May 2010
Thursday 20 th
of May 2010
and we came onboard just after 6 o'clock when they were about to
tight up the mooring ropes. Well, when we climbed onboard I told on signing Captain that 8 o'clock means f@ck all in Stanlow. Well, we meet the Pilot and he said 1 o'clock tomorrow morning. So even before we had come onboard we were delayed by
5 hours. Never mind, I'm in no hurry.
We climbed onboard and I meet the Chief Officer. We will discharge in Stanlow and then we will load again for Göteborg. So we might be here until Sunday and I might find the time to go ashore to buy a tea mug.
I also meet the Fitter from Ek-River, he had joined the ship a while ago. Planned to be onboard for a few weeks to overhaul some of the auxiliary engines. But no spare parts so he has to stay onboard and wait.
Well, there is always much to do for a Fitter on a ship so he will have plenty to do.
I went to bed at 10 o'clock preparing myself for some middle in the night action
- Oh, we forgot about you.
Well, I had had my sleep and I really needed some sleep after my journey yesterday.
I spent the day on mu office checking papers and I went on deck to see how things were working out there. A beautiful day so it was nice on deck comparing to being on Ek-River last winter.
We expect to be ready tonight and
hopefully we will start load immediately. I don't feel like spending a whole night waiting.
But again, this is Stanlow and no one knows anything for sure around here. Business as usual and we're used to it.
We completed discharging at 21 thirty and shore was ready to start loading 5 minutes before midnight and I was off to bed. They expect 20 hours loading.
keeps me full until lunch when I eat salad and meat. Yes, I beleive that I have finally managed to get my “Best looking guy in town '10”
diet back on the road. I even went to check out the gym yesterday, so don't be surprised if I start using the gym every day from now on.Hopefully!
Meatballs and salad for lunch and after that I spent time on deck to check out a few things. Good to be new onboard, times turns very quickly. That's why I like to change ship all the time.
When I sign off? I don't know, today I told them that I would stay 
until I looked good and that means to loose at least 50kg. Not like on Ek-River, I ballooned right out of my trousers. But this time I can sense the success and I might even fly monkey class going back home. At least I hope so.
We completed loading at 21 thirty and we finished the paper work and calculation at 11 o'clock. Now we only have to wait for the cargo documents. They said 2 hours, but can as well be 4. But we have to leave at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning to make it to the high water.
locks in Eastham when I came down for my morning tea and scrambled eggs. (2 eggs)
When I finished my breakfast I went to the bridge and we were making fast in Eastham locks when I came to the bridge. I discovered a gorgeous morning when I came to the bridge. Sunshine and blue sky, it looks promising and I expect a beautiful day.
We left the locks and I started the day by making a discharge plan for Göteborg
where we expect to be on Wednesday morning. I finished my cargo planning and our 3rd Officer took me on a safety round on deck.
We have to do a familiarizing of our safety equipment when we sign on
so I have to take a tour with our 3rd Officer. We started on deck to check all the fire hoses and
life buoys and stuff. When we were finished with the lifeboat and the fire fighting machinery and equipment it was almost time for lunch. Yes, time turns real quick around here.
At lunch our Fitter told me that our Cook from Ek-River might come down to see us when we're in Göteborg.
- Isn't she getting married with the OS? I asked.
Well, anyway, our Fitter will send her an e-mail and he will ask her to
bring a real tea mug for me. Now I'm drinking tea from a stainless steel pitcher.
Well, as our Fitter said:
- She bought you one on Ek-River so she knows what you want.
And of course, she does anything for a chance to end up on internet. We remember her from Ek-River and she was always around when I had my camera in my hands.
Well, we see if she mange to get hold of a tea mug for me intil Wednesday when we arrive to Göteborg, and if she is married with our OS we maight wee him as well. Hell, yeah, I won't be surprised. 
We had planned for a fire drill after the coffee break in the afternoon. So while waiting I was
sitting with our Chief Engineer in the duty mess.
- How old are you? He asked.
- 32 Years old, I said.
Pump Man and one more AB were also in the duty
mess. They were wetting them self�s laughing. They were screaming of laughter.
- 32!!?? Are you shitting us?
- Well, how old do you think I am?
- 50 ++
- What the
?
I could not believe my f@cking ears. 50++, well, sounds like the crew want to spend the rest of their time onboard doing exciting work in the ballast tanks.
OK, we held our fire drill and we finished just after 4 o'clock. Soon dinner, darn! Time to eat again. I had time to copy some files to a USB memory so I could transfer files between 2 of the computers in the CCR. One of the computers is not connected to the network so I need to copy by USB memory to get access to them. It was done in a few minutes.
We're steaming on a Northerly course West of Scotland on our way to Göteborg. And as always it's
windy and cold and for sure, I don't want to live around here. Same as living in the mountains somewhere in Norway. 10 km to your next neighbours and the whole landscape looks very desolated and barren. And yes, I'm happy to live in FUNKY TOWN. 
And we're passing Pentland Firth tonight and then we just have to cross the North Sea and we will
(Scottish Gaelic: An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait), which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.
The Firth is well known for the strength of its tides, being among some of the fastest in the world, a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h) being reported close west of Pentland Skerries. The force of the tides gives rise to overfalls and tidal races which can occur at different stages of the tide.
The potential economic significance of the tidal currents in the Pentland Firth is significant. It has been described as the “Saudi Arabia of tidal power” and may be capable of accommodating 10 GW of installed generating capacity. This is up to 25% of the estimated total capacity for the European Union.
arrive to Göteborg on Wednesday morning. Andhopefully we have to drop the anchor for a day or two. Our previous Cook on Ek-River is working on Stena until Wednesday night and I will miss my tea mug if we're leaving before that.
