Perhaps the main concern of the Master today should be to foresee the future and adapt himself to it, but that is true for everybody. The gradual change in his position is apparent. Sixty years ago sailing announcements always mentioned the ship's name and her Master's name together, they formed an inseparable unit; today we may look in vain for the Master's name in such announcements. Such outward signs merely illustrate a gradual decline in the Master's position within the overall shipping company hierarchy, though not in the hierarchy on board. It is the result of totally new involvements of shipping management as our society in general becomes more complex and interdependent.