“The postings on this site are my own and don't represent Maersk Group's position, strategies or opinions. All views are my own”
December 2011
Thursday 8 th of December 2011 and I was tired when they called me at 7 o'clock even though I felt asleep 10 o'clock yesterday. I went for another plate of assorted sausages yesterday evening
and our new Pump Man arrived to the hotel from Manila around 9 o'clock. He had spent 4 hours waiting at Seoul airport. We talked for almost 1 hour before we went to bed. And of course, we have different rooms. I was in the restaurant just before 8 o'clock with my luggage.Our Pump Man was already having his breakfast and I joined him. I had some fried crockets and bacon with 2 cups of tea. The tea was tasting much better today, maybe due to the milk. I poured myself 2 more cups of tea and I brought one tea cup to the “smokers corner” at the entrance to the hotel. There was a waste bin and half of the top was an ash tray. I put my cup on the other half of what I would discover was a waste bin. My cup disappeared and that's how I discovered that it was a waste bin.
- Where the
did my cup go??!!The only sign of my tea cup was the tea on the floor. But no sign of my tea cup.
- DARN!Our Driver came 10 minutes past 8 o'clock. He wasn't supposed to be here until 8 thirty and this was exactly what I wanted, an extra stress factor when we enjoyed our breakfast. We left the hotel 20 minutes past 8 o'clock.
We were leaving the hotel when a beautiful girl came rushing in to the hotel reception. I don't understand Korean. But I didn't need to understand, I
got most of it.- Who is the f@cking troglodyte that has parked in front of my car.
- OH!! Sorry! Our Driver said.
He ran out to move his car so the girl could leave with her car. She didn't look very happy when she sat in her car, well, at least not until I waved at her.
-
We took off with smokin' and screamin' tyres and we were just behind the girl in her car.
Apartments in Ulsan
Apartments in Ulsan
We tried to ask the driver why there were green license plates instead of the white on some of the cars. Well, our Driver didn't understand much English so we never found out. Suddenly the traffic came to a full stop and our Driver looked puzzled.
- Never any traffic on this highway
Well, we passed reason for the traffic jam after 20 minutes, a multiple collision with maybe 12
cars involved. My guess is that there had been an even bigger pile-up earlier in the
morning because the first car had a smashed front but nothing in front of the car. And there was a few wrecking trucks towing cars.And of course, the news
was present. Well, at least some one with a big video camera. And it looked like he was interviewing
a girl.I was surprised when we ended up at a ferry terminal. I had expected the ship to come alongside and we were obviously joining the ship with a service launch. So Maersk Cassandra is still anchored.
Well, our Pump Man and I got onboard the service launch and our Driver left. There were already
people on the boat and they were going to another tanker on the roads.They had been ashore
yesterday and they had missed the service launch
back so they had spent the night ashore. Yeah, I can understand how they must have felt.But they will
hopefully have a lot of stories to tell the other crew onboard.
And I was lucky to have a pullover and my long pants on. It was darn cold and I really hope that we're going to be in Singapore soon.
Leaving Ulsan behind
We passed something that looked like a whaler
We passed something that looked like a whaler
We took off and DARN! The service launch was very slow and I expected it to be a very long trip out to join the ship. But we stopped 100 meters down the jetty and then we took off in full speed. Not like it was much faster than before. But a wee bit faster. We passed something that looked
like a whaler moored at something that looked like a maritime museum or an aquarium or something.And when we passed the oil jetty I saw a gas tanker with something I have talked about for many years. The cheapest crew ever, dummies. Looks like there is plenty crew onboard but it is just dummies hanging over the rail.
I don't understand the purpose, to stop pirates? Yeah, the pirates approaching and they get second thoughts.- Hey look, there are 20 crew members sleeping against the rail. Let's take another ship.
Passing Hyundai Ship yard
Passing Hyundai Ship yard
Leaving Ulsan and Hyundai Ship yard
Bunker boat going back to Ulsan from the anchorage
I'm in no hurry to come back to Ulsan
There were plenty new ships moored along the giant ship yard and Hyundai is obviously doing more
than building cars. Hyundai ship yard is a very big ship yard. I bet that 99% of all the cars driving around in Ulsan were a Hyundai and all the lorries. So they would sell a lot of cars even if the export comes to a full stop. Everything in Ulsan was Hyundai, even the gas stop was Hyundai so when Hyundai goes belly up it is
bad news for Ulsan and of course for Korea.We arrived to the Queen something, a Panama tanker
anchored waiting to load.We left the guys that had missed the launch service yesterday and they climbed onboard on their ship and we continued towards Maersk Cassandra.
Took us about 10 minutes to get to Maersk Cassandra from the other ship.
with my camera hanging around the neck and I was lucky to make it up without destroying it.It is not all that easy to climb a pilot ladder. But as soon as I was on the accommodation ladder it was a piece of cake.
