It is now Day 7 on board the Maersk Shanghai, my first week at is complete. We are at the end of Piracy watch and we will pass under the south coast of India in the early hours of the morning, then it’s just a few more days until we reach our first stop of Tanjung Pelepas on the 29th. Our journey then continues to Hong Kong on the 3rd, Shekou on the 4th, Vung Tao on the 5th, Singapore on the 11th and then finally back to the Suez Canal on the 23rd of June.
From Singapore to we are to sail through and onto America which means nearly a month at sea with no shore leave and no stops. However, we might be stopping off in Morocco for a day or two to give the crew some rest and time to walk about.
As of life on board, I have got a routine for each day. At 0730 I wake up and get ready for my 0800-1200 shift in the engine room, if we are in a piracy zone which we have just left, then I am on watch on the bridge wing from 1200-1600. This can be a long time to stand around for, but I like to be out on deck and watch the scenery and other ships go by, since we left the Suez Canal we have been racing with the Emma Maersk, another container ship heading for the Philippines. If I have the afternoon I could relax in my cabin, play Ping Pong and cards with others. The Gym on board has potential but most machines are broken so its floor workouts for now, there’s also a sauna on B deck that looks right out of a 5-star Hotel but since we are sailing through the Indian Ocean it is too hot to use.
The crew have been great so far, there’s another 3 cadets on board that I get along with. Down in the Engine Room (ECR) I am shadowing a 3rd Engineer that I met in the hotel back in Egypt. Most days we start with sounding the tanks which we share between us, then its on to any work that needs that done that day. This could be anything from general maintenance and checking machinery or removing pumps and motors that are to be fixed or replaced. Most importantly though the cook on board is great. I don’t know his real name but we call him Cookie because we are so imaginative. 3 meals a day sitting ready for you and even ice cream on a Sunday, there’s really nothing to complain about!
I will try to update you all as much as possible but so far, I have had no Wi-Fi or Signal so it’s difficult to get any message out, hopefully my company email will be set up soon though and I can talk.
114 days to go!