WHAT WE KNOW ON PANAMA

JUNE 14, 2015 SUNDAY

Finally arrived in panama after two days of travelling from Ecuador, as usual there is nothing much to say about the weather here and it's still uncomfortably hot and I hope that we transit this area as soon as possible. When we arrived here, ship are to anchor first as to determine the traffic schedule for the transit. The following day no thanks to our beloved "captain cobra"  we still had work until noon despite the fact that this ship will be transiting at around 4pm. I waited a couple of hours at my cabin and when Pump man thanny visited he mentioned that it was changed from 4pm to 6pm.

At 6pm, as expected I was called on my cabin phone and ordered to be on standby for heaving of anchor. Due to traffic related issues on panama canal , this ship didn’t heaved anchor until two hours later.

It was the very much same drill as what we did going to the pacific side of panama canal, pretty straight forward. Pick up the pilot , wait for the panama mooring crew which is total of 19 personnel overall and sit tight and watch them work and make business and buy stuff from them as a side work , then after three hours (or so) watch them disembark and wait again for another mooring crew team.

During the transiting on the lock, I manage to buy a stuff that local's here call "black stone"  and from what I heard on the locals here , it's some sort of aphrodisiac says that it make a person's dick enlarger or somewhat last longer in bed. From what I heard also you don’t exactly swallow this black stone but instead apply it on the surface skin like some topical cream of sorts and wait for about roughly twenty minutes and then wash it before having sex.

The purpose why I bought these stones is not as for personal use but for scientific studies and put it on my blog here as well. It would be a good opportunity to document and picture this item to the maritime community in the Philippines, and show it to the world (or in other terms show it in cyber space). I cannot simply let pass that kind of opportunity of not making any written records of this item. Shame that the sample I bought is a small one not the large "black stone" , The black stone here in panama has two variants , the five dollar black stone and the 10 dollar (US Dollar) "Diatabs"  size black stone.

In other news related to the transit

Incidentally the guy who I tried to rip me off on the cell phone load was again  with one who boarded the second team of panama canal mooring crew. I just simply ignored him and pretended he wasn’t there. The Mira Flores lock by the way is the lock facing the pacific side of panama canal while the gatun lock is the one facing on the atlantic. A lot of sailors especially first timer's ask what is like to transit panama ? For a common sailors perception its nothing more than a usual transit with a big metal gate and such for almost 12 hours, honestly being in panama canal isn't exciting at all and as a matter of fact sailors should be in caution in this area - as there are reports here that burglar break in's here are common on crew cabins and these panama canal workers steal a lot of stuff on the crew, So as a friendly remainder that CREWS SHOULD LOCK THEIR CABINS ALL THE TIME HERE  .

In other news..

After the transit , it was given an order that this ship would be in anchorage first and wait further orders from the company as there are no prospect yet on what will be the next voyage and that the prospect of going to Venezuela to load some jet fuel has been cancelled off.

It was roughly about 7am , and about 12 hours has passed since we transited on panama canal. We prepared the port side anchor for the gravity type drop.(I was the one dropping the anchor this time), everything went smoothly on the drop and it's much easier to work with now compared before when "Mr. Cobra"  was still around . After that the rest of the day , was spent resting - well some of it , I didn’t exactly went straight ahead on my cabin after the drop anchor . I hanged around a bit for a couple of hours on the crew mess and drank a few bottles of beer and check out my cell phone for any updates on the internet on my face book account and twitter.

Late at night there was a drinking session and apparently things got ugly after I left at the crew mess. From what heard from O.S. Joash ( O.S. that replaced O.S. bantic in ecuador) 2nd engineer Alijosa got a nasty heated conversation with 3rd mate corales, Accusing him of being a lazy son of a bitch and saying stuff like "ever since he became a third mate and got his license , he's been acting like a "king". It was a nasty conversation from what I heard. As a result Third mate corales left the crew mess untimely and was obviously furious. 

Here's some photo i took on the transit as well as videos

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT PANAMA

Panama Canal

I	INTRODUCTION

Panama Canal, canal across the Isthmus of Panama, in Central America, that allows vessels to travel between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The waterway measures 64 km (40 mi), including dredged approach channels at each end. The Panama Canal handles a large volume of world shipping and enables vessels to avoid traveling around South America, reducing their voyages by thousands of miles and many days.

The canal consists of artificially created lakes, channels, and a series of locks, or water-filled chambers, that raise and lower ships through the mountainous terrain of central Panama. Built by the United States from 1904 to 1914, the Panama Canal posed major engineering challenges, such as damming a major river and digging a channel through a mountain ridge. It was the largest and most complex project of this kind ever undertaken at that time, employing tens of thousands of workers and costing $350 million.

The canal cuts through the central and most populated region of Panama, and it has been a point of dispute between the governments of Panama and the United States through most of its existence. Under a 1903 treaty, the United States controlled both the waterway and a large section of the surrounding land, known as the Panama Canal Zone, as if they were U.S. territory. Panamanians resented this arrangement and argued that their country was unfairly denied benefits from the canal. Eventually, riots and international pressure led the United States to negotiate two new treaties, which were signed in 1977 and took effect in 1979. The treaties recognized Panama’s ultimate ownership of the canal and all the surrounding lands. More than half of the former Canal Zone came under Panamanian control shortly after the treaties were ratified. Control of the canal was turned over to Panama on December 31, 1999.

II	TRAVELING THROUGH THE CANAL

The canal consists of dredged approaches and three sets of locks at each end; Gatún Lake, one of the largest artificially created bodies of water in the world; and the excavated portion of the crossing, called Gaillard Cut. At Gatún, on the Atlantic side, the locks form continuous steps; on the Pacific side, a small lake (Miraflores) separates the middle and upper locks.

Because the Isthmus of Panama extends east-west, a ship sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the canal actually travels from northwest to southeast. To travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific, a ship enters Limón Bay from the north and anchors behind a breakwater to await scheduling of its passage. When ready, the canal authorities send out a canal pilot to take the vessel through the locks. The canal employs about 240 highly trained and experienced pilots to handle the complex job of steering ships through the waterway. As soon as the pilot takes over, the ship is under canal jurisdiction. Very large or hard-to-maneuver ships may require two or more pilots and assistance from tugboats.