Well, anyway, it was nice to be onboard and no
more travel until it is time to go home.But it is very nice to have left the suitcase at home. From now on I'm only travel
with my helicopter packing and most of it is snus.I really hope that the snus will last me until it is time to sign off.One of the ABs brought my bags to my cabin and I went to see the Chief Officer in the CCR. He was happy to see me. He had been worried that I wouldn't make it in time to relieve him. Well, I almost
missed my flight. But now I'm onboard.The ship was almost exactly as M/T Barcarolle. Accommodation was a wee bit different and there was some minor differences on deck. But otherwise it was the same ship.
I knew the Captain from when I was on Bro Anton when he was working with me as 2nd Officer and I was Chief Officer. So we had a lot to talk about.
Latest news is that we will get our Pilot 7 o'clock tomorrow morning so that gives me a day with the
off signing Chief Officer. And we started with a tour on deck in the afternoon. It was a very nice day, but darn, it was cold.Time turned quick and it was soon time for dinner and we did some paper work after dinner. I expected us to wake up early tomorrow so I went to bed at 10. As soon as I was in bed the ship started to roll heavily and it continued the whole night and it was impossible to sleep. And I was almost rolling out of bed 2 times during the night.
+++++++++++++++
Friday 9 th
of December 2011
and I woke up when someone knocked on my door. Almost 9
o'clock and no rolling. I looked out the window and we were alongside. I had a shower and I went down to Chief Officer's office. Loading Master, Surveyor, Safety guy and Agent, plenty people and the paper work was in full swing.We will load 2 parcels of gasoline, 1 parcel at the time and
we started to load around 11 o'clock and we expect to be ready tomorrow around lunch time. It will be very nice to leave for Singapore, Onsan is very cold, about 2°C when I came down to the office. But the sun is shining and we're not rolling so I'm OK.I had a chat with our 2nd Officer in the afternoon. He is on the 12 to 4 watch and he told me that he was writing an accident report.
- What thehave happened? I asked.I thought it was an accident onboard, but it turned out that 2 ships had run in to each other yesterday afternoon. He had taken a video and pictures of the collision.
- Can I have a copy for my web page.
- No problem, he said handing me a USB memory.
I dashed off to my cabin to copy the video and pictures to my computer. And of course I will upload
all the excitements to my web page.And as you can see the ship is very close to our ship. Both ships just proceeded without taking any action. Well, the big ship could not do very much.
Changing course to Port and he would have run in to the “Give way ship” and if he would have changed course to Starboard he would have hit us. When the video starts the red gas tanker had just changed her course hard to Port and the big bulk carrier cannot stop in time. Of course, it takes time to stop a ship.
According to the 2nd Officer the big ship called the small ship to ask if they had any injured people onboard. The only answer from the small gas tanker was:
- Why you run in to us?
- I just want to know if there are any injured people on your ship. Let the court decide the rest.
DD Leader and Inchon Gas collide at Ulsan anchorage
30 minutes passed by and our 2nd Officer never heard any report from any of the involved vessels and
he called the VTS.- Has there been a collision? Where? When?
Well, strange behaviour. No one reports having been involved in a collision and the VTS had no clue, and this is the people monitoring the traffic.
And imagine if the big ship had hit the gas tanker straight on damage her cargo tanks, could have ended with nothing less than a disaster. And on the radar screen pictures you can see how the gas tanker Inchon Gas had changed course in the last
minute. 1 minute earlier and they would have been in the clear. 10 seconds later and it would have been a wee bit different story. No people injured and light damage to the ship and they were lucky. Today, what about next time?There was a Korea guy coming onboard later on in
the afternoon and he asked our 2nd Officer for the pictures. I think he was from the P&I company. I was in the CCR and I could hear him cross exam our 2nd Officer. They asked him where the bulk carrier was
bound and other stupid questions.What kinds of question is that? Why asking our 2nd Officer, he knows f@ck all about where they were going. He was just a witness. Why don't they ask the crew on
the involved ships? Maybe they have left Korea behind.When the Korean guy left I had to tell him to shake our 2nd Officers hand. That was the least he could do after all the help. Hell no, a hand shake is not good enough, a hug would be more appropriate.
Well, our 2nd Officer got a half arse hug and the guy left.Well, Koreans are very special. They guy was in my office screaming for the 2nd Officer who was busy in the CCR with the loading. Our 2nd Officer is doing him a huge favour and at least I was expecting, if not
a humble behaviour so at least some gratitude. But no, screaming and shouting and I almost lost my temper.But this seems to be the Korean way. And everywhere I go you hear people hawking and clear the throat all over the place. And believe me, it is not any tactful hawking. And believe me, after
hours at the airport I know all about their noises. I did go for a piss one time and I decided
to hold on until I was in my hotel in Ulsan. I would prefer to piss my pants before going to one of those bathrooms again. They went on with their business behind locked doors with
loud bangs and splashes. Motherf@ckers!!
