Today we had the opportunity to see, no pun intended, two separate companies that specialize in different aspects of the open waters. Bernhardt Shuttle and Columbia Group allowed us to see different perspectives surrounding the same industry, ships, and the water. We first went to Bernhardt Shuttle, where we learned a little more about ship management in general, as well as some interesting facts surrounding seafarer workers onboard ships. When it comes to ship management, we learned that it does not only involve captains and the crew, but so many more and vital people. These people can be from any educational background, a multitude of engineering related fields, finance, accounting, marketing, etc. The point was that in ship management, there is more to it than what meets the eye. For example, we may see the crew on board, and simply fly over the fact that they had to do a lot of work and training to get where they are. These seafarers/crew have to go through a surplus of different trainings and courses so that they are prepared for whatever they may encounter while out at sea. The picture on the left depicts an example of how these seafarers are prepared for their journey. The image includes a engine simulator, which is extremely accurate, in which is used by the soon to be seafarers before they go on board. They also have a steering simulator, in which they can change the wind, pressure, etc. One last little fact I learned was that instead of calling it a kitchen, onboard, they call it a galley. Moving onto Columbia Group, we learned that having the resources and options for recruiting seafarers is extremely important. More specifically, thanks to the various countries Columbia Group operates, they have connections to recruit seafarers from all around the world. They touched on how they recruit seafarers from Indonesia, India, and the Philippines, as well as many other countries. These people, the seafarers, are what make the boat run, and without them, there would not be any boats sailing the seas. We also got to take a look inside one of their control rooms, which included monitors that could show the weather, wind, and temperatures all around the world. They were monitoring some ships on screen and could use information, such as the weather, to aid the ships in navigating safely. They would do this by sending an email to the captain of said ship, as a suggestion, in which the captain would do research of their own to see if what was suggested should be put into place. I love boats, and am very interested in conducting them, for fun not for a career, therefore this was a very informative day.