CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT STYLE

New rumors are flying again that a crew change (for most filipino crew) will happen somewhere around 2nd of august in Reunion Islands , a French territory island somewhere near Madagascar. "Merk" just gave us the details on what might be a possible crew change ., Of course it’s a "WHAT MIGHT" part - may come true or may not come thru based on the news coming from the office . If this rumor is true then I'd be more than relieved to be getting rid of this principal , GOOD RIDDANCE. !!!

I had been already requesting that I'd be out on this ship as far as back in January and so far nothing is done yet on this and my contract has already went beyond that and going longer than expected because of this COVID pandemic lockdown ., (which in turn left me stranded on this ship). I'd be a dream come thru to be disposing this principal once and for all ., Besides who would want to stay on a company that doesn’t pay crew salaries for the whole 9 months ?? Absolutely no seafarer on their right mind would be willing enough to stay on that kind of treatment .,  Not anyone I know of.

Maybe for now., I just consider this as a rumor and I don’t want to get my hopes up.

In other news .…

As expected "Merk" being fully in charge on deck affairs, has tighten up some work policies. Aside from that being a Filipino with an unpredictable nature., he is also shown us his arrogance and mood swings . There was one instance during the discharge operations that he yelled over the two way radio ,without any reason or warning. It was loud enough to be heard all over the channel 2 frequency and probably any nearby ships who are using that channel. I myself am surprise on that sudden outburst .

Anyway I expected no less , on this kind of behavior when it comes to Filipino ship officers - its predictable that they have a nasty rude manners when it comes to radio conversations . Obviously a toxic and poisonous person in a working environment and anyone caught in the middle of his tantrum will certainly suffer. Another instance of his tantrum , was when someone used a mop on the SOPEP Equipment. He immediately called everyone on the crew to attend his "urgent meeting" and gave everyone a scolding over a trivial matter. Aside from that , he is also seen hovering around like a helicopter and keeping an eye on the deck work area like a jail guard , probably monitoring people.

From what it looks ., "Merk" will be problematic in the long term as a ships official ., but I guess thats another story to be told and a different crew will be a witness to that ., As far as I know "merk's" reign here will be short lived and will only a few months , maybe a two months or three before disembarkation.

After this ships finishes its discharging operations in Rotterdam Netherlands, it will be headed for brazil for a loading operations..  

CREW MOVEMENT

Earlier thinking that this will be a long and arduous campaign., Miraculous news has reached me that Pump Man Carnaje will be going home on grounds of medical leave. Based on the rumors I had been hearing , It’s a case of abdominal hernia which will need surgery for him. Making him leave this ship.

I was over joyed to hear the hear the news that such a misfortune happened to him and this threat to me has ended for the foreseeable future . As long as he is out of the way , rest assured that existence here on this ship will be smooth and probably tolerable.

Oh and I do wish that his intestines would drop and get mixed up like a spaghetti thing when he boards a plane home. Good bye and I hope I will not ever get to  see a monster like him again EVER

In any case during the unloading operation in Netherlands , a new A.B. arrived to replace A.B. jun which is now promoted to pump man (replacing Pump man Carnaje). The new A.B. is a Romanian and is about roughly at least 50 plus years old, So basically he's an oldie. From the looks of it he's not that much of a trouble in the work place so I guess he won't be a problem at all.

Aside from the crew movement ., apparently "Merk" will also be promoted to full chief mate after our Russian chief mate "Smolev" will leave as well here on Netherlands (finish contract). For now I don’t think "Merk" will be a big threat or problem on the deck but there are signs that he's not to be taken lightly ., and based as far as I know when it comes to this kind of work , usually filipino chief mates are disagreeable to work with over numerous reasons.

In any case as long as he is out of my way ., I don’t think he will pose a threat or a problem for the long term.

This is currently what i'm feeling right now , after months without being paid a single cent on my onboard salary ., I have no idea why this company hasnt paid me at all . To duke out my frustration and anger., I simply vandalized a ships equipment 

Crew changes and repatriation are allowed (and even encourage in passenger ships) , although since im not in a passenger ship and working an oil tanker ., I am essential stuck and trapped on this boat until further notice . Sometimes i feel jealous over passenger crews because they workers rights are more monitored compared to any cargo ships around 

BROKE BUT NOT POOR

Just another shitty , penniless day at work . employed but no cash

UNCERTAIN CREW CHANGE

It's been a quiet month for the month of May and this ship has been here for almost a month now in Netherland anchorage area and up to now there is no sign yet that this ship will go to berth yet.

