Sunday 3 August 2008

Would you buy a submarine?

I rarely read newspapers, especially the paper and ink kind. In browsing today's Sunday Times (I like to look at the pictures) I spotted a hooter.

One of the main stories is about the three German submarines bought by South Africa in 2006. They've got serious defects and one is currently in a dry dock at Simon's Town. This aside, it was a comment in the article that gave me giggles.
The Sunday Times proclaims that they have established that "The SA Navy only has enough crew to man two of the three submarines" and "As quickly as the navy trains submariners, they're poached by the private sector for higher salaries".

Now I know people do pilots licenses and that they buy small fixed wing aircraft or choppers. I also know that ex-military guys get employed in Afghanistan and Iraq on security detail for muchos dineros. But, I have been oblivious to the existance of a submarine private sector.

Do billionaires travel the World by sub?
Are private submarine owners, with their submariner crews, contracted by militaries to help them blow up other countries?

I think the trained submariners are too scared to tour the ocean's depths in these metal coffins. They've probably left the SA Navy to pursue other careers, like teaching children how to swim.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey hey. im lying in bed recovering from a tummy tuck. i never thought it would hurt so bad. oh well live and learn. heath

Anonymous said...

I want to touch upon your article on the Military's submarines, though amusing, you did not add your good thinking to it.

Actually, very few people know and give acknowledgement to the fact that military trained people are normally highly skilled, very capable, disciplined and hard working. They get poached as quickly as they become available by the private sector. You see, it is only the military that train people in many aspects be it echnical, social and aministratively. And their training is thorough! The military are the only people that take school leavers and instil some skills and discipline in them.

Nobody in the private sector train people any more. Simply, since training is prescribed to on a racial basis, and mostly, the present crop of school leavers are
un-trainable.

The military don't care about that [school leavers being untrainable]. They have a job to do!
George