Well, we see what happens. As the CNN reporter said about Thailand: This is Göteborg and you can't be sure of anything until it actually has happened. So no need to worry, I take it as it comes.
If I don't get my tea mug I will have to use the darn stainless steel pitcher for a few days more.
Well, anyway, we started the day with paper work in my office while the crew were on deck busy greasing.
Gloomy and grey so I'm better off at my office. I sorted our different
Letters of Protest and I made one Loading and one discharging documents out of all the different documents. So now I only have 2 documents to keep track on. Well, at least regarding loading and discharging.
We did a test run of our ODME after lunch and we also found time to test our gas detector in the deck trunk. So we have been pretty busy today. Of course, I have had time for both tea and diet drinks.
Well, I'm pretty much ready to take over in Göteborg when our Chief Officer is leaving us. For the last time? He is retiring, but I told him that he would be back here to relieve me.
- Never!
Well, a few minutes later he asked me to save my new LOADING and DISCHARGING document on our computer with a password.
- Just in case I would come back.
Well, we see. But I'm going to stay until October and then I'm going to spend the winter in FUNKY TOWN and other parts of SE Asia. Singapore, for sure. School in Manila, most likely. But I would not mind going on a ship for 2 or 3 weeks over the Christmas holiday.
I spent the day with paper work and gas detectors. Latest news is that we will drop anchor at arrival to Göteborg. Earliest berthing on Thursday. Good, if I'm lucky I can get my tea mug.
It was a goof day, I studied my Thai and I had a one hour, well, it was actually a 70 minutes' constitutional
on deck in the evening. We had tail wind so no wind on deck, and I had to stay at the forward part of the ship where the sun was shining. Our superstructure shadowed the deck to amidships. So now you understand that we were on an Easterly course. Evening and the sun was shining from behind. So I was pretty pleased when I returned to my cabin at 8 o'clock.
When I was on deck I could see the Norwegian mountains on our port side. So we will soon be in Sweden. And at 11 o'clock at night it's still daylight, yeah, summer time.
Göteborg. But it was a very nice morning and we passed between Vinga and Trubaduren L/H on our way to the anchorage.
We dropped anchor at 08:35 and the bunker boat was
on the way to the anchorage. Good, we don't have to bunker while discharging, everything is ready when we're going alongside.
And latest berthing prospects is for jetty 510 tomorrow evening or jetty 511 on Friday evening i.e. no useful information at all.
While the crew were chipping deck I finished my gas
detectors. Calibration and inventory. Time turned quick and it was soon time for me to make my second pitcher of tea for the day.
Our Cook had made fresh buns and he asked me to take a few. I
said no thanks and our Cook asked me why.
- DIET!
- WHY!!??
Well, that should be pretty obvious, at least that's what I think. But our Cook didn't agree. Of course, I didn't want to make him sad so I had a bun.
After a quick lunch I was off to study my Thai books in my cabin. Well, one bun and I had enough of the agony for one day and to study Thai helps a little bit.
I had a one hourconstitutional in the evening and that was enough to get rid of the agony.
a few slices of cheese. Yes, I have given up the scrambled eggs.
When I had finished my tea I called Processkontroll for some help with our gas detectors. I found out that I had to order an extension hose for our Dräger short term tubes pump. It's good to have professionals just a phone call away.
We have a Am-X 7000 and this detector should be able to measure both %LEL and VOL% and you change between %LEL and VOL% by pushing the
blue arrow up button once. Well, this function was not working and the Technician at Processkontroll had the very same gas detector in front of him while he guided me through the menus on the gas detector. And now the machine is working as it should.
We got a phone call and we were informed that there would be a Surveyor coming onboard at 12:30. Latest news is berthing at 5
o'clock in the morning. Of course, the Surveyor arrived almost one hour late. And while they were taking sample I went around with our Chief Engineer, 2nd Engineer and our Pump Man to check our cranes on deck.
When we were finished with the cranes the berthing prospects were changed to midnight. Good, sampling
finished andhopefully we will be able to start discharging a few minutes after we have all fast at Jetty 511.
Well, midnight is good andhopefully we can leave early tomorrow afternoon. Still no cargo after Göteborg, but today they asked us how much we could load at 7,4m draft in fresh water. That means St. Petersburg in Russia. And that's about 3 days to St. Petersburg and when we're finished with that voyage half of June should be behind us.
Next voyage Göteborg to Hamina, Finland 12500 MT +/- 5% Low Sulphur HFO. So I did a loading plan before I went for my constitutional on deck. Sunshine and blue sky at 8 o'clock in the evening. When I came back in, today I just had 45 minutes' due to our berthing at midnight.
Well, coming in and our berthing was delayed until at least 4 o'clock in the morning. And now we�re only going to discharge 3908 MT. The rest to remain onboard and to await further orders.
Of course, the first thing I did up on receiving the new berthing prospects was to get back on my track on deck. Another 45 minutes' constitutional and when I returned to my cabin at 9 thirty it was still sunshine and blue sky.
I took a shower and I wrote a few stupid words on my web page before going to bed.
- 30 minutes to the jetty
- OK, I'm coming.
I was dead tired after just a few hours of sleep. But I felt a little bit better after my shower and when I had had my morning tea I was full of vim. We had first line ashore 10 minutes after 5 and
all fast at 5 thirty in the morning.
The Surveyor was onboard 15 minutes later when we had our gangway on the jetty. Then it didn't take long before everything turned in th chaos.