J would have loved the place, sneaking around with his camera to get some PANNBIFF pictures. Well, anyway, I wonder if the Korean girls goes on like this as well, I don't think so
or the Korean race would have been under threat of extinction.Imagine breeding with a fart machine like that, would have been
impossible, at least sober.We had a port state control in the afternoon and it went pretty well. The only way to go ashore here is by a service launch and there was on to pick up our guys at 16:30. I had asked our 2nd Officer if he could buy some computer speakers for me when he was ashore.
- No problem!- That's the spirit!
I need speakers for my office. We have 9 days to Singapore and I have a whole lot of reading to do and I will have to spend quite some time in my office and
in the CCR on the way to China. And of course, I will have to make sure our crew is busy on deck.Well, we expect to complete the first parcel around 4 o'clock in the morning so I went to bed around 8 o'clock trying to catch some sleep. I was lucky and I managed to fall asleep and I woke up 20 minutes before 11 in the evening. Perfect, I can have a quick cuppa before our 2nd Officer returns at midnight and he will
hopefully have some loudspeakers for me.+++++++++++++++
Saturday 10 th
of December 2011
and our 2nd Officer didn't find any loudspeakers ashore.- Captain and I walked around town half the night looking for speakers but we never found any.
DARN! Big disappointment! My night was destroyed. I had expected to enjoy music in my office
during the night.We completed the first parcel around 4 thirty and we resumed loading of the 2nd parcel just before 5 and I went to bed. And was impossible to sleep, last night heavy rolling and no sleep and tonight it was
so cold so it was impossible to fall asleep. So I wasdead tired when they called me at 9 o'clock.Yes, I was slightly annoyed, ice cold in my cabin and the shower didn't improve my mood. It was like ice water coming out from the shower and my shower was a very quick one.
But my mood was soon improved. When I came down in the CCR the crew was planning for shore leave. They will leave with the service launch at 1 o'clock, the very same launch the off signing Chief Officer and Pump man will leave with.
I asked our Romanian 2nd Officer if he could by loudspeakers for me.
- I have a pair in my cabin! I bought them in USA and I'm not using them.
- MOTHERF@CKER! What are you waiting for? Bring 'em down!He was back in 18 seconds with a pair of loudspeakers and the music was soon blasting high in my office. Things are falling to place around here. Our Bosun asked if he was allowed to go ashore.
- No problem, but you have to bring back 2 cases of Diet MAX
or Diet NEX
We expect to complete loading around 23:40 tonight and departure time is set to 02:00 tomorrow
morning. And as I had not had any sleep for 2 nights I went for a POWER NAP in the afternoon and our 2nd Officer woke me up at 5 thirty. We have one Indian 2nd Officer and 2 Romanian 2nd Officers onboard.I had asked the 2nd Officer on the 4 to 8 watch to call me
at 5 thirty and I went down for my dinner. I expected the crew to be back around 7 thirty and I was delirious with anticipation.Will they manage to get Diet MAX or Diet NEX for me? And yes, when they came back our Bosun was carrying 2 cases of Diet NEX . Before ripping open a can I gave our Bosun a hug. Diet NEX is not even close to be as good as Diet MAX but it was a festive mood in my office when I tried the first can of Diet NEX
We completed loading at 23:48 and arm was disconnected at 23:54. They had been worried that we would not be able to finish loading before midnight. I told them that we were able to receive 3200m³/h if they wanted to complete loading quickly.
They had just managed to give us around 1300m³/h. But I managed to load so we could keep full loading rate until just 2 minutes before completion. We can take 800m³/h and tank so I had to keep 2 tanks open until the end to be able to take the 1300m³/h.
So I topped the second last tank just before completion and they reduced to 600 per hour when we had 2 minutes loading time left and I had 1 tank to go.
+++++++++++++++
Sunday 11 th
of December 2011
and we did paper work and I never experienced something like this before. I don't know why the Koreans like to make a lot of noises. Screaming in mobile phones and
screaming at each other.- What the
Captain told me that it was even worse in China.
- Is it possible?I spoke with the Surveyor and I asked him why the girls in Seoul were so beautiful and that in Ulsan I saw maybe 1 beautiful girl.
- 60% have had plastic surgery
- 60%!!??
He also told me that there only was one hospital when they started (now there are plenty of hospitals) with this plastic surgery a few years back and that all the girls looked the same back then.
- They could only make 1 face
- What about the boys?
