21st Century Seafaring A seaman climbs onto a narrow scaffold – all that's between him and the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea – to paint his ship, October 2009 Crew using an inflatable lifeboat to paint the side of their ship. A pilot boards a container ship near Davao, in the Southern Philippines on Christmas morning, 2011. The container ship Independent Trader meets an Atlantic gale a few hours after sailing from Philadelphia for Antwerp, Belgium in May 2006. A South Korean Navy patrol boat near PyongTaek, December 2011.