“The postings on this site are my own and don't represent Maersk Group's position, strategies or opinions. All views are my own”
January 2012
Sunday 1 st
of January 2012
and I was awake when my alarm went off at 7 thirty and I was in the mess room 15 minutes later to make myself some tea. Our Bosun and Captain was in my
office when I came back with my bucket of tea. We will have to transfer some tank cleaning water to the slop tank so we can discharge it through the ODME tonight.Our OS and the AB on watch started to remove the isolation valve to CT 1 while our Bosun and I got started with the tank cleaning water business.
And of course, the valve between the ROT and SLOP tank didn't work. Every valve we touch turns out to be crap. Well, I will have the guys to overhaul as many valves we can on the way to
Australia. The deck is in a real need for repair.So I was very happy when the AB and OS had removed the valve. But I was soon in a bad mood. No spares of what so ever in our Deck stores.
- What the
But our Chief Engineer told me that the Fitter had had a look at the valve and it would be ready tomorrow.
- YIPPEE
And by the way, it is a
New Year and I had not thought about it. But everyone wished me a happy New Year and I realised that it was a new year.- Happy for f@cking what?
- The New Year!!
- I thought we had put the f@cking Christmas and New Year behind us!
I was busy in my office until well past 6 o'clock and I will have to get going around midnight again. Then we will be 50 Nautical miles from shore and I can discharge 20 cubic meter of tank cleaning
water. It is clean water but I have to run it through the ODME. If I'm lucky we will manage to get the ODME to work.We had advanced ship's time by one hour during the afternoon and it was soon 19 thirty and I returned to my cabin for an episode or two of “How I met your mother”. And of course, the latest drivel on www.aladdin.st. I was tired but I will wait to go to bed until after the ODME adventure, but no wakeup call tomorrow. I will sleep until I wake up by myself and there will
hopefully not happening anything exciting tomorrow morning so they need to call me.+++++++++++++++
Monday 2 nd
of January 2012
and I was ready with all the ODME business around 1 o'clock and I left the CCR around 1 thirty. I was dead tired but I didn't managed to fall asleep until 4 o'clock
or something like that. Well,hmm, it might have been 5 o'clock before I felt asleep because I was dead tired when I woke up at 9 o'clock.The crew were painting on deck and our Bosun was purging cargo pumps while we waited for the cargo valve to be ready in the engine department.
Our Bosun was stripping the SLOP tank on port side one more time and we dipped the tank and it was empty. I had plenty paper work to do but there was a lot of stuff to do on deck and time really turned quick and it was soon time for lunch.
I started the IG after lunch in order to top up our SLOP tank and I was surprised that I managed
to find 30 minutes to do my loading plan without someone calling me on the radio. No time for my Thai books during the lunch and I had planned to finish early in the afternoon to get a chance to study my books.But there was a cubic ton of work that had to be done
and it was 6 thirty before I knew it and I had missed dinner. We were at Singapore OPL anchorage to get onboard supplies to repair the ship for the damages after the “Anchorage incident” last time in Singapore.They would also deliver a new anchor that they would put back on our chain. And according to our information the barge with the anchor would be waiting for us at arrival to the OPL anchorage. But there was no sign of any anchor, just a service boat with the equipment
to repair the damages to the hull. And this job is planned for the ballast voyage from Australia.It was soon getting dark and we started to lift onboard the equipment from the service boat. There were 5 or 6 people with the boat that would do our anchor, when
ever the barge with the anchor would arrive.And this was obviously the same crew that would join us in Australia to repair the ship. And they lifted onboard tons of stuff that we would bring with us.
It is getting dark quickly at Singapore OPL anchorage
So were the BIP is the barge with the anchor? They should be here at arrival and at 8 o'clock they told us that they would be here in 2 hours. 2 hours later it was 20 minutes and 1 hour later it was
in 5 or 6 hours. Well, what do I care? I'm just interested in getting onboard the stuff and paint our new
draft mark so I can get to bed.Amazing, they just dump a lot of stuff onboard with no thought about where to store it. Our poop deck was full of shit and there was a plate of steel, 6 by 2, 4 meters. Yeah, I lost my temper, who the hell came up with this idea? Why not cutting the plate in to 4 or 5 pieces? No one is thinking and I was not impressed. Seriously, to the hire anyone, just as long as the price is right. Yeah, today the low salary is the most important.
Well, it was midnight when I was back in my cabin, yet another day with a broken rest hours regulation. I told them not to wake me up tomorrow and I will
hopefully be able to sleep longer than to 9 o'clock. And I hope that we can get a service boat so I can come ashore to get a new watch and some Diet MAX
.Yeah, I have realised that I will have to send my best guy if I want any Diet MAX
+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 3 rd
of January 2012
and I woke up at 11:17. I woke up at 08:51 the first time, but I was lucky and I managed to fall asleep again.I was in a pretty good mood even though I ran in to shitty news first thing when I woke up. Well, that's was a good night sleeps do to you, turn you in to a good mood. Well, going ashore was
down the drain. We're going alongside at VOPAK tonight to load the gasoil instead of waiting for Oiltanking and the gasoline parcel. And I won't be surprised if we're going straight from VOPAK to Oiltanking.We will leave the OPL anchorage at 1 o'clock in order to take Pilot at Singapore at 18:00. We will drop the anchor for the Immigration and Authorities and we will get harbour Pilot at 22:30. And yes, yet
another full night!And as no surprise, I had to redo all my cargo plans again and I spent the afternoon in my office doing papper work at the same time as I and our Bosun started with the pre arrival checks and tests.