A couple of weeks ago , This ship's Captain told the deck cadet to write down names of any of the crew who wish to go home. Deck cadet wandered around on the crew mess during lunch and asked each crew who's interested . I told him I'm interested to go home early, Now weeks have passed since I said to deck cadet that I'm interested , and there is still no reply coming from OSM nor any news coming from the principal "hartree" about any crew change. Perhaps there will be no reply at all and that "Hartree" (or maybe OSM ) doesn’t have any plan or intention to have a crew change here in netherlands. 

A week ago and by surprise , OSM management along with the principal "hartree" made a video conference to the whole crew at the CCR. From my perception, the video conference was all about the management wanted to know our opinion regarding about being put up here on this ship on a much longer period , and from the way on how conversation went out , it looks like that OSM and Hartree did not have any solid plans yet for a crew change.

Most of the crew never spoke their opinion about this matter during the video conference and those who did spoke , was not actually speaking about crew change issue or crew welfare topic but rather spoke flattery to the company, basically sucking up to the management .

The funny part about this video conference was that , Senior ship officers do the best they can on sucking up - To the point that I get the impression and was astonished that these people are basically "Company man" to the core. From what I saw with my own eyes I'm disgusted on how Filipino ship officer's really sucking up to the company, and that they never really care about the welfare of their fellow Filipino crew or their workers' rights matter . Anyway it's not surprising ,on how my fellow Filipino would behave like this infront of the management (and everyone in general ) , After all it’s the FILIPINO way and that is a fact . having really no shame on having no dignity at all or backbone to stand up with workers rights

filipino ship officer would look like this in a comical way

Filipino seafarers are efficient workers but the dark side is that they are mentally unstable , ruthless, coldhearted , and basically a threat to every fellow filipino around the workplace. Even Filipino Senior ship officers are ruthless enough to be intolerant of minor faults and imposes severe punishments to their Filipino subordinate, they are highly power hungry, Selfish , cruel , ruthlessly sadistic and hot tempered .  Make no mistake , Filipino Chief mate's and Filipino captains shows utter ruthlessness and bloodlust just to accomplish their goals and strongly disapproves failure and disobedience in any form on their subordinates . It is  a Fact that Filipino's are hostile to their own countrymen Period. A person who betrays his fellow country men cannot be fully trusted at all. 

During the video conference , I choose to remain silent and just listen to what was going on . I really wanted to speak and ask the management , if they have any plans at all for a crew change, however i held my tongue and  knew better that if ever I spoke at all about this , It might end up as a "public execution" for me for questioning the management. Being mindful to what happened to me several years back in CF Sharp company were I spoke openly against the management ., It would be rational to just keep my mouth shut on this situation ., Speaking against or questioning the management in front of the crowd of "Company mans" would be as safe as being in the front lines of the battle field - A TOTAL KILL ZONE AREA.  Based on experience as a sailor , having an "open conversation / conference" amongst the crew doesn't really end up good  and never works out . If the company is sincere enough to fix the problem and wants to know the truth about how people think without any fear of persecution or repression , then they should ask the crew one by one without any supervision or any one monitoring the conversation - anything beyond that is PURE BULLSHIT.

A NEW ISSUE

I thought earlier that the brawl between O.S. Alvin and O.S. Dalida would be the last thing that would happened on this contract - Turns out I was wrong and the new issue now is that A.B. Chris and Pump man Carnaje now had an argument and resulted that Pump man challenging A.B. Chris to a brawl. Unfortunately it didn’t end up on that way, So I guess the picture that Pump man being pummeled by someone by the crew will not happen at all.

In any case whatever the reasons behind this. I'm not surprised that A.B. Chris has already loss his patience on that old scum. I mean Pump man Carnaje was already an asshole to begin with and it only takes a matter of time before someone losses his patience on his obnoxious manners. Infact Pumpman here has already been at odds with most people here . I for example which already went near in a brawl , and just didn’t retaliate even thought I had every reason to do so (he smacked me in the face) .  He's been at odd's with wiper as well and even fitter, I'm not exactly sure on how many more on this ship don’t like him as well.

So I suppose A.B. Chris became at odds with him for the very same reasons, why I'm at odds with pumpman as well. Anyway it doesn’t matter now for me , I have lasted for more than 6 months now without any official "Job orders" and I'm close now to finishing this dreadful contract and start over again on another principal . Hopefully I will not encounter Pumpman Carnaje nor any person similar with that kind of obnoxious behavior on a new ship assignment.

being berthed in a U.S. Port is not exactly as tedious as what I earlier thought , In fact its quiet easy. Everything went find on the mooring and as a plus O.S. Dalida was not there so its easier for me to work without his annoyance and loud mouth.

