on Red Sea trade and shippers can route around it. The more imports cost (most of US imports are consumer junk no one needs) the better for domestic industries which benefit from insourcing. They will adapt because the past proves the US can build any industry it wishes.
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  141. It's only a floating dumpster. Why do people emote over dead steel that ends in a foreign scrapyard? It's not an AMERICAN vessel nor is it AMERICAN flagged so nothing of value is lost. Future trade can go elsewhere. It's only rich shipowner money and since they don't pay US taxes why care if their ships go down? I of course care about the CREW but that's not a US problem either.
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  142. Sad about Youtube rules but Google are run by weak people who cater to weak people. Backlash may eventually bring back the good old days when it was cool to harshly put them in their place away from adult discussions.
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  143.  @karlbrundage7472  They got into the lifeboats as mentioned.
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  144. Companies selling CCP junk will move said junk a bit slower.
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  145. Not safely.
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  146. Such "errors" would be the perfect way to do an insurance job. It's lost away from the homeland so hence not a political issue and the perps cannot be proven guilty.
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  147. Our allies need LNG. This is strategically foolish. LNG users wiil obtain fuel. The only question is from whom and at what price. Democratic policy is NEVER about US energy security.
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  148. Sal Mercagliano for next Secretary of Transporation! (Not joking. Most technocrats are weak communicators and the position merits a rational human unbeholden to corporates and who has never been a politician.)
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  149. Acts of war against vessels deliberately flagged for convenience TO AVOID TAXES which help pay for naval forces should not be a US problem unless otherwise dictated by treaty. If the Marshall Islands etc care they let them build a modern navy with their revenue.
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  150. It's junk too far gone to rehab.
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  151.  @olisk-jy9rz  The US "education" system is worthless at primary school level with very few exceptions. The end of ignorance being shameful (we don't raise standards, we lower or end them) ensures things will not get better. Our ruling class once invested in schools, libraries etc because even the robber barons had ideals.
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  152. Containers are literally disposably cheap since used boxes sell for pocket change (several thousand dollars). They should be single-use items then sold at destination and NOT returned to the seaport. Forbid the return of empty containers to jammed ports until things improve. Containers are trivially inexpensive relative to the cost of shipping them and are easily sold to private buyers to recoup some of the cost. I have four so far welded into rather nice workshop space and would buy more but prices are inflated without reason so I'll just wait until the next (inevitable, periodic) recession.
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  153. The Old School Cold War is back. Unfortunately for the vatnik disinfo machine, we have Sal to provide detailed, educational commentary.
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  154. The public will just elect different idiots because the public don't know how to run complex programs (either). The average voter is incompetent to participate in a democratic Republic.
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  155. Christmas celecbrated by giving (c)ommunist China money is a dispensable ritual.
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  156. Unlikely. People not used to the early Cold War because they're too young to have internalized that rather complex (if one was watching!) conflict along with its unwritten rules. The players are mostly "rational actors" (not to be confused with being nice!).
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  157. What has that got to do with a dock strike? Where do you imagine food comes from? Where is the school and exactly and precisely what is happening?
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  158. Too bad it's not armor...
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  159. A video on applicable laws and customs of maritime warfare would be useful. Any Navy JAGs out there care to contact Sal to help put something together (with citations of which there are too few in public discussion)? For example what makes a lawful target when the enemy uses foreign civilian logistics?
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  160. LST crew survival rates were excellent despite the drama attending the rather few losses. So for that matter were Sherman survival rates. Not everything that seems risky is as it might appear. The 8th AF lost more bomber crews than the total USMC KIA for the war.
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  161. Shipping companies are naturally parasitic and not just by their choice of flagging. OTOH this mission can be used domestically to justify increased Navy budgets which is far more important long term than this mission. The US is first and foremost a SEA power despite the Air Force getting all the press. When the Houthi press their luck that will greenlight destroying the Yemeni armed forces but not going boots on ground.
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  162. What do you expect, another land war? What is it you imagine should be done? Why should the US do it?
