The campaign against substandard shipping matters because casualties happen to the ships of substandard operators which would not have happened had these ships been maintained and managed by responsible operators. These casualties cause damage to property and to the environment. More importantly, they kill seamen. Of course, many of these seamen are from far off lands of which most of us know little. So they make fewer headlines than they should. It is not to our credit that they energize far fewer politicians than do oiled beaches and seabirds.

We all know that ships that are seaworthy, properly maintained and well operated suffer casualties too. Their cargoes and bunkers pollute beaches and their mariners are killed. Indeed, we often see the names of good quality operators associated with large casualties. Why?

It is partly because of the sea itself. Those of us who came to shipping carrying a pen rather than a sextant sometimes forget what a ferocious and unpredictable environment the sea can be. I received a dramatic reminder while taking part in an internal seminar about The Hill Harmony ,1 shortly before I retired from the City. I was speaking in support of the decision of the House of Lords. I had cited Lord Hobhouse’s remark that it was “no excuse for the owners to say that the shortest route would. … take the vessel through theheavy weather which she is designed to be able to encounter”.2 Sharing the platform with me was a colleague who had previously served as a master mariner. He was more critical of their Lordships. He illustrated his presentation with a video recording. This had been