The ship travels south-southeast about 11 km (7 mi) and enters the first lock at Gatún. Line handlers at the lock attach steel mooring cables that are controlled by powerful electric locomotives, called mules. The mules guide the ship through the locks and steady it while the chambers are filled with water. In three steps the ship is raised to the level of Gatún Lake, 26 m (85 ft) above the sea.

The canal’s 12 locks (3 sets of double locks at each end) have the same dimensions: 33.5 m (110 ft) wide by 305 m (1,000 ft) long. The gates at each end are 2.1 m (7 ft) thick. Water enters and leaves each lock through a system of main culverts or pipes, which connect to 100 holes in the floor of each chamber. For each ship traveling through the canal, 197 million liters (52 million gallons) of fresh water are used, fed by gravity flow from Gatún Lake. To conserve water, smaller ships often go through the locks together.

At the top of the Gatún locks, the ship drops the mooring lines and proceeds under its own power for 37 km (23 mi) through the lake, following the former channel of the Chagres River. Gatún Dam, built adjoining the locks, flooded the river basin and formed the lake, which covers 430 sq km (166 sq mi). The flooding created a number of islands, as the water covered all but the tops of hills. One of these islands, Barro Colorado, is a wildlife refuge operated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

The waterway gradually narrows until the river turns to the east at Gamboa, flowing under a bridge of the Panama Railroad. The canal’s marine division, with cranes, dredges, tugs, and barges, is located at Gamboa.

South from Gamboa, the canal follows a channel dug through the mountains, which was the most difficult part of the construction project. Called Gaillard Cut, this section measures 14 km (9 mi) and traverses the Continental Divide, a ridge made of rock and shale. Numerous landslides occurred both during and after construction, requiring frequent dredging to keep the canal open. The channel through the cut is 150 m (500 ft) wide, the narrowest part of the canal. Originally only 91.5 m (300 ft), the cut was widened in phases beginning in the 1930s to allow two-way traffic. In the 1990s it was enlarged even more to accommodate larger ships.

At the southern end of Gaillard Cut, the ship slows and enters Pedro Miguel locks. Again, cables and mules guide and steady the ship before it is lowered 9.4 m (31 ft) to Miraflores Lake. The cables are released and the ship crosses the lake, which is 2.1 km (1.3 mi) long and lies 16 m (54 ft) above sea level. The ship then enters the last two locks, also named Miraflores, and is lowered to the level of the Pacific Ocean. The final stretch of the canal carries the ship to the harbor of Balboa, where the canal pilot leaves the vessel. The ship sails under the Bridge of the Americas (formerly known as the Thatcher Ferry Bridge) and into the Bay of Panama, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. Northbound ships anchor in the Bay of Panama while waiting for their turn to travel through the canal to the Atlantic.

The entire trip through the canal takes between 8 and 10 hours plus waiting time. The canal operates 24 hours a day year-round. Each ship that travels through the canal pays a toll based on its capacity.

III	TRAFFIC VOLUME

A large volume of the world’s ships, cargo, and passengers travel through the canal every year. In 1996 more than 15,000 ships, about 42 per day, made the crossing. From 1985 to 1995 the number of ships, their tonnage, and the amount of tolls collected all increased. Tolls rose to $460 million in 1995, a 50 percent increase over 1985 figures. About 14,000 ships, 400,000 crew members, and 300,000 passengers traveled through the canal in 1995.

A wide variety of general cargo vessels and specialized ships pass through the canal. The most common are bulk carriers for ore, grain, and liquids; automobile carriers; container ships; refrigerated ships; tankers; liquid-gas carriers; and passenger liners. Many naval vessels, fishing boats, barges, dredges, floating drydocks, and ocean-going tugs also use the canal.

The principal commodities shipped through the canal in 1993 were canned and refrigerated foods, chemicals, coal and coke, grains, lumber and wood products, machinery and equipment (including automobiles), iron and steel products, minerals, ores and metals, agricultural commodities, and petroleum and by-products. The single largest commodity was grain, mostly being shipped from the U.S. Gulf Coast region to Asia. Another important group was automobiles: About half of the cars shipped from Asia to the United States went through the canal in the mid-1990s.

The size of ships using the Panama Canal has steadily increased. About 27 percent of the vessels that use the canal are built to the maximum dimensions that can pass through it (a category called “Panamax”). This has prompted further widening of Gaillard Cut, so that the larger Panamax vessels may transit safely. However, some of the world’s commercial and military ships are too large for the canal. Since the 1940s, new U.S. battleships and aircraft carriers have been built exceeding the canal’s dimensions; so have some petroleum supertankers, huge container ships, and ore carriers. Despite this trend, planners anticipate steadily increasing demand for use of the canal for the next 20 years.

The Panama Canal was built in part for military reasons, to give the U.S. Navy rapid access to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Many U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force bases were built in the canal zone to defend the vital channel. However, since World War II (1939-1945) the canal has been considered vulnerable to attack. A single bomb or a scuttled ship could disrupt canal traffic for a long period, and the jungles along the canal could be used by guerrilla forces. Therefore, the canal was considered less valuable as a military asset. The nearby bases, while continuing to guard the canal, became a center for U.S. military operations throughout Central America and the Caribbean. The headquarters for the U.S. military’s Southern Command was relocated from bases in Panama to Florida in 1997. All U.S. military bases in Panama were closed before the end of 1999.

IV	CANAL ADMINISTRATION

The canal is operated by the Panama Canal Authority, a public Panamanian corporation. Before Panama took control of the canal in 1999, the canal was managed by the Panama Canal Commission, a U.S. government agency under the Department of Defense. The commission was established in 1979 to operate the canal during the 20-year transition from U.S. to Panamanian control, and it gave Panamanians a role in governing the canal for the first time. The commission was supervised by a nine-member board composed of five U.S. citizens and four Panamanians. After 1990 the canal’s administrator was a Panamanian. The commission provided Panamanian employees with specialized training, and Panamanians formed more than 90 percent of the canal’s workforce by 1996. Until 1979 the canal and adjoining lands had been run solely by the U.S. government as if they were U.S. territory.

The Panama Canal Authority manages and maintains the canal and all its related functions and equipment. Tolls and other canal fees generally pay all the costs of running and maintaining the waterway.

