River Lee - waterway to Cork
Voyage from Mumbai to Cork
The next voyage was from Mumbai to Cork in Ireland. It
was the month of December and as the ship crossed the Suez Canal, we were
beginning to feel the winter in the Mediterranean Sea. The sea was very rough.
We came out of the Gibraltar straits and crossed over to the Spanish coast.
Thereafter, we enjoyed good weather until the ship reached the Bay of Biscay. There we
experienced precarious weather which lasted for about 18
hours. It was the 21st of December 1976, I asked the Captain, "Sir
when do you think we will get to Cork?" After pondering for a few minutes, he
replied "On the 24th at 24:00 hours". He said it quite confidently.
True enough, the ship anchored off Cobh river entrance, exactly at 24:00 hours
on the 24th of December. I still remember when the Captain ordered to drop
anchor, from the dim Compass light he looked at me to say something like,
"How was it, son?" It was truly a great feeling. I respect all my Captains for teaching and helping me to have a great sea career.
Port of Cork
We had a good entartainer on board.
The Third Officer on the ship was Richard
Rodriguese, a Goan from India . He was a very entertaining person. The ship was on it's way to Mumbai from Kisimayo. One night at sea, he handed over to me
the navigational watch at midnight and went down. After he left the navigating bridge, I heard
he was playing the guitar and singing, "HONEY, YOU ARE THE REASON THAT I
DON’T SLEEP AT NIGHT." I enjoyed the music and especially the song because
it was very relevant to me at the time. The brief, but
passionate affair with Erina was haunting my mind, specially when
I was alone on the bridge during watch keeping.
I shouted out to Richie, as he was called by the Captain and other
officers on board, and requested him to sing that song a few more times, just
the way I had heard it. He obliged. He was truly a fantastic singer. 
Great Justice!
Quite different to the JAWS OF A SHARK as found in our Courts
An Indonesian judge by the name of Marzuki was sitting in judgment of an old lady who pleaded guilty of stealing some tapioca from a plantation.
In her defense, the old lady admitted to the Judge that she was indeed guilty of the crime because she was poor and her son was sick while her grandchild was hungry.
The plantation manager insisted that she be punished as a deterrent to others.
The judge going through the documents then looked up and said to the old lady, “I’m sorry but I cannot make any exception to the Law and you must be punished accordingly”.
The old lady was fined Rp.1 million (USD 100) and if she could not pay the fine then she will be jailed for 2 1/2 years as demanded by the Law.
She wept as she could not pay the fine.
The Judge then took her hat and put in Rp.100,000 into the hat and said, “In the name of justice, I fine all present in the Court @ Rp.50,000 (USD 5.50) each as dwellers of this City for letting a child starve until her grandmother is compelled to steal to feed her grandchild.
The Registrar will now collect the fines from all present.”
The Court managed to collect Rp 3.5 million (USD 350) including the fine collected from the plantation manager, whereby the fine was paid off and the rest was given to the old lady!
Will we ever see such a thing happening in our courts ?
I've learnt.....that being kind is more important than being right.
(Copied from a circular email)
(Copied from a circular email)
Must a Captain Be the Last One Off a Sinking Ship?
Moral Code
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| The Titanic's captain went down with his ship |
Accounts of captains leaving their sinking ships are extremely rare but not unique.
In 1991, Yiannis Avranas, the captain of a Greek cruise liner, was also strongly criticized after leaving the ship as it started to sink off the South African coast. He said he supervised the rescue effort from a helicopter. All 561 people aboard the Oceanos were eventually rescued.
In 2000, the captain of a Greek ferry, the Express Samina, which sank killing more than 60 people, was accused of failing to help passengers flee the sinking vessel.
File photograph of the Titanic The Titanic's captain went down with his ship
A court will ultimately decide whether the captain of the Costa Concordia broke the law by leaving the ship when he did, but he certainly seems to have acted contrary to many people's ideas of how a captain should behave.
Dr Laura Rowe, a historian at the University of Exeter who specializes in naval history, says the expectation that a ship's captain would stay on board until everyone has been evacuated developed in the mid-19th Century.
"At that point, the captain is expected to have a very close affinity with the ship itself. Captains are fully expected to be the last one off, if not to go down with the ship. They are known as the 'father of the ship'," she says.
This relationship was necessary to help enforce discipline, she says.
"The sea is a treacherous place and the crew have to have faith in the captain - if discipline is undermined or breaks down, then the ship becomes a less safe place, and more people risk being injured."
