Dear God, give us this day our daily bread.....

Having suffered the worst economic slowdown in living memory, shipowners are hurting bad. New buildings have skidded to a halt and the ones that see the light of day, especially amongst the worst-hit global container fleet, proceed to a "cold lay-up", a term I had never heard in over 3 decades of seafaring. What does the future hold for us seafarers?

I think we have been somewhat better off upto now (a friend said "you can moan but not complain") when compared with other professions where large scale redundancies have been the norm. The US job market stats still paint a dark picture but since April'09 the downward free-fall seems to have been arrested. So, are we seeing a economic recovery?

Well, I am writing not because I woke up this morning feeling like a top economist or a stock market analyst but simply because I wish to share a I-have-a-bad-feeling-about-this kind of thought with fellow mariners. Indian seafarers working for foreign shipowners need to look ahead and pre-empt a 2007-08 style of 'evaporation' of earnings due to a bullish rupee.

There is a growing belief that the Indian economy will grow at a fair pace in this and future years. It would be timely and thoughtful for employers to consider freezing wages of Indian seafarers in rupee terms so that they are insulated from the shock-waves of a rising rupee as it resumes climbing northwards against the dollar. This would have a good effect on morale and send a signal to seafarers that employers care. This, in turn, would help attract more youngsters into the industry. Once a freeze in wages are effected at a reasonable level, there can be some sort of a yearly allowance or increment to ensure that wages keep pace with inflation.

For, once lady Liquidity returns amongst our midst, there is likely to be rampant inflation, too. And I am not so sure the same risk-management gurus who brought honest, hard-working middle-class families to their knees in the past two years will not go and botch it up some more.

I do not understand what in hell this full convertibility of the rupee is all about nor do I care but, dear God, whenever I do convert a dollar please give me full bang for my buck.