Ocean Titans: Searching For The Soul Of A Ship

by Daniel Sekulich

In Ocean Titans author Daniel Sekulich takes us on a fascinating journey as he delves into the world of merchant shipping. We travel to massive shipyards in Korea, across the North Atlantic in a ferocious gale and into the boardroom of a wealthy ship owner in Monaco. Along the way, we learn how a captain masters his craft, why a deckhand spends nine months at sea and how a ship is broken up on the shores of India. Through it all, Ocean Titans seeks to understand the ageless appeal of ships and the sea, and attempts to answer the question, Does a ship have a soul?

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published March 10, 2006

Reviews

[Nigel Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daniel Sekulich is an award winning Canadian documentary film maker. In Ocean titans, his first book, he certainly conveys a visual experience; the book unfolds much like a film. The reader is always kept in the present; travelling with the Author as he travels the globe tracing the life of modern shipping vessels and the crewmen of the merchant navy. Information is mostly presented again in a documentary style, coming from conversations with those involved with shipping.
Sekulich has wonderful descriptive abilities; able to paint a clear portrait of sights that would be unfamiliar and perhaps inconceivable to the average person. He is sometimes given to being overly romantic, but considering the subtitle of the book; "journeys in search of the soul of a ship", this is perhaps not unexpected. I enjoyed reading this book but at times it did not hold my attention and considering that I am interested in the subject I do not know if it would be able to entertain those with a marginal interest.
One last point, the cover photograph, The picture above is such a fine image, I can not understand why the edition I obtained, the hardback, has a dull illustration and disconcertingly arranged text. Why?