Archive for the 'Netherlands' Category

Kustwacht

Kustwacht

The Netherlands coastguard ship “Frans Naerebout” heading back out to sea again with a few buoys for repositioning. We were alongside near Flushing for about 30 hours and this lad was back and forth at least twice in the time we were there.

Note the hull markings are not entirely unlike the US Coast Guard.

Kustwacht The website link.

On yer bike

Bike

Is it about a bicycle?

We arrived at our jetty, or should I say, I manouvred the ship to the jetty with the very helpful advice of the apprentice pilot. I listened to him, but it’s my ass if the ship hits the jetty. I don’t fancy the paperwork. A headache of titanic proportions….

Ship’s these days cost a LOT of money MILLIONS of dollars, and we carry DANGEROUS cargoes, petrol and chemicals themselves worth MILLIONS of dollars, so you want a crew with COMPETENCY and RELIABILITY to manage your ship. A crew who wouldn’t RISK anything for the SAFETY of the ship? After all we all want to get home at the end of the day.

So we are at the jetty of this BIG oil company about to handle oil cargo for about 24 hours, perfect chance for me to get the old Rothar out and go for a spin into town for an hour or two, when the Loading Master hands me a document saying that no crew are allowed on the jetty and no crew can walk or cycle in the refinery area. In the meantime half the employees and contractors are cycling by on the way to the main gate 1 kilometre away, Friday evening and time for the weekend, its like the Tour de France with hard hats out there.

I look in complete disbelief at the document and say so I can’t cycle to the main gate? NO

But everyone else is cycling to the main gate? Yes but we work here. (and I am working here too?)

OK, so how do I get me and my bike to the main gate? You have to order a taxi from your shipping agent.

OK, I have to order a taxi to get me and my bike 1 km to the gate? Yes, listen I don’t make the rules, I’m only following orders…

Thats what the NAZI’s said…. (I didn’t say that only in my thoughts)

But it’s a pretty stupid rule though you’d have to agree? Yeah the world has gone mad since 911

So I rang the agent. Listen, I said how do I get to the main gate here if I want to get out for a cycle? Oh the loading master will help you. He says I have to get a taxi….Do you want a taxi? I can get you one but it will cost you….No listen, I don’t want a taxi, I have a bicycle which I would like to take for a spin, but I can’t get to the main gate what will I do?….Oh, the loading master will hel…CLICK I put the phone down.

So it is OK for me to manouvre a 20,000 ton ship worth millions to the jetty, but not OK for me to cycle my bike 1km to the gate. I’m a security risk once the ship has stopped moving? The security rules are a complete farce these days, punishing the ordinary sailors for something they have nothing to do with, namely 911. It has been a windfall for the fence manufacturers and installers, it has been a goldmine for the security industry. There are tattooed skinhead fuckwits with no formal education everywhere with uniforms and radios controlling gates and checking ID’s, they haven’t a clue about what a ship is. This is security don’t make me laugh, I know who is laughing the real terrorists. Meanwhile in the container port, boxloads of guns, explosives,drugs and God knows what are being moved around and nobody has a clue, but for the love of Christ don’t allow that bicycle out.

I could understand if they wanted to increase security in the US, OK they got attacked it is understandable. But it’s everywhere, paranoia rules. Fortunately some ports have a better attitude to ship’s crews, and don’t treat us like criminals. One of the small pleasures of the job at sea is getting an hour or so ashore, to see something interesting in another land. But if you can’t get a bicycle off the ship because you are considered a security risk, well then it isn’t worth the hassle. Stay in your floating prison. It’s no wonder they can’t get anyone to do this job anymore, but soon the problem will go away. There will be no more Europeans or Americans working in these ports or on ships and no one to complain about the shit conditions people have to put up with.

Looks like rain today, I think I’ll stay onboard.

Patience of Job award

Job the biblical holder of the eternal patience award would have pulled his beard out and gone doo-lally if he ever had to do the job of VTS operator at Rotterdam. The VTS(Vessel traffic service) people organise the shipping traffic in and out of Rotterdam,one of the worlds busiest ports. There is a ship arriving every couple of minutes and most require a pilot, and all have to be directed to ensure the best possible flow of traffic. The Dutch are also very good at speaking English, it is their second language, even if they have a slight accent, it is perfectly understandable. Most of the operators have a clear calm voice, a bit arrogant at times, blasting away in Dutch to the people who know how to blast away at Dutch. Anyway why shouldn’t they it’s their port.
Now speaking English is of course a pre-requisite for maritime communications, if you can’t speak English it doesn’t reflect on your intelligence oh no, but you sound stupid on the VHF if you can’t speak it in a half decent manner, there is even a book with the correct phrases to use for non-English speakers, a lot of them don’t have it or don’t read it or don’t know how to read it as was apparent the other day when we were just about to anchor off port limits to wait for our berth to become free. The VTS was being hailed by a ship’s officer on the VHF, but it sounded like he was reading from a badly rehearsed script.