- It is only girls doing the surgery
It was very nice when we finished the paper work. The copy machine in my office capsized and
stopped to work so I had to make the last copies in the Engine Control Room. Pilot was onboard 12 minutes past 2 o'clock in the morning and we left Onsan 20 past 2 o'clock2 tug boats assisted us when we left the jetty in Onsan. We turned around and we left on an Easterly course and it will
hopefully be warmer in 2 or 3 days heading South towards Singapore.As soon as the 2nd Officer came up on the bridge I went to my office to finish the last paper work before going to bed.
c
Leaving Onsan
It was 6 o'clock or more before I managed to fall asleep. And I woke up at 13 thirty when Captain called and asked for arrival draft. When I came down to our day room it was all decorated
for Christmas with flashing lights “Asian style”. The
crew were busy with Christmas decorations and Christmas gifts when I came to the crew day room.
I could see that they were wrapping up loud
speakers for computers, well, wouldn't surprise me if I got Christmas gift containing loudspeakers when I have arranged for loud speakers already.- Isn't it very early for Christmas?
But the crew didn't agree with me. They told me that they had started in the middle of November last year. Well, lucky me that I wasn't onboard then.
Well, stupid me thinking that I would be able to escape Christmas. Christmas or die! But it is better to have the Christmas onboard than back home. I was sick of all the Christmas decorations when I left FUNKY TOWN.
It will
hopefully be removed already by the time I'm back home.
a problem on many ships. New Chief Officer every time and they only put the stuff in drawers or where ever they can find a place for what I call old garbage.So I usually spend a few days cleaning up old papers and rearrange stuff in my office. Also an excellent way to learn how to find stuff onboard.
And of course, I enjoy my tea or Diet NEX while doing the job. As our Bosun asked today.
- How many of those are you drinking every day? 10 or more?- Well, I don't know. Who counts?
I returned to my cabin after dinner and I hope I will be able to fall asleep tonight. One night of
work and I'm sleeping until 13 thirty and the next night is f@cked up.Well, anyway, I brought out my Thai books today. At least I put them next to my bed and I will
hopefully open my books every day from now on. And I really hope I can get my diet back on track so I look good when I'm coming back home to Bangkok.But I'm not sure if I will open my Thai books tonight,
most likely not. Maybe, but for sure tomorrow. And I will have to speak with our Cook, to see if he can help me with a daily onion. I have not asked if he have tuna onboard. But I saw black bread so it will be onion, black bread and tea for breakfast and dinner.And lunch, yeah, why not. Yet another great idea. I will spend the lunch in m cabin reading my Thai
books. I WILL LOSE WEIGHT WHILE LEARNING THAI. And thinking of it, that
sounds like something I can make money from, a lot of money. LEARN A LANGUAGE WHILE LOSING WEIGHT! Motherf@cker, I'm on to something here, for sure!+++++++++++++++
Monday 12 th
of December 2011
and I woke up 5 minutes after 8 when Captain called me.
- Your office is full of people waiting for you
- OK, I'm comingDARN! I had to the crew that we would meet in my office at 8 to discuss today's work, and of course the most important, the GOOD MORNING group hug.
Well, this turned in to nothing, no shower and no tea and my mood could have been better. The
guys had to prepare the welden pump at DB 3 Stb and they had to remove the fundament to the winch for the starboard accommodation ladder. Our Fitter will make a new one and the guys can chip and paint the deck around the winch. I had expected us to have the welden pump up and running in DB 3 Stb before 9, but the paper work for this job took very long time.And at 10 o'clock it was time for our Management meeting. Well, actually after the coffee break. But when is there any time for Chief Officer to have a coffee break?
Our meeting lasted to lunch time, actually a few minutes past lunch time so it was too late to start
with my Thai books and I decided to start my
new life tomorrow and I joined the guys for lunch.But I have made arrangements for tomorrow I asked our Steward if he had onions.
- Yes
- Do you have tuna?
- Yes
- With or without oil?
- Hmm, I don't kn.......- Well, never mind
I will have a onion and a can of tuna for me for breakfast every day from now on.
- And if you see me for lunch, please punch my nose
so hard I will never come back.
Bosun and Pump Man in my office
I had asked our Pump Man and Bosun to be in my office 10 minutes after 1 so when I finished my lunch I went to check our gas detectors as we should do before every use. Our Romanian 2nd
Officer wanted to join me with the gas equipment and he also wanted to join Pump Man and Bosun going down the ballast tank.But they were going to have a bridge management meeting in the afternoon so he could not join us.
- But I appreciate the spirit, I said to him.
I also told him that there would be more opportunities before he signs off in Singapore.
I finished the test of the gas detectors before our Pump Man and Bosun came to my office. We discussed the job and the dangers involved in entering a tank. The AB on watch arrived to my office and we took the equipment and we left for deck. I measured the tank and our Pump Man and Bosun
entered the tank and they were back up after 30 minutes.I spent the rest of the afternoon with paper work. Well, I did a PIRACY course on the computer while our Bosun checked our paint in the paint store.