Approaching Singapore anchorage
Passing Singapore on our way to Sentosa anchorage
Passing Singapore on our way to Sentosa anchorage
Passing Singapore on our way to Sentosa anchorage
I was on deck when our Pilot approached and he was onboard 18 minutes past 17 hundred in the
afternoon. I tested the Emergency showers and then I went on the bridge to have a fag
with Captain.I had time for a episode of “How I meet you mother” before taking a shower after dinner.
Well, I was on my way in to the shower when I decided to go down on deck to make the last pre arrival tests with our Bosun. We had dropped our anchor at 7 o'clock and the Agent was in the ship's office.
- Yo! How are you?
- Not good, you f@cked up with my Diet MAX last time.
When he left the ship with the Immigration officer I told him that the Immigration officer had told me there was plenty Diet MAX in Singapore. Our Agent turned to the Immigration Officer.
- Do you know where to buy Diet MAX ? I never seen any in Singapore.
- Diet what??!!
Well, obviously our Immigration Officer did not even had a clue what Diet MAX was. But it was a nice try and I hope
I will have the chance to get ashore to buy some.I tried to get an hour of sleep before the harbour Pilot but I failed to fall asleep so I went down to my office for some paper work, but first a episode of “How I met you mother” and now I only have 5 episodes left and I will never have to watch the show again. And don't expect any more VIDS from the “How I met you mother”, unless, we're very lucky. But I don't think they manage to shape up before we're running out of episodes to watch.Hmm, maybe I can go back to the first 2 or 3 seasons trying to find something worthwhile putting on my web page.
Sentosa anchorage
Sentosa anchorage
Our Pilot was onboard at 22:54 and we had our anchor back onboard 12 minutes past 11. I expected us to be at VOPAK in a jiff, but there is obviously more than 1 VOPAK terminal. There is one VOPAK terminal just at the anchorage, but this was not the one we were bound for.
+++++++++++++++
Wednesday 4 th
of January 2012
and we had all fast at VOPAK @ 01:30 and our tanks were inspected and approved for loading at 02:50. But the Terminal was not ready to start loading until it was almost 5 o'clock.- We will start loading in 10 minutes
After thirty minutes and there was still no sign of any cargo. And I called them and yet again they told me 10 minutes. After 20 minutes there was no sign of them starting to load us. I called again and now they told me 1 hour. I told 2nd to call me when they were going to start and I went to bed. At 9 thirty we started loading and from there I was busy until 15 thirty.
No sleeping, except for the 3 hours this morning so I went to bed and I managed to get one hour before they called from CCR. Our Russian 2nd Officer and I went down to the CCR.
- What's the problem?
Well, he doesn't understand any English so I called the 2nd Officer on the 8 to 12 watch to stay in the CCR during topping. I was tired so it would have been dangerous to have me doing it. He arrived
to the CCR and I went back to bed. Of course, now it was impossible to fall asleep and we expect to be ready 2 o'clock in the morning. So you understand exactly how tired I will be during the night we have ahead of us.+++++++++++++++
Thursday 5 th
of January 2012
and I managed to fall asleep around 1 o'clock and they called me at 2 o'clock. And I was dead tired
- 1 hour to go
- What?- 1 hour to go- Ok, I'm comingI was almost falling asleep again, but I managed to get in to my shower and I went down to make
myself a bucket of hot chocolate. DARN! A new can of Milo is almost
empty and I just opened it to make myself a hot chocolate yesterday.A can of 400 g Milo powder is just enough for 2 hot chocolates (without whipped cream) and I realise that this was not so good for my diet. But I was tired and I needed something to wake up before going to the CCR.
The terminal told us that we would be ready at 3 o'clock but it was 10 minutes past 4 o'clock in the morning when they finished loading. They were
stripping the shore tanks so we had had a loading rate of about 280m³/h since 1 o'clock. Paper work was finished quarter past 7 and I was in the mess room at 7 thirty to make myself yet another hot chocolate. And I had to open a new can of Milo.Our Chief Engineer arrived to the mess room and a few minutes later our Captain showed up. I thought it was lunch time, but I realised that it was breakfast, I'm not used to have breakfast together with the other guys. Normally I have a cup of tea in my office. Well, it was nice to have breakfast with the guys for a change.
Toast and hot chocolate and we even had time for a quick fag
before it was time to go to the bridge for departure.Well, I even had time to make my first ever “near miss” report in my office before going to the bridge. We left VOPAK jetty #5 and I was in my bed at 9 o'clock and I slept until twenty minutes past 11 when it was time for more work. Well, no considerations about the rest hours. I looked out my windows and we had one bunker
barge on each side of us. One barge for DO and one barge for HFOWe expect one barge with lub oil later on in the afternoon. Well, nice to be ready with the bunker before the loading of our last parcel so there will be no need to pump ballast after the completion of the loading at Oiltanking. And we will most likely be able to go straight from Oiltanking to Australia.
I ran in to our new 2nd Officer first thing when I left my cabin for my office. He is from Burma and he joined the ship an hour or so earlier with our new Captain and Pump Man.
A bunker barge on each side
When I came down to my office the ship chandler came onboard and there was a boat delivering
stores at the poop deck. We got some paint, but what a
difference from when we got paint onboard M/T Barcarolle.We got 120 litres of primer and this will not last us very long. On Barcarolle I always ordered 1000 to 2000 litres of paint and she was looking like new when I signed off.
