Manning the lifeboat. (It's only a drill.)
Off Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 2003

SeaLand Endurance at COSCO Shipyard, Nantong, China

Bow of the Endurance in dry dock. Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
was the big concern in China in May of 2003. Here the crew and shipyard workers
pose at the bow of the Endurance in their SARS face masks.

Me at the Endurance chart table, correcting charts and pubs — a never-ending task of the navigator.

NANTONG ENTREPRENEUR

The Nantong entrepreneur may look pretty insignificant compared to the McDonalds and KFC fast food restaurants also represented in Nantong. But he is very representative of the indomitable Chinese spirit. Can anybody seriously doubt that the Chinese are destined to rule the world?

The "Strip" outside the shipyard . There were 19 bars, and almost as many
little shops, catering to the sailor's every need. (Endurance in background)
It was a great place, and great liberty!

Endurance and Nantong photos by Chief Engineer, Rodney Loosley, and Engine Cadet, Daniel Dugan

SIGN OF OUR TIMES

This series of photos is very symbolic of our times and the future of America in a globalized world of our own making. The SeaLand Defender and Endurance are American Flag vessels, and parts of our so-called Maritime Security Fleet. But they weren't built in American shipyards, nor is the company that owns them an American company — it's Danish. They engage in a very lopsided trade with China (and other nations), whereby staggering amounts of American wealth flow to China in exchange for cheap imported Chinese goods that increasingly festoon America's retail store shelves, in globalized corporate chains such as WalMart.
   The American taxpayer subsidizes these ships to the tune of $2 million dollars each annually, but the profits from their trade go to the foreign competition. Perhaps more significantly, here is an American national security asset (an American merchant vessel), undergoing its critical periodic shipyard period, not in an American shipyard, but in a shipyard owned by the Army of the Peoples' Republic of China (the Red Army) — the growing military monolith which will eventually challenge America's military and naval supremacy in the Far East and perhaps the world.
   I'm a great admirer of the Chinese people, Chinese philosophy, and Chinese culture. I'm very pleased that China is now our friend. But I have no illusions about the fact that China is America's greatest potential enemy on the global stage of geopolitical events, and that its military might is (with our very active assistance),  being groomed to challenge us in the not so distant future.  As the world's oldest nation and culture, it possesses a well deserved and arrogant national pride. It has a very long memory, and a lot of old axes to grind. It must be remembered that this is the "Communist China" which was our avowed and active enemy until recent times. It was the force that prevented anything like a real victory in Korea, and contributed to our humiliating defeat in Vietnam. It is also the China that was humiliated by Western colonial powers (including the United States), for centuries prior to its communist era.
   Commercially, China is already (and literally), running rings around America with the active help of the United States government and American corporations. It occupies what was once our position in the Isthmus of Panama and is encircling America with other commercial outposts. It's globe-spanning merchant marine fleet makes ours look like that of a land-locked banana republic, and its naval power is rapidly becoming world-class. It is already a nuclear power with intercontinental missile capabilities. It is only a matter of time until its military strength will no longer require American capital or technological know how.  Though we may tell ourselves that China depends on us, and "needs us," as much or more than we need it — this, in my humble opinion, is nothing short of suicidal self-delusion. When we have expended our strength and resources on the war on terror, and bringing the Gulf States to heel, our reward may yet come to be humble pie.