So our Chief Engineer and I ordered paint and we filled up some lists and we finished 5 minutes after 6, just in time for dinner. And I had also had had the time to take some pictures in the engine room. I changed to a new printer this morning and it is not installed on the server so I need to go to the ECR to get my prints.
Top of our main engine
Top of our main engine, and we can see that we have 6 cylinders
Top of our main engine, and we can see our auxiliary engines
I went straight to my cabin after dinner, well, it was almost 8 o'clock. I had spent some time telling cock-and-bull stories with our Captain. But I was tired and I hope I manage to fall asleep early tonight. Not like this morning, I felt a sleep at 6 and it was time to wake up at 8. Well, this
is the life for the Chief Officer. One day you go to sleep 7 in the morning and the next day you have to wake up at 7 thirty.Well, I guess that's one of the reasons for paying me handsomely, maybe the responsibility has something to do with it.
Bur seriously, I would have prefer to be at Bangkok fight Club losing weight.
+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 13 th
of December 2011
and today they managed to call me at 7 thirty and I was in the mess room 20 minutes later. Our Mess man prepared a can of tuna and a onion for me while I did
my tea and black bread.I had a meeting with the crew in my office at 8 and we will continue in the ballast tank 3 Stb. So there is plenty
paper work for me to do before the guys can enter the tank.I brought my tea to my office and I meet the crew and we discussed today's work. Most of the day will be spent with the ballast pump in ballast tank 3 Stb. So we finished the meeting in a jiff so we could get started with today's job. And of
course, we had to take time for a GOOD MORNING hug before the crew
left for deck. Well, the first picture turned out to be nothing but a disappointment.My bald spot
clearly visible so we had to get a second picture and a second GOOD MORNING hug. Can't say that I look any better on the second picture, but at least
we can't see as much of my bald spot.The crew ran out on deck to prepare things and Pump Man and Bosun stayed behind. We had a few items to discuss and I could have my tuna and onion while we discussed all these important things.
We finished the morning meeting and we had plenty to do during
the day so no time to waste hanging around having a good time in Chief Officer's office.
- GET YOUR ARSES ON DECK!
Pump Man and Bosun whizzed out on deck and I went to Captains office to get some copies that I had printed. I have a brand new printer, but we need to install it on the server before i can use it. I got a box from Captain.
- This week is a safety campaign regarding “Enclosed space entry”.
There was a schedule in the box together with posters, leaflets and information.
Day 1: Post poster #1 and hand out leaflet #1
Day 2: Post poster #2 and hand out leaflet #2
Day 3: Post poster #3
Day 4: Show safety movie and discuss the safety campaign week
Well, I'm pretty sure the crew is delirious with anticipation. Imagine looking forward to a new
poster and leaflet every day. More suspense than we can handle, almost like a few days before
Christmas when I was a child.We have a tag system to mark out tanks, SAFE FOR ENTRY and DO NOT ENTRY and each crew member should have a tag to hang at the entrance when entering a tank. Well, it is not in use, so I made new tags for the crew and we started to use the tag system when we entered the ballast tank 3 Stb. And this is only day 1, imagine on day 4.
The whole day was spent in ballast tank 3 Stb and I spent the day with paper work regarding ballast tank 3 Stb. I hope this will be ready tomorrow so I can inspect the aft peak on Thursday
and then I can spend the rest of the days until we reach Singapore preparing my paper work for discharging and to get to know the paper and binders in my office.Well, it was almost 7 thirty when I was back in my cabin for a shower. They will hopefully
start the A/C tomorrow, it is starting to get darn hot.+++++++++++++++
Wednesday 14 th
of December 2011
and it is the second consecutive day they manage to wake me up at 7 thirty. A long shower and I went to grab my tea cup in the galley. And I was in my office a
few minutes before 8 to start the crew. Slight rolling and we cancelled the job in the ballast tanks due to risk of slipping and tripping.But there is plenty to do for the crew on deck. They started to remove the winch for our accommodation ladder on the port side. Chipping and painting. Our Fitter has completed the stand for the winch to starboard accommodation ladder.
So I had my best guy in the engine room painting the new stand, 5 layers and we will put it back when the painting is ready.
And I could finally start plan for the discharging in
Singapore. And while I do my cargo plans I learn to know the ship looking in manuals and
binders. And there is a lot of information to get from old cargo plans.The ship was rolling this morning, but at 11 o'clock we were between The Philippines and Taiwan and we changed course to SW. The rolling decreased a wee bit and I was
hoping that the crew could finish clean the bottom of DB 3 Stb from mud in the afternoon.But we ended up having a cabin inspection and we decided to start the job in the ballast tank tomorrow. I spent
the rest of the afternoon in my office with the loading program.Back in my cabin and I started to flip through my ISPS binders and I discovered a safety Officer course on a CD that we had been looking for a few days. It was under a lot of old books and stuff on my book shelf.
