First port of call

                                                 Ernakulam wharf in port of Cochin


From Colombo the ship went to Cochin. Cochin was a port in the west coast of India and is in the State of Kerala. On the second day the Radio Officer, Michael Rodriguese and the third engineer, Lloyd Pinto took me out. Both of them were originally from Goa, India. They went into a restaurant where there was live music. It was quite a nice place, I must admit. They had quite a lot of drinks and I kept them company with a bottle of beer. Music was good but there were no partners to dance with. We returned to the ship well past midnight. It was the only day that I got shore leave and the ship was there about six to seven days.

From Cochin we went to Aden and from there to Djibouti.

                                                   

My first voyage - seafaring part 1

                                                        My first ship "Regent Reliance"       

On the 12th November 1973, I joined my first ship at the port of Colombo. Along with me there was another Sri Lankan and an Indian Cadet. On that day, I first went to church with my parents. We had a very simple celebration at home and proceeded to the Shipping office to sign on the vessel. Those days security was not strict as it is now and about 20 of my immediate family members including my maternal Grandmother went on board with me. The ship was moored to buoys mid-stream. The Officer in Charge of the Harbor Police helped us with transport by offering the Harbor Police motor launch.

I first met with the Chief Officer of the ship. He was an Indian, Mr. Ashok Mehra. He told me that there were two other cadets and for me to wait in the Junior Officers Mess room until the Captain arrived on board. The Captain was out when I boarded the ship. After looking around the ship my parents along with my relations left. My father was in tears at the time of leaving. Three of us, my brother, sister and myself were his whole world. Just before lunch we were informed that the Captain was on board and to meet him. The Captain was Stuart Brown, from U.K.

At the beginning it was a bit difficult for me to understand his accent but I got used to it soon. He was very smart and handsome. He looked elegant in the uniform. After having a brief chat with us he advised the chief officer to called the Bosun. In short it is Bosun but the correct term is Boatswain. He was a petty Officer and was the head of the Deck Crew. When he came in the Captain told him "Bosun, you make them good seamen and I will make them good officers". Thereafter the Third Officer showed us to our cabins. I shared a cabin with our Indian colleague. My sea life started at this point.

Preparing to join the Merchant Navy as an Officer Cadet

  

One of my Uncle's who knew my ambition, once visited our home and informed me that a company in Sri Lanka based in Colombo will be calling applications for Officer Cadets in the Merchant Navy. It was advertised in the papers. After a long deliberation, my father agreed to help me with the application. He followed up the matter with the Finance Director of the Company who was known to him. He had assured my father that my application had been filed and the interviews will be held in March 1973.

In March a written exam was held by the Company which I passed. I was then given a date to come for an interview. I was interviewed by a very senior Master Mariner (Senior Ship’s Captain) in the country. He first checked my vision report and was satisfied with the results. Then he interviewed me for more than two hours. I still remember what he mentioned towards the end of the interview, "Son, take very serious note that you are going to marry the sea and forget about weddings, funerals, etc."

In April 1973 the same Captain had a very long discussion with my father. At the end of the discussion he said that I will be informed in writing, and to come on the date mentioned with two sureties to sign the bond and be prepared to keep a refundable cash deposit of Rs. 5000.00. The estimated time for signing the bond was around June 1973, and we kept checking on the time that I was going to be called in for this purpose. It was a Thursday in October when I finally received the letter calling me to report to the Office with sureties to sign the bond. A week later I was handed in vouchers for my uniforms and shoes. The situation at home changed. Everybody was happy. The next thing was that my parents and I visited my grandmothers', close relations and friends to give them the good news of my being recruited as an Officer Cadet in the Merchant Navy.

History of Panama Canal in brief

The history of the Panama Canal goes back almost to the earliest explorers of the Americas. The narrow land bridge between North and South America houses the Panama Canal, a water passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The earliest European colonists of Central America recognized this potential, and schemes for such a canal were floated several times in the subsequent years

By the late nineteenth century, technological advances and commercial pressure advanced to the point where construction started in earnest. An initial attempt by France to build a sea-level canal failed, but only after a great amount of excavation was carried out. This was of use to the United States, which completed the present Panama Canal in 1913 and officially opened it in 1914. Along the way, the state of Panama was created through its separation from Colombia in 1903, due to a US backed revolt, so the US could then get control of the Canal project area.

Today, the canal continues to be not only a viable commercial venture, but also a vital link in world shipping.

Philippe-Jean Bunaua-Varilla changed people's opinion on the location to build a canal. The United States wished to build a canal in Nicaragua, however Philippe-Jean convinced them to build it in Panama. He had been involved in building canals in France. Towards the end of the 1890s Bunaua-Varilla convinced the American lawmakers to buy the rights to build the French canal in Panama because Nicaragua was unsafe due to dangerous Volcanoes. He then sent Nicaragua postage stamps with a smoking volcano on them to each senator to persuade their vote. Although, in 1903 Colombia (which Panama was a part of) refused to agree to allow the United States to build the canal. The people of Panama, with help from Philippe-Jean Bunaua-Varilla, overthrew Colombia and ruled Panama as independent which made the production of the canal possible.

My first visit on board a ship.

S

omewhere in October 1971 I was invited by a friend to join him to go on board a ship berthed in Colombo harbour. I was delighted at the invitation. But I explained to him my problem. He said that he would obtain permission from my mother. He came with his brother, who happened to be the third officer on that ship. My mother allowed me to go on board the ship with them. It was great. As the Third Officer, he was living in luxury. As it was in the evening we declined dinner. Therefore we were served with a hot cup of soup brought in by a steward. I went around the ship and it was out of this world. The name of the ship was "Lanka Rani", Sri Lanka's  very first cargo ship.

M.V. "Lanka Rani"

Following the visits to the "Lanka Rani", I developed a liking towards seafaring.

One day when my father was at home, I just mentioned my idea to him. His immediate response was "don’t talk nonsense". As he was a person of few words, it took another month or so to find out why he said that. I once called the friend who was an officer on the "Lanka Rani" to visit home when my father was there. He obliged. Both brothers came and had lunch with us. It was extremely difficult to convince my parents. They went on saying that I being the eldest in the family, they just cannot even think of sending me to sea, considering the dangers and other activities involved in seafaring.