We got a new AB and he had a parcel for our
Chief Engineer. He had ordered
t-shirts for us from the Philippines.So he brought the parcel to my office and he ripped open the parcel to check the t-shirts
Blue Maersk t-shirts and the biggest size was XXL. I never tried it on, but it will
hopefully fit. But it is XXL Filipino size so I have my doubts. And I can't say that my diet has gone as I
had been hoping for.We got paint brushes but no rollers and the Ship chandler will
hopefully be able to deliver the rollers tomorrow.We also ordered wire cup brushes but the Ship chandler delivered wrong model so I wanted to send them back. But our Chief Engineer told me that he needed them in the engine room so he took them and the Ship chandler will try to deliver the right model to us.
We got a new 2nd Officer from Burma and our 2nd Officer from India was signing off. And of course, he got a new
t-shirt before he left for the service boat.Then he came to shake my hand.
- What the? We're way passed a hand shake
GIVE ME A HUG!Our 3rd Engineer started to scream PHOTO PHOTO!!
I gave him my camera and I got a souvenir from our 2nd Officer before he left. And I also got a picture of our 3rd Engineer when he
got a hug.I showed around our Pump Man on deck and this is the first time for him in Maersk. He is coming from Odfjell so I have high hopes for him. And he seems to know what he is talking about. Time turned
quick and it was suddenly quarter past 6 in the evening and I had a quick dinner before going for a shower in my cabin.There were 4 visitors from the crewing in Singapore onboard so my cabin seemed like a nice place to hide out. If I only had a cold Diet MAX and it would have been perfect.
No shore leave today and I really hope that I can find the time tomorrow, but I doubt it. So I will most likely have to wait until Australia to find any Diet MAX
And there is no more episodes of the “How I meet your mother” for me to kill time with so I might finish my web page about my first year in navigation school in Go:teborg back in 1985.
We're waiting for a slop barge and it will be here during the night and we will have to use our Welden pump to empty the tank so it might take a long time.
But it looks like we will stay at the anchorage the whole day tomorrow so I might have a chance to go ashore to buy some stuff that I need for the remainder of my time onboard.
+++++++++++++++
Friday 6 th
of January 2012
and I was back in bed around 1 thirty in the morning. It took us an hour or so to get our Welden pump up and running. When I came back on deck at 7 thirty we had
discharged around 40 m³ and we had about 15 to go.Our ROT tank was empty 20 minutes after 10 and we did some paper work while the crew disconnected the hose from our manifold. I received their paper work with the receipt of our slop water. And I
was surprised, and that's even though I have experienced many things during my days. And the Captain on the ship had been on me about soft drinks non-stop since they arrived alongside our ship yesterday.I looked through the documents and in the middle I found a paper where they were asking for cigarettes or soft drinks. “They had been up all night” I could not help myself and I asked for soft drinks and cigarettes for my crew. They had REALLY been up all night.
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 7 th
of January 2012
and I woke up 20 past 7 something and I looked out my window first thing. We were heaving up our anchor and we were obviously on the way to go alongside. I had a quick shower and I went down to the CCR to do the pre-arrival tests.We had all fast at Oiltanking #19 at 9 thirty six and I was surprised when we started to load the gasoline at 12:15. Must be a record breaking time, I had expected us to be around waiting for the whole afternoon.
Our Captain signed off in the afternoon. He called me on the radio and I was in the engine room working with a ballast valve. Strange, almost every valve we touch turns out not to be working. So our Pump Man will be busy on the trip to Australia repairing valves, and I suspect that I will have to order a few new valves as well.
+++++++++++++++
Sunday 8 th
of January 2012
and we were supposed to be ready between 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning. I had prepared myself with an afternoon nap and I was ready to stay up until 4 or 5. But they started to strip the shore tanks and
they managed to keep a rate of 250m³ only. So we didn't finish until 04:12 the first time.They called me in my cabin and told me that we were ready and I went down to make a hot chocolate. Calculations and then we started to load again and at quarter to 6 they stopped again and we did some more calculations and we started a third time and we didn't complete loading until 06:21. By now I was dead tired.
Pilot was ordered for 9 o'clock and we left just before 9 thirty and I went to bed. And I could not sleep and I went out of bed at 13 thirty, half an hour before my alarm was set to go off. Darn! I was so tired but I didn't manage to sleep. Well, I can as well go to write a few stupid words on my web page.
+++++++++++++++
Monday 9 th
of January 2012
and I woke up at 7. I was dead tired yesterday evening and I went to bed at 8, but I never managed to fall asleep so I went up again. But I think it was 10 or 11 when Yo
You are staying awake because of the Milo, it's an energy drink which will keep you active all the time, one tin for two mugs of drink aaaaarrrrrrrr.
So where in Aussie are you going ?
Well, I was out of bed at 7 and I was in the mess room for my tea and black bread 20 minutes before 8. I have
never been there earlier before, well, except for when I have been up all night long. And of course, all my sleepless nights have stirred up some reactions among the “FANS” and I
received e-mail about Milo and insomnia.Well, never mind about the insomnia. I started the day with a meeting in my office and I forgot the group hug. OK, I will have to do it tomorrow instead. We got an extra AB in Singapore, and we got a new Pump Man instead of the one we sent home last time after having taking onboard a, well, as he said the day after, his EX fiancée.
- Are you trying to blow smoke up my arse?
- No she is my EX fiancée.
Well, he came back from town and he sneaked onboard with the girl and when I found out the day after I was furious.
- DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE AMOUNT OF SHIT WE CAN END UP IN WITH THIS GIRL ONBOARD THE SHIP?
