September 2 1994 TradeWinds Page 19 i openness mpanies is a loss for When a ship becomes a Tower of Babel PIRAEUS: The use of multinational crews aboard ships is a common phenomenon in today s shipping industry, and one which sparks mixed reactions. While the economic benefits may be great, the cultural cross-section as well as the babel of different languages can hold immeasurable dangers in cases where orders issued in one language are garbled through transmission by officers and ratings whose mother tongue is quite different.