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  163. Higher import costs make domestic production more competitive. I was alive before the race to the bottom and craven desire to source everything overseas, but most imports are not survival items. That a port strike matters so much is the result of decades of Wall Street greed, general social incompetence and the replacement of patriotism with stockholder profit at all costs. The US collectively chose its fate therefore deserves it.
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  164.  @blaydCA  Attacking enemy logistics is historically lawful. Attacking random logistics not so much.
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  165. Combat aircraft exist to put warheads on foreheads. The less meat in cockpits the better because UAS don't require CSAR or an enormously expensive training and replacement manned aircraft training pipeline.
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  166. I don't wonder. This is just going back to early Cold War normal and even if the whole ME went up in flames that's not a "world" war, just a collection of small wars/OOTW.
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  167. Yet you decline to explain why with technical citations which suggests you are nothing of the sort. Thirdie shills are common but they're not paid enough to sound credible.
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  168. Also key is that modules require interfaces integrated systems do not, and all that extra complexity is a weight, repair and maintenance burden. That anyone would imagine modular weapons systems are beneficial fails the sanity test because a ship can only perform one set of module dependent tasks at once! If you need both functions you cannot have that without adding more vessels, more crews and all the enormous tail which goes with them. The concept is not just unsound but idiotic, illogical and indefensible yet it was tried anyway. This tells me the US Navy is not competently managed because such nonsense should have been knifed in the crib. It's not merely insulting to our Sailors but negligent. No one will be punished, there will be no career fallout because a force which tolerates this in the first place is beyond reform or the will to reform, and the humans responsible will do other institutional damage because they're incompetent. These issues are of near-zero public interest so nothing will change.
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  169. What I see is that harbor is effortlessly disabled by a blockship. It wouldn't take much for an adversary (small nations included who can send containers by proxy) to load a container or several with explosives and redundant detonators to blow the bottom out of (someone else's if budget matters!) container carriers in a simultaneous (or near enough) move to disable major US ports without killing anyone (or with depending on desired escalation level) outright. Future harbor modifications should include multiple access routes where practical. Ideally the bridge should be replaced by a tunnel though that's far more expensive because that permanently solves the problem. Being a strategic asset the Federal government should invest in that project. The US used to be able to do large infrastructure projects and because it did so many was rather good at it. We should remember the strategic lesson of 9/11, which is that US industrial society is easily broken at microscopic cost to the attacker. 9/11 was the worst defeat in US history by economic and social impact but much of that was due to how leadership responded. Conside the effect of blocking Baltimore, Charleston, New York and Savannah even for a short time. Humans are simple beasts and easily panicked, amplifying effects of logistic disruptions by hoarding or worse. This poses what I think is a question Sal is qualified to answer in detail and that might generate intelligent government response. What does each key US harbor require for SELF-recovery from a blockship or future accident at the worst possible location? The Navy and our shipyards should build the vessels and equipment so no one is at the mercy of private contractor availability as they may be elsewhere, though if available they could team to clear the blockage quickly. I consider Baltimore a useful civil defense recovery exercise because without something like that no serious public attention will be paid to such problems. Of course self-recovery units can deploy, train and perhaps assist useful civil engineering projects like other harbor mods if wisely configured. Sal, what do you think the US should learn from Baltimore and what would be optimal preparation? For example bridges should be sufficiently protected that no vessel can get at them. Obstacles that would ground accidents and ramming attempts (ships were hijacked thousands of years before aircraft) could be retrofitted to legacy bridges, and future crossings mandated to be tunnels where that matters.
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  170. As if that tiny amount of radiation mattered. Tech illiteracy is a disease not a virtue.
