Bolton’s finest marine engineer

Good day readers and welcome to the first edition of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a weekly update from Bolton’s finest marine engineer as he transits the globe to seek fame and fortune.

Maestro Sea

On Sunday 10th March I flew in to Marseilles, France to join the ship in Sete, France; as usual with ships it wasn’t there! However it was due to arrive the next morning. Over a breakfast coffee I bumped into an engineer from Brooktherm Refrigeration, a company I know from Liverpool. Now alarm bells start to ring, why would a refrigeration engineer be joining my ship? It soon became clear; the air conditioning was knackered; and had been since departing Cotonou, Benin three weeks previous. No a/c!! Bugger that…..

Anyway all was soon rectified and whilst the sun shone in Marseille we basked in near arctic temperatures inside the lovely accommodation.

I’ll give a brief description of the Maestro Sea; she is a 160m ro-ro built for Danish owners by a German shipyard back in 1986. A single 8 cylinder MaK 552 main engine is generating a paltry 4900kW that gives her a top speed of 14 knots. She is now crewed by a mix of Danish Master, British Chief and Second Engineer (I like to think we are better than Danish engineers, but the company thinks cheaper!) and Filipino junior Officers and Ratings. Our current location can be found at www.marinetraffic.com and search Maestro Sea. Over the next few issues I will include further details of the vessel and company, Maestro Ship Management.

Pirates

Now I know when I first talked about going to West Africa one or two of you raised the subject of piracy; I was rather glib with my reply that piracy was only a real threat round Somalia which is on the East coast. However it would seem that you should be worried, piracy is a very significant problem round the Guinea Gulf; even so far as the company pays a “Piracy Hardship Bonus” of 100% wages! It isn’t clear whether this is to bribe the pirates to go elsewhere or if this is a bribe to stop me complaining about having to work under such austere conditions….

For our younger readers , please note that the modern day pirate does not look like Capt Jack Sparrow nor like any Disney cartoon character; he does look like a very angry coloured gentleman carrying a rather menacing AK-47 and he is quite keen to relieve me of my iPhone, Macbook, iPod, watch, credit card, cash and anything else he fancies.

p.s. He is also usually pretty pissed off as to get on-board he has had to avoid an 18000 tonne vessel swerving into him, he has been doused in sea water from a fire hose, he has had to climb 15 metres up the side of the ship, clamber over several lines of razor wire and then smash his way in to the accommodation (or citadel as the experts refer to it). So when the expert advice is to be submissive once he has finally found you; you can understand that Mr Pirate is probably not in the best of moods……..

 

Ports of Call

So, I joined the ship in Sete, France (11th March); sailed up to Marseille (12th March), loaded more “used luxury cars” (more on that subject later!) and then headed off to Dakar, Senegal by way of Gibraltar (15th March) to load fuel. Unfortunately as we are carrying Class I and Class V dangerous cargo (no idea) they wouldn’t let us berth in Gibraltar so my planned visit to the world famous Duty Free Watch Shop was curtailed. Probably quite fortunate really as Mr Pirate from the previous chapter would love a new watch!

So we have left Europe and we are heading towards Dakar, Senegal; Lome, Togo; Cotonou, Benin (pirate central) and Malabo before heading back via Cotonou and up to FOS, France. We should be back in FOS on 16th April, before we do a round trip of European ports and I should leave the vessel in Marseille around the 23rd April. There will be updates regarding these ports of call in future newsletters!

“Luxury Used Cars”

 

So when I had the telephone interview for the position of Chief Engineer, the discussion swung around to routes, charters and cargo; the route from Europe to West Africa was obviously a little different to Heysham-Warrenpoint and Liverpool-Dublin. (Slightly better weather, assuming the air conditioning holds out) The discussion over cargo was slightly brushed over with the phrase “luxury used cars”; as the photo above clearly shows, the phrase “luxury used cars” is open to interpretation.

 

 

Yellowcake

Another subject skipped over was the return cargo from West Africa to Europe; ship owners do not like vessels sailing empty as it costs a lot of money to move a ship around, so there is a return cargo. Once on-board I learned that we will be carrying Class VII dangerous cargo on the return leg, Class VII is not something I had come across in my previous career on Ro-Ro’s, which is hardly surprising, as it would appear to be for radioactive cargos! In fact we will be carrying Uranium ore or Yellowcake as it is usually called, they certainly didn’t mention that in the interview. I wonder if Mr Pirate has a use for Uranium ore?

Yellow Fever

Whilst on the subject of things yellow, allow me to talk about Yellow Fever or in particularly vaccinations against Yellow Fever. I don’t like needles, specifically needles sticking in me; I’m fine sticking a needle in a diabetic cat, just not having needles stuck in me. So to my concern, I am required to have a Yellow Fever vaccination prior to entering the Guinea Gulf, unfortunately this wasn’t mentioned when I was back in the UK where well trained, conscientious (for the benefit of those NHS employees reading) nurses use clean, sanitised facilities to administer injections. Unfortunately for me I am now required to visit a clinic in Dakar, Senegal to have a Yellow Fever vaccination. Whilst I am sure that the clinic in Senegal believes they are doing a good job, they probably have a mortality rate that Stafford General would match and not even Bolton Royal could flog. So, I am a little concerned about my visit to The Dakar Seafarers Medical Clinic in Senegal. Did I mention I don’t like needles…………

Sport

Not a good weekend for our sporting hero’s; Wigan losing 18-14 to Leeds, Bolton’s winning streak ending 1-0 at Ipswich and Wales humiliating England at Cardiff. Still the cricket makes good reading and the Grand Prix in Melbourne sounded exciting, watching it on Spanish TV it sounded exciting, however Spanish sports commentators anything sound exciting.

… and finally…..

There are a few mentions: -

Happy Birthday to Abigail Hawthorne for 12th March

Happy Birthday to Laura Walker for 15th March

And, last but not least, Happy Birthday to Ann Hawthorne for 17th March.

Also as it is St Patricks Day, to all you bog trotters: Have a good one!

As a treat I’ll add a bonus and today I’d like to introduce the: -

Halibut

Halibut are a popular flatfish with a fresh and unique taste. Halibut are a good source of high quality protein.

Halibut are rich in significant amounts of a variety of important nutrients including the minerals selenium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium; the B vitamins B12, niacin and B6; and perhaps most important, the beneficial omega-3 essential fatty acids.

Baked Halibut Sitka

Ingredients: 2 pounds halibut fillet (cut into 6 pieces) salt and ground black pepper to taste; 1 bunch green onions (chopped); 1/2 cup mayonnaise; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1tsp dried dill weed.

Method: Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

Take a bake dish and grease it. Take another dish and season halibut with salt and ground black pepper. Now, place halibut in the greased baking dish.

Take a bowl, combine green onions, mayonnaise, sour cream and dill. Spread green onion mixture evenly over each halibut piece.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Barbeque Halibut Steaks

Ingredients: 2tbsp butter; 2tbsp brown sugar; 2 cloves garlic (minced); 1tbsp lemon juice; 2tsp soy sauce; 1/2tsp ground black pepper; 1 (1 pound) halibut steak.

Method: Preheat grill for medium-high heat.

Take a small saucepan, and combine butter, brown sugar, garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce and pepper. Warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved.

Lightly oil grill grate. Brush fish with brown sugar sauce and place on grill. Cook for five minutes per side, or until fish can beeasily flaked with a fork, basting with sauce.