I was not happy and we sent him home. DARN! Human trafficking and drugs smugglers is on top of the shit list. And it is not allowed to bring unauthorised people to the terminal. Well, never mind,
our new Pump Man got right on with trying our Scanjet anti piracy machines. It is like a tank washing machine
hanging overboard spraying water preventing the pirates from coming onboard.2 OS and 1 AB with chipping machines on our pipes. Just chipping, brushing and painting when we have the weather for it.
Today it is raining, but I need to get started with the chipping so we can find out if we have
any broken pipes on deck that our Fitter need to repair. Our Bosun was busy cleaning our drip tray and draining them to our ROT tank.Yes, I as in a very good mood, finally we can get started with the job on deck. We have several valves that we need to overhaul and Pump Man will be busy the next few weeks.
Isn't it lovely with the sounds of the chipping machines?
When our Pump Man was ready with the anti piracy machines he went straight on with the purging of the cargo pumps. NIL in all of them, except CT 7 that we will have to have a look at after Australia. Ballast pumps are dry as a desert so they did a good job between Korea and Singapore repairing the pumps.
Yes, now I was like a fish in water. Deck looks like shit and there is plenty to repair. But I like it, every little bit the crew does is a move forward and when we finish in the evening I can see daily improvements and progress on deck.
I'll be darned! Is this the first “BEFORE” and “AFTER” pictures from Maersk Cassandra
Our Pump Man was kicking behinds on deck and the only worries I have now is if we have new bolts
for all the valves. The bolts looks like they have been there since they built the ship 16 years ago so we need to replace every bolt we remove.And yet again our Chief Engineer saved us. He has stuff for us in the engine room so we can continue overhauling our valves on deck.
Yes, our Chief Engineer is really a good guy to work with. He is funny and he is never complaining.
And he knows what he talks about. And it is strange, but during the years I have noticed that the more people speaks about how much they do and what they know, the less they know and do.And people that really working hard and know what they are talking about never mention it.
And our Pump Man Elvis, yes, his name is Elvis. And for sure, he is not farting along with a guitar singing “Heartbreak California”, it is the tune from his tools that makes me shake my hips.
“BEFORE” and “AFTER” pictures from M/T Bro Promotion. Last time for me in Broström and the reason for me to never come back
“BEFORE” and “AFTER” pictures from M/T Bro Promotion. Last time for me in Broström and the reason for me to never come back
“BEFORE” and “AFTER” pictures from M/T Bro Promotion. Last time for me in Broström and the reason for me to never come back
Yes, the Chief Engineer was all about talking but no action. We did the whole ship gas free for welding on deck, but, well, you can see for yourself on the above pictures. I was angry and I
demanded a ticket home and they sent me a ticket from Nigeria to Bangkok.I had been many times in Broström but this was the last time. But now when Maersk have taken over it is not allowed to drink beer and they have (
hopefully) managed to get rid of the worst people from Broström. But the strange thing was that it was our Hero Aladdin that ended up as the
trouble maker, not the people that spent most of the time
onboard dead drunk doing f@ck all.We have a remark from the inspection at VOPAK in Singapore that the certificate number on the bow stopper wasn't permanent. We have a painted number and this was obviously not enough. So I had one OS to chip the bow stopper and we will start punching the number on the bow stopper tomorrow.
This has to be done with a mandrel and a hammer so
this will take quite some time to punch the number in to the bow stopper. But I will have my best guy on the job so it will hopefully soon be ready.Yes, it was a pretty good day and even though I was
on deck most of the day I managed to get started to organise my officeAnd the Engine department started to kick arse with our high level alarm in CT 2 in the afternoon.
And off course, they sent their top guns. Our 3rd Engineer and our Chief Engineer. And by the way, our 3rd Engineer was ashore in Singapore and he bought a monster stereo for his car.
- I will install it before I pick you up at the airport in Manila when you arrive in March.
- F@cking A! But you need some good music!
I told him that he could copy my “music treasure”
- YIPPEE AY AY MOTHERF@CKER!!!The A-Team removed the high level alarm and I had Elvis to blind the hole and we will most likely
be able to put back a working high level alarm tomorrow.Time turned quick and it was soon 6 o'clock and time for dinner.
I had a bucket of tea and when I went to get my second bucket I changed my mind and I made myself a bucket of hot chocolate instead. But without the whipped cream, I have not had any whipped cream for a very long time now. Our Chief Engineer asked about the whipped cream.
- I have not seen you adding whipped cream for quite some time now.
- HEY!! PLEASE!! Don't get me started with the whipped cream again!!+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 10 th
of January 2012
and I woke up when my phone rang just a few minutes before 7 thirty when my alarm clock would go off. I had my shower and I was in the mess room for my
morning tea and black bread quarter to 8. And at 8 o'clock I was in my office for the “Kick off” meeting.
DARN! Yet again and I forgot the group hug. Well, tomorrow. Yes I can't forget it tomorrow, or the crew will think that I'm a total a-hole. I start every day with a“GOOD MORNING ASSHOLES AND MOTHERFUCKERS” when I'm coming in to my office for the “Kick off” meeting and that is OK as long as we finish the “Kick off” meeting with a group hug.