I put the CD in my computer and I finished the course, and believe me, it took less than 3 minutes for me to get very annoyed with the small guy lecturing on the CD. He was at least irritating and it didn't made things better that the certificate came out of the printer looking like shit. But I will not take the course again. I went to Captain with my certificate and we ended up talking and suddenly it was 11 o'clock in the night. A few words on my web page and then I'm off to bed.
+++++++++++++++
Thursday 15 th
of December 2011
and I woke up late. It was 8 o'clock when I came in to my office. Before going to bed and I read a sign in the crew's mess room.SHIP'S TIME RETARDED BY 1 HOUR TONIGHT. 01:00 > 00:00
I adjusted my wrist watch accordingly and when it was 8 my time was 7. The crew spent the whole day in DB 3 Stb & Port. And the sign
SHIP'S TIME RETARDED BY 1 HOUR TONIGHT. 01:00 > 00:00
was still in the crew's mess when I went to speak with the crew in the afternoon.- Are we retarding the ship's time tonight?- No on Saturday
- Why is the sign here?
- It is since the last time we retarded ship's time.
Well, I asked our 2nd Officer on the 4 to 8 watch to call me quarter to 8 every morning from now
on. The AB calls me at 7 thirty, but just to avoid future misunderstandings I will have a second wakeup call quarter to 8 in the morning.+++++++++++++++
Friday 16 th
of December 2011
and I was in my office 10 minutes before 8 to get my tea cup. I had the crew to remove the covers on the manholes to the aft peak, fore peak and stb
chain locker. I tested my gas detecting instruments and I did some paper work before I went down to the engine department to look for the aft peak.I'm obviously confused with all the different ships I have been on. I thought the access to the aft peak was accessible from a door outside the ECR. But now I realise that it was on Ek-River. So I had to go up on poop deck and then down to our steering engine.
Of course, I had time to stop to take a few pictures of our engine crew working on the main engine. They are on top of
the engine working. The whole engine is like a 4 or 5 storey house so it is quite a big engine.We inspected the aft peak and I asked the guys to cover the manhole again. Our Bosun and I returned to my office and I was waiting for the work permit for the Chain locker and fore peak.
Well, I never received any enclosed space entry permits in return and what a waste of time this turned out to be. Well, anyway, I decided to check the chain locker from the deck level. The chain locker is full of anchor chain so it wouldn't have made any sense to enter the place. I could see as much just by sticking in my head while standing on deck level.
I spent the afternoon in my office. And I finished my Thai books during my lunch, just want to mention it so you know. I completed the first discharge plan and things start to fall to place with
my paper work. I will do a second discharge plan tomorrow just in case we will start with the Grade-B parcel. I will also do a loading plan so I'm ready to load the gasoline again.The plan is for us to discharge in Singapore and then to reload 268,000 Bbls and discharge in Turban, Indonesia. But no confirmation so far.
We got inquires about a cargo of gasoline and gas oil from Singapore to Australia and this is
something I look forward to. 2 weeks to Australia and we will have time to really get started with the chipping and painting on deck. Right now we're only working on our ballast pumps and we are working our way through a DEFECT LIST on deck. A shore list, but there are painting and new stuff to make for our Fitter. So the crew is busy.So a 2 week voyage to Australia would be nice. I will be fully familiar with my office and the chipping off deck will be in full swing. We have 3 extra guys onboard for chipping and painting and I really hope we get paint in Singapore. Painters and no paint is not a good combination.
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 19 th
of December 2011
and I was in my office 10 minutes before 8 to get my tea glass. I had a glass of tea and 2 slices of black bread for breakfast in my office.- What about your tuna.
- Just keep it, I will have it for lunch.
- You want me to cover it in plastic?
- Plastic!!?? Motherf@cker, we're killing ourselves and you want to spend more plastic!!I finished my second discharge plan. We have two parcels and I don't know which parcel we're going to start with. But now I'm prepared, Aladdin's ONE STEP AHED philosophy and they can bring on anything in Singapore and we're ready to start discharging immediately. Saving time and money instead of wasting money waiting alongside while I prepare a new discharging plan.
10 o'clock and I got sick, fever and I lost my energy. I was feeling sick and it was like I was going
to puke. I really felt like shit and I could hardly walk up the stairs. We have an elevator but I always take the stairs.This lasted to 12 o'clock when I went to bed to read my Thai books. I felt better when I went down to my office 10 minutes before 1 o'clock.