We had orders to discharge 3908 MT and keep the rest of the SLURRY onboard and then load on top to make a mix. So I had planned to discharge a little from each of our tanks. But our Surveyor told me that we had to discharge from our cargo tanks 2 and 5 P/S only.
- Empty 2 and 5 P/S and keep the rest onboard.
Well, that means that we would have to discharge more
than the 3908 MT. But I will stop discharging at 3908 MT until I receive new orders from our company. They need confirmation from STASCO in London.
So I started to discharge from 2 and 5 P/S and I will stop when we reach 3908 MT if we don't receive any new instructions from the company. When the discharging was up and running I left for the galley and yet another cup of tea.
I ran in to our Cook and the first thing he said was:
- HAPPY BIRTH DAY!
- I have no birth day, I said.
- Yes, come here!
He showed me that he was making a cake and I told him that I
was on diet but this was not an argument that he accepted.
- Why? You're very handsome!
I had to escape before he forced me to eat scrambled eggs for breakfast. A cup of tea and a few slices of cheese is enough
until lunch when I will have my tuna and chopped onion.
I returned to the CCR with my tea cup. Our 3rd Officer is new onboard so I have to keep an eye on him. But it looks like he knows what he is doing so maybe I can
leave him alone in the future.
Yes, I have more important things to do
than to be a back seat driver in the CCR during his watches.
Our Cook from Ek-River arrived just in times for lunch. So she
went straight to the mess room, well, of course our Captain got a hug first. I never got a hug, but she gave me a new tea mug. Exactly the right size.
I went to the mess room to make a cuppa. I took my tea and tuna to the CCR and I had my lunch in the CCR while monitoring the discharging. In Göteborg, not only do
we have white tablecloth on the tables in the mess room, there is also many people and service technicians coming onboard. Stores and provision will be delivered so it was a busy day.
But I had time to get away to my cabin for a quick rub with the “MAGIC HAIR STUFF”. When I returned to the kitchen for a cup of tea our Cook got a shock when he saw my head.
- Your bleeding from the head!!
- Don't wet your pants! It's my “MAGIC HAIR STUFF”!
He got interested.
- Is it any good?
- I don't know, but this is supposed to be something very good for your hair from Thailand.
Our Cook thought that my hair would grow out of control within very soon. But I'm not so sure.
We got Earl Grey tea with the provision so I was quick to make a cup of tea. No more Yellow Labe and thank God for that. Lipton Yellow Label for me, at least not until we run out of the Earl grey tea.
We were supposed to be ready with the 3908 MT around 13:30. But now they had change orders again. Now they wanted us to discharge everything but 3000 MT. And they wanted us to spread the 3000 MT evenly over all the ships tanks. The reason for all this is the very big difference of the cargo quality in the different cargo tanks.
It continued like this all day, changing orders and when we did planning for the latest orders they called and changed it again. The last order was to discharge 2 and 5 P/S plus 782 MT from 3 and 4 P/S. Then we will stop discharging and they will change shore tanks. Then they will mix the oil ashore and we don't know if we can stay alongside or if we have to go to the anchorage.
Well, the last instructions were confirmed from the company so we continued to discharge. They told us that they would blow the shore line for 1 hour before we could start discharge to the last shore tank.
As mentioned before, this is Göteborg so nothing is sure until it have actually happened. 1 hour turned in to 2 hours 25 minutes and we completed discharging at 22:40. Luckily enough I had managed to get 1 hour of sleep between 8 and 9 o�clock in the evening. At 9 o'clock they called me and I got the good news. we will leave for the anchorage and Pilot was ordered for 23:30. 
We started to single au at 23:55 but we had to wait with the departure until 10 minutes after midnight due to a passing Stena ferry. Well, no worries, I was in a good mood even though I was in a hurry to get down to my bed. I had been up since 20 past 4 o'clock this morning.
Never mind, I had got 5 cases of diet drinks and 25 rolls of snus so I was happy.
a full day.
Of course, I was so tired so it was impossible to fall asleep. Or maybe it was due to all the diet drinks and tea I drank yesterday.
Well, latest berthing prospects says tomorrow morning and I have plenty time for my cargo planning. I had my can of tuna with a chopped onion and a mug of tea for lunch before I returned to my cabin for some Thai studies.
I spent the afternoon and evening in my office with paper work. I removed a lot of old binders and old paper work from the shelves and now I have plenty space. At 7 o'clock I went for my constitutional. 90 minutes of constitutional and tuna and chopped onion for lunch and dinner so my “Best looking guy in town '10” diet is really back on track.
And I willhopefully look very good when I sign off.
come out on deck.
I finished my morning tea and we started to prepare the ship for the loading. Plenty tests to
do, I was sitting in the CCR drinking diet drinks while resetting the alarms that our Pump Man activated on deck.
We had first line ashore at Jetty 510 20 minutes after 11 o'clock. 15 minutes later we had all fast and I went down to my office for some paper work with the Loading Master and the Surveyor.
Well, I was surprised when 2 Loading Masters came onboard. One from VOPAK and one from Nynas. Turned out that we will load three different parcels to mix onboard. Well, why didn't they inform us about this yesterday when we spent the whole day at the anchorage. Now I had to spend an extra hour with the Surveyor to make a new loading plan.
First parcel, 5,84% of total cargo evenly spread in all tanks from Nynas. Second and third parcel from VOPAK, also evenly spread over all cargo tanks.
just before 10 o'clock this morning
- 1 hour to go!
- OK, I will be down in a sec.