Characters; 1. VTS Maas Approach, 2. A ship we shall call Doolally of nation unknown and we will give him the call sign X-ray 2 Yankee India 4.

Doolally: “Maas Approach this is Xway tu rankee dindee faw”

VTS: What is your name?

Doolally: My ETA at 14hundra

VTS: OK X-ray 2 Yankee India 4 ETA 14hundred, what is your name?

Doolally: My dwaft 10 boint 8 meetaahs….

VTS: OK draft 10.8 metres what is your ships name?

Doolally: Pleeeze rephet massage?

VTS:What is your vessels name, please spell your name.

Doolally: sshhhhhhh, aaaaarggh doooooodaaaaah

VTS:OK you are breaking up please spell the ships name

Doolally: My call sign is…….

VTS: What is your name?

Doolally: (silence)……10 minutes goes by

VTS: X-ray 2 Yankee India 4 this is Maas approach do you read?

Doolally: (silence) no reply

VTS: X-ray 2 Yankee India 4 this is Maas approach do you read?

The conversation ended there, the ship stopped communicating, or decided to go somewhere else or God knows what. The VTS operator had other ships to deal with and that was the end of it.
Now I was talking about ships being piloted in by radio in a post not so long ago http://timstimes.net/2008/01/09/pilotage-from-shore/ all very well and good, you can have technology, you can have great radio equipment, but at the end of the day, if the guys on the ship no speaka da language, you won’t be able to do anything let alone pilot them from ashore.

SWATH (Small-Waterplane-Area Twin-Hull) Photos

Cuxhaven pilot

The German Brotherhood of Elbe SWATH Döse at the mouth of the river Elbe approaching with the river pilot for our approach to the Kiel Canal.

Cuxhaven pilot

Perseus (3)

Perseus (2)

Netherlands Loodswezen SWATH boats Perseus (a constellation and Greek mythical figure who killed Medusa) and Cetus ( another constellation and Greek for Whale, the one that swallowed Jonah….) in action off Rotterdam (Perseus) and Amsterdam (Cetus)

Pilot boat

Pilot boat

Rotterdam non-stop

The port of Rotterdam, a regular stop for us, a regular stop for a lot of ships. Rotterdam is the second largest port in the world by volume of cargo, second to Singapore. The VHF traffic at Maas Approach is non-stop as is the constant flow of vessels to and from the port. There is an army of pilots and boatmen, agents and chandlers, surveyors and conmen waiting for business. All the UHF channels are full of talk all the time, people mooring, letting go, anchoring, topping off , lashing containers, pumping bunkers in every language possible. The place is a hive of activity from dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk. Understaffed and full of attitude, angry boatmen and arrogant surveyors, at the same time you can meet the really pleasant chaplain from the seafarers centre or a happy salesman from Botlek stores. You leave the port exhausted it grinds on inexorably.

Monterey

The tanker Monterey gets into position to moor at buoys near the Petroleum Havens

RPA 13

Under the constant and watchful eyes of the Port Authority.

Chemical Distributor

Chemical Distributor is fed fuel from the bunker barge Vopak Maxwell

Smit Ierland

A tug called Smit Ierland, getting into position to assist the Bow Maastroom for unmooring.

Bow Maastroom

Bow Maastroom in need of a lick of paint.

Perseus (3)

SWATH boat Perseus at our side to take the pilots off to their next job.

E-mail me

Be my guest and leave a comment if you like!



Irish Bloggers
Irish Bloggers Webring
Join | Ring Hub | Random | Prev | Next
expatriate

Irish Blogs


Subscribe

Subscribe to my RSS Feeds

Categories



Blog Flux Directory Creative Commons License


Blog Information

Timstimes Stats Personal Blogs - Blog Top Sites Web Hosting Directory by Blog Flux

© 2006 to 2008 www.timstimes.net


FireStats iconPowered by FireStats