Yes, I was ready for the GRAND FINALE of the “ enclosed space entry
” safety campaign week.I went to my office to pick up my exciting campaign material. Or what was left of the exciting campaign material. I have put up all the posters and I
have handed out the leaflets.- Where theis my exciting campaign material?The exciting campaign material was no longer in my office. Well,
turned out that one of our 2nd Officers had the DVD in the day room preparing for the exciting GRAND FINALE of the “ enclosed space entry
” safety campaign week. Both our Romanian 2nd Officers were in the day room and we had a few minutes to go before we would kick off the GRAND FINALE.Not enough time for me to have tea and my tuna so I put the plate at my place and I will have it
after the afternoon extravaganza.The crew started to drop in and I could see that they were excited. What is Chief Officer up to?Chief Officer always kicking up a shindy.
We finished the movie about enclosed space entry and we discussed the move before we got on with the (is it possible) even more exciting movie
about armed robbery.We finished the movie and we
discussed the very same movie and we went through the procedure at
pirate attacks. I really hope that we're going to stay in SE Asia. I have nowishes for Gulf of Aden or the Arabian Sea.We finished the afternoon excitements in the day room by discussing oil spill. And before we went on deck for the oil spill I took the opportunity to get a picture of us. Well, them, I was the one taking
the picture so obviously I'm not on the picture.
Maersk Cassandra Dream Team
I got my picture and I told the guys that we would meet on deck in a few minutes.- So there are time for those of you that smoke
to have a coffin nail, I said.I don't know if it's due to my new hair cut or if it's because Christmas is around the corner. But the crew demanded a group hug.
- GROUP HUG!! GROUP HUG!! GROUP HUG!!
Well, who am I to say no and destroy the Christmas spirit?
A group hug getting out of hand
A group hug getting out of hand, talking about building a team spirit
We went on deck to check out oil spill equipment and we were ready 30 minutes later and the crew
could go to enjoy their coffee break and I went to my
office to continue with my paper work. Yes, Saturday or not, Chief Officer is always busy.I went to get a bucket of tea and I spotted our 3rd Engineer in one of the lockers.
- Yo! What are you up to?
- I'm looking for Christmas decorations for my cabin.
- Are you serious?I told him that he should be happy that he is not home to experience all the Christmas row.
Christmas and all crew wanted to have their pictures with me and they managed to keep me busy. I had to escape the crew's day room. Well, I managed to finish my load plan before dinner. It looks like we will discharge all gasoline in Singapore and then reload
268,500 Bbls to Turban, Indonesia.Nothing is confirmed, but I
want to be one step ahead. And I'm learning a lot about the ship while doing cargo calculations and loading plans.I finished a few minutes before 6 o'clock and I went to the mess room to prepare my tea for dinner. One of our Romanian 2nd Officers was playing TV games without 2nd Officer from India. Nintendo or X box or whatever they call it. I asked them if they were not too old to play TV
games. They
just gaped at me.- Too old...My tea was ready and no one in the mess room. They guys were playing TV games and our Romanian 2nd Officer's wife was watching them. Where is our Chief Engineer?
He is always in the mess room at 6 for dinner and he is a very nice company so I went to look for him. He was in the crew's mess room drinking beer. Well, beer, Maersk has a strictly ZERO tolerance for alcohol so it is alco free BECKS beer.
Playing TV games
Playing TV games
Turned out that Captain had his birthday so there was cake, a setback for my diet. But I will really get my diet back on track on Monday. I can't remember the last time I did any
push ups
or sit ups.
But it was not yester day, that is for sure.And my squat down exercises, it was easier when I was on watch, every 30 minutes, a set of push ups and squat
downs. We have a punch bag onboard, but I have not seen any gloves.And I need to start to do my shadow
boxing, I have picked up a few new moves at Sophia Muay Thai Gym and I need to do the shadow boxing for a month or two.We were sitting in the day room when our Romanian 2nd Officer's wife asked about the bingo. Bingo? We didn't know anything about bingo. But I finished my tea and I went over
to the crew's day room with Captain to check it out.They were preparing for Bingo, but first we were
singing happy birthday and our Bosun handed over a birthday gift to Captain.We started to play, but our 3rd Engineer had to
explain the rules before start. He was in charge of the numbers.I had never been playing Bingo and now when I'm pushing 100 I have done it on 2 ships, this ship and my last ship. But it is great fun and I had my camera with me.
And in order to get some pictures of our 3rd Engineer explaining the rules I had to pretend that I understood f@ck all and he had to repeat the rules several times.
 |
 |
 |
3rd Engineer explains the rules
- Please, I don't understand. Can you please explain?I took several pictures while he was explaining.
- A full horizontal or vertical is Bingo.
- Hmm, what is vertical?
- It is a row starting from the top going down, 5 numbers in a row and you have Bingo
He showed on his Bingo card while I was taking pictures.- And what the f@ck is horizontal.
- Man you're really stupid! It is a full row going from left to rightI had the pictures I needed.
- OK, Motherf@cker let's get started already!