Yes, I was dead tired. I didn't go to bed until 3 thirty this very morning. Well, as usually the information we got from the terminal was pretty much useless. I had expected to be ready with the 2nd parcel at midnight. Well, we finished at 3 o'clock in the morning.
They told us that it would take 10 hours to complete the last parcel, but it only took a little more
than 6 hours. How can you plan ahead
when the people that gives you the information know exactly nothing? And this is people that have been working here for years so some experience from previous operations is not too much to ask for, at least I don't think so.
Of course, they were nagging on the radio every 5 minutes.
- When are you ready to receive cargo?
F@ck, we spent a whole day anchored scratching our arses. I had prepared my loading plan and
when we arrived they informed us about the new plans.
- You can wait! I was ready to receive until you informed us about your new plans.
Well anyway, I had a shower and I felt much better. And when I came down to my office I had a
diet drink and I was pretty much ready for fight. We completed loading 5 minutes before 11 o'clock
We were finished with our paper work just after 1
o'clock and I went to my cabin to check my e-mails. And obviously people think I'm on some kind of holiday.
Well, that's life, but I don't understand why they think a hard job is a holiday. Our Pilot was ordered for 3 o'clock in the afternoon and he came onboard 5 minutes before 3 and we left
Göteborg 5 minutes after 3 o'clock on a sunny and beautiful day. If all days would have
been like this it would be nice to work. But now this is not the case and I'm better off in Thailand during the winter.
Yes, exactly how fun is it in Göteborg a Sunday afternoon in February? Gloom and grey as far as you can see. And you don't see any people outside, you're all alone in the city. No, then it's a zillion times better in FUNKY TOWN, Thailand.
Well, I can't help but wonder about the e-mail. Terrorist! She is scared and I guess that she is reading the news paper, and in Thailand the media is controlled by the Government and the military. So what is true in the news paper? I don't know, but they all warn the people about the red shirt. I read the Thai newspaper on the internet every day, and I can read about TERROR warnings and how evil
Thaksin is. He is a crook, well, is there a Thai politician that isn't a crook? And is it any
better in the rest of the world?
A rampant corruption and the Thai police is more like a mafia than a police force. If they had had a real police they would never had been allowed to build Little Isan and FORT Red shirt in down town Bangkok. It's like 50 police officers watching 10 red shirts building the bamboo and tyre barricades in Bangkok. The rest of the police force was busy taking bribes from road-users. 100 baht here and 100 Baht there. Of course, they have paid to become a police officer.
- You will soon have made that money and more!
And when you're promoted you can get the really big money from bar and brothel owners, drug dealers and other shady transaction. All of them are Generals and, well, I don't know the different badge of ranks. But a few years ago, well, maybe more than a few years ago there was a Maj General or Captain General.
- Hmm, maybe it was a Maj Captain?
Well, anyway, his house was full of machines to make pirate copies of DVD. A big house, yes, they don't live in small houses, full of those machines and he said that he knew nothing about it.
- It's my maid's stuff and I don't know what it is.
But there has been allot of changes since the red shirt protest started. I have read
newspaper article on how to treat you maid and how to respect the working class.
- Give a tip to the pizza delivery man.
- Say good morning to the cleaners.
And it has gone on like that. Now it's all about how “WE” can build a new Thailand and our
“FELLOW” citizens in the poor parts of Thailand. At least I had never seen this before. It has always been BROWN SKINNED TRASH and stupid farmers. Of course you don't know anything if your country doesn�t provide you with an education.
One day at Little Isan I even saw a police handing a food pack to a beggar passing by with a small child. The police was standing next to his motorcycle, loaded with food packages. Most likely for
his colleagues. But when the man and his small child passed the police handed him a food pack.
Yes, I was flabbergasted.
Well, anyway, as she wrote: ......still have a little terrorist trying to do some bad thing
If I had a dollar for every time someone said the word terrorist. Seems to be the label to put on people that goes against the government. Not to talk about the airlines, we remember when I was accused of being a terrorist in Amsterdam trying to
board my flight to Bangkok. Yes, I still think of this with horror, the female security guard. Obviously not the brightest light bulb
in the solarium.
- 2 + 2 = 5!
- 2 + 2 = 4!
- Are you a terrorist?
- Matherrrfackerrr! As they say in Holland.
And when you have been labelled as a terrorist people are afraid of you and for sure they don't like you. Already before the fighting started in Bangkok the red shirts were called terrorists
I don't defend burning down shopping malls and building barricades on the streets. Criminals for sure, but terrorists? At least I'm more concerned about a police force just standing by doing nothing when they unload old tyres and shit to build their barricades. I think that this would be a much bigger concern for any government trying to keep the law and order.
Well, it was a beautiful evening and I had my 90 minutes constitutional on deck and I was pretty pleased with myself when I returned to my cabin.
So this is pretty much it for the month of May in the year of our Lord 2010 and we swing right over to June 2010 by the click on our mouse.
tight up the mooring ropes. Well, when we climbed onboard I told on signing Captain that 8 o'clock means f@ck all in Stanlow. Well, we meet the Pilot and he said 1 o'clock tomorrow morning. So even before we had come onboard we were delayed by5 hours. Never mind, I'm in no hurry.We climbed onboard and I meet the Chief Officer. We will discharge in Stanlow and then we will load again for Göteborg. So we might be here until Sunday and I might find the time to go ashore to buy a tea mug.
I also meet the Fitter from Ek-River, he had joined the ship a while ago. Planned to be onboard for a few weeks to overhaul some of the auxiliary engines. But no spare parts so he has to stay onboard and wait.
Well, there is always much to do for a Fitter on a ship so he will have plenty to do.