But if I forget the group hug, yeah, well, you understand what I mean......I went with our Bosun, Fitter and Chief Engineer on the
Monkey Island to check out our aft top mast. Our Fitter is going to do some job and we need to check out the best way to get him up there. Scaffolding, we will use the scaffolding that they brought onboard in Singapore.Well, that kept our Bosun and the 3 extra painters
busy until lunch, they were carrying scaffoldings from tank deck to Monkey Island.Our watch man was painting stencils on the fire line and foam line. Yeah, we had a remark from the inspection in Singapore that the isolation valves were not market with “Isolation valves” Yes, what did Aladdin say? If you don't know that this is a “Isolation valves” you should not be on a ship. Yeah, this is getting more and more stupid by the years. Safety, everyone is so concerned about the safety, but it is not allowed
to cost anything and the shipping companies are looking for cheaper and cheaper crews. And now a day it is so fantastic, they watch a DVD (training course) for an hour and suddenly they are experts and ready to take on anything. And throw in a “Risk assessment” on top of that and there is really nothing that can't be done.Our Pump Man continued with his valves and the OS was chipping pipes on deck and we got our first broken pipe
today. Luckily enough it was at the beginning of the pipe.Imagine spending time chipping the pipe and the hole is not until the end. Waste of time. But today the OS made a hole first thing when he started the chipping machine.
Yes, the job is running pretty smooth by now and I have time to attend to my office and my
equipment. I started with our gas detectors today and I will continue the work tomorrow. I still have to go on deck every now and then to check it out but it is nice to get out there to get “DIRTY”Well, Chief Officer is not getting dirty, but I can
give a few pointers, screaming a bit showing that I'm on top of things.We had one AB to mark our BOW STOPPER and I went forward to check out the job. Back in my office and I started with my test tubes and at 5 o'clock I
went to my cabin for a shower.We will have a meeting at 5 thirty and I want to be changed before the meeting.
We didn't finish the meeting until almost 6 thirty and when I finished my dinner I went over to the
crew's day room with the Chief Engineer.They were watching movie and I had a few fags before I returned to my cabin and my web page. I left crew's day room on my way for the stairs to C-Deck and my cabin. I ran in to our Chief Engineer and one of the painters.
I could not believe my eyes, they were going in to the elevator.
- Where theare you going?- To our cabins
- In the f@cking elevator!!??
Unbelievable, 2 decks up and I just had to join them so I could get a picture. I'm always using the stairs trying to keep fit.Hmm, stairs or not. Can't say that I have managed to keep fit.
+++++++++++++++
Wednesday 11 th
of January 2012
and I received my wakeup call a few minutes before 7 thirty so I made it to y alarm clock before the alarm went off at 7 thirty. A shower and I were in the mess room drinking tea quarter to 8. And DARN! Today was yet another day with only “Good morning ass holes and motherfuckers” and no group hug. I guess I'm too excited after handing out the job orders. I'm delirious with anticipation over the group hug, but as soon as I have handed out the jobs to the crew I'm in a hurry to get them started so the ship can look nice.
- I CAN'T HEAR THE CHIPPING MACHINES!! GET YOUR ARSES OUT ON DECK ON THE MOTHERF@CKING DOUBLE!!
- But.....
- SHE IS RED LIKE A FOX AND I CAN'T HEAR THE CHIPPING MACHINES!! GET YOUR ARSES OUT ON DECK ON THE MOTHERF@CKING DOUBLE!!
When the crew had left for deck I returned to the day room for a quick fag and a bucket of tea.
It was 20 past 8 when I was back at my office to start with my paper work. I
could still not hear the chipping machines.- What theI ran out from my office and I saw one of the gays in the door way out on deck. I sneaked up on him and I took a picture of him through the window in the door. Then I opened the door.
- Här skålas det minsann i stormhatt och semla!! Spela sitta o sjunga kör får du göra på din frivakt!!
- The ship is red like a fox and here you are having a
good time enjoying the scenery- But it is raining
- We have raincoats!
And hey! Isn't “Chipping in the rain” a famous song? I think I have heard a song going
something like “Chipping in the rain”, but I can of course be mistaken.I cranked up the Polish Hip Hop when I came back to my office and I started to do the last with
our gas detectors. I had emptied all our equipment and I made an inventory and I tested the equipment.Yes, finally, I have the time to check out what I have in my stores onboard. Bosun is in the changing room making
bags out of canvas. We have a store room full of charts and old cargo documents. We will bring the cargo documents to the conference room and all the charts will be brought to the bridge and I will have a store room big enough for the working clothes.Right now it is a disaster, a very small room outside my office and it is an embarrassment every time I take someone there to hand out working clothes. Impossible to find anything and I had to climb over everything. Well, this will
hopefully soon be arranged. As soon as our Bosun are ready with the chart bags.I actually got the idea from when I was onboard DE/T Randgrid, they had the charts not in use in canvas. And as you know me I improved the canvas idea so our Bosun are making handles so it will be like big canvas bags.
Well, anyway, I was in my office taking inventory over test tubes and calibration gas while our
Bosun was busy doing the canvas bags.I was at my desk enjoying my work while I had the Polish Hip Hop on full blast. Yeah, the music
was blasting high on the Richter scale so I didn't hear our Chief Engineer and 2nd Engineer coming in to my office.I turned around and they were behind me and our Chief Engineer did his best moves. Yeah, he was
really shaking it and of course, with music like this your arse would have throw a revolution at you if you would have been sitting down.And yeah-yeah, blah-blah I know what you think, that I'm exaggerating. So I will throw in a tune just so you can enjoy some Polish Hip Hop. Grammatik
 |
 Hop. Full blast, but I don't think I have to remind you about that.