Captain P.S. Barve - 40th National Maritime Day ( Repeating)
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Captain P.S. Barve,(center) Former Nautical Advisor to Government of India and the Chief Examiner of Masters and Mates. I was examined for my First Mate’s orals by Capt. Barve.
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According to Barve, a separate IMS was needed because the present Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers lacked sufficient maritime knowledge and expertise. Barve was of the opinion that a separate cadre of officers would help the growth of maritime activity in the country.
AND
Mrs. Kiran Dhingra, Director General of Shipping, Govt. of India, delivering her keynote address, appealed to all stake holders of the industry to be open to the idea of recruiting more girl cadets and to give up the apprehensions related to gender issues regarding the suitability of girls for an arduous career. She advised girl cadets to get into management jobs and also shore based jobs.
A panel discussion was arranged to make the seminar more interactive where in the the panelists included Mrs. Kiran Dhingra, Mrs. Anu Aga, Director Thermax Ltd, Vice Admiral (Retd) A. S. Krishnan, Mrs. Jyotsna Deshpande, Chairperson, The Institution of Engineers, Pune and Mr. Vijay Handa, VP Reliance Shipping discussed various issues and was well moderated by Capt. S. G. Deshpande of TMI.
Principal B. K. Saxena summed up the seminar and Vote of thanks was paid by Capt. P. S. Barve, Chairperson, Academic Council.
Ship sailing out of Novoryssisks
I was happy that I could go ashore again, and meet Erina. It was a great evening, and captain, too, enjoyed the company of Erina and her family. As we were walking back to the ship, Captain said to me, "Aye Johnny
boy, you are a lucky fellow, she is a good girl, and very pretty, too."
When we came on board, he invited us for a shot of brandy. While having the
brandy I asked if it was possible to take Erina along with me. He started to
laugh and Peter joined him. He said "definitely not this time," but
that he would check with the Port Immigration Officer regarding the procedure
to follow in such situations. Unfortunately, it did not happen since the Captain became busy, as the ship was completing the cargo operation.
During our last meeting, Erina gave me a self addressed envelope and told me to write to her. A day after that the ship sailed from Novorossiysks. I thought the ship would return to Novorossiysks the next voyage, as well. Unfortunately that was not the case. I was left with Golden Memories and Silver Tears.
Meeting with Erina
When Erina said she wanted to meet me the following day; I was startled and surprised at this! It was a welcome
invitation too. She was a very pretty girl. The following day, I
went to the Hotel Leningrad with Peter. As we were walking up to the entrance, I looked back and saw Erina and her sister-in-law were right behind us. Erina was left with us and her sister-in-law advised me to bring her back home. I was so happy with
this girl, but the problem was, Peter got bored and frustrated. That
day I found him drinking much quicker than usual. He danced with Erina once and
suddenly decided to leave. He told me that he would go around and look for some
other place, a restaurant or a night club for a change. I remained with Erina.
I took her home around 10.30 p.m. but we continued to talk while in the house. She
had brought a Russian-English dictionary. From time to time she dipped into
it.
The company was so good that I did not feel the time
pass. It was around 11.50 p.m. when I left her and came up to the road. I started to run as I did not want to be late. Then I saw a jeep
following me at slow speed. When I stopped, the jeep also came and stopped near
me. There was an Army Officer seated in the front seat. He asked me where I was
going. I told him "I was going to the port, to my ship." He asked the
name of the ship and I said "Regent Reliance." He told me that I
was going in the wrong direction and, asked me to get into the jeep that he would take me
to the ship.
When I reached the ship I was 10 minutes late. The time was 12.10 p.m. The Army Officer said something to the guard and the guard signaled me to go on board. I thanked the Officer and the two other soldiers who were in the jeep and quickly went up the gangway. As I was going up, the Army Officer told me, "In future do not get late and you must know to respect and comply with the regulations of this country." I apologized and assured him that it will not be repeated. They left and I went into the Accommodation. The Third Officer, who was on duty met me and said that the Captain was waiting for me, as I was the only person who had not returned to the ship at midnight. I knew that I was in trouble but went into the captain’s day room, anyway. When he saw me, he called me in and reprimanded me for returning late. Thereafter he showed me a form that he had signed, assuring that all the crew would comply with rules and regulations whilst in the port. The Captain took my shore pass and said "No shore leave for you until departure." He then, told me "John, you kept me awake all this time and now you must have a drink with me." It was a long drink, just like what we were used to with Capt. Willie (former Master of the ship). While having the drink with Capt. Turner, the current Master, I told him exactly what had happened. I mentioned Erina, too. When I finished with him it was around 2.00 a.m.
