Going Back To Sea

In the year 2004, my family and I decided to seek options of migrating. We submitted our applications in 2005. Following the submission, I decided to close down my company in stages and resume sailing. In May 2005, I joined a small shipping company based in Australia, even though the ships were registered in Papua New Guinea. The first ship I joined in June was in a city called Townsville, Australia. All other officers, except the Chief Engineer, and crew on the ship were from Papua New Guinea. The Chief Engineer was also from Sri Lanka. About two hours after taking over command, I went with the Chief Officer to check the lashings of all the heavy motor vehicles which were loaded on deck. I was not happy with the lashings, especially considering the weather that we were expected to encounter during the sea passage to Port Moresby. The Chief Officer did not seem to be happy to get the crew and do the lashings again, but I made sure it was done. That night the ship sailed out of Townsville and we experienced very heavy weather after having cleared the Great Barrier Reef. If not for the additional lashings, we would certainly have lost part or all of the heavy vehicles loaded on-deck.