|
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Yes, I can recommend you to go buy some music next time you're in Poland. And if you happen to
be in Gdansk go have a sushi at the DOM SUSHI down at the Canal. One of the very best sushi I have ever had.And I have been eating at Dom sushi both drunk and
sober and it was really good. And if I like it when suffering from a hangover force 9, 6 I knew it is good so Dom sushi is highly recommended by Aladdin.I still remember Gdansk in the summer of 2010, I
was signing off M/T Ek-Star in Gdansk and was flying to Rotterdam to join M/T
Ek-River and I had a few days in Gdansk. And I think we remember the Loading Master in Gdansk. He came onboard and he recognised me and I recognised him. Yeah, the very same guy I saw dancing on the bar counter early morning.Yes, I was lucky that it wasn't me that had made a tit out of myself that
time so it was all laughs and blah-blah-bla about the good ol' times when he came in to my office.Well, anyway, our Bosun was busy with the canvas bags and I was busy in my office. I expected the
canvas bags to be ready after lunch and I went to check out is work before lunch. Yes, I was eager to start the work with our store rooms.I had some black bread and tea for lunch before I went to my cabin for my Thai books and I finished my Thai books before going on deck at 1 o'clock. Our 2nd Officer needed one of the ABs to help him on deck so I gave him my best guy. And I went to check out the progress with the canvas
bags. He was not yet ready and I told him to come to my office when he was ready.I returned to my office and I finished my gas detection equipments and I returned everything to the store room. I emptied 3 cupboards and I started to sort out everything.
All the equipment is spread all over the store room and I will sort out all the stuff so the gas detection equipment will be in one cupboard. There are plenty gas filters and rubber gloves that I will take to the new working clothes/ safety equipment store when this store is ready. There were plenty equipment that I could give to our Chief Engineer and there was also stuff to be thrown in the
garbage.And when I'm ready there will be order in the house and as I have arranged everything myself I will be able to find the stuff when I need it.
I'm on deck every now and then to check out the progress with the chipping of the pipes. I hope the main pipes will be ready before we arrive to Australia and so far we have only found one broken pipe.
And our Pump Man is busy with the valves, we need an extension pipe to operate some of the valves and this is no good. Too much force and we would have broken the valve. Not a situation you want to end up with when you have liquid you must have to pass through the pipe.
Our Pump Man overhauling valves on deck
I will have to ask our Mess Man to tell me the f@cking story about the Milo. It is always full, I
empty the can and I'm so happy that I don't have to drink anymore Milo. Only tea and black bread and I will soon look dashing.I'll be darned, I discover a full can of Milo every time I think the Milo can is empty.
- Is this sabotage?
This can of Milo is like the pig, Särimner in Valhall. In Norse mythology, Sæhrímnir was the pig they slaughtered in Valhall at the party for fallen Viking heroes every night. And the pig was brought back to life every day. Pretty much as with my Milo.
So I had to have a bucket of hot chocolate before returning to my office and I was busy in my office when our Bosun came with the canvas bags and we went straight to the store o B-Deck. DARN! When the charts were on the shelves it didn't look like much. But there were
plenty charts. We had almost 50 cm of old cancelled charts that we didn't bother putting in the bags. We just rolled up those charts and we put a rope round them. And we managed to make many rolls of cancelled charts.The canvas bags were soon full of charts and we brought everything to the bridge. A cubic meter of old cargo documents ended up in the conference room and I arranged the old Broström boiler suites
after the size on the shelf. There must have been 100 boiler suits with Broström's logo left onboard.Well, now I have plenty space for the safety shoes, Maersk boiler suits and all the other stuff we have. We had new on signers in Singapore.
- Do you have a boiler suit size medium?
- Let me have a look
After one hour of climbing and searching my store I'm back just to tell them that I don't know. But I told them to come back in a week when we had arranged the new store.- Then I will be able to see what we have
And we are there now, well, almost. I expect it to be ready this very upcoming weekend. And I was very happy with our canvas bags. On DE/T Randgrid they just folded the canvas around the charts. But we want more onboard M/T
Maersk Cassandra. Our Bosun put eyelets on the sides so we could close the sides.He also made handles for the canvas and yes, it turned in to a pretty nifty bag and it is easy to mark the bag with the chart numbers so they will be easy to find if they ever need them again. Well, that's how we operate in Maersk. We had plenty empty cartons when we were ready in the store room. I asked Bosun to bring down the cartons to my office. We are allowed to throw the paper in to the sea. But I want to make sure that they cut of the plastic labels and tapes before it goes in to the sea.
The carton will be gone in a few hours, but it will take mother nature thousands of years. No mother nature will never be able to break down the plastic. The plastic will be around for an eternity.
They have discovered that beautiful sand beaches consist of sand and plastic. The plastic breaks down to pieces in the size of grain of sand.
- GOOD!! VERY GOOD! IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL!!Yeah, add a few palm trees and we have a paradise. But the problem is that this plastic is eaten by animals and you get the picture. We have the plastic everywhere. You breast feed your baby and the baby get all the poison and shit we produce. But no one cares and I just say, let's travel to the end of this world in first class.
Well, almost midnight again and time for me to go to bed. I'm thinking about putting up yet another Polish Hip Hop tune here but I'm not sure you can handle the excitement. OK, I take the chance.
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Hop. Full blast, but I don't think I have to remind you about that.