Probably the visit in U.S. would have been good if the shore leave and "private orders" wasn’t cancelled. I would definitely wanted to Walmart or best buy store after a long time., It would have been a great opportunity if this principal was not  neglecting crew welfare.

Even the port authorities here was not that strict this time when it comes to checking people. The U.S. immigration officer didn’t even bothered to board our vessel and instead just requested to put the whole crew in the gangway and counted us, After that he immediately took off. Ahhh… the wonders of having a Pandemic around .

After loading operations , this ship went on to the anchorage to wait for a ship to ship loading operations. It took almost 4 four days at the anchorage and enough time to prepare the needed equipment for the mooring. The Loading operations via ship to ship went smoothly as expected.

NEW HAIRSTYLE

Great News !! I had finally got a haircut after almost half a year, No thanks to Deck Cadet who volunteered to cut my hair . Now its bye bye to that itchy feeling on the ears and that Thermal discomfort plaguing me often when the hair traps heats . 

Now the Bad News !! - I don’t like the hairstyle , It was just basically look like a Slim trimmed style like an afro thing, (I actually looked like an Afro, really). Anyway hopefully it wont get notice in the next 62 days, besides "The End justifies the Means" , As long that itchy feeling Stops and I'm thermally cool in the head (or at the very least thermal heat is lessen) then I should be fine in this haircut. Aside from that it has also a perks of letting me see better and I don’t have to attend to my hair often just to clear my view. 

This haircut should be enough for me till I reach home 62 days later - by that time this haircut style has already outgrown and can be fixed back in the philippines.   

In other news …. 

For now I'm still testing and experimenting on this so called Microsoft OneNote program (not desktop edition) and see if its online cloud meets my expectation. Of course MS OneNote is not totally free and without any "Paid subscription" ., there will be limitations on how I can use it - which right now I'm still testing it to see on how far a Free a account can get. I think from what I read on the internet , Microsoft OneNote "free version" is only limited to atleast about a hundred entries before some message pops up a saying you need to subscribe to a Paid subscription of 69 U.S. dollars per year. Obviously I haven't reached a hundred entries yet so far so its still yet to be verified.  

As of the moment I can worry about that thing later , and focus on testing this online version of MS OneNote and use it more like an "online sketchpad". I still have an "offline" version of this MS OneNote and I could just simply copy paste the final write up before publishing it on my Blog.  

To mention one notable downside of having a cloud based app like MS OneNote , is that it requires to be constantly online and connected to the internet all the times just to back up files and sync. If a person (such as myself) works on a remote area and there's not much bandwidth to go around, then its better to be shifting to an offline desktop version instead.   

In other news ..

I had been doing some Internet "window" shopping lately and looking for some latest updates on some working equipment id be needing for the next ship assignment . I'm still lining them up on my wish list and guess be later be bought when I arrived in the philippines    

CHANGES UNDER CONSIDERATION

Quarantine in almost all countries on the world still rages on to starve out the corona virus pandemic. While countries are struggling to combat this , most people in the world are stranded on their homes and their workplace due to almost worldwide lockdown , and on my case since I'm a seafarer - I'm stranded on my workplace as well. In addition there has been some reports on the social media that Filipino seafarers are being discriminated back in our own home country , some dormitories, hotels , condominiums and even motel and apartments refuse board and lodging to Filipino seafarers because they fear that seafarers are carriers of the COVID 19 Virus. One video I saw in Facebook was one resident of a condominium was publicly harassing Seafarers on a  passenger ship and yelling that "they are a pest and should not be allowed to enter the building"  

Although in a technical sense , this workplace may be the safest round environment against a pandemic - it is out of irony , one of the most stressful and unsafe when it comes to mental health. In any case , My situation being stranded here is really a burden for me than an advantage and there is nothing much I can do about it . I'm really eager to be off on this ship as soon as lockdown is lifted in the Philippines. Although I myself will be in a dilemma since folks back home don’t want us to return .

Situation here in this ship is a big letdown , when my expectations doesn’t materialize. Why ?? Imagine having no Payout salary onboard for 6 months now (and still ongoing), and no shore leave (essentially trapped and locked down) , and even the "Private Orders" for items are cancelled. The more I think about this disappointments on this principal  , the more I remember the good times with my previous principal which has better treatment . (the more my urges desires to return to my previous employer, for better treatment) I'm not saying that TCC is a good principal , In fact TCC is another kind of fuck up company however at least in there I have a better chance of something rather than here.

