story of a watchkeeping officer - At Drydock

entri kerja paraas...

tuh diaa...bapak beso..!!

this time of year...the ol MT BUNGA MELATI 3 is due for everything...port state control inspections...vetting inspections...annual maintenance...and drydocking...

hell...going to drydock is the most unpleasant thing a seafarers could face...especially when your ship are destined to had its docking time in China...yes..China..the world largest photocopier...everything from IPhonge...Sannie Erriksen..Panausonik..Naike..Geely and Cherry..Addidas..and a lot more cap ayam stuff you can find here in the pseudo communist-capitalist state...

and in recent years...the largest global economic powerhouse also built ships and offshore maritime installation at outstanding pace and quantity..the number of ships coming out from shipyards around China had even surpassed Koreans...although built quality is still in question...(cheap = low quality...pay more = good quality)

im stuck in a maritime city called Qingdao...located in the Shandong province (kacang Shandong came from here) not far from the Yellow Sea..and Korea is just right across the sea...

here my ship is schedule for drydocking...one month of hectic and chaotic operations consisting of sand and grit blasting on deck and in the ballast tanks...steel works..engine overhaul...ketuk karat sana sini...repairs and maintenance of damn loads of equipments...from cargo pumps...to anchor and its cables...navigation equipments..a whole lot more of ketuk karat...ketuk tile jamban...a lot more steel cutting and steel works...etc...etc..ect...

tough times here...for one reason...all these chinese drones could not speak proper English...hell most of them dont even know what is English stands for...surprisingly...women speaks better English than men...and our officers and crews had a tough time dealing with these guys...i myself end up speaking Bahasa Malaysia with northern slangs...which sounds like

"Wo pu chi tau..nigger...tang..re shi shi pu yau nigger..wa ne shi pu ren nigger..." said one workers....which in turn...i said..

"Hah...aku dah habaq mai kat hang...jangan potong besi tuh...padan muka hang kena marah ngan chief mate aku"
(I told you already..dont cut the steel..now serve you right..my chief is angry you fuckers..!!)

miscommunications had taken its toll...

regarding the maritime city Qingdao...well there is nothing much to be written here..since most of us didnt have the chance to go there...but there is another city named Huangdao which is close to the shipyard...but compared to the well established Qingdao..Huangdao is still new...nothing to be seen...only high rise building under constructions...and a Jusco shopping mall..cmon laa..Jusco kat Malaysia pn ade what...no point...

now were at day 09...another 16 days to go...still a lot more to be done...seem like were behind schedule...and the top four are scratching their heads...

i wonder why my kompeni didnt sent our fleet of ship to drydock in Pasir Gudang...which is part of the kompeni subsidiary...why oh why...(makan duit rakyat kah..??)

-come to sea and see for yourself-