Treaties between the United States and Panama guarantee the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal, allowing ships of all nations to use it even in time of war. Panama and the United States share responsibility for the defense of the canal.

V

HISTORY

A	Early Efforts

As early as the 16th century, Europeans dreamed of building a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Spanish kings considered building a canal to carry treasure from their South American colonies back to Spain, but no attempt was made. Such a project became possible only in the 19th century, with the machinery and knowledge produced during the Industrial Revolution, the transition from an agricultural to a mechanized economy.

In the 1830s and 1840s, while Panama was a province of Colombia, a number of European and U.S. studies were conducted to determine where and how such a crossing could be built. In 1850 the United States and Britain signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, in which they pledged to cooperate if either one undertook such a project. That same year, a New York company began construction of the Panama Railroad, along the same general route as the present-day canal. It opened to traffic five years later, carrying many gold seekers to California during the gold rush. During the rest of the 1800s, the U.S. government frequently sent in troops to protect the railroad from bandits and military threats, under the authority of a treaty signed with Colombia in 1846.

In the late 1870s a private French company won a concession from Colombia to build a sea-level canal in Panama and soon raised enough money to begin construction. The company was directed by Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French engineer and diplomat who had overseen construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Excavation in Panama began in 1882, but the company quickly ran into problems caused by the difficult terrain, climate, tropical diseases, labor shortages, and a flawed design. In 1888 it ceased work and went into bankruptcy. Reorganized a few years later as the New Panama Canal Company, it barely managed to keep the concession and prevent the equipment from deteriorating. At that stage, the French company sought another sponsor for the project.

B	U.S. Involvement

The United States had long been interested in a Central American canal, to link its east and west coasts and expand trade. However, it did not have the money or the will to build one before 1900. During the 1890s Congress appropriated money to begin work on a canal in Nicaragua, but the project was soon cancelled.

The Spanish-American War in 1898 heightened military interest in a canal. After defeating Spain, the United States acquired the Philippines and Puerto Rico and wanted better access for its navy to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. American officials negotiated the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty with Britain in 1901, in which the two countries agreed that the United States alone could build and regulate a canal.

The canal issue reached a critical point in 1902 and 1903. In a complex series of events, Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt decided on Panama over Nicaragua and negotiated a treaty with Colombia. Under the agreement, the United States would obtain a strip of land across the isthmus and build a canal. But Colombia’s senate rejected the treaty. Panamanians feared the United States would build a canal in Nicaragua instead, so they took matters into their own hands. A group of Panamanians conspired with agents of the French company and the Panama Railroad to rebel against Colombian rule and declared Panama independent on November 3, 1903. The United States supported the revolt and used its navy to prevent Colombia from defeating the rebels.

Two weeks later Panama signed a treaty with the United States giving permission for the canal project. The Panamanians had authorized Philippe Bunau-Varilla, a French citizen and longtime official of the French canal company, to negotiate the terms and sign the agreement. Bunau-Varilla gave the United States even more than it had asked for: a perpetual lease on a section of central Panama 16 km (10 mi) wide, where the canal would be built; the right to take over more Panamanian land if needed; and the right to use troops to intervene in Panama. The United States agreed to guarantee Panama’s independence and pay $10 million, plus an annual fee of $250,000. In exchange for their independence, then, Panamanians were forced to accept the treaty, which no Panamanian ever signed, that virtually gave away the canal zone to the United States (see Panama: History).

C	Construction

Canal construction began in 1904, directed by an Inter-Oceanic Canal Commission. Most of the excavation and construction was done by private contractors. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supplied the technical guidance, and Colonel George W. Goethals served as chief engineer from 1907 to 1916. After initial plans for a sea-level canal, the commission decided on a canal with locks. The canal commission recruited more than 50,000 laborers, mostly from nearby Caribbean islands, to work on the canal. In all, another 100,000 people migrated to Panama during the construction era, adding to the diversity of Panama’s population.

An important breakthrough during construction was the successful effort to control mosquito-borne diseases. Malaria and yellow fever had killed thousands of workers during the French canal attempt. But a U.S. campaign, directed by Army medical officer William Gorgas, drained or sprayed mosquito breeding grounds and built sewage and water systems. Within two years the diseases were brought under control.

The overall cost of the canal was about $350 million, the largest and costliest work ever undertaken by the U.S. government. It became one of the world’s premier feats of engineering. The concrete lock chambers and mechanical lock gates were the largest ever built. At the time, Gatún Dam was the largest earthen dam ever built, forming the world’s largest artificial lake. More than 190 million cubic meters (250 million cubic yards) of earth and rock were excavated from the canal route. Frequent landslides caused problems and delays as workers dug through the ridge of the Continental Divide to form Gaillard Cut.

Despite the challenges and difficulties, the Panama Canal was completed sooner than expected. The first ship traveled through it from the Atlantic to the Pacific on August 15, 1914. However, further landslides caused closures in 1915, and the canal’s formal opening was postponed until 1920 because of World War I (1914-1918).

D	Canal Since Completion

Since it opened, the canal has served as a U.S. shipping facility for vessels of all countries. Most ships and cargo traveling through the canal belong to U.S. companies, although a majority of the ships are registered in Panama or Liberia, countries that have low fees and less restrictive regulations.

Starting in the 1930s Gaillard Cut was widened to improve navigation, and in the 1990s it was expanded again. Madden Dam was built in the 1930s to control the flow of water into Gatún Lake and generate electricity. In 1962 a high-level bridge was built over the Pacific entrance to the canal. Known as the Bridge of the Americas or Thatcher Ferry Bridge, this structure carries the Pan-American Highway into Panama City.

For much of its history, the canal and the surrounding Panama Canal Zone were run as a colony of the United States. The U.S. Department of the Army administered the canal, the Panama Railroad, and many businesses run by the railroad company. It also built 14 military bases in the area. The governor of the canal region was appointed by the secretary of the Army and was usually a retired general from the Corps of Engineers who had served in Panama. U.S. civilian employees supervised canal operations, while Panamanians and West Indians formed the labor force.

In 1950 the U.S. government reorganized management of the area into two agencies: the Panama Canal Company, which ran the canal’s commercial operations and the railroad, and the Canal Zone government, which handled courts, police, and other functions. The governor headed both agencies. A separate military structure controlled the military bases in the Canal Zone and operated independently of the civilian authorities.