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  171. Containerized TEL are cheap enough they don't need to be magnificent, just plentiful. The US is fond of fielding small numbers of highly effective systems, but those systems cannot be in two places at once. Chinese ships can dispatch from Chinese ports and not enter foreign ports at all if the missiles are to be used. Chinese ships do not need to hide their missiles to be a threat, and NOT hiding them makes a credible deterrent! Chinese ships do not need to be "Q" ships though the idea excites normies. They need only be disposable missile platforms good for one launch at the beginning of conflict. The "Q" nonsense is a media distraction. As both TEL and missiles are developed the angle of launch will cease to matter. Power is easily provided by containers fitted with gensets. Fuel is easily provided by flat rack tank containers and common hose and fittings. Power and plumbing quick disconnects are long solved problems. Second-layer containers could be fitted with passageways, power raceways, piping and gasketed connections between containers like the diaphraghms between railway passenger cars but with positive mechanical connections (ideally flanged QDs but bolts work fine).. They do NOT need to remain at sea at all times which would be a maintenance nightmare. Damage control doesn't matter because no one is more expendable to Beijing than its own troops. As with Russia there is a tradition of blithely expending manpower (see Mao's comments on nuclear war and take my word for nothing). Sinkings have little domestic visibility and even less in the bloodbath of an invasion. Crew survival doesn't matter because people lost at sea can be written off as heroes. The ships could be expended during an initial launch at Taiwan and supporting targets. They are easily replaceable over time.
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  172. Business is war. Labor and management in the US are enemies, and management buy media.
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  173. The sea bottom is an impressive belt sander!
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  174.  @NotASeriousMoose  The idea of a global rules based order naively presumes humans are not for the most part savage shaved apes. A power based order is far more logical but fans of rules imagine their fantasies carry weight without compulsion by armed force. Laws flow from gun barrels, not the opposite.
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  175. If senior CIVILIAN leadership desire a particular capability they demonstrate sincerity by offering to FUND it. The Army relinquishing capability to support missions isn't equipped to perform effectively can remove temptation to send it on (even more) futile constabulary actions. Retaining broken capability implies to civilian political leaders (who reflect the proudly, fiercely militarily ignorant public who elect them) that capability remains usable with useful effect. Someone made the choice to support Gaza with inadequate resources which (key takeaway) were AssUmed able to execute. Events urinated in that punch bowl. When a resource no longer exists that constrains US options unless alternatives are funded. Not a bad way to twist arms. Inability to support Gaza options isn't strictly a bad thing. The point of that mission was an empathetic gesture. (Note conspicuous lack of European NATO partner naval support despite them being next door.) It's delay is a trifle but demonstrates lack of sufficient Naval resources for global love demonstrations let alone combat. A failure at a critical combat mission would cost US blood and treasure. Gaza is not one.
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  176. There is another lesson US adversaries were reminded of. A few blockships (including the surprise variety where the payload is concealed in cargo) could shut down US and allied ports without much effort. Ditto the Suez and Panama canals. The US needs to invest seriously in MILITARY units able to rapidly clear the most strategically important harbors because anyone can read a map including Houthis and Beijing. Bridges where practical should be replaced by tunnels sufficiently deep to withstand sinkings above them. Of course we know this will not happen until prompted by an attack....
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  177.  @physetermacrocephalus2209  Air power works against delicat complex first world systems. Constabulary operations where the humans we kill cost almost nothing do not fare so well. Air power narcissists are too easily seduced by techno-excitement. The reality of airpower is different.
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  178. Until intelligent discussions of the Jones Act go beyond professionals, the average moron will have the field! The general public have never been and can never be technical people who are always a tiny minority. The US shipping industry sorely needs a SIMPLE one or two paragraph "Jones Act for Retards" (not worded like that of course) ad campaign because silence ensures doom. Normies do not even know this channel or gcaptain or similar exist. Shipping is magic to morons therefore the shipping industry needs a clueful outreach campaign focusing on JOBS. Bubba and LaQueefa don't care about sealift or war or anything more complex than their last defecation, but "JOBS!" is a reliable dogwhistle that cannot be overemphasized. Videos of suitably diverse shipyard welders, fabricators and dynamic humans doing cool stuff with shiny objects are required. Anyone imagining I'm too cynical is overly naive and part of the problem.
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  179. Now every imperfect video will be presumed AI. If it matters best to learn to analyze it professionally. If it doesn't matter then it doesn't matter.
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  180. Your military illiteracy is showing. Bomb what specific targets to what end? Are you twelve?
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  181.  @nozrep  Please list the affected companies currently run by "entrepreneurs" you assert exist. Otherwise that's strawmanning.
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  182.  @nozrep  Please list some of them currently in power that we may look them up?
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