When I reached the ship I was 10 minutes late. The time was 12.10 p.m. The Army Officer said something to the guard and the guard signaled me to go on board. I thanked the Officer and the two other soldiers who were in the jeep and quickly went up the gangway. As I was going up, the Army Officer told me, "In future do not get late and you must know to respect and comply with the regulations of this country." I apologized and assured him that it will not be repeated. They left and I went into the Accommodation. The Third Officer, who was on duty met me and said that the Captain was waiting for me, as I was the only person who had not returned to the ship at midnight. I knew that I was in trouble but went into the captain’s day room, anyway. When he saw me, he called me in and reprimanded me for returning late. Thereafter he showed me a form that he had signed, assuring that all the crew would comply with rules and regulations whilst in the port. The Captain took my shore pass and said "No shore leave for you until departure." He then, told me "John, you kept me awake all this time and now you must have a drink with me." It was a long drink, just like what we were used to with Capt. Willie (former Master of the ship). While having the drink with Capt. Turner, the current Master, I told him exactly what had happened. I mentioned Erina, too. When I finished with him it was around 2.00 a.m.
I stayed on board the following day and sent a message to
Erina through Peter. Peter returned to the ship early and that was welcoming as I
was waiting for some company. We started our evening session when
the captain’s steward came and told me that the Captain was looking for me. I
went up and he asked me what I was doing. I said "I was just about to have a
drink with Peter." Then he told me to
invite Peter also to join us. The three of us had a small party and it went on till
about midnight. At that time the Captain checked with the Duty Officer about
the crew who had gone ashore. The Duty officer reported that all were on board
and with that we called it a day.
Captain Turner called me in the morning and returned my shore pass and said that he would be joining us in the night. That evening again we met Erina, her brother and sister-in-law at the Hotel Leningrad. I introduced them to the Captain, and he invited them to join us; they accepted his invitation.
Captain Turner called me in the morning and returned my shore pass and said that he would be joining us in the night. That evening again we met Erina, her brother and sister-in-law at the Hotel Leningrad. I introduced them to the Captain, and he invited them to join us; they accepted his invitation.
Music was good as usual and we danced. Erina whispered to me and asked if we could go and sit somewhere
else as she wanted to talk to me. Since it was difficult to do so, we continued
to be in the company of others until all of us had dinner and left the
place.
Meeting with a Russian family at the Hotel Leningrad
Peter and I were seated at a table on the mezzanine floor of
the Hotel Leningrad. From where we were seated, we had an excellent view of the band stand and partial view of
the dance floor, below. The stewards and stewardesses were coming to us, one
after the other, to check on our order. Peter was getting restless; we couldn’t
order anything, because we did not have the local currency with us, to settle
the bill. After a little while, we found that we could exchange Dollars into local currency at the Hotel but the rate was not so good! We needed the money, so we exchanged some dollars anyway. We had money for the evening, and definitely some extra, too.
We were relieved, and I was happy now, as we had enough money to settle our bills. Without wasting time, we
ordered for a bottle of Vodka with grapefruit juice and, guzzled down a few, very rapidly.
A few minutes later, two young ladies and two men came up. As there was no
table for all of them to sit they were standing near us and was watching the
band playing and the people dancing downstairs. Peter told one of the men, if the
ladies wished, they could occupy the vacant chairs of our table. The ladies, before the man could even decide, turned around
and sat with us. One of the ladies was smoking, and Peter offered cigarettes to the
other. She declined, but the lady who was smoking
asked if we had Marlboro cigarettes. I immediately gave one of the
Rothmans. She was delighted and started examining the sides of the packet.Now that we were rich with local currency, we offered drinks to the ladies and the men. One of the ladies who smoked, poured a drink and gave the bottle and glasses to the men. With that, the bottle was almost over and Peter ordered another one. The young lady was given a cup of coffee. After having about two drinks Peter and I started talking with them. The young girl who was seated next to me introduced herself as Erina. The other lady was her sister in law and one of the men was her brother and other one was a family friend. A little while later Erina’s brother called his wife and Erina to go downstairs to dance. Soon after, they left the table and I too went down to the restroom. When I was walking up, Erina’s brother signaled to me to come down. When I went up to them he said, "This is my sister, you dance with her but do not try to be funny." I understood his message and said "Yes" and joined them in dancing. When we finished and came up, Peter had been wondering what had happened to me! After another round of drinks Erina's sister-in-law invited us to their house. We left the place after settling the bill.
