Why travel by freighter?
Well, it is a slow way home but it is also supposed to be a carbon
neutral way to travel. For cargo transport, going by sea is the most
fuel-efficient & produces the fewest emissions per ton carried and distance
travelled of any transport method. Also,
we hope this time will give us a peaceful transition from life on a boat back
to life ashore!
We needed to have: passports valid for 6 months after our embarkation port, yellow fever vaccinations for Egypt, medical certificates from a NZ GP, a letter from John saying that I could take Harry on the ship with me (for Malaysia and Egypt), massive travel, health & repatriation insurance and several forms of information for the shipping company. We already had all the documentation for the boat (apart from medical) and were able to arrange a medical in Whangarei with a GP who was a Navy doctor for 3 years! She also gave me a prescription for tamoxifen to see me through.
We needed to have: passports valid for 6 months after our embarkation port, yellow fever vaccinations for Egypt, medical certificates from a NZ GP, a letter from John saying that I could take Harry on the ship with me (for Malaysia and Egypt), massive travel, health & repatriation insurance and several forms of information for the shipping company. We already had all the documentation for the boat (apart from medical) and were able to arrange a medical in Whangarei with a GP who was a Navy doctor for 3 years! She also gave me a prescription for tamoxifen to see me through.
It's the 8th June and we are about to board the container ship CMA CGM Titan – she
is 363.61 metres long, 45.66 metres wide and weighs over 133,000 tons when
loaded with her cargo of 11,000 containers.
(Sara Jane is 13.5 metres long and weighs 18 tons)
First tip for freighter travel – don’t expect everything to
run exactly to time. We arrived in
Singapore on the 2nd June and were due to join the ship on the 7th. On the 3rd the shipping agent
called me as the date was now the 8th. Luckily the hotel room was available and we
were, of course, enjoying our stay.
On the Sunday we were collected from the hotel by a very
surly chap from the shipping agents who was taking us to the ship – all he
wanted was his money! No taxis are
allowed into the terminal which is not surprising as it is huge, with lorries
both empty and loaded, queuing up to enter and leave. First we had to get a temporary pass from the
port police to enter the terminal. We
had our ship’s agent forms, our booking receipts & our passports but the
police officer was very curious about Harry & spent ages on the computer while
we stood outside in the sun. Eventually,
after a few questions and photographing us for yet another pass, he decided to
let us through. A long drive with us
getting more apprehensive by the minute, we arrived at the bottom of a very
long gangway with the huge black hull of the Titan stretching out for what
seemed like miles.
The view to port from our cabin over Singapore's endless container terminal.
And the view ahead!
Soon 2 crew members trotted down to get our luggage (thank
goodness – I couldn’t see how we would manage carrying our bags up 74 steep
& wobbly steps to get to the main deck) and we were boarding. Into the ships’ office first to meet the
Chief Officer, Zoran, who was busy overseeing the loading & discharging of
containers – we handed over our passports and then went up in the lift to our
cabin, 6 decks up. It is quite splendid
with 2 double beds, a fridge, big windows (facing forwards & over a little deck to port) and
a good sized shower room. Just down the
corridor is a ‘passenger recreation room’ which has a TV & dvd player, kettle,
tea & coffee and fridge & sink, and there is a laundry with washing
machine & dryer on each accommodation deck.
We are the only passengers.
We brought back our quilts from the boat and used them on board. Note the 'flower-bed' under the port windows.
The fridge is by the wardrobe.
Arriving at supper time we went straight back down to the Officer's messroom for our meal and then went into the galley to meet the cook, Dexter, and our steward (the only steward!) Kenneth. The crew are from the Philippines and the officers from Croatia & all seem to be cheerful, friendly and have English as their common language.
In the galley with Kenneth & Dexter
We have a great view of the giant portainer gantreys
constantly carrying containers back and forth, with the banging and crashing as they are loaded. Once the novelty of watching the containers
swoosh past our window wore off we unpacked and went to bed. Breakfast is at 7.30am and afterwards we
watched from our deck as we slowly left the quay, aided by tugs, and sailed gently away on our
journey.
Our private sitting room! Used as the classroom for the voyage.
Farewell Singapore
We arrived at Port Kelang, Malaysia, in the evening, needing
the aid of 3 tugs to turn the ship round in the river entrance and push her
alongside the long wharf. It is a
massive port where all SE Asia and Bay of Bengal cargo is being transhipped – a
far cry from the small harbour we anchored in when I was a deck cadet on the
Strathmay in 1976.
The pilot boat arrives
We were called at 10.30pm to the Captain’s office where we
met the agent and then were rushed off the ship with him to go to
immigration. Another long drive through
the docks, out via security, back in through another gate and more security
then to a huge warehouse of a building where we waited for ages as the agent
went from office to office with our passports.
There were no other women around and it was all rather creepy. We eventually got back to the ship very late,
leaving our passports with the agent as he needed them for immigration in the
morning.
Watching the mechanical ballet of straddle carriers and trucks in the early morning light.
On the other side of the ship the cargo we have unloaded is on its way to smaller ports.
One of the tugs working hard to haul Titan off the dock
Farewell Port Kelang and the millions of tons of cargo that are being loaded and discharged.
As we leave the bay the pilot boat has collected the pilot from our ship ...
And is delivering him to the next ship coming into port.
Now it is Friday 13th June, having slipped past Sumatra and crossed the Bay of Bengal in the winds and rains of the SW monsoon we passed Sri Lanka in the night and have just entered the high risk zone for piracy at 78 degrees east. The wind makes strange howling noises through the containers and the gentle rolling in the rough seas makes them creak and moan - all in all quite a cacophony.
It is very windy on deck in the monsoon season!
The desert around Djibouti on our last trip up the Red Sea aboard Sara Jane in 2001
The cafe in Suarkin, Sudan with the cook on the right