The U.S. control of the area caused decades of conflict with Panamanians, who felt excluded from the economic benefits of the canal and from territory they regarded as rightfully belonging to Panama. Before negotiating the 1977 treaties, the United States and Panama modified the 1903 treaty twice. In 1936 they signed an agreement by which the United States raised Panama’s annual payment from the canal and prevented shipments of untaxed goods from the canal zone into Panama, which Panamanian merchants regarded as unfair competition. The United States also gave up the rights to intervene militarily in Panama and to take over more land for canal operations. In 1955 another treaty raised the annuity again, made Panamanians who worked in the canal zone subject to Panamanian taxes, and promised to end a wage system that paid American employees at a higher rate than Panamanians.

But these concessions did not end tensions between the United States and Panamanians, who staged demonstrations and protests in the late 1950s and 1960s. Anti-American riots in 1964 caused the two countries to suspend diplomatic relations briefly. After they were restored, the United States and Panama began negotiating new treaties, a process that lasted more than 12 years. In 1977 U.S. president Jimmy Carter and the Panamanian leader, General Omar Torrijos Herrera, signed treaties that gave control of the canal and all its operations to Panama in 1999. The agreements were ratified by Panama immediately and by the United States the following year.

The treaties went into effect in 1979. More than 60 percent of the U.S.-held Panama Canal Zone was returned to Panama. The Panama Canal Commission was established to run the canal during the transition to Panamanian control, and Panama took over operation of ship repairs, piers, and railroad operations. In 1994 the government of Panama created an agency, the Interoceanic Regional Authority, to administer the non-canal facilities of the former zone. The Panama Canal Authority, a public corporation, took possession of the canal from the Panama Canal Commission on December 14, 1999. That day the United States transferred the canal to Panama at a ceremony attended by Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso de Gruber and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

In 2006 Panamanian voters approved a referendum calling for a major expansion of the canal. The planned $5.2-billion expansion will involve the creation of a new channel and new locks. The current canal cannot accommodate many of the modern container ships, and traffic has become so heavy that many ships experience costly delays waiting to enter the locks. The expansion project was set to begin in 2008 and expected to be completed in 2014.

Contributed By:

Michael L. Conniff

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

EYE SEEKER

" i know it's bad to be taking videos on the deck in a tanker , but the end justifies the means. I'm not greedy when it comes to knowledge and i share it to the world , Compared to other filipino sailors who withheld knowledge  in the pretence of "safety" as an excuse"

Never occurred to me that my little rag tag group will outlast the other group on the internet, given that the group I assembled for the internet wasn't met with much enthusiasm at first. Anyway so far business is doing good and hopefully it will be that way till our rental on the internet expires soon.

For the moment I had been taking pictures and video on deck , but having a regular camera for recording video's is way too exposed and noticeable for prying eyes especially if the rules on work says "No electronics of any kind on the deck area" . Despite the risk - I'm trying to record on video and capture on photos as much as data as possible on this entire journey. I feel that surveying and recording every detail on how we sailors work is an utmost priority for me and sharing the knowledge to the public ,

Of course most people and my own kind out there wouldn't agree of what I'm doing and often times they would think that its "unsafe" working practices but I do not care of such petty excuses on attaining results - what I want is to provide knowledge to my own brethren and available not to a limited few people but to everyone out there, even if it puts me on the risk . Most Filipino's seaman aren't capable of doing than, nor have the balls to risk themselves for the sake of others.  just plain greedy hypocrites who withheld knowledge in the pretence of "safety" as an excuse. What a pathetic example . Anyway I should not be bothered on the bad side of Filipino culture in writing.

In relation to this , I had been thinking of how to get records of video's on the deck without being noticed. I was thinking of two ways , One is to buy a specialized recording camera like "action camera" , which is nothing more than a regular video camera that can be mounted on a helmet. This method is good in the sense that I can capture the video in good clarity and continuous recording, the bad part of this plan is that since it’s a full standard action camera its very obvious and expose, meaning that sooner or later some dip shit sailor here will yell at me for saying no electronics on-board.

Another part on my plan is to buy spying equipment - like the ones used for surveillance during the cold war  , this is effective and doesn’t draw attention plus you can now easily but this equipment on any electronic and surveillance store anywhere in the Philippines  but the problem with this ultra-small recording device is the battery limitation , from my personal use it is only estimated that’s only last for about 20 minutes on full charge or maybe less.  Power supply is a big limitation.

Anyway in the mean time I'd still going to decide on which of the two will I choose to record knowledge.

In other matters …..

The discussion and settlement of our internet bill for Ecuador has been settled , and to the best of the situation he (surveyors name is dick Prado) only charged us about 150 U.S. Dollars all in all on the 9 days it was used. Fair is fair , that’s what the business deal was all about. Now most of the people from the other group who had internet envy us because we settled and got the best deals on internet in Ecuador.,

Midway on this ships stay , O.S. Bantic and Chief cook Regidor Pineda disembarked and was replaced with two new guys.

On Friday afternoon , this ship departed and will be going to panama back again after two days, after that there will be a crew change and our lovely dipshit captain will be replaced by an equally ruthless bastard captain. I still have at least four months more to get out on this hell ship but I had a feeling that everything will be fine. I just had to sit tight and finish the contract.  

FUNNY THING AMONG FILIPINO MARINERS

I browsed one particular filipino sailor themed facebook group on the net , and i find it quiet amusing that most of these sailors think only nothing but sex , degrading as it may sound but this is actual evidence that proves that Filipino's often times think very "low class" on this job ,  reading the replies of a female Filipino mariner asking for advise and it is met with tons of reply from other male Filipino sailor asking or even inviting her to have sex with them .

