HIGH SEAS REPORT – FREIGHT

I joined m/v Jeanette in September and were introduced to the frustrating event of waiting (and nagging) for freight.  In a four week period we only made one short trip.  In Dunkerque France, we loaded 5700mt of coal and brought it to Amsterdam.  Finally we got a 5600 mt load of steel coils in Ijmuiden, the Netherlands for Salerno in Italy and two other ports in Turkey. While heading for our first discharging port we made a bunker stop in Ceuta, Spain. To bunker 150 mt of fuel took 4 hours all together from coming alongside till we were underway again.  After totally 8 days sailing from the Netherlands to Italy we arrived in Salerno.  We had hoped for a weekend alongside as the agent mentioned in his mails to ship but the Italians were quick with discharging and we were out on sea again in no time heading for Turkey.  Through the Dardanelle we went into the Sea of Marmara and in the Gulf of Izmit, near Istanbul, to our two discharge ports Rota and Diliskelesi.  From Salerno it was 4,5 days sailing to the Gulf of Izmit.  The pace of off-loading in Turkey was slower than in Italy but in three days time our cargo was out.  Cleaning ship and preparing (paint the holds) for the next load is a big part of the job.  It is frustrating and tiresome though when standards are adjustable from one day to the next.  We took 5650 mt of soda in bulk (also used to make glass) for Tarragona in Spain. This trip took 7 days.  From there immediately on to Barcelona, which was only 4 hours sailing from Tarragona on the way cleaning and preparing ship again from the soda dust, and getting the new paint dry, and ready to load within 12 hrs from the time we were empty.  Everybody involved in this cargo was happy to see the ship ready for loading in such a short time. Maybe you wonder why every time painting again?  Well many times they go with front-end loaders into the hold when discharging which scrape off the paint, and the next load requires no rust, no dust etc.  Now we are underway to Rouen in France to discharge our load of 5600 mt of Potash.  From there we will sail to Scheveningen in Holland for a crew change which is too costly in France and then on to Letland in the Baltic Sea for another load of fine Potash to deliver this time in Kokola, Finland. Then some wood products like pulp and paper from Sweden to Marocco will follow.  Life’s a song if the storms keep at bay.

HIGH SEAS REPORT – TECHNICAL

Some information about Eelco’s professional life for the year 2011.

Motor Vessel Jeanette – belongs to Egbert Bos who also captains his second ship, m/v Anet. (This was the ship I worked on last year).  The owner is Dutch and younger than Eelco.  M/v Jeanette is a general cargo ship  of  6000 mt  DWT, 110  mtr long and 14  mtr wide.  General speed in normal conditions around 11 knots.  She was build in Germany in 2007 and is chartered by Wagenborg Shipping in Delfzijl in the Netherlands who sees to it that the ship gets freight.  Her main working grounds are Western Europe from the Black Sea in the south to the Baltic Sea in the North. 

The crew is from the United Nations.  Captain Eelco is Dutch and works as a freelance relief captain for three months a year.  The permanent captain Wim, now on holiday, is also Dutch and the oldest of the team.  Wim was a fisherman before with his own fishing boat for years.  When the catch became uneconomical he sold his ship and went back to school to get his master ticket for the merchant marine. His is involved in the Jeanette since new-build first as chief officer and later as captain.  Eelco has a good soundboard in him. The Chief mate is Dutch and known to Eelco from his previous job / ship (same owner) where he worked as second officer.  Second mate is Filipino and also he worked with Eelco on his previous ship as boatswain.  The relief Chief Engineer at this moment is from Murmask in Russia and now the oldest crew member.  Communication is not always the best but with the help of hands and feet they get along.  He knows his job. He took over from Dragomir who is original from Croatia but he has a Dutch passport by now and he speaks Dutch with an accent.  Dragomir is just as Wim involved with this ship since new-build in 2007 and knows all the ins and outs of the engine room.  The Filipino cook Joleyn, has supreme culinary qualities.  Eelco say’s, we are growing round and fat but enjoy it all the same.  The two Filipino deckhands – Gilbert and Giovanni - are also good guys.  A positive, productive and good sphere exists onboard and it is a fine team that does their job well.  Not much more for working conditions can be asked.

ON THE TRAIN in NETHERLAND

Mostly the train stations of the well runned rail network are just a peron (an elevated step-off) with a see-through weather shield - practical. Logic has it that the bigger the place the larger the station.  One such station building has a décor theme of old Edwardian style.  Lovely lacework fringes the roof lines and buildings while small decorative post on corners and roof ridges proudly make a statement of presence of an era.  Welcomingly and stylish the benches to wait on, invite for a sit-down.  A whistle sounds, bells ring, the doors close and with an expecting feeling if all is well and on time, the travellers look around to see if a known face is sharing the ride before settling down with a telephone, ipad, newspaper or some office work. Gently rocking, the train departs and settles soon on a well known track, rhythm and tune.   With a soft but intense high note the wheels whistle on the steel tracks to a high crescendo.  At hundred and forty eight kilometres per hour we fly along to the next stop on this rack.  Many if not most of the walls lining the railroad have graffiti art on it, colourful and with different styles.  Cold autumn weather presents the passing countryside with patches of yellow, orange, brown or still some green bush as it rolls by.  Many places the trees are already stripped bare from any leaves which for the time being, still beautify the landscape with a carpet on the ground of warm and rich autumn colours.  A yellow and blue train flashes by in the opposite direction, shaking the trains slightly with their airstreams meeting and pushing, and blotches out sight from the window for a few seconds.  Soon after, our train reduces speed and a car park packed to the brim comes in sight.  Many stands of parked bicycles, ten in a row, follow and then the rows of closed bicycle containers.  Continuously our train paces down in speed and sound.  It shunts on the rails with metal screeching like a cat scratches its nails in lamentation on a glass windowpane.  We approach the Houten station.  Super futuristic with clear glass dome roof and clear tunnels on a shiny steel structure it could well have been the docking station in a Startrek movie with it’s décor of crisp, clear, clean – no frills, streamlined, modern and fast on the eye and mind. The train stops.  Whistle sounds.  Doors open.  People step in and out. Whistles - bells - closing doors - five minutes gone and the train pulls out of the station.