What happened here on this working contract is that I just basically swapped my bad employer to something even far worse.

In other news …

I might be phasing out (or retire) the use of my "Military Water Canteen" type of equipment and be shifting to a more light weight type which can carry more water. The reason why I had to shift from the model I had been using for the past five years was because of weight luggage constraints at the airport. (Seafarers are only limited to two sets of check in luggage ,each with a 20 kilogram limitation). From what I really the "Military Type" water canteen weighs at least near a kilogram. 

I'm also considering the possibility that I could at least salvage some parts of my working belt and not wholly throw it away after this ship assignment. I checked thoroughly and perhaps the main belt can be possibly salvaged aside from the Leg Rig, as I checked it has only a little dirt and almost little degration - making it at least suitable to used for another ship contract perhaps, . I'm thinking that maybe I could bring it back home just to save money on the cost of almost buying a new one each year (or each ship contract). Maybe I'd just put those in the washing machine before I store them back to my luggage.  

Another thing that I'd be making changes (or probably still greatly "under consideration") is transfer of the Microsoft OneNote , and other office apps to the android platform. In other words , I'm planning or thinking that I might be phasing out a windows based tablet computer . although Up to now  I'm still heavily considering the possibilities of using an android tablet as the main computer for those kinds of functions .

Android Tablet / Phone ----> specialized apps (for banking , social media , GPS Maps  , and can also handle phone calls and send / received text SMS message plus email . Practically almost an all in one Gadget for office / work type plus internet.

PROBLEM ?? Limited storage capacity, scope of usability beyond "specialization" app,  easily gets obsolete

Windows Tablet / Computer ----> General purpose computer, can be used offline, can access internet and social media, Better battery capacity and computing output

PROBLEM ?? Limited storage capacity , Bulky equipment, weight issues on luggage , Problem with data synchronization

In any case I'm still greatly thinking on what possibilities , I can use for my line of work and currently undergoing some trial and error process and a series of experiments which is suited best . It really depends on the practicality of use,

In other matters relating to what's going on in the work place ….

There has been a ruckus lately last Sunday . Apparently O.S. Dalida has outdone himself in bothering people again on this ship. This time he makes a lot of noise on his cabin to the point that its bothering people in the B deck area. One crew member (O.S. "Alvin" ) got fed up on his annoyance that he took matters in his own hands and went thru O.S. Dalida's cabin and smacked his face , In return O.S. Dalida fought back and things got messy , to the point that both of them got the attention of the whole crew residing in B - Deck area along with the rest of officers residing in C and D Deck as well. From what i heard both of them have been summoned after the incident to the captains office and from there I assumed the captain filed some sort of crew report.

I don’t know the exact details on what happened and only heard what happened in the morning, however I suspected something was already going on the afternoon when I went outside my cabin to wash some clothes to the laundry room, and when I was about to get back - I saw O.S. Dalida's luggage bag inside one of the spare rooms in upper deck area (which is exactly the right next to my room). At first I figured that this ship might be expecting some visitors probably an inspector or a superintendent perhaps and they wanted O.S. Dalida to be out of his cabin so the guest can use it. My suspicions was wrong when I heard to other crew members in the morning that the reason O.S. Dalida moved out of his cabin was because of the common.

In any case , I wont take sides on whatever grudges they have against each other, and wont let myself be plagued with these trivial things because I roughly got only two months left before my contract finishes and get the hell out of here, Besides I knew better that both of them have problems when it comes to their manner's. Alvin being aggressive and too dominating to other people (co-workers) , and Dalida on the other hand being a dick and an asshole in general when it comes to on and off work.  Frankly Dalida got what he deserve for being an annoyance and a scumbag , especially on his exploits disturbing and annoying people during off work.  Same goes also to Alvin , getting on what he deserves for taking matters in his own hands and being dumb in not seeing the consequences in his actions. 

As far as possible I'd try to stay out of trouble and the ruckus they made was a good diversion , Now all eyes of the crew are in both of these people and I'd stay hidden and unnoticed.

"Military Water canteen Type" which i will be retiring this year and be replaced with a new light weight type 

The new type of water canteen i will use by next year (or next contract) 

TOR BROWSER : DRILL A HOLE ON THE FIREWALL

After months of figuring out on how to bypass the internet firewall of this ship, I have now finally came up with a solution and progress. TOR browser which is mainly used by activist (and in some cases espionage activities) can be used here onboard as well.  The trials I had made using this web browser were a success and I can now browse internet site that up to now is blocked by this ship's firewall.