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+++++++++++++++
Thursday 12 th
of January 2012
and I was in my office a few minutes before 8 o'clock with a bucket of tea. The crew was waiting for me and we got started right away with the planning for
today's job. Well, there isn't much planning to do. Chipping the pipes on deck, some painting and our Pump Man will be busy with the valves.And today the meeting started with a “Good morning ass holes and motherfuckers” and we ended the
meeting with a group hug. Yeah, if that wasn't going to PEP them I don't know.The crew disappeared out on deck and I was soon hearing the sounds of the chipping machines. We have had rain every day since we left Singapore so there has been almost no painting. But I will have the crew to cup brush and paint when we have the weather for it.
It was raining all morning so I had the Pump Man and Bosun to do their weekly routines and checks
on deck. One of the AB's was greasing the sounding pipes
while our 2 OS did the chipping.I was soon in the mess room making myself a hot chocolate when our Mess man came. He did the thumbs up.
- No more Milo, GOOD!
- WHY!!??- For your diet
- Yeah, you're right
- But we have Ovaltine
- Why the f@ck are you telling me this?
- I can skip bringing out the Ovaltine
- But now I know that we have Ovaltine!
Maybe I have found the solution to the mystery with the “Always full Milo can” Did he refill the Milo can with Ovaltine? I don't know, it tasted very good, but now when I know that it is Ovaltine it didn't tasted as good.
- Hmm, maybe I need to use twice as much powder.
Our OS chipping the pipes around #8 cargo pump
When our Bosun was ready with his weekly check list in the afternoon he went to the bridge to put
up the bookshelf we had removed from the conference room to make space for the old cargo documents.Yes, things are falling to place and my store room for cargo equipment are almost finished. I have thrown away a lot of things. And our engine department was there to pick up a cubic meter of stuff in the afternoon. I emptied a few drawers with old manuals in French, over gas detectors we haven't have had onboard for several years.
I also started to move stuff to my new working clothes/ PPE store on B-deck. And I took the
opportunity to start taking inventory of the stuff so when all the stuff is finally in the store on B-deck I will have a complete inventory over the stuff.Well, yet another day we can put behind us. Time turns very quick when we're busy. I spent the evening in my cabin watching a stupid movie. Captain wanted to watch a movie, but when I watch it alone I can fast forward. And of course, I can write on my web page at the same time.
But we will watch a movie tomorrow, if I have the energy. I have planned to inspect two double bottom tanks tomorrow so I might be tired in the evening. But watching movies in my cabin is not all good. Fast forward and writing on my web page, but I had to chocolate bars. I stopped in our slop chest and the 2nd Officer didn't do anything to stop me buying chocolate.
- Snickers?
- No thanks
- Pringles?
- No thanks
- They are f@cking delicious!
So you see what I'm up against. I only bought two hazelnut chocolate and I returned to my cabin.
+++++++++++++++
Friday 13 th
of January 2012
and I was in the mess room quarter to 8 and I got right on to the hot chocolate. No black bread, just a GOOD MORNING chocolate and fag before I went to the GOOD
MORNING PEP meeting with the crew in my office .- Good morning ass holes and motherfuckers
- GOOD MORNING BOSS!!!
- Work harder, work quicker
- OK, BOSS!
The crew dashed off out on deck
- HEY HEY!! DIDN'T WE FORGOT SOMETHING?
- What did we forget?
- We cannot start the day without the GOOD MOORNING PEP hug!I had planned to inspect double bottom 3 port and starboard. But our Bosun and one of the ABs started the day by putting up a book shelf on the bridge. And then they removed the air pipe from the aft whistle in the top mast. And of course, they had to use a hacksaw. When our Bosun came up in the mast he discovered that the pipe was attached to a plastic pipe from the whistle.
So using a nut cracker was no option. Hacksaw and they was not ready until 3 o'clock. So ballast tank inspection was cancelled for today, but we will
hopefully be able to do it tomorrow.
Pump Man and Chief Engineer working with the high level alarm
Our Chief Engineer was busy with the high level alarm to CT 2 and our Pump Man was assisting him
and when they tested the alarm it was working. My best guys on the job and nothing less were expected. And when our Heroes returned to the CCR I just had to have a picture of them.I had help to bring up the boiler suits from my old store to the new store. My office was full of gloves and boiler suits and every time I had a visitor I asked them to bring a pack to B-deck. I
only have some stuff left in my store on A-deck and I will soon be ready with the move.Then I'm ready to take on my office and I also have plans to move my office to the CCR. But I will see about that.
One thing is good by being busy, time is very quick and it was soon 4 thirty in the afternoon and I was on deck to make
sure the crew finished what should be finished before 6 o'clock when the knock off for the day.I got two painters from the engine department and they will start 6 o'clock in the morning with the chipping on deck.
We're painting 3 layers of primer and 2 layers of top coat. But the ship is so old
and rusty so I will change it to 2 layers of primer and 1 layer of top coat. No use to waste money on any more paint.The work on deck proceed as planned and our Pump Man has fixed a few of our valves and he spent the time with one of our Welden pumps
today. And we need to order spare parts for Singapore.I had a tour on deck with Captain in the afternoon and motherf@cker, time flied by and it was almost time for dinner when we were back inside. I had a quick shower and I stopped at our pool on the way to the mess room.
Our 2nd and 3rd Engineers were enjoying themselves in the pool. I had 10 minutes before it was time for dinner and I really felt like jumping in to the pool. But, well, maybe tomorrow afternoon.
3rd Engineer enjoying the sun set
I had my dinner, lamb and I finished with a glass of hot chocolate. I will watch a movie with Captain at 7 thirty. It was a wee bit too late yesterday so we decided to watch “The Wrestler” today
instead. So I asked our 2nd Officer to come by my cabin when he was finished with his dinner.- Why?
