Vessel Tour

March 22 - 26 , 2006.

6600 Containers. 77000 BHP. 12 engine cylinders. Length Overall of 348 metres. A short description of the Cornelia Maersk.It was truly a behemoth. Roll overs, Shut outs, Cut and run, stowage, port productivity – these are some phrases that we often use to customers but seldom really understand the implications. In order to have a first hand knowledge of these sometimes overbearing phrases that we use; the company decided to let us set sail on a voyage. So we had to sail for four days and cover 3 ports of call on one of A P Moller’s owned vessels bearing the Danish flag. We embarked in Singapore and disembarked at Hong Kong and passing by Yantian port en route.

There were a slew of formalities to be completed before the vessel tour. So many different approvals to be sought, so many people had to be contacted. Since we were four of us going together this did become much easier. In spite of it being an educational trip and the vessel being a deglamourised cargo vessel it did excite us to be on the high seas for four days. Most of the excitement was muffled due to the amount of paper work that had to be done prior sailing.

When it was finally time to set sail we took a flight to Singapore or Sin city and from there sailed to Hong Kong. After 3 days of sight seeing at Singapore, we had our agent come and fetch us early in the morning and take us through the necessary formalities at the port. The process is called ‘Sign On’ and each person has to get a ‘port pass’ to pass through the port. After we were done with the formalities we walked in bag and baggage to the pier and were alongside the vessel. Just as we were imagining a dreadful trek of 25 kgs of luggage up the gangway our friendly cadet asked us to simply put away our bags in a crate and a rope with a hook at the end simply scooped it up.

It was only for a brief moment was my mind cruising along as I thought this was going to be a four day sojourn of sun and sea and having dolphins over for tea. Little did I realize that the master would have made a foolproof agenda from 730 hours up to 1800 hours. This gave us very little time to gaze into the horizon and all we ended up spotting was the ubiquitous flying fish. The captain and crew were extremely friendly and made us feel immediately at home.

On Arrival Day we were taken to the Chief Control room and handed in all the equipment needed to survive on water and on ship. Safety shoes, Boiler suits, gloves and helmets were given to all. Memories of procuring uniforms in school first came to the mind. Then we were dutifully taken all over the vessel and shown around the massive ship. Basically we were shown around the deck, the accommodation – which had 7 levels, the bridge etc. As the loading operations were just about to finish the vessel had to be steered out of Singaporean waters. Small and powerful tugboats carefully pulled the enormous ship out of the water and the pilot helped steer it out of the terminal. Its always amazing to watch a tiny little tug boat pull out an S class which is probably 100 times its size out of the water.

After we were done with the official sight seeing we did our own personal sight seeing as well. There was a little swimming pool on the deck, a games room, TV room, mini theatre, gymnasium, laundry room, library, a slop chest, reading rooms etc. The mini theatre and library were adequately stocked with the latest DVDs and books.

Day 2 began early. Four of us split into groups of 2 each and spent half a day each on the engine room and the bridge. The engine room was truly an engineering marvel and is the nerve centre of the ship. Half a day of explanation could never be enough. The bridge is the navigational control center. They are like heart and lungs of the vessel. And we boiled in the boiler suits and the ear plugs could hardly shut out much noise from the machinery.
Next day we spent with the reefer electrician climbing up and down into the dark galleys of the cargo holds which was eerie enough to even house deadly scorpions. We then learnt the nuances of safety on board. Subsequent day we reached Yantian port. The incessant rain outside dampened our outgoing spirits and we stayed put on the pier watching the human like gantry cranes moving nearly 45 containers per hour. After the port stay at Yantian Cornelia Maersk drifted along towards Hong Kong and before we knew it we were alongside Hong Kong – one of the most productive ports in the world.

As we spent the day being succulent sponges and trying to take in as much learning as we could the evenings were spent in leisure – at the gym, games room and most of all the mini theatre. We wanted to make the most of it and did manage to sacrifice some sleep to watch hordes of movies including the Trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. Sometimes we did spend have photo sessions on the forward and aft of the ship; the monkey island (the very top of the ship). It was difficult though to capture feelings that can hardly be framed – turquoise blue of the waves, spotting constellations in the sky, resisting the strong gusts of wind, cracking silly jokes with the captain and crew and being awestruck by the enormity of the sea. I will surely miss her a lot. Elegant. Powerful. Useful. Efficient. Cornelia Maersk.