We can start and our 3rd Engineer is in charge of the Bingo
And we can start
The spirit is high
Please observe that I mark my number with M&M so when we complete the game I, well, you understand that I can't put back the M&M in the bowl. I started by kicking arse. I could put a
M&M on my Bingo card every time our 3rd Engineer pulled
a number. Yes, I was kicking arse and I was convinced that we had a winner. But suddenly it came to a
full stop and the M&M ended up in my mouth instead of on my Bingo card.I was growing bigger by the minute and my Bingo card looked pathetic compared with the
other Bingo cards. I just knew that I would not win the first Bingo set. Well, I took the opportunity to take some pictures.And winning is not important, it is important to have fun. Buthmm, if someone would have told me that I was going to play Bingo 10 years ago I would just have gaped at them.
- Bingo??!! Are you crazy?Yes, strange what time can do to people. 10 years ago and I would have preferred to jump overboard instead of playing Bingo and now I found it very fun. Well, of course nothing I would do a Saturday night in FUNKY TOWN.
But,hmm, who knows? Maybe in 5 years I'm ready to take on Bingo in FUNKY TOWN.
Well, anyway, it didn't take long before one of our AB's was screaming Bingo. Do we have our first winner? 3rd engineer, assisted by our Bosun checked his Bingo card.
Our first winner?
And yes, we have our first winner
First picture didn't turned out so well
And yes, we had our first winner. I took a picture when our Bosun handed him the prize. But I
wasn't satisfied with the picture so I told the AB to give back the prize to our Bosun so we could do it one more time.We had the enthusiasm bubbling in our blood and we were
having the second Bingo game up and running. And I had to start all over again with new M&Ms.The second game and I was soon realising that I wasn't going to win this. And I was right, I only had 4 M&M on my Bingo card (several more had found the way down my throat) when someone shouted BINGO. More pictures and we could start the third game.
Our Chief Engineer was shouting Bingo and our 3rd Engineer and Bosun scrutinised his Bingo card. And yes, he had Bingo and I could take yet another picture of our Bosun handing over a prize.Hmm, who will take the picture of me when I'm winning?
Chief Engineer, our third winner for the evening
We started the 4th Bingo game and now it was full Bingo card that would win the prize. I started
slow, my Bingo card was empty when the other had half full Bingo cards. But I came out strong in the end.I had 2 numbers left and there were 5 that missed number 29. And of course, next number was 29 so there were 5 people screaming Bingo. And a full Bingo card, or what they call a “BLACK OUT” and this was the grand prize. So everyone was excited.
5 people with a full Bingo card
5 people with a full Bingo card
The one that pull the highest number win
Our Cook pulled number 1 so he was out of the game without even having to see what the other
pulled. Our fitter won the grand prize and I expected the Bingo evening to have come to an end.But no, now they decided to play one more game and this time we played speed Bingo.
Reminded me of when we were young playing Monopoly. We invented the speed Monopoly to be able to win more money quicker. Or, well, lose money quicker. That was the only fun part when we played monopoly, to take home the money. Playing the game wasn't very fun.
Yeah, finally someone that understands the “shoulder up” only technique
Yeah, finally someone that understands the “shoulder up” only technique
Well, anyway, last game and we only needed the corners, 4 numbers and I was soon the winner.
Our Bosun was handing me the prize and the 2nd Officer took our picture. And I was impressed that he understood the “shoulder up” only technique. Actually pictures I can use on my web page.My prize was delivered in a bigger box than our Chief Engineer got and I told him that it wasn't necessary to look sullen. His prize might be nicer than my prize. But only maybe. But one thing is for sure, my wrapping was nicer.
And just to make sure I told the crew that the wrapping
was to be thrown in the plastic garbage bin and not in the paper bin.I ripped open my prize and Captain could not hold it back. He ripped open his gift and it turned out that it was the same in his package as in my package.
Headphones with a microphone to be used with a computer. Last time when I joined a ship I joined with a helicopter and I was told to pack a helicopter pack.This was very convenient and I packed a heli packing this time as well. And now it was even
nicer because we didn't need to fly any
helicopter. And of course, it was very nice with my new small 18" computer instead of 12 kilos of Dell. So it was very comfy to join the ship, but believe me, there is no space in my luggage for any headphones. So I wrapped the package again and I returned the prize.- For next time.
So now they had an extra prize for next Bingo session. Well, I was sick during the morning so I never managed to finish my Thai book during the lunch. But well, it is Saturday so it should be my day off from studies. But I need to go to update my web page. But before I left I had yet another group picture.
Well, we're better of splitting the month of December in to 2 pars before this page is blow out of proportions. So just click HERE and you are there in a jiff!
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting 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. 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 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.
You are visitor no.
To www.aladdin.st since December 2005
Visitors from different countries since 26th of September 2011