- Ah, nothing, just a pep talk
-OK, I'm coming
- I'll be waiting
I was in my cabin writing on my web page when our 2nd Officer came to my cabin 10 minutes later. My door was open so he knocked on the door frame. I asked him to come inside
- Sit down relax- What do you want?
- Well, what's the latest from the slop chest. Any new exciting items?
- Pretty much the same as yesterday when you were there!
- OK, let's go have a look
He went to get the key and we went down on B-deck and I took two of the
hazelnut chocolates I had yesterday. And I took a bag of potato chips. Not a good day for my diet, but a movie requires snacks.The Wrestler, with Mikey Rouki or whatever his name is. I had expected an action movie. But Mikey, obviously pushing 100 was a disappointment. Well, I can only remember one movie with him that was good, the Marlboro Man 30 years ago. At least I think it was Mikey Rouky. My bag of chips were soon empty and Captain tried to force feed me with pop corn
- DARN! Isn't this movie coming to an end soon? What a waste of time!
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 14 th
of January 2012
and I started my day with hot chocolate. I was tired because ship time had been advanced by an hour during the night. Our Bosun removed the break indicators from
the winches and the AB on watch painted the last layer on the stuff that he had put primer on yesterday. We would meet in my office at 9 and then we would start the inspection of ballast tanks 3 Port & Starboard.We entered the tank 09:35, I was first and our Bosun came down when I reached the bottom of the tank. I was surprised, I had expected much worse.
The ballast tanks were very nice and there was almost no rust at all. The paint was intact except for a few spots that
they had touched up. Coming down from the rusty deck and I had expected the ballast tanks to be terrible.We were back up 5 to 10 minutes past 10 o'clock and the
guys went for coffee break while I prepared the paper work for the next tank. Our Bosun had to go down to the next tank, but I could stay on deck because our Captain was joining Bosun down the tank.We measured the tank for gas and Captain and Bosun went
down 10 minutes before 11 o'clock and they were back up around 11 thirty and that gave us just about time for a shower before lunch.Of course, I stopped for some last minute instructions for our AB painting bunker pipes infront of the superstructure.
We held a drill in the afternoon and I returned to my cabin after the drill and I managed to keep
myself busy until dinner time. Dinner, I had ice cream, with whipped cream! Not good at all and I felt really bad when I had finished the ice cream.Captain asked me if I wanted to see a movie.
- Wrestler 2
- Are you f@cking joking?
He had some other movies, but I was tired and I had a bad taste in my mouth after the ice cream and after the movie yesterday so I returned to my cabin.
I had finished almost all my Thai books during the lunch so I didn't have to think about my studies. A few words on my web page and I went to bed. We have another exciting day tomorrow.
+++++++++++++++
Sunday 15 th
of January 2012
and our 3rd Engineer asked me about his iPod when we had finished
our GOOD MORNING meeting in my office.- I want to listen to music after lunch, is it possible?
- What the?He wanted to copy 13000 tunes and it will take quite some time and I told him that it might be ready in the late afternoon. He gave me the iPod yesterday and as he don't have so much space on the iPod we need to convert all the tunes to 128 Kbps
We finished our meeting and the crew left for deck and I went back to the day room for a bucket of tea.
3rd Engineer having a good time
Time turned pretty quick and it was soon time for lunch. The Engineers had filled the pool so I
decided to go for a cooling bath after lunch. Our 3rd Engineer was busy giving 2nd
Engineer a haircut, he also wanted to go to the pool and he would come to my cabin when they were ready with the haircut.I was busy writing on my web page when he arrived.
- Yo! Is my iPod ready for use?
- No
We left for the pool and we had been there for 10 or 15 minutes when our 2nd Engineer arrived
with his new hair cut.I asked him to give my camera so I could take a
picture of them jumping in to the pool. Our 3rd Engineer got out of the pool and they had to jump in to the pool 2 times before I was satisfied with the picture.- Is your camera waterproof?
- No, but it is a Canon!
I left the pool after 30 minutes or so. The clock was almost 3 o'clock. We had advanced ship time by an hour at lunch so it was a short afternoon.
But never the less, I had time to kick arse and I finished my working clothes store. I also prepared for tomorrow's test of out UTIs so time turned quick and it was soon 6 o'clock and time for dinner again.
I had a hot chocolate and black bread and I will do my very best to stick to black bread from now on. And I must stop the hot chocolate thing so I will try to stick to tea.
2nd and 3rd Engineer in the pool
I finished the day with a movie in Captain's cabin. The Hall pass and it was a major improvement comparing to The Wrestler. But the movies are too long. I would like them to be 45 minutes long. After 30 to 40 minutes I'm getting impatient just sitting down looking at a movie. So for me movies are best enjoyed with a hangover, for sure, then I'm not getting impatient.
So the plan is to go back to Emporium to buy the 60" SAMSUNG and the 3D sound system when I'm back home. Yeah, I went to buy it before I left for the ship. But when I handed them my card they told me that it was 2 or 3 days delivery time.
- What the2 or 3 days, by then I will be on the ship so I cancelled the purchase and I will buy the TV and sound system when I'm back home. And,hmm, the worst part. I need to get drunk
so I can get a hangover to try out the new stuff. Otherwise it would be a waste of money.Well, anyway, tomorrow it is Monday, a new week and I will start my new life, black bread and tea only. So I take this opportunity to start a new page January 2012 - Part 2 as well.
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.
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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!
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คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next”
ข้างบนนี้
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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.
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