Problem with us filipinos mariners is that a person ask us a decent question and we replied them with indecent proposals - talk about being ill mannered and low class ! (or specifically a horny sex hungry bastard)  anyway i had screen captured it to show proof  ( conversation text here is untranslated). question here is this IF FILIPINO SAILORS THINK (AND ACT) LIKE THIS ON THE INTERNET THEN HOW MUCH MORE DO THEY REALLY ACT IN THE ACTUAL WORK PLACE IN A SHIP ? this alone makes me (and anyone reading this) figure out on how tasteless and uncivilized typical Filipino sailors are . They may be college graduates but education doesn't have to do anything with character and this is a social norm in the maritime community here in the Philippines and definitely shows a clear example of  "no gender equality" . us Filipino sailors always think that women sailors are nothing more than just walking sex toys - shame on us for being such a backward minded people

BEING RIPPED OFF IN ECUADOR

Could have been more bad timing than ever, In fact never occurred to me that my Hp pc would ever crash again - all because I was stupid enough to update my computer here, Now as a result I'm back again from scratch and worst part is all my data on my travels went to waste along with the computer games I registered with it, I'm not sure if my recovery program can recover all the data . For now I'm changing tactics on the backup systems and will let my PC / Tablet acer to be the "main" computer I use. I was able to recover some of the video's but not the whole entire data I made along with the articles I had to publish on my blog. For now I'm starting again on scratch.

Given with these problems and the frequent reformatting of my HP gaming laptop, I'm now switching my base of operations (on the internet) and offline data to my other Acer computer / tablet , so basically the data will now be stored there instead of here on my HP . The only reason why im still able to access the data here on my HP is because I had setup a local area network on my cabin. So simply say it my HP laptop will be my work station while my acer tablet computer will act as a "server" , so if in case something happens to my HP laptop I could easily recover data. 

On the latest news on what's going on aboard this ship

There has been tensions lately over the internet rental on the other group, apparently it looks like that the contact person they had on using the internet changed and double crossed them, and charged them 600 USD for internet rental. Apparently according to their contact their charged via bandwidth and not on the time usage. Originally their deal was its supposedly to be 25 U.S. Dollars PER DAY but for some reason their contact changed heart after the fifth day and said that he will be charging via bandwidth and its already 600 U.S. dollars. Naturally 7 people who originally joined in on the internet connection were furious over what happened, they felt that 75 U.S. dollars per connection was overpriced and that this was a rip off . They even said this is definitely a "Mafiaso"

As a result , the leader of the group Chief Engineer Hernandez Navarro (Venezuelan national) pulled out immediately the modem internet connection as a damage control to stop further charging. Now their main problem is on how the hell are they going to pay the money ?

Well the other "internet rental" group I belong with, still has internet connection and fortunately our Ecuadorian contact for us charges very fair and doesn’t have any funny ideas of ripping us off - for now it's safe to say that our contact just charges us 3 U.S. dollars and fifty cents per person per day on the internet rental. Either way the subject of "internet" here has been a hot topic and almost all of the crew had grievances on something about internet.

Speaking of the subject I got myself also in trouble because of it. Although its petty I got in a petty misunderstanding with BOSUN diosana on the second day of internet connection on our group because I changed the Wi-Fi modem password and apparently enough my co-workers here are selfishly self-serving enough not to inform BOSUN Diosana of the password changed. Obviously they came up with all sorts of excuses and pretended not to hear anything from me that I told them to "inform everyone on the password change" , in the end the whole blame fell on me and what's worst I got the whole wrath of BOSUN Diosana and ultimately withdrawing his membership on the group.

Anyway what's done is done , I cannot change or go back on what happened and I had to change the password of the Wi-Fi modem in order for it to be secure because I found out on that day that our group were not the only one's using the connection, and the other Ecuadorian mooring crew are tapping on the frequency as well . Later on the days past I tried to persuade BOSUN Diosana back to join but apparently he says he's not interested anymore and turned down the invitation.

Anyway if that was his case then I'd let him be , after all being a sailor is that were not oblige to please anyone and its his choice. Besides it's not part of the job requirement to be nice. I know this may sound ruthless but , as a sailor we have no obligation to other people , we just have to look out for ourselves

In other matters …

Laundry yet again is a problem only this time the problem is on the washing machine itself which apparently broke down and was disassembled for repair. The thing here is that they disassemble the machine and found out later that there were no on-board spare parts for the machine , leaving us crew without any washing machine to use at all for the coveralls. Well technically we still have two other washing machines but our lovely soviet officials here wouldn't allow us to wash our coveralls on it. So bringing me to washing my coveralls via deck brush inside my bathroom.

On other news ….

Mostly I only use the internet to update stuff on the net , specifically on the current news about tech and lately the article I read recently says that windows 10 will be released in the U.S. at July 29 this year and from what I heard , UPGRADE WILL BE FOR FREE for windows 7 and windows 8.1 computer owners , which of course I own three computers and all of them incidentally have windows 7 and windows 8.1 operating system. On the news in gaming , Its seems that the computer game titled "FALLOUT 4"  will be released on November 2015 and I had been a fan of this post apocalypse video game franchise since its first game was released way back in 1997 on windows 98 O.S. . Hopefully the graphics are good and sharp as what the preview I saw in youtube

FLOURA AND FAUNA IN ECUADOR

(Mafioso , in seaman terms is related to something criminal like activity in nature like from the term Mafia which meant organized crime. The term is also used continent wide in south America and they absolutely known its meaning)

I had done a little research if the price was true and found out that indeed the my co-workers are being ripped off , even if the costliest price is put up on Ecuador subscription , I wouldn't go far around the 200 U.S.D per month and this cannot be mistaken for currency exchange as I found out that Ecuador doesn’t use its former currency called "Sucre's" anymore (THEY NOW USE U.S. DOLLAR AS THEIR LOCAL CURRENCY SINCE 2001, information is based on Google travel and Wikipedia).

I done a little research on the net and this article I had found out about the internet connection

********************************************************************

Internet in Ecuador

In 2000, the Internet in Ecuador had yet to really take off. Here in Tena we only had one Internet cafe, which had 2 computers. I worked there for a short while and thinking back makes me laugh.

The cafe had its own email address. Almost everyone who came in would write emails from this account - hardly anyone had their own address. And then you'd come in from time to time to check if you had received a reply - which would be sent to that one email account. Talk about no privacy!

It was at this cafe that I set up my first email account. The owner had to help me and I remember running password ideas by him.

Back then the Internet in Ecuador was s-l-o-w. I can't remember the by-the-hour charge, but you needed a good hour if you planned to do anything substantial online.

