
GMT+10
I am very lucky to be traveling on the same ship as my car and i managed to do this by finding a company that would take me onboard first then finding another company to load my vehicle onto the same ship, the company that own and organize the ship is N and their office is near to Hamburg, you can book onto one of their ships either through their office or through one of a few selected companies that they use to sell their cabin space to the public, there is a few companies offering this service and you have to do some research on the computer before you find what route you need and who operate a route to where you want to go to, the advantage of freighter ship travel for me is it allows me to travel over land and sea together with my car so i am more in control of the loading and unloading, it is far cheaper than having to get short notice flights from one strange place to another, it is more ethical as the ship is moving cargo too I’m told my travel of myself and the car has very low impact on the environment, and gives a great sense of adventure as it is slower than air travel so you feel more involved in the adventure example is when at sea you can view the plotted route and sea islands and coast that you would never normally see and thats without mentioning wildlife like huge whales.
This is the forth container ship i have travelled on and is by far the largest, the ship is called Mv Hanjin Madrid and was built in June 2003 in Pusan South Korea, the ship has a maximum displacement weight of 92,315.5 tons and can carry 5,752 shipping containers thats 68,110.4 tons of cargo, it is 278.80 meters long and 40.30 meters wide and from the keel 56.30 meters tall, it has a direst diesel Hyundai Sulzar diesel engine with a power output of 74,700 Horse power and burns between 4 to 7 tons of Diesel an hour, the engine runs at a very slow speed of 100 revs per minute to give a steady cruise speed of around 21 knots, it is an amazing place to be at this very moment, so i must tell you how i came aboard.
Yesterday at 12 p.m. i had stepped onto the ships boarding ladder and didn’t meet my first crew member till i got to the top of the ladder he looked at my passport and entered me on the register, the first thing i noticed was how relaxed everyone seemed compared to the Japanese, the deck crew got on his radio and called the second officer Oliver Haak, Oliver arrived within a few minutes of starting his shift, he shook my hand and welcomed me aboard the ship, he looked young maybe in his 20’s keen and happy to have a passenger on board, he asked me to follow him into the crews quarters which is about 60 meters from the stern which i think is the back, we took a lift from the U deck up to F deck where their is 4 cabins one of which was to be mine, the Pursers cabin. Oliver took one of my bags and i took the other into the cabin which is a mini apartment on the sea, it has a hallway to hang coats put shoes and a full height mirror then you have a curtain and then a large office sitting room about 18 ft by 15 ft this has two windows looking directly to the front of the vessel over the tops of all the containers, their is a good desk with a telephone to call up to 40 locations on the ship from the mess to the engine room to the right of that is a mini hifi system then two settees and a coffee table then an empty drinks cabinet a TV and a DVD player, to the right of that an empty fridge, the bedroom has a large double bed maybe king size, their is another side board desk with another telephone then at the end of the bedroom a large wardrobe with an emergency equipment cupboard above it that contains a submersion wet suit and a life jacket, next to that is a bathroom with shower, I am more than happy with the accommodation on board.
Oliver then asked me if i wanted some lunch as it was lunch time and showed me down to the officers mess, he said he would meet me after lunch in my cabin to give me a safety briefing. The mess room is situated on B deck a few floors below my cabin on the port side of the ship, it is large and airy with blue linoleum flooring and three round tables, the mess hand showed me to my table and place which is to be where i will sit every time i eat for the next 10 days, it is the passenger table and is next to the captain and 1st officers table then the third table has second third and 4th officer on that, on the starboard side is the crew mess and in the middle is the galley and luckily the cook like listening to the Eagles so I’m happy about that. The food is good and so different from what i have been eating in Japan much more European in fact i think i will put weight on, that i have lost in Russia as i won’t be doing as much exercise and their is much more food than i would ever normally buy as to buy this kind of food in Japan would prove very expensive indeed. At lunch i met the 1st Officer and the Captain Mr Jaworski a friendly Polish man that looks in his forties, he welcomed me onboard too and i told him of my adventure of how i got to Japan by car and the Russian ship i took to get to Japan and he enjoyed my story, he said i could now take it easy and relax for the next few days and enjoy the sea crossing, i told him that i had worked on ships in South Africa in the 90’s and it was lovely to be back onboard a working ship.
After lunch i returned to my cabin and started to unpack the few items i had, i noticed i only have one polo top and a T shirt and one pair of trousers, i’ve really got used to traveling around as light as possible and i learnt this in Tokyo as you see backpacker’s with huge heavy rucksacks and i can’t see why they carry jeans sometimes two pairs and loads of tops for going out drinking i think the younger modern backpackers are on a different travel holiday but they mainly go from hostel to hostel and temple to temple and go to bars and get drunk and spend huge amounts of money too. I went out in Tokyo and was amazed at how much money they spend on Beer.
Oliver came back up to my cabin and told me i had to get into the inmersion suit and put on the life jacket this was important and after this he showed me the muster station in the event of an emergency which is on A deck one deck above where i boarded on the starboard right side of the ship, i thanked him for the introduction and returned to my cabin, it all was a lot to take in the change from living in the hostels around Tokyo the largest city in the world with all the hordes of people and doing the paperwork involved it setting up my travel to Canada now i have peace and just the open sea and no people except the 25 crew who you seldom see, no mobile phone or internet connection for nearly two weeks surely this has to be good, also the huge cabin and three hot meals cooked for me every day, I’m really very happy and lucky to be in this situation. Thank You