the story of a watchkeeping officer - departure

entri selamat tinggal....



were leaving Rotterdam today at 1600H...after much speculation that were going to load another 800 tonnes of cargo..it is settled that we wont...and were leaving this port with not so much of commodities onboard...

we might grab a few thousand more when coming down from here...maybe in Spain...maybe in France...maybe in Italy...worst...maybe in Saudi or Iran and worst of em all...India.....

hell...the office will as far as they can try to grab some more...since they are running the ship at loss income...

till then...god speed...fair winds and following seas...

-come to sea and see for yourself-

HYDROCARBON

HOW TO BECOME RICH OVERNIGHT...??

LOOK FOR PETROLEUM....

a navigator`s serenade - 240Kv

an entry for my dearest friend...

you are like the ocean...its calm on the surface...but underneath...its currents and turbulence could sent ships off course...

MY WORDS COMFORTS YOU WHEN YOUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN...

IT FLOWS THROUGH YOUR MIND LIKE ELECTRICITY

POWERING YOUR SOUL FORWARD AND NEVER TO LOOK BACK AGAIN

LEAVE THOSE NAYSAYERS BEHIND

CAUSE THEY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT YOU......

DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP - OLIVER HAZARD PERRY

the story of a watchkeeping officer - sunday at rotterdam centraal

entri makan angin.....

ini baru suku...ade lg tiga suku metro lines merentasi timur barat utara dan selatan Rotterdam...dafuq..!!

i went ashore today (hari ini hari ahad....isnin boleh laa keje) to the center of Rotterdam...better know as centrum or centraal by the locals here in the low country....

we went there in a different manner...since we are berthed at Vopak Botlek..which is at the southern side of Nieuw Maas...where it was the hardest place to get to the city center..due to lack of transportation. The closest metro station is at Spjeikenisse..about 10km from our terminal...far away from housing area..and the closest cross Maas ferry is about an hour walk at Rozenburg...

at Buersplein...kedai ZARA saje ade 3...tige....

but since one of use have lots of Euros...we take the cab instead of walking to Rozenburg to catch a ferry crossing Nieuw Waterweg to Maasluis before getting into a train to Centrum...and it cost us 25 Euro to get from the terminal to the metro station in Speijkenisse....

with an accordion and an empty box of what used to be oranges inside...this ol man starts a small concerto at Lijnban

the Metro are another MRT systems apart from the train that we used to take at Vlaardingen and Maasluis that crisscrossed the entire Zuid and Noord Rotterdam...passing every township along the way...from east to west....

we got onboard the C line metro that passes Pernis crossing the Nieuw Maas towards Schiedam....before changing to the E line metro at Beurs to get to Rotterdam Centraal...

baloonman....

at centrum...we find that there a sea of human...everyone from different ages,nationalities and races swarming the city....ade marathon rupenye siap ade konser main lagu armin van buuren..haiseh...and its sunday also...everyone are taking the opportunity spending weekends either shopping or just hanging around at cafe`s and bars...

we walk trough the usual streets...the Kareldoormanstraats...the Kruiskade...the Lijnban...then to Beursplein...im not on shopping spree since all my money are all spent in the first two days here...(beli jam kat adik2 dan orang tua...patah wallet aku weh...)\

0% alcohol...awek lawa bg todi percuma kapada pengunjung yg lalu lalang

there are those who open up food stalls along the center...selling fries...and ice cream (sejuk2 makan es krem...gilaaa)...and giving away free non alcholic beverages (pd hal ayaq setan jugak) and orange juice...jual sayoq dan buah mcm gerai fama kat pasar tani...

ya adik akak...sayuq kankung...sawi..kobis...petola...murah2...3 kilo saploh hingget...

and surprisingly...there are also a pasar malam....literally selling items that you can usually found in our own pasar malam back at home....baju bundle....cover telefon bimbit....sarung ipad dan iphone...gerai jual kebab...kedai jam petaling streets....orang jual sayur pun ade...ish2....

haha...gaya promote dan gantung baju sebijik mcm kat uptown danau kota...sumpah

most of the traders at the pasar malam are foreign nationalities...from turkey to pakistani...indonesian..surinamese...arabians and chinese...but dont get yourself surprised..even mat sallen pun beli belah kat pasar malam....so jgn pandang rendah kat pasar malam kita...mat salleh pn ada...standard lebih kurang mcm kat tanah air...hahhaha

baru nak bukak gerai...lampu ayam dgn generator pn x pasang lagi

mat dan minah salleh bersama keluarga di pasaq malam...

we stayed until 5..when everyone starts heading back home.here shops are close right at 5pm....no shops are open till midnight like what we did in Malaysia....only pubs...clubs and cafe are open fill 9....kira malam mati laa...sejuk kot...

we head back to our ship...taking the Metro at Beursplein and heading back to Speijkenisse Centrum....dah le sakit perut...imagine...there is no public restroom a the station...jenuh weh....xde tempat nk memerut.....hahahahahaa...

tunggu tren dalam keadaan sakit perut di Buersplein....muka kena kontrol...

sunday is over...tomorrow....ship is shifting to service terminal...to load seciput lagi cargo...then if there is no more...will be sailing tomorrow evening back to East....

