Vessel called at port of Mogadishu

                                                              Old port of Mogadishu
   

It was great spending Christmas and New year in Avonmouth. So much so, that, I had to cut down my going ashore even to the Seafarers’ club as I had no money to spend.

After spending almost two weeks in that port the ship sailed for Rotterdam. We had very little cargo for that port. Therefore, discharging of the same did not take much time. However, after that, the ship was there for almost two weeks, waiting until the owners fixed the next consignment.

Vessel proceeded to Wismar and then to Rostock and loaded cargo for Mogadishu. The cold weather was unbearable but we enjoyed our stay.

Finally, the ship sailed out of Rostock crossed the Suez Canal and sailed through to the Red sea. Total time on that voyage was about fourteen days, and we arrived at the Mogadishu anchorage. It was around the 1st of March 1976. There was a boat service to and from the shore. We called the boat and the Captain asked Peter (Purser on board) and myself to go ashore, visit the ship’s agents, collect crew mail and any other documents for the ship and also to find out when they were planning to commence cargo operation, etc. The Captain also told Peter to take a few cartons of cigarettes to be given to the Somalis to spur them to action.

It was a good chance for both of us to go ashore. We visited the agent's office and met the Managing Director. He welcomed us and thereafter was busy with his own business. After a short while Peter handed over one carton of cigarettes to him. He immediately ordered two cups of black tea for us and was ready to talk about our matters.

I was asked to go to another section and look for the ship’s mail. There was quite a lot. In the past, mail was the only communication that we had with our families. I managed to locate and collect a lot of official and crew mail. The Managing Director advised us that it would take a few days for the cargo operation to commence as they did not have many barges.

Then I went one step ahead and told him to expedite the cargo operation and that I would tell the Captain to 'look after' him. He was delighted and ordered some more tea. He promised that he would definitely do something. With that good news and carrying all the mail, etc., Peter and I decided to have lunch. The only place for a decent meal was the Juba hotel, supposed to be the best hotel in Mogadishu. After lunch we went to the ship. The Captain was very anxiously waiting for us. We got a rousing welcome when we boarded the ship. The Captain was very happy to hear that the mission had been successful. The following morning, we received a message from ashore, on the VHF set that one barge and two gangs of stevedores were leaving to come to the ship. The barge was alongside the ship around 9.00 a.m., and discharging commenced.

The cargo, cement in bags, was very carefully loaded in East Germany and was carried very safely. However, here it was handled in a very rough manner causing a lot of damage.