The words still hold relevance to the shipping personnel; nonetheless, it is the same seawater that is being used on board for drinking! Shipping has changed and it is no more the same kind of adventurous job involving a great deal of risk and requiring extra muscled workers. Technology has had its share of benefits but then it has certainly abated the excitement involved in the profession.
Ships have become large; the last one where the author sailed resembled a floating city! They are more or less like an industry in themselves as the amount of machinery on board has increased significantly and the engine room now resembles no less than a big multi-storied building. Large size has reduced the ability of the ships to enter all the ports and stand-by moorings and ship to ship operations have become all too rampant. As a result, though the ships near territorial waters more frequently than earlier times, the actual time elapsed before the crew gets to go down on the port is much more.
Over the time, ships have undergone a massive change. They have become highly automated and even old ships, say, those whose keel was laid 30 years ago, have been required either by international laws or by the fierce competition in the shipping industry to follow the same path. The result has been a drastic cut in the number of sailing staff, say, from 50 to 60 in olden days to the present trend of around 25, and the least time involved at the port of call. In fact, tankers of enormous size seldom stay for more than 24 hours at its port of call!
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