Alaska ship grounding reported from Gulf of Mexico - another NowPublic head-turner

Photos

Capt. John Konrad - Master Mariner - gCaptain.com

see larger image

uploaded by Actual News Geezer

This really turned my head this morning.

We get an early report that a cruise ship had grounded south of Juneau, Alaska. Within minutes we received a posting from a fairly new NowPublic member, John Konrad. Konrad reports, startlingly, that this is actually the second time the Empress of the North has grounded.

I quickly email Mr. Konrad asking that he call me urgently. Within minutes our phone rings. It is Konrad.

Konrad tells me he is aboard a 685 foot vessel in the Gulf of Mexico...(it's hard for my mind to compute all this in real time) ...Alaska grounding...Gulf of Mexico...until I realize I have once again been thrust into the warp zone that citizen-generated news creates in the presence of amazing technology and highly connected people worldwide.

So it sinks in I am speaking to Captain John Konrad - but I am quickly informed that at the present time he should be addressed as "Master Mariner" John Konrad - and not only that - Konrad is the founder of an awesome maritime news organization, gCaptain.com - but thoroughly understands user-generated news, technology - and is doing all this whilst at sea.

Worrying our cellphone connection might be severed at any time, he tells me he is talking to me over Skype - which is a communications technology we use to connect with our worldwide network of contributors. So within minutes, we switch from the cellphone directly to Skype:

He chats his information through to an amazed group of NP'ers, answering our dumb questions with grace and patience:

[8:54:19 AM] NowPublic says: Please introduce yourself.
[8:55:08 AM] johneast91 says: My name is John Konrad and I'm a USCG licensed Master Mariner of Unlimited Tonnage working as Chief Mate aboard a 865' ship in the Gulf of Mexico. I am also the CEO and founder of gCaptain.com a resource for Professional Mariners Worldwide

[8:56:01 AM] Kaitlin Fontana says: awesome!
[8:56:03 AM] Ryan Nadel says: it's a pleasure to have you aboard

And indeed it is a great pleasure, when things like this happen - moments of serendipity, connectedness - making our world make more sense, one contributor at a time.

___________________________________________________

John Konrad is a USCG licensed Master Mariner of Unlimited Tonnage currently working as Chief Mate aboard a 865′ ship in the Gulf of Mexico. Since graduating from SUNY Maritime College he has sailed in all 4 of the worlds oceans and reports from his ship via satellite.