After about a 20 minute walk we entered a housing scheme. We continued drinking and eating the sandwiches offered by them. Peter was in good spirits and started singing Sinhala pop songs and I
too joined him. It was about 11.30 p.m and it was time for us to leave as
we had about a 30-minute walk to the ship.
As we were leaving Erina told me that she
would like to meet me, the following day at the same place.
The ship called at the port of Novorossiyks
Two days before the ship sailed from Venice, the Captain
told me that our next port will be Novorossiysk. Novorossiysk was a port in the
USSR, (as it was called at that time) situated in the Black Sea. According to
the Captain’s advice, I planned the passage to Piraeus in Greece first, as the
ship was calling there for bunkers and then sail through the Bosporus Channel,
via Istanbul to Novorossiysk.
The ship sailed from Piraeus on the 9th of June 1976 and
arrived at Novorossiysk on the 11th of June. As it was summer, it was really
good to be there. All officers and crew were paid one month's wages on arrival.
As usual the wages were paid in US dollars. If anyone wanted, part of that could
have been drawn in Rubles, the USSR currency.
Our wages were paid by the Purser, Peter. The two of us
did not take any Rubles. Rules and regulations were very strict in USSR. To
proceed ashore, we had to have a shore pass with our photograph attached to it
and endorsed by the Port Immigration. There was an Army guard at the gangway on
24-hour duty. Anyone going ashore must return by mid night, as there was no
shore leave after that until 8.00 a.m. On the first day itself Peter and I went
ashore. We did not have any local currency, only US dollars. As we came out of
the gate (main entrance to the port) we saw some people waiting in a queue with
bottles and cans to buy beer. Beer was being distributed from a cart fitted with a
tank. This was something new to us.
We walked towards the city and came in front of the main
Post Office. There we stopped and tried to talk with a few people and found
that again the problem was the language. We had our standard questions, such as
where we could find a place for a drink, to eat and listen to some music. One
gentleman stopped and although he listened to us, it seemed that he did not
understand much. So Peter as usual with his sign language conveyed to him what
we were looking for. He signaled us to follow him and boarded a bus which came
into the nearby bus stand. He paid our bus fare. After about a ten-minute bus
ride we all got off and he took us to a nice hotel, the Hotel Leningrad. There
we had to buy tickets to enter and this man bought that, too. Later, we came to
know that he had paid 10 Rubles for both of us. We were so thankful to him and
were very guilty as we did not know how to return the money. We asked his name
and he repeated it a few times which neither Peter nor I could understand. The Russian gentleman left us there and
walked off. Both of us walked in and went upstairs. There was a nice sitting
area on the balcony. The ballroom and the bandstand were on the ground floor.
There was live music and the band had already started. After finding a table
with a good view, we settled down there.
Part of the port of Novorossiyks
Bombay to Ravenna
The vessel completed discharging at Mogadishu and Kisi
mayo, both ports are in Somalia.
Our next port of call was Bombay. The ship arrived in
Bombay around the 25th of March, 1976, and loaded cargo for three ports in
Italy, Palermo, Ravenna and Venice. For me, of the many places I visited, Bombay
was my second home port. We never had a dull day in Bombay. As usual we had
great fun there and finished all our money too. The voyage to Italy commenced
around the 12th of April, 1976. During transit in the Suez Canal, it was the
same experience. From Port Said to Palermo it took about three days. We spent
about five weeks in Italy, sailing between the three ports and discharging
cargo.
During the time the ship was in the Italian ports, we
observed, the Italian dock workers were easy going people. They worked from
Monday to Friday. Daily working hours, as I remember was from about 8.00 AM to
5.00 PM. After the ship had already been in Ravenna for about two weeks; possibly
because of the long delay in completing discharging of cargo, the receivers had
arranged the dock workers to work half a day on Saturday. It was great. Cases
of beer were put onboard and while working they consumed beer.
Two of them had brought in their guitars and were providing entertainment
for the others who worked. It was great fun for us.
After completing discharging at Ravenna the ship went to
Venice, to discharge remaining cargo.
Part of the Old Port of Ravenna
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