I went to bed at 10 o'clock preparing myself for some middle in the night action
+++++++++++++++
Friday 21 st
of May 2010
and I woke up 8 o'clock in the morning. When I came down to the CCR they had started to discharge and I asked why they didn't wake me up.- Oh, we forgot about you.Well, I had had my sleep and I really needed some sleep after my journey yesterday.
I spent the day on mu office checking papers and I went on deck to see how things were working out there. A beautiful day so it was nice on deck comparing to being on Ek-River last winter.
We expect to be ready tonight and
hopefully we will start load immediately. I don't feel like spending a whole night waiting.But again, this is Stanlow and no one knows anything for sure around here. Business as usual and we're used to it.
We completed discharging at 21 thirty and shore was ready to start loading 5 minutes before midnight and I was off to bed. They expect 20 hours loading.
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 22 nd
of May 2010
and we were loading when I came down to the CCR in the morning. I started my day with tea and scrambled eggs. Scrasmbled eggs everyday so far, 2 eggs and thatkeeps me full until lunch when I eat salad and meat. Yes, I beleive that I have finally managed to get my “Best looking guy in town '10”
diet back on the road. I even went to check out the gym yesterday, so don't be surprised if I start using the gym every day from now on.Hopefully!Meatballs and salad for lunch and after that I spent time on deck to check out a few things. Good to be new onboard, times turns very quickly. That's why I like to change ship all the time.
When I sign off? I don't know, today I told them that I would stay
Before
After
We completed loading at 21 thirty and we finished the paper work and calculation at 11 o'clock. Now we only have to wait for the cargo documents. They said 2 hours, but can as well be 4. But we have to leave at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning to make it to the high water.
+++++++++++++++
Sunday 23 rd
of May 2010
and I woke up at 07:30. No one called me this morning, I have to talk with the 4-8 watch so they wake me up every morning. Well, anyway, we were approaching thelocks in Eastham when I came down for my morning tea and scrambled eggs. (2 eggs)When I finished my breakfast I went to the bridge and we were making fast in Eastham locks when I came to the bridge. I discovered a gorgeous morning when I came to the bridge. Sunshine and blue sky, it looks promising and I expect a beautiful day.
We left the locks and I started the day by making a discharge plan for Göteborg
where we expect to be on Wednesday morning. I finished my cargo planning and our 3rd Officer took me on a safety round on deck.We have to do a familiarizing of our safety equipment when we sign on
so I have to take a tour with our 3rd Officer. We started on deck to check all the fire hoses andlife buoys and stuff. When we were finished with the lifeboat and the fire fighting machinery and equipment it was almost time for lunch. Yes, time turns real quick around here.At lunch our Fitter told me that our Cook from Ek-River might come down to see us when we're in Göteborg.
- Isn't she getting married with the OS? I asked.
Well, anyway, our Fitter will send her an e-mail and he will ask her to
bring a real tea mug for me. Now I'm drinking tea from a stainless steel pitcher.Well, as our Fitter said:
- She bought you one on Ek-River so she knows what you want.
And of course, she does anything for a chance to end up on internet. We remember her from Ek-River and she was always around when I had my camera in my hands.
Well, we see if she mange to get hold of a tea mug for me intil Wednesday when we arrive to Göteborg, and if she is married with our OS we maight wee him as well. Hell, yeah, I won't be surprised.
sitting with our Chief Engineer in the duty mess.- How old are you? He asked.
- 32 Years old, I said.
Pump Man and one more AB were also in the duty
mess. They were wetting them self�s laughing. They were screaming of laughter.- 32!!?? Are you shitting us?
- Well, how old do you think I am?
- 50 ++- What the?I could not believe my f@cking ears. 50++, well, sounds like the crew want to spend the rest of their time onboard doing exciting work in the ballast tanks.
OK, we held our fire drill and we finished just after 4 o'clock. Soon dinner, darn! Time to eat again. I had time to copy some files to a USB memory so I could transfer files between 2 of the computers in the CCR. One of the computers is not connected to the network so I need to copy by USB memory to get access to them. It was done in a few minutes.
+++++++++++++++
Monday 24 th
of May 2010
and I woke up to a gloomy and grey day. Where is the summer and nice weather? I was out of my bed at 07:30, no wakeup call today and I asked the 4 to 8 watch to call me 20 minutes before 8 every morning from now on. windy and cold and for sure, I don't want to live around here. Same as living in the mountains somewhere in Norway. 10 km to your next neighbours and the whole landscape looks very desolated and barren. And yes, I'm happy to live in FUNKY TOWN. The Pentland Firth
(Scottish Gaelic: An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait), which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.
The Firth is well known for the strength of its tides, being among some of the fastest in the world, a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h) being reported close west of Pentland Skerries. The force of the tides gives rise to overfalls and tidal races which can occur at different stages of the tide.
The potential economic significance of the tidal currents in the Pentland Firth is significant. It has been described as the “Saudi Arabia of tidal power” and may be capable of accommodating 10 GW of installed generating capacity. This is up to 25% of the estimated total capacity for the European Union.
hopefully we have to drop the anchor for a day or two. Our previous Cook on Ek-River is working on Stena until Wednesday night and I will miss my tea mug if we're leaving before that.Well, we see what happens. As the CNN reporter said about Thailand: This is Göteborg and you can't be sure of anything until it actually has happened. So no need to worry, I take it as it comes.
