Entry log is June 26, 2016 , Sunday
(FOT / GOT
- means fixed overtime / guaranteed overtime pay , meaning you still get the
paid for the work done outside normal working hours. Common term used here as a
sailor is "open" overtime and "fixed" overtime. )
It's now
confirmed that FOT / GOT won't pay that much, for them it’s a surprise but for
me it wasn't and was anticipated weeks before it came out. Basically the FOT /
GOT pay was based per rank of person on this ship, so the higher the rank goes
the higher the pay, but for me since I'm one of the lower rankers then its
pretty obvious that this pathetic company named norstar will just give scraps.
From what I heard the GOT / FOT for the O.S. given on this month was just a
total of 17 hours, yeah 17 fucking hours !!! All that hard work that was put
for a total of a month without rest days and excess working was just put as
toilet paper. (total of only 53 U.S. Dollars all in all, WHAT THE FUCK !!!).
When I was a deck cadet I only had 40 U.S. worth on overtime pay, now what's
the difference between norstar and my past employer during my deck cadet years
eh ?! Just only 13 dollars difference
but total bullshit !!!, might as well that they should have put it on a fixed
overtime rather than open overtime - pathetic !!!
So all that
propaganda bullshit CF sharp has been to deceiving its sailors so that they can
sign up for the norstar principal was just plain hoax and to lure unsuspecting
victims to ruin. Anyone reading this on my writing SHOULD NOT PROCEED ON EMPLOYEMENT IF CF SHARP OFFERS YOU THE NORSTAR
PRINCIPAL. As much as possible avoid it at all cost , otherwise you're
in for the ride of your life and will be put directly to harm's way. The Ship
is very unsafe given with its age (built 1996) which is by the time writing
this is 20 years old now.
But the
biggest part here about this news is that some of my fellow crew members don’t
even have the slightest idea that this will happen on the start., I'm somewhat
amused that they're IQ's are not that high when it comes to this and they have been around sailing longer than I
was and yet they are as clueless on the actual situation that Norstar will be
conning its way. It was a big surprise for them to learn about this and yet
it's not for me and Oiler Allan Sta. Maria , - PATHETIC ! They should have
known better that this will happen, To be perfectly honest I was thrilled to
see the look on their faces on how disgusted they were when they heard the
news.
In other
news related to work.,
Currently
were still chipping off huge chunks of corrosion and rust on the aft winches,
The rust here is so thick that even using a "jet chisel" tool is
useless and will take time. As on me I'm not using a chipping hammer , instead
I use a claw hammer , the hammer which a carpenter typically use to smash
nails. Each smash I make on the hammer literary chunks and chunks fell off like
broken stale crackers. Before the end of each working day my coveralls are
covered with pulverized rust from all that hammering and chipping in the
winches.
Another
thing why "jet chisel" equipment here works on a limited basis is
because also of the weak outdated compressor from the engine room. To
everyone's annoyance four "jet chisel" equipment cannot work
simultaneously, if it does pressure from the air socket weaken and thus the
efficient "jet chisel" is nothing more than just useless equipment.
More
Recently …
Me and O.S.
"Mark" , had been order to work on the "garbage
segregation" which meant rummage the garbage and reorganize it. Good thing
for me this work meant like scavenging any useful I can find, and I did find
some useful items like an mp3 player which I can use as a clock, a few nylon
straps and a spare coveralls. Scavenging trash may be degrading for the most
part but if a person is stranded and
left for dead by his employers (like in my case in CF Sharp) this could be a
life saver in finding items that matter. It's not something to be proud of but
definitely it’s a must if I'm going to stuck here longer.
Speaking of
which , I had found one particular item on the trash , specifically it was a
pack of "Kisses" dark chocolate and given with the situation here of
the lack of food and other essential items including the fact of "NO
BONDSTORE" , I had thoughts of keeping it and hiding it on my cabin and
eating it on the latter but of course to my dismay it has been in the trash for
almost a month and there's no assurance that it can be riddled with bacteria
and fungi. well There's an option that I can use the microwave to sterile the
food and blast it with radiation , but I can never be certain that all bacteria
(or other organisms) will be purged in the process, besides knowing that
working conditions here are very poor and they won't even bother to send me to
a doctor if I get sick because the Company matters more to them than human
lives. I decided not to proceed on my plan on eating that pack of chocolates
and instead threw it to the sea. I just
can't simply risk myself in getting sick here. Besides I maybe inoculated from
cholera , but that doesn’t meant I can't catch something else like dysentery,
E. Coli bacteria or "God-knows-what" from eating that chocolate -
yummy as it may look but I had to pass . It's for the best despite being
hungry.
The reason
I had thoughts about it in the first place was because of the lack of food
here, I had been on five ships before and this ship (my six one) is the poorest
working environment I've met of all so far. Practically no food and nothing
decent to eat, especially during nighttime. I'm not sure if chief cook's
working practices are bad or is the ship restricting its limited food supply.
Either way the conclusion here is food is scarce even for Asian standards.
In other
news
Another
disappointment came in on this so called "safety meeting" last
Saturday. Apparently any attempts that bond store would be put are met with
disappointment when our Myanmar captain said that bond store is not exactly
needed on this ship and that if we ever need something like toothpaste, lotion
, soap etc. We can get it easily elsewhere on land (if the ship berths)
specifically when this ship dry docks in china for repairs. WHAT THE FUCK ?!!
WHAT THE FUCK ?! How am I supposed to get stuff on a situation that is still a
few months away ? Besides that there is no assurance that we will get out of
the shipyard at all after work. Moreover even if by some chance we could get
out , we don’t have any money yet and we haven't been exactly paid and given
cash money. I had been given here more than a month now and I haven't been paid
on my salary yet (at least given cash) and only some paper slip with numbers
saying that some cash was deposited on my bank account.
Either way
the situation is that the bond will not exist and if does its not reliable,
which will be a problem for me later since I heavily relay on it for food, soap
and other essential stuff.