How things have changed

Since then Internet in Ecuador has really changed. Now just about every block has one or more Internet cafes. The Internet has become a huge part of life in Ecuador. School kids are sent almost daily to look up something online as part of their homework, which doubles as an excuse to check their Facebook pages.

The increased popularity of the Internet has meant an increase in Internet options…

For the Traveler in Ecuador

Coming through Ecuador as a tourist? You have options for keeping in touch.

Internet cafes: As I said before there is an overabundance of Internet cafes in just about every decent size town or city. The average price is 60 cents per hour (if anyone tries to charge you a dollar or more per hour you are most likely being ripped off).

Speed is decent. I wouldn't call it hi-speed, but we've definitely moved past the age of dial-up.

WI-FI: Hotels and restaurants in just about any tourist town now offer WI-FI. So if you are traveling with your laptop, IPad, etc you will be able to use it. When checking in to your hotel ask the receptionist for the password. Some hotels still charge for WI-FI service, but I think this is a quickly dying trend as most hotels offer it as a free perk.

Living in Ecuador

More and more of us who have moved to Ecuador are working online. So having a decent connection is very important. Back in the day, you had to have a land line to get Internet in Ecuador...which in places like Tena meant you didn't even have the option to have Internet at home. Thankfully, times have changed.

CNT (Formerly Andinatel and Pacifictel): The largest public telecommunications company in Ecuador often offers the best Internet. The cost to speed ratio is the best I've found. The downside, you need to have a land line phone and there must be an Internet line available in your neighborhood.

CNT is working on WI-FI, but it is not available in all areas. For example, here in Tena you can access wireless, but only if you live downtown.

Claro and Movistar: These popular cell phone providers also have good options for Internet in Ecuador. They offer pay-as-you-go plans, which are great if you are using them as a back up provider. There are also monthly plans which often include data and speed limits.

Movistar also offers an unlimited plan. I personally use it. It's ok. Nothing special. I can get done what I need to. Loading videos can be problematic and sudden loss in speed can be annoying. But at $32 per month, you can't beat the price.

Both Claro and Movistar use modem sticks, which plug into a USB port in your computer. This can be handy, since you can take the modem with you when traveling.

Both providers also offer Internet plans for your cell phone.

RETURN TO SENDER

Entry log at June 06, 2015 Saturday

Out of nowhere I was called by the cabin phone and was asked to get some sort of 20 U.S. dollars from the bridge. I had no idea what this is all about and was only clarified that it was a sort of "Vetting Bonus" . Well I guess 20 dollars is better than nothing, but the thing here is this - according to Electrician Felix Rodriguez , we shouldn't be just getting only 20 U.S. dollars and apparently it should be roughly about 66 U.S. Dollars per person. Now the question here is where the hell did the extra 46 U.S. Dollars per person went ?

Thirdmate Corales and Electrician Rodriguez suspects that it just went to the personal pocket of Captain Sorin Sageta and that he went greedy over the money. The thing here is that we went all the trouble and hard work on the vetting and yet the one's reaping the rewards was this so called "captain", making a "cut" on other peoples wages, what a total corrupt exploiting bastard !

After collecting my 20 dollars and hearing Third mate and Electrician's chat about this matter , I went to the crew mess to have a drink and saw more of my crew mates discussing the same subject about the "vetting bonus" . They even plan making an attempt to report this matter via email on NSB authorities. Knowing Filipino's are , I don’t think that this plan of disposing Sorin will ever materialize at all and I doubt that anyone of the crew has the guts or the balls to fight for what is right. Pathetic as this may sound but this is what Filipino's are, They  grumble a lot and discuss a lot of things and talk a lot of stuff on other peoples backs but when it comes to the actual crunch time and moment of truth , they have little courage to speak out and fight for their beliefs and report abusive ship captains  - for short , I hate to admit it but Filipino's are a bunch of cowards.

My crewmates hesitate to report this crooked captain, they even said (and fear) that if we went into taking an action in reporting this to NSB, the principal will respond on withdrawing this perk called "vetting Bonus" altogether. Honestly how could they think about a small sum of money at a time like this ? Think of the lives and other people they we are going to save if sorin has been disposed of ! The perk to be cancelled is just trivial compared to safety and long term peace it will bring if Sorin is kicked out of NSB , We could earn the 60 U.S.D in other ways rather than be always plagued frequently by this menace, could they live on the full duration of their stay here being exploited and pushed around by him ?! . They should think first of the good it will bring if Sorin is kicked out rather than the selfish desire of money, NSB would be a much safer place without sorin and it will be one less Dysfunctional ship captain out there in the maritime community to worry about if he's sacked.

As I had been telling on my previous blogs entries, Most people think that Ship Captains are a reasonable , gentle and wise individuals like the person portrayed in the movies like "Captain Phillips"  (starring tom hanks). In real life however it is exactly opposite, they are vicious, greedy and a total psychopath in any way possible. Ship Captains typically have antisocial personality disorder that act in a way that disregards the feelings and rights of other people. Ship Captains often break the law, and they may use or exploit other people and their job position for their own gain. They may lie repeatedly, act impulsively, and get into physical fights. They may mistreat, neglect or abuse crew members, and most likely exploit their crew. They may even kill other crew members. You won't see on their faces the things like guilt and remorse - Their just simply evil people that have a high salary. So if Pop Culture says that ships captains are Good individuals then their absolutely wrong about that impression

In other news …

The following day, the crew was still basically into discussion about this "Vetting Bonus" of whether or not they should report this to the NSB management. After work which lasted until 3pm (its Saturday it was supposedly to be that working hours are only until noon time).All of the deck crew are suddenly asked to go the bridge at 5pm for a so called "meeting" , well it turns out that it wasn't a meeting but a "scolding" session.

When me, A.B. Ryan , A.B. Luis Allan Arriesgado, and O.S. Keith entered the doorway , Keith had the courtesy to greet "Mr Cobra" good afternoon and was immediately rebuffed and shouted by Cobra saying "Maybe good for you ! But not for me !!!" . Dismayed on what we saw , we never said a word and just when straight ahead . 5 minutes later all the deck crew were already in the bridge and that was when the freak show started and half an hour full of scolding from our reptile captain. From what I remember on the "scolding" he says the following "I already gave you beer, I already gave you money , what you want me to do ?! Give you my mother to look after you !!!" and saying that we should continue working for the whole day on Saturday and half a day on Sunday (in other words whole week of work) , I couldn't exactly remember the rest but everybody got the scolding but the worse who got all was BOSUN Diosana and A.B. Ryan. After the scolding session everyone was in a depressingly dark mood and were just hanging out on the crew mess. It was difficult for me to give the case of beer (ordered by Mr. cobra before the "scolding Incident" that this case of beer be distributed to the crew ) to my crewmates knowingly that they're were in the bad mood , but I still went on it in distributing it anyway as ordered to me by third mate corales. I did gave the case of beer to them and let them decide what to do with it.