Well, anyway, we started the day with paper work in my office while the crew were on deck busy greasing.Gloomy and grey so I'm better off at my office. I sorted our different
Letters of Protest and I made one Loading and one discharging documents out of all the different documents. So now I only have 2 documents to keep track on. Well, at least regarding loading and discharging.We did a test run of our ODME after lunch and we also found time to test our gas detector in the deck trunk. So we have been pretty busy today. Of course, I have had time for both tea and diet drinks.
Well, I'm pretty much ready to take over in Göteborg when our Chief Officer is leaving us. For the last time? He is retiring, but I told him that he would be back here to relieve me.
- Never!
Well, a few minutes later he asked me to save my new LOADING and DISCHARGING document on our computer with a password.
- Just in case I would come back.
Well, we see. But I'm going to stay until October and then I'm going to spend the winter in FUNKY TOWN and other parts of SE Asia. Singapore, for sure. School in Manila, most likely. But I would not mind going on a ship for 2 or 3 weeks over the Christmas holiday.
+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 25 th
of May 2010
and lo and behold, today they called me at 07:40. I got in to my shower and I was soon in the mess room for my tea and scrambled eggs.I spent the day with paper work and gas detectors. Latest news is that we will drop anchor at arrival to Göteborg. Earliest berthing on Thursday. Good, if I'm lucky I can get my tea mug.
It was a goof day, I studied my Thai and I had a one hour, well, it was actually a 70 minutes' constitutional
on deck in the evening. We had tail wind so no wind on deck, and I had to stay at the forward part of the ship where the sun was shining. Our superstructure shadowed the deck to amidships. So now you understand that we were on an Easterly course. Evening and the sun was shining from behind. So I was pretty pleased when I returned to my cabin at 8 o'clock.When I was on deck I could see the Norwegian mountains on our port side. So we will soon be in Sweden. And at 11 o'clock at night it's still daylight, yeah, summer time.
+++++++++++++++
Wednesday 26 th
of May 2010
and it was sunshine when they called me at 07:40. It had been gloomy and grey yesterday and for sure, I had not expected any sunshine, especially coming toGöteborg. But it was a very nice morning and we passed between Vinga and Trubaduren L/H on our way to the anchorage.We dropped anchor at 08:35 and the bunker boat was
on the way to the anchorage. Good, we don't have to bunker while discharging, everything is ready when we're going alongside.And latest berthing prospects is for jetty 510 tomorrow evening or jetty 511 on Friday evening i.e. no useful information at all.
While the crew were chipping deck I finished my gas
detectors. Calibration and inventory. Time turned quick and it was soon time for me to make my second pitcher of tea for the day.Our Cook had made fresh buns and he asked me to take a few. I
said no thanks and our Cook asked me why.- DIET!
- WHY!!??Well, that should be pretty obvious, at least that's what I think. But our Cook didn't agree. Of course, I didn't want to make him sad so I had a bun.
After a quick lunch I was off to study my Thai books in my cabin. Well, one bun and I had enough of the agony for one day and to study Thai helps a little bit.
I had a one hour
constitutional in the evening and that was enough to get rid of the agony.+++++++++++++++
Thursday 27 th
of May 2010
and today they didn't called me until almost 5 minutes before 8 o'clock. Well, later and later by the day. I took a quick shower before I went down for my tea anda few slices of cheese. Yes, I have given up the scrambled eggs.When I had finished my tea I called Processkontroll for some help with our gas detectors. I found out that I had to order an extension hose for our Dräger short term tubes pump. It's good to have professionals just a phone call away.
We have a Am-X 7000 and this detector should be able to measure both %LEL and VOL% and you change between %LEL and VOL% by pushing the
blue arrow up button once. Well, this function was not working and the Technician at Processkontroll had the very same gas detector in front of him while he guided me through the menus on the gas detector. And now the machine is working as it should.We got a phone call and we were informed that there would be a Surveyor coming onboard at 12:30. Latest news is berthing at 5
o'clock in the morning. Of course, the Surveyor arrived almost one hour late. And while they were taking sample I went around with our Chief Engineer, 2nd Engineer and our Pump Man to check our cranes on deck.When we were finished with the cranes the berthing prospects were changed to midnight. Good, sampling
finished andhopefully we will be able to start discharging a few minutes after we have all fast at Jetty 511.Well, midnight is good and
hopefully we can leave early tomorrow afternoon. Still no cargo after Göteborg, but today they asked us how much we could load at 7,4m draft in fresh water. That means St. Petersburg in Russia. And that's about 3 days to St. Petersburg and when we're finished with that voyage half of June should be behind us.Next voyage Göteborg to Hamina, Finland 12500 MT +/- 5% Low Sulphur HFO. So I did a loading plan before I went for my constitutional on deck. Sunshine and blue sky at 8 o'clock in the evening. When I came back in, today I just had 45 minutes' due to our berthing at midnight.
Well, coming in and our berthing was delayed until at least 4 o'clock in the morning. And now we�re only going to discharge 3908 MT. The rest to remain onboard and to await further orders.
Of course, the first thing I did up on receiving the new berthing prospects was to get back on my track on deck. Another 45 minutes' constitutional and when I returned to my cabin at 9 thirty it was still sunshine and blue sky.
I took a shower and I wrote a few stupid words on my web page before going to bed.
+++++++++++++++
Friday 28 th
of May 2010
and they called me 20 minutes after 4 o'clock in the morning.- 30 minutes to the jetty- OK, I'm coming.I was dead tired after just a few hours of sleep. But I felt a little bit better after my shower and when I had had my morning tea I was full of vim. We had first line ashore 10 minutes after 5 and
all fast at 5 thirty in the morning.The Surveyor was onboard 15 minutes later when we had our gangway on the jetty. Then it didn't take long before everything turned in th chaos.