Although its successful it is still limited to browse websites and cannot do online transactions like buying digital video games as of the moment , (probably because of the "cookies" thing when it comes to login). In any case it's still a big help that I can access website that are "censored" on ships internet connection.

Of course as a precaution, I will not tell anyone on the crew about this and will keep this secret only to myself - as I have trust issues with them. Besides that this information / knowledge should not be shared with people like them who rat out they're fellow crewmates. Best keep it only to myself and inside my head.

TOR Browser is very similar to Firefox Mozilla browser when it comes to function with few notable exemptions of course. I highly recommend TOR Browser to seafarers who have problems accessing websites on their ships Internet connection due to firewall.

In other news ….

While news about my disembarkation is still nowhere to be heard of., I'm already spending my time preparing for the items (and equipment) I will get to use next year. In fact I'm already prepared a list and this time the provider for the item I will buy online will not be LAZADA but its competitor company called "Shoppee" . Hopefully the product they sell their have a better quality than the near "China Made" quality Lazada markets.

I have nothing against lazada but lately , they opened their business to Chinese suppliers which by accident led some of their products selling to have a lower quality. Some of their product they were selling were even defective as well.   

CREW CHANGE SUSPENDED

I was not very happy to hear the news of "crew change will be not allowed for the time being" ., especially that I had already submitted my early vacation request. In fact I'm furious over my current situation because I dislike the ships working environment., I'm itching and hurrying to get out of this ship and change principals as soon as I can but with this current situation where most Asian countries are currently implementing a lockdown on their borders (due to the COVID pandemic) and might It take some time before it settles. For now crew change on this company is temporarily halted until further notice.

Speaking of crew change suspension . It seems that the first batch of crew change on this ship in south Africa is halted as well, and probably crew change will be now somewhere in the U.S. - at least for those who have a U.S. Visa around, for those who don’t - then they'd have to wait for the next available non  U.S. territory for a crew change , a country that has no lock down.

Hopefully based on the Philippine Tv news ., The nationwide lockdown will be lifted probably around April 14.

I'm still hopeful that maybe I can get off on this ship by May

In other news …

Here life onboard is on the usual routine, and as always O.S. Dalida pesters me around on his chatting of none important things but its more of an inconvenience now rather than an annoyance. As much as possible I tried tgo ride along with his worthless chat or if it gets to annoying , I try to ignore it.

Not much to write about anything ., the whole news is flooded with this corona virus , no new memo about crew change

Speaking of which there is rumors that even shore leave might be cancelled in the U.S. as well . Captain here is paranoid that one of crew the might get infected along the way , so probably he's thinking that the stuff were trying to buy in the U.S. will be just for sorts  "private orders".

In any case U.S. is not officially lockdown yet , so there's a possibility for a crew change for non - filipino's . 

THE LONG 90 DAYS

By the time this ship arrived , every crew here was wearing his issued standard "disease and prevention" kit as a prevention on this corona virus thing. Personally I think this suit is somewhat overboard as the area in china in which this ship berthed is relatively disease free and no infections. Still despite being relatively safe., xenophobia here on this ship is way over the top, such instance was fourth engineer being furious that a Chinese is having his pack meal inside the crew mess. He looked on to this people with digust and malice , saying that they're "polluting" the area with their viruses and disease.

Even some of my co-workers avoid , even talking to Chinese jetty men and let them do all the work on the cargo hose connection in the loading arm. For myself I don’t harbor any disgust or xenophobia against them, they're just simply workers doing their job and nothing more.

Xenophobia here is really extreme that sometimes I'm thinking that my co-workers are already being a racist and that they're just justifying it because of this corona virus thing .

After the discharge operations., this ship proceeded to Singapore for its routine bunkering and provisioning supplies. Due to the ship reaching this area within less than 14 days of local quarantine regulations on this country., no crew change was allowed and will have to wait on next port

On the moment that bunkering and provisioning ops was finished , it came the news that this ship will be heading off to Texas U.S.A.  For loading cargo and then discharging it back to south Korea. Apparently from what I heard the whole trip will take about 90 days at least , (35 days going to the area , and possibly another 35 going back , and this doesn’t include the days involved in loading and anchoring) which meant that this will be going to be a very long trip and knowing that south Korea will be in some sort of lockdown quarantine , its possible that no crew change will be allowed for the whole trip.

No crew change means people here are stuck until they sort out this whole shit and allow freedom of movement on ship workers.