July 01,
2015
Finally
arrived at this place after two days from panama, This ship arrived at around
close to 8pm and as usual procedure me and BOSUN Diosana was in standby at the
forward to drop anchor. Anchoring wasn't a problem in dropping and that it was
dropped at 6 shackles on deck, it was very quick and very messy as expected on
any anchor drop via gravity. It left a big puff of dirt cloud while being
dropped - enough to cover me whole and left my coveralls all coated with mud
According
to the previous safety meeting discussed at the crew mess yesterday - on this
country , this ships security level will be raised to marsec level two and It
will be a double watch while this ship is anchored, so basically as what the
name implies there will be two persons on standby until this ship readies
itself on berth.
In the
meantime while this ship is still waiting , some of the crew here are doing
business and trading off a few stuff from nearby fishing boats that pass. Some
of us got lucky on a boat and it happened that they have a few interesting
stuff to trade, like internet sim cards, beer and "Bacardi" (a hard
drink similar to scotch). I got my hands on an internet sim card (for updating
my blog, face book and twitter) and some liquor called Bacardi.
At first
the internet wasn't working properly and I couldn't figure out on how to use it
directly to my pc computer (both on my HP and Acer). I waited a couple of hours
and tried again. This time it worked perfectly and was able to update my social
media accounts. Fitter Lorenzo on the other hand had serious problem in the
internet connection and keeps pestering me about using my cell phone as his
modem. Apparently his connection isn't going to work on the fact that he's
using a different sim that the rest of us , (he's using movistar sim , our is
"digitel" sim). On the latter I tried hiding the information that my
internet connection can be used as a hotspot, I only said that my internet
connection is for mobile cellphone use only - a little white lie wouldn't hurt
anyway.
At the
morning of july 3 Friday , I was about to finish my anchor watch and was
already headed back to my cabin when I heard on the radio that , this ship will
immediately dock at 8 am , and me and A.B. "lyndon" had to prepare
the accommodation gangway for the pilot to arrive.
Mooring
operations went soon after that, and it wasn’t exactly difficult. Only thing
that's was an annoyance was 3rd mate's corales attitude. Saying that I don’t
know anything when it comes to knots during mooring time, It never bothered me
on the fact that this is a typical problem when you have Filipino's officer's
in the mooring crew. People thinking that they're high and mighty because they
have a license to practice and blabbers and lectures you all the way even on
work - well I don’t need his lectures or preachings ! . Anyway when it comes to
mooring, it's not a big deal on what kind of knot you'd use , as long as the
mooring ropes get to the destination from point A to point B - no need to
figure out on what kind of knot to use because were not in school. It makes no
difference if you're using either bow line , clove hitch, timber hitch or more
specifically a midshipman's knot - Nobody gives a shit on that ! If it gets
stuck, then use the reserve heaving line while the other crew member is busy
sorting it out, it's that simple and no need to be fancy on work (because there
no extra pay on the performance). Just keep the work simple and practical and
it will be fine, That's the basic working tactics I apply.
In other
news …
Given that
the MARSEC security level has been raised on this ship to level two , and as a
result our gangway watch work has been raised to a total of 12 hours per day ,
and were doing triple watch (meaning there's three people on deck on guard duty
at that time).I don’t really mind having an extra company during my work and
the six hour long shift , I'm used to it anyway.
According
to the policy nobody goes in and out on our ship without reporting first to the
Cargo control room (via radio) and asking permission first. Compared to the
usual routine of just announcing it over the radio and letting them in. As
usual third mate corales goes in again telling me that next time before I let
someone in I should ask permission first and when the time came that I was
radioing about a surveyor who wanted to come on board , he said on the radio
that I shouldn't put them on hold and let them in immediately. - ( HMPF !
Double standard bitches !)
Anyway in
other matters
I heard
from O.S. Keith that this so called raise of security level is just an excuse
coming from the captain because this ship will be going to the U.S. on next
port and he doesn't want any hassles on port authority inspections there given
that this ship just came from south America (specifically Venezuela which is a
drug trafficking country according to the U.S. ). Usually Venezuela is a
trouble free place compared to other south American countries like Colombia or
even brazil for sailors , you can go on a shore leave if a sailor wants to
without much the hassle but it seems that our captain doesn’t want to take
chances (or have fun at all) so we ended up stuck here and trapped.
I guess
this is the downside of having a mixed crew, most of the time (or all the time)
your stuck and trapped inside a ship doing work even though were supposedly
doing nothing at all . The foreign officers doesn’t want anybody to go out and
see the surroundings , and like all of any human fallibility flaws they get
jealous if they see anyone having fun.
