Today was day two of piracy watch for the third time in this contract. I am now just 5 weeks away from the end and if all goes to plan, which I expect right now it won't, I should be flying home from New York on the 21st September.
Right now we are passing the north coast of Somalia and passing the Horn of Africa. The weather is grey and dreich, the storm has steadily grown to give us 10 degree rolls which we can even feel in the lower deck of the engine room. This kind of weather usually means that piracy attacks become rare but as I walked onto the bridge this morning for my 1200-1600 watch I was told that a bulk carrier has been boarded an hour earlier and the 12 crew on board were being held. You can easily forget where you are in the world until something like this happens, makes you remember why you are standing on that bridge wing for 4 hours even though it can be incredibly boring. According to our new schedule, and despite being 3 days late into the Suez Canal, we should be getting into our first port of Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia on the 15th. If we also arrive on time that means the engineers should only be working a half day because when nothing is powered on there is no need for 6 engineers to sit and monitor blank control panels.
The weather has made life in the engine room miserable. Being sloshed around when you can't see the horizon has made some of the crew sick and despite the clouds it is still very warm outside. On Monday we set a new record for the heat as the purifier room reached 53 degrees. Safe to say I did not go inside for very long when making my evening checks!
Having two new cadets with me has also made life a lot easier. Whenever the 3rd engineer gives me a job I simply show them what needs done and let them get on with it. This doesn't mean I am off the hook however since I am still working hard to carry out regular maintenance and daily checks but it sure is easier not having to carry all the tools around all day.
43 days to go!!