When I handed out the case of beer to them, It was obvious that they were not in the mood and said that "they can buy their own beer" . As protest by Pumpman Thanny Sepulveda, Bosun Diosana and the rest of the crew to send a message that their not happy on the captain, they returned the case of beer back right in front of the Captain's Cabin.

Later at night, I received a call from third mate, informing me that three of cases of becks beer have been unaccounted .

Caricature drawing i made of our  "Mr. Cobra" , A very venomous Ship captain !! BEWARE !!!

LIFE OUTSIDE

Entry log at June 01, 2015 Monday

For a couple of days while this ship is at anchorage, we basically just did the basic maintenance work. Actually most of the time we just stayed for a few minutes pretending to be busy doing something.

At about 10:30 Pm May 30. I received a call on my cabin telling me that I had to prepare the pilot ladder on the starboard side, Basically it was always the same charade again - and as expected on work, I'm back doing my same old routines  before the ship berths. The channelling towards 'KINDER MORGAN" terminal in Houston took at about 5 hours all in all, BOSUN Diosana told me that while the ship is still channelling , I could go back in the accommodation block and take a quick nap. I did went back to the accommodation block to rest but I never took a nap and instead just waited out and let the time pass by playing Metal Gear Solid 5 : Ground Zero's video game in my PC. Around 5am I was called back and it was already to be on standby on mooring.

Mooring went fine without any problems.

Crew landing permit on the U.S.

24 hours later, I decided to go on shore leave for the first time since I arrived here on this ship. Shore leaves nowadays aren't that long compared to the days of yore where it last for days, In modern times its just roughly only a few hours. I decided to go out and see the environment around America since I have never set my foot outside (had already been here before but never set foot).

Rule in going on shore leave is that always go into groups, and never wander off alone. Since this is a foreign land there is always a possibility that there might be trouble. I decided to tag along with electrician Felix Rodriguez  and Fitter Rogelio  Lorenzo and took my shore pass from third mate corales along with a Xerox copy of my passport.

Due to security policies on U.S. port, We are to remain inside the ship until picked up by a cab. It was about noon when the taxi arrived and was asked by "Rosa" if we have anything on mind, Well for a start I was thinking of some place to shop, eating and drinking or checking out the place - something like that and not in any particular order.  By the way the taxi fee in the U.S. is 30 dollars one way per ride (doesn’t matter on how many we are), and another 30 going back (total of 60 U.S.D.)

Our first stop was "Best Buy" Store. There is nothing much to say about this really and compared to other malls this one is a very small one. Probably from my estimation it's just the size of any supermarket department on any malls in the Philippines. Anyway it's understandable why malls in the U.S. are small given that it's only a place to shop and not hang out. "Best buy" store isn't really much to speak of, it only has some latest electronics to buy like laptops, camera and video games - but not the complete set. On best buy due to budget and money limitations I had on my wallet , I only bought a stylus pen for my Acer Tablet PC and a laptop cooler pad for my HP - nothing more. Second stop was to go WalMart store, The three of us decided that since it is just nearby (according to Google maps it's just a 15 minute walk) we could stretch our legs a bit. Engine Fitter Rogelio Lorenzo was hesitant at first but Electrician Felix Rodriguez was able to manage to talk him out. Midway walking we received an SMS telling that third mate corales and messman galang are currently in walmart and asked if they could join in with us on the way hope. Electrician Rodriguez said that the reason why they plan to tag along with us was because they wanted to cut the cost of their transportation fee on the way back.

Google maps was pretty accurate in telling the directions and told us exactly which direction should we go along with the walkway for pedestrians. Took us less that 15 minutes on foot going there in Walmart. In Walmart, it was pretty spacious compared to best buy - but not as spacious as Philippine super marts like I saw went I was still a kid. Walmart is impressive went it comes to size but that just basically starts and ends there.

Once we got inside the store we immediately saw and tagged along with 3rd mate and messman, actually we never see and it was them that saw us .Out of necessity I had to borrow 100 U.S.D. from Electrician Felix Rodriguez to buy a few videogames, chocolates and soap. Aside from that I couldn't think of anything else to buy . We scattered all over the place to shop and was decided that around 4pm we would meet at the entrance of the super mart in McDonald's booth. After a couple of hours we all met on the meeting spot and by the time we returned to the ship, it was already around 5pm - an hour late on my scheduled shift. Fortunately O.S. bantic isn't a hot heat and was able to talk to him about why I got late.

At 11am close to midnight, I was suddenly awaken by the P.A. system. The voice speaking was no other than "Mr. Cobra" Sorin , telling us to go to out mooring stations. At first I thought that it was already time to sail off - after all I heard before I finished my working shift that loading the cargo will be finished sometime near midnight and its only plausible that unmooring operations will soon follow. When I got out , I only found out that "Mr. Cobra" wanted only to tighten the moorings of the ship and had to call the whole crew about it - for short it was unimportant and our friendly reptile is having another anxiety attack, he thinks that moorings will snap back because of the recent ship movements caused by passing ships nearby. We finally got to adjust the moorings despite the annoyance and got back to my cabin, I thought it was over and the next thing I will wake up will be the actual unmooring. Again after an hour I was awaken again by the P.A. over the same thing.

(God Damn ! does this fucker ever get tired of disturbing people over petty matters every now and then ? - I swear sooner or later someone out there in the crew will one day will get really pissed with him when their having a bad day and throw him overboard, what the fuck does he what to do now ?! )

After again adjusting the soft rope on the bitts , with a much more tedious task than before - I went back to cabin to only realize that it was only 45 minutes away from my next shift. What the fuck ?! Hmm so much for rest - no thanks to this bastard ship captan.