On the
third day in port, cargo operations stopped and we had to wait another twelve
hours for the cargo resume loading. From what I heard , the terminal ran out of
cargo to pump and that for the moment it is still generating, Fortunately after
the 12 hours of waiting , the loading operations resumed. During the wait, O.S.
keith and had a chat about his personal life (not that I care , and its exactly
none of my business) saying that all his relatives now are in Italy and he's
the only one living in their house. I told him that maybe someday he'd retire
being a sailor early and that he'd spend the rest of his years being in
overseas based on his situation.
During the
last day of loading, this ship got a visit from illegal drug inspectors and
they conducted a thorough search of the entire ship from the bridge all the way
down to the engine room. Included also on the search is the cabin to cabin
which they have a dog with them to sniff out any narcotics or substances.
Usually the crew must be inside the cabin , in order to prevent any foul play
or planted evidence against them. Aside from the usual narcotic inspectors ,
the ship was also inspected on diver's , seeing that underneath the ship
(meaning the part which is submerged by water) doesn’t have any drugs attached
.
Few hours
after the inspection , this ship casted off and will be heading to the glades
in Florida.
NSB PRINCIPAL IN TURMOIL
There are a
lot of rumours going on and circulating on this ship about NSB's sudden change
of contract duration and salary wage scale. Some say that the salary scale will
still be the same but the contract duration will be a bit longer, others say
that its headed for the worst and that aside from having a longer contract the
pay will be much smaller than it was.
Before the
connection ran out in the internet I asked Chief cook Regidor on what's the
situation back at home on the company . He said that its already confirmed that
the salary rate will be "china rate" and he said that it’s a bit
higher than the TCC standard salary one (though definitely much lower than our
current salary rate). According to him the salary of the chief cook will be
downgraded and will now be 1,500 U.S.D. per month from 1,800 plus to 2,200
U.S.D. , which is bad news. Either way he said , he's planning to leave the
company soon but is stalled on the fact that Career Ship Management has his
documents (seaman's book and Passport).I told chief cook regidor that it's his
worker's right to choose on whether or not he should stay in the company, If he
feels that the employment terms are not fair then it's his call alone to leave.
Hearing
word from NSB that next contract stay on their ships will be much longer and
being paid less is bad news indeed , They are making their employee's look much
like a prisoner's, and with the lack of entertaining facilities (or even proper
facilities for crew welfare) it's obviously and no surprise that a majority of
their crew are now having second thoughts of staying with the principal (or the
company). The real reason anyway that most of their crew are still sticking
around is because of that this principal has a shorter contract and much larger
pay compared to the "other" principals, CSM in particular - beyond
that and without it, there's no other reason for the crew to stay longer other
than necessary.
Despite NSB
promises that the new contract will have an "open overtime pay" , a
lot of crew from NSB doubt such promises will be enforced - after all
technically our current existing contract tells that it's an "open
overtime" but company memo says otherwise, and I think NSB is just saying
that to prevent an exodus of their crew.
I myself ,
is having doubts of staying on the company (or principal) as well. In fact the
only reason I'm hanging out on NSB in the first place is it’s a short contract,
much higher salary (than CSM ) and it's based on Europe. I tired already
surveying any Philippine shipping companies on what the next suitable (or
habitable) company that has these conditions via internet and came up with a
number of companies that has these conditions , problems is that although I had
a number of suitable candidates none of these is exactly a small player which
meant that it will be difficult to get in and be their employee - anyway I'd
try my luck anyhow , after all this isn't the first time that I switched
companies besides that I'm much more comfortable now compared to years ago,
were it was a big uncertain (having no U.S. visa , No license and roughly only
a year of working experience as a sailor) . Now pretty much I could say that I
had a U.S. Visa and a sizable working experience. When I get home, I'd figure
everything out and will be preparing for my departure from Career Ship
Management.
As for the
moment my salary here as an O.S. is 1,268 U.S.D. but obviously it will be
lowered as the new rate comes and I will confirm on my replacement (reliever if
you put it that way) on how extent will be the changes on NSB principal. I
cannot definitely return and be pulled back in CSM because I had a lot of
enemies there and cannot stay in NSB because of the worsening employment
contract terms.
For the record this is the
highlight parts of NSB principal in career ship management BEFORE the change of
contract terms and salary wages July 2015.
*Short
contract (6 months plus and minus one month)
*large pay
for ratings (1,268 U.S.D. On
"Ordinary Seaman" job position)
*based
always in Europe