We had orders to discharge 3908 MT and keep the rest of the SLURRY onboard and then load on top to make a mix. So I had planned to discharge a little from each of our tanks. But our Surveyor told me that we had to discharge from our cargo tanks 2 and 5 P/S only.
- Empty 2 and 5 P/S and keep the rest onboard.
Well, that means that we would have to discharge more
than the 3908 MT. But I will stop discharging at 3908 MT until I receive new orders from our company. They need confirmation from STASCO in London.So I started to discharge from 2 and 5 P/S and I will stop when we reach 3908 MT if we don't receive any new instructions from the company. When the discharging was up and running I left for the galley and yet another cup of tea.
I ran in to our Cook and the first thing he said was:
- HAPPY BIRTH DAY!
- I have no birth day, I said.
- Yes, come here!
He showed me that he was making a cake and I told him that I
was on diet but this was not an argument that he accepted.- Why? You're very handsome!
I had to escape before he forced me to eat scrambled eggs for breakfast. A cup of tea and a few slices of cheese is enough
until lunch when I will have my tuna and chopped onion.I returned to the CCR with my tea cup. Our 3rd Officer is new onboard so I have to keep an eye on him. But it looks like he knows what he is doing so maybe I can
leave him alone in the future.Yes, I have more important things to do
than to be a back seat driver in the CCR during his watches.Our Cook from Ek-River arrived just in times for lunch. So she
went straight to the mess room, well, of course our Captain got a hug first. I never got a hug, but she gave me a new tea mug. Exactly the right size.I went to the mess room to make a cuppa. I took my tea and tuna to the CCR and I had my lunch in the CCR while monitoring the discharging. In Göteborg, not only do
we have white tablecloth on the tables in the mess room, there is also many people and service technicians coming onboard. Stores and provision will be delivered so it was a busy day.But I had time to get away to my cabin for a quick rub with the “MAGIC HAIR STUFF”. When I returned to the kitchen for a cup of tea our Cook got a shock when he saw my head.
- Your bleeding from the head!!- Don't wet your pants! It's my “MAGIC HAIR STUFF”!
He got interested.
- Is it any good?
- I don't know, but this is supposed to be something very good for your hair from Thailand.
Our Cook thought that my hair would grow out of control within very soon. But I'm not so sure.We got Earl Grey tea with the provision so I was quick to make a cup of tea. No more Yellow Labe and thank God for that. Lipton Yellow Label for me, at least not until we run out of the Earl grey tea.
We were supposed to be ready with the 3908 MT around 13:30. But now they had change orders again. Now they wanted us to discharge everything but 3000 MT. And they wanted us to spread the 3000 MT evenly over all the ships tanks. The reason for all this is the very big difference of the cargo quality in the different cargo tanks.
It continued like this all day, changing orders and when we did planning for the latest orders they called and changed it again. The last order was to discharge 2 and 5 P/S plus 782 MT from 3 and 4 P/S. Then we will stop discharging and they will change shore tanks. Then they will mix the oil ashore and we don't know if we can stay alongside or if we have to go to the anchorage.
Well, the last instructions were confirmed from the company so we continued to discharge. They told us that they would blow the shore line for 1 hour before we could start discharge to the last shore tank.
As mentioned before, this is Göteborg so nothing is sure until it have actually happened. 1 hour turned in to 2 hours 25 minutes and we completed discharging at 22:40. Luckily enough I had managed to get 1 hour of sleep between 8 and 9 o�clock in the evening. At 9 o'clock they called me and I got the good news. we will leave for the anchorage and Pilot was ordered for 23:30.
Never mind, I had got 5 cases of diet drinks and 25 rolls of snus so I was happy.
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 29 th
of May 2010
and we were anchored at Göteborg anchorage when I woke up quarter to eleven. Good, 11:45 and I needed all the sleep. I felt asleep around 2 thirty this morning. We left Göteborg 10 minutes after midnight this very morning and I went to bed around 1 o'clock aftera full day.Of course, I was so tired so it was impossible to fall asleep. Or maybe it was due to all the diet drinks and tea I drank yesterday.
Well, latest berthing prospects says tomorrow morning and I have plenty time for my cargo planning. I had my can of tuna with a chopped onion and a mug of tea for lunch before I returned to my cabin for some Thai studies.
I spent the afternoon and evening in my office with paper work. I removed a lot of old binders and old paper work from the shelves and now I have plenty space. At 7 o'clock I went for my constitutional. 90 minutes of constitutional and tuna and chopped onion for lunch and dinner so my “Best looking guy in town '10” diet is really back on track.
And I will
hopefully look very good when I sign off.+++++++++++++++
Sunday 30 th
of May 2010
and Pilot was ordered for 10 o'clock. Good, I have plenty time for my morning tea. It was a gorgeous morning with sunshine and blue sky and it was really refreshing tocome out on deck.I finished my morning tea and we started to prepare the ship for the loading. Plenty tests to
do, I was sitting in the CCR drinking diet drinks while resetting the alarms that our Pump Man activated on deck.We had first line ashore at Jetty 510 20 minutes after 11 o'clock. 15 minutes later we had all fast and I went down to my office for some paper work with the Loading Master and the Surveyor.
Well, I was surprised when 2 Loading Masters came onboard. One from VOPAK and one from Nynas. Turned out that we will load three different parcels to mix onboard. Well, why didn't they inform us about this yesterday when we spent the whole day at the anchorage. Now I had to spend an extra hour with the Surveyor to make a new loading plan.