At about 5am the pilot arrived , and immediately this ship went unmooring, after the unmooring ops, I had only a couple of hours left on the internet signal to download a few files for my games before the communications got silent - so I had to make the best out of downloading as much as possible despite bad internet signal. at about 12 noon this ship finally exited the Houston area and was going south to panama for the transit

Electrician Rodriguez and Engine fitter Lorenzo

Well majority of the shopping is made by electrician 

Call this cab driver whenever youre in houston area, very friendly fellow and helps out us filipino sailors in getting the destination 

Word of advice from a buyer and as a sailor , As much as possible avoid getting a T-mobile internet sim card - this sucker is terribly expensive and internet connection is slow and dropping plus as an insult it is only limited to 5 GB usage. A much cheaper version is this "Simple mobile" though it has the same speed as T-mobile , it is definately cheap and virtually unlimited connection. Simple mobile cost only 15 U.S. Dollars 

DOGMA OF BLACK LISTING

Entry log at May 24, 2015 Sunday

Internet connection in T-mobile wasn't helpful, it was definitely very slow and frustrating. worst part of this was that before I activate the sim card for internet connection, I had to call the telephone operator and give her some details about my phone and personal information. Seriously if I would compare the American service to the European one when it comes to internet connection, European internet connection is way much easier. Anyway based on the experienced I had , here is the step by step process in activating a T-mobile (internet) sim card I bought on walmart before my ship left in Charleston, South Carolina. By the way the sim card cost 30 U.S.D.

Step #1 Setup your phone

1.Insert your sim card into the back of the phone (duh !?)

2.Insert the battery and charge your phone (duh !!!!)

Step# 2 Get Ready For Activation  

Prepare to provide this information ,if an IVRS (answering machine) or telephone operator answers your call

ACTIVATION CODE (can be found on the paper attached on the sim card)

SIM Serial # (can be found on the plastic credit card size that holds the sim card)

Phone Serial # (number at the back of the phone, under the battery location)

Agent code (optional)

Area code (if unknown , just ask the operator )

Date of birth (just provide this info)

Security PIN 4digits (just provide any four digit number)

Step# 3, 4 and 5 . Just ask the operator on what to do to access the web

In other news

On last Saturday , Since being the assistant bond store manager. I had no choice but be present on the crew mess whenever there's a drinking session among the crew and attend to their liquor purchases. For the moment the news about these purchases was that Captain "Cobra" is interfering on bond store matters and said that I'm only allowed to sell "beck's"  brand beer to the crew , all other brands of beer are prohibited until further notice. Wine and smokes have no restrictions for the time being. So basically its was beck or no beer at all.

Crew wouldn't mind having a Beck's beer and seems to be suitable but the bad part was that this particular brand is a bit expensive compared to other brands of beer stored on the bond store like "ASTRA"  , San miguel or even Dutch beer. A case of becks beer cost at about 15.5 euro's on the menu and some of the crew refrain from ordering because of the price. So as a result most of the crew ended up ordering wine instead given that its way much cheaper (only 3 euro's per bottle on any brand)

During the drinking session that lasted up to 4am the following morning. I noticed that some of the folks here are still basically the same grunt sailors subconsciously afraid of authority and very critical even for people with minor mistakes, they even brought up on the topic of my recent fiasco in the gangway no thanks to 3rd mate german tan corales. Anyway I'm not bothered if it was brought up and just went along on their self-righteous lectures. Those hypocrites even warned me that I'd be send home if ever I get careless and manage to destroy the gangway. Frankly I'm not bothered at all and would even consider it a blessing that I get out of this job and start over something new, I'm not saying that I should be careless or lax on my job but what I'm saying is that I'm not afraid on NOT being a sailor anymore.

The thing here why people are so scared on making even the slightest mistakes was on the fact people will get sent back home and eventually lose their jobs and not even be rehired on other shipping companies. Their afraid of these so called reports that will come up on our shipping agencies. I guess this is one of the dark sides of being a sailor in the Philippines. "BLACK LISTING AND BACKGROUND CHECKS" , according to new international employment laws Blacklisting is already illegal and violates basic human rights (and workers' rights), sadly in the Philippines this is still in practice and as a matter of fact a normal part of employment for overseas Filipino workers

Another thing that was brought up on the drinking session that I didn’t like was my association with Captain Nick betts. I don’t deny that he's my sponsor and backer in getting a job in Career Ship management but apparently 3rd Mate German Corales simply can't get his fat mouth shut about this information, worse part is that he spreads this rumor here in Conti Agulhas. This info has already been around in Cape Tallin and unsurprisingly made its way here - no thanks to Mr. Blabber mouth. No matter how I start fresh , My past keeps catching up. Anyway I'm still lucky that this contract in NSB Conti ships just last six months and there's no guarantee that the folks I encountered here will be on the next ship - So basically that means that there's a possibility that I will start fresh again on my next ship.

In other news

By Monday May 25th. The summer heat of Texas area weather is simply unbearable and I had resort again on the same old tactics I knew (and use) to counter the hot climate problem. Through the years I had been so adapted on cold weather environments that I'm somewhat resistant to it by now, however despite my adaptability on cold weather , I have no effective tactics or methods in a hot weather environment and this becomes a problem for me especially in central American climates. Well I do still use the tactics like wetting my coveralls to keep myself cool but , it's not that effective and has a nasty side effect of temperature stress to the body.

For the moment there is nothing much that can be done about the weather and  according to rough speculation , this ship will still be on this environment for at least a month until Ecuador.

Again in other news.

Much to the dismay of crew , the anchorage position this ship is located is very much far away to get a clear internet signal. Obviously a lot of the crew are not very happy that most of their top up loads for the internet will go to waste because of this - and apparently the person to blame why this ship is put on this location was of course Mr. Captain Cobra. The crew says that he sabotages this because he's jealous that our internet connections are working while his is already gone.

Anyway it seems that much to the amusement of our "Cobra Captain" which loves people being miserable , he orders us to pull out and prepare the mooring ropes during late at noon , where the environment temperature is at the highest. Unsurprisingly we had a difficult time preparing those mooring ropes because of the hot weather, we had to finish the job as quick as possible - so that our heat exhaustion won't get any worse.

Good thing for me I had come prepared for the said work.