-come to sea...go ashore...and come back to sea again-

the story of a watchkeeping officer - drills....

entri hari-hari di atas besi...

ini namanya lifeboat atau nama timangannya - myvi SE

drills are not mata gerudi bosch or black and decker used for drilling holes on the wall to hang picture - they meant latihan  or traning conducted every now and then to keep the officers and crews ready for any emergencies...basically its is conducted to maintain high status of readiness

at sea...the ship are our home...it had its own power...capable of providing life support to its crew....air conditioning or heating...hot water for shower and cooking...generators to run electricity...so that we can play PS3 with flatscreen 42 inch plasma tv,keep all the food fresh....apart from running machinery and  navigation equipment's that kept the ship underway and can be safely navigated at sea....

the ship itself is design to sustain heavy weather conditions...so that her crew are protected and can still live and work on it...

since at sea...the ship is the safest place to be....

but then...like all machine...it can die..it could fail and it has its own limit - life support..propulsion..power generation...navigation...even her own hull...it could just....click...padam.....a ship can broke in two when she was hit by massive storm surge and devastation waves....a ship could explode when some buggers lit a fire on a gas carrier....a ship could loose control and had its mercy to god when the power fails...a ship can also just disappear without a trace....

when things fails....people would and could die...

so to avoid death...or ok shall i say..to increase the chance of survival...mariners are trained to survive...to know the do`s and the dont`s in times of emergency...how to fight fire....to escape from a burning ship...how to keep ourselves warm when out at sea where death come not by drowning but by hypothermia.....and a lot more other stuffs....

and all these are not learned in one day....it kept on repeating-the drills..training..and new knowledge come by when time passes by and technology improves....so that it will become a part of us...just like how special forces operator who could switched himself from biasa2 to godlike killing spree mode like switching the light on and off.....

so dont looks down and say emergency drills are boring and unnecessary..killing sunday moods and all....it were meant that we wont forget and to kept us away from complacency....its a part of our daily lifestyles that keep us safe day by day....

-come to sea and see for yourself-

the story of a watchkeeping officer - again in Rotterdam

entri Rotterdam negeri makmur...

Rotterdam is blessed by almighty God...see see...

We arrive at Vopak Terminal this afternoon after 6 days of tank cleaning operation in the North Sea...it aint fun coz i got a shitty chief who x angkat tau and i have to do everything....foreign memang cmtu eh....

but me capitan said...the best part of it is that you got the hands on experience handling the operation...

cant really do it alone....its the cooperation from all crews...from deck department who day and night working real hard to get our ship tanks ready for next loading...our engineers who also keep on working day and night trying to meet our demands for power and steam....and also the OOW who oversees all of us from the bridge.....its not a one man show this tank cleaning operation is...its a work of a rugby team...haha

anyway...we stayed at the anchorage for a night...and got our berthing prospect today....for only 5k tonnes of various chemicals...so sikit eh for a ship that can carry more than 20k metric tonnes of bulk chemicals and downstream petroleum product....

economy is really getting from bad to worst....

Maas pilot come onboard...taking the ship into the Nieuw Waterweg towards our terminal at the southern side of the Schelde....the pilot were friendly and joyful...but his competency is beyond questions....

into the Schelde...

it took an hour transit from the Splitsingdam leading light at a speed of 11 knots towards Botlek..where our terminal is...

Botlek is known for petrochemical and chemical distribution complex in Rotterdam run by various consortiums...VOPAK..OFDJELL..EXXON..SHELL PETROCHEMIE and alot more...this place is toxic...

how to park a 170m ship in a narrow parking place...

the tank farms and terminals are located close to each other...and the channel can barely have one ship coming in and out in one time....imagine having 5 tankers ranging from 120-170m long weighing 21000-30000 GT in a channel full of ship well alongside in a channel having a width of 100m.....its mind boggling...and its a usual treats for the Pilots here in Rotterdam....

after an hour plus manouvering...we were well alongside at the usual terminal...VOPAK No.5...

will be here quite a while.....

-come to sea and sit on the hot seat yourself-