First parcel, 5,84% of total cargo evenly spread in all tanks from Nynas. Second and third parcel from VOPAK, also evenly spread over all cargo tanks.
+++++++++++++++
Monday 31 st
of May 2010
and I can't say that I swing myself out of bed when they called mejust before 10 o'clock this morning- 1 hour to go!- OK, I will be down in a sec.Yes, I was dead tired. I didn't go to bed until 3 thirty this very morning. Well, as usually the information we got from the terminal was pretty much useless. I had expected to be ready with the 2nd parcel at midnight. Well, we finished at 3 o'clock in the morning.
They told us that it would take 10 hours to complete the last parcel, but it only took a little more
than 6 hours. How can you plan aheadwhen the people that gives you the information know exactly nothing? And this is people that have been working here for years so some experience from previous operations is not too much to ask for, at least I don't think so.Of course, they were nagging on the radio every 5 minutes.
- When are you ready to receive cargo?
F@ck, we spent a whole day anchored scratching our arses. I had prepared my loading plan and
when we arrived they informed us about the new plans.- You can wait! I was ready to receive until you informed us about your new plans.
Well anyway, I had a shower and I felt much better. And when I came down to my office I had a
diet drink and I was pretty much ready for fight. We completed loading 5 minutes before 11 o'clockWe were finished with our paper work just after 1
Sawadee ka Nong A
You didn't go back to work chimai? Just travelling around to look for beautiful lady and cannot find it because they are in Thailand.
So when you go back here ? I think situation in Thailand is back now but still have a little terrorist trying to do some bad thing.
You didn't go back to work chimai? Just travelling around to look for beautiful lady and cannot find it because they are in Thailand.
So when you go back here ? I think situation in Thailand is back now but still have a little terrorist trying to do some bad thing.
Well, that's life, but I don't understand why they think a hard job is a holiday. Our Pilot was ordered for 3 o'clock in the afternoon and he came onboard 5 minutes before 3 and we left
Göteborg 5 minutes after 3 o'clock on a sunny and beautiful day. If all days would havebeen like this it would be nice to work. But now this is not the case and I'm better off in Thailand during the winter.Yes, exactly how fun is it in Göteborg a Sunday afternoon in February? Gloom and grey as far as you can see. And you don't see any people outside, you're all alone in the city. No, then it's a zillion times better in FUNKY TOWN, Thailand.
Thaksin is. He is a crook, well, is there a Thai politician that isn't a crook? And is it anybetter in the rest of the world?A rampant corruption and the Thai police is more like a mafia than a police force. If they had had a real police they would never had been allowed to build Little Isan and FORT Red shirt in down town Bangkok. It's like 50 police officers watching 10 red shirts building the bamboo and tyre barricades in Bangkok. The rest of the police force was busy taking bribes from road-users. 100 baht here and 100 Baht there. Of course, they have paid to become a police officer.
- You will soon have made that money and more!
And when you're promoted you can get the really big money from bar and brothel owners, drug dealers and other shady transaction. All of them are Generals and, well, I don't know the different badge of ranks. But a few years ago, well, maybe more than a few years ago there was a Maj General or Captain General.
- Hmm, maybe it was a Maj Captain?Well, anyway, his house was full of machines to make pirate copies of DVD. A big house, yes, they don't live in small houses, full of those machines and he said that he knew nothing about it.
- It's my maid's stuff and I don't know what it is.
But there has been allot of changes since the red shirt protest started. I have read
newspaper article on how to treat you maid and how to respect the working class.- Give a tip to the pizza delivery man.
- Say good morning to the cleaners.
And it has gone on like that. Now it's all about how “WE” can build a new Thailand and our
“FELLOW” citizens in the poor parts of Thailand. At least I had never seen this before. It has always been BROWN SKINNED TRASH and stupid farmers. Of course you don't know anything if your country doesn�t provide you with an education.One day at Little Isan I even saw a police handing a food pack to a beggar passing by with a small child. The police was standing next to his motorcycle, loaded with food packages. Most likely for
his colleagues. But when the man and his small child passed the police handed him a food pack.Yes, I was flabbergasted.Well, anyway, as she wrote: ......still have a little terrorist trying to do some bad thing
If I had a dollar for every time someone said the word terrorist. Seems to be the label to put on people that goes against the government. Not to talk about the airlines, we remember when I was accused of being a terrorist in Amsterdam trying to
board my flight to Bangkok. Yes, I still think of this with horror, the female security guard. Obviously not the brightest light bulbin the solarium.- 2 + 2 = 5!
- 2 + 2 = 4!
- Are you a terrorist?
- Matherrrfackerrr! As they say in Holland.
And when you have been labelled as a terrorist people are afraid of you and for sure they don't like you. Already before the fighting started in Bangkok the red shirts were called terrorists
I don't defend burning down shopping malls and building barricades on the streets. Criminals for sure, but terrorists? At least I'm more concerned about a police force just standing by doing nothing when they unload old tyres and shit to build their barricades. I think that this would be a much bigger concern for any government trying to keep the law and order.
Well, it was a beautiful evening and I had my 90 minutes constitutional on deck and I was pretty pleased with myself when I returned to my cabin.
So this is pretty much it for the month of May in the year of our Lord 2010 and we swing right over to June 2010 by the click on our mouse.
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens at my web page. How hard can it be? 
So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!
คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next”
ข้างบนนี้
Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!
E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.
Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.
So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page. Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaasFaites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopraSprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben! คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next”
ข้างบนนี้
Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!
E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag. You are visitor no.
To www.aladdin.st since December 2005
Visitors to www.aladdin.st from different countries since 26th of September 2011
