“The postings on this site are my own and don't represent Maersk Group's position, strategies or opinions. All views are my own”
Thursday 1st of October 2015 and did I wake up to our last day here in Si Racha, ศรีราชา? Well, let's hope so. It is getting boring here by now and it feels like it is time to leave. Well, it felt like it was time to leave already a few days ago.
We're waiting for the last barge and we expect it to be alongside here around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. And I really hope that the barge will be here in time so we can complete the paper work before midnight.
I was trying to sleep in the afternoon and I could hear the barge coming around 4 o'clock. Good, we will hopefully be leaving at 4 o'clock tomorrow morning.
+++++++++++++++
Friday 2nd of October 2015 and we left Si Racha, ศรีราชา just after 4 o'clock in the morning, finally. It was very nice to leave this place behind. Would have been nice for a few days, but 10 days was definitely too long. I had finished almost all the paper work B4 departure, but I had saved some of it until 10 o'clock today when I woke up. Always nice to have something to keep you busy.
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 3rd of October 2015 and we were steaming towards the south in Gulf of Thailand when I came on the bridge at 4 o'clock in the morning. Heavy rain with thunder and lightning. Good, we got all the salt flushed of the deck.
I had not been on bridge for long in the afternoon before the afternoon turned foggy. Gloom and grey for as long as I could see. Lasted for an hour or so before I got the visibility back.
+++++++++++++++
Sunday 4th of October 2015 and we had advanced ship's time by an hour during the night and it was 5 o'clock when I came on the bridge. We're still steaming on a course towards the south with Gulf of Thailand behind us. Expecting to reach Singapore Strait around midnight.
+++++++++++++++
Monday 5th of October 2015 and we were passing Singapore when I came on the bridge at 4 o'clock in the morning. We were just about to slow down our speed to adjust arrival time to the Pilot station for 8 o'clock. Well, that means 4 hours of tea drinking for me before we reach Tanjung Pelapas Pilot station in Malaysia just on the border to Singapore.
No problem, I like the busy Singapore Strait and I know that time will be quick. Plenty traffic and you need to be alert all the time and this is what I like. My favourite places in the world in Singapore Strait and it should not be any surprise that Øresund is the other place.
Pilot boarded us at 8 o'clock and we could soon see m/t Energy Star in the fog. It took one and a half hour before we could get the first line to m/t Energy Star.
We're approaching m/t Energy Star in the fog
Here you have the opportunity to practice the Thai alphabet
Our best man on the wheel
They really knew how to stretch the paper work and it was 14:54 before we could start discharging. By then my rest hours was red and I was soon off to my room for some deserved rest. Our relievers will arrive to Singapore late tomorrow night and I expect to get of on Wednesday. Bangkok Wednesday night? Boxing Thursday morning?
+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 6th of October 2015 and I woke up quarter to 11. WOW! 10 hours of NON-STOP sleeping. I have not been sleeping like this since I was a teenager. We stopped discharging just after 2 o'clock and we started to load 6 minutes past 6 o'clock in the evening.
+++++++++++++++
Wednesday 7th of October 2015 and they stopped loading at 10:12. Turned out that they had forgotten to strip their tanks and we resumed loading 2 and a half hour later. So earlies time of arrival to Bangkok, very late tomorrow night.
We finished loading and we could resume discharging our last cargo from cargo tanks 4P/S. Expected to complete around 8 or 9 o'clock tonight. Daylight departure only so we will not be in Singapore until just before lunch time tomorrow.
+++++++++++++++
Thursday 8th of October 2015 and my alarm went off at 7 o'clock in the morning. I had a shower and a Diet MAX before going to the bridge so our 2nd Officer could go for breakfast. Pilot ordered for 08:00 and ETA Singapore pilot station @ 10 o'clock
Early morning in Tanjung Pelepas
Waiting for the pilot
Waiting for the good times
The service launch will pick us up at 14:30 and Thai Airways flight TG 408 is leaving Singapore @18:15 arriving to Suvarnabhumi @ 19:35. One hour difference between Singapore and Bangkok. So I will have to spend some time, not too long, at Changi International Airport, not one of my favourites. But I will survive the waiting, hopefully.
We dropped anchor quarter to 12 and two small boats were waiting for us with stores. No sign of our “ON SIGNERS” but they are soon to be here. But first lunch, and as I have signed off the DIET BET are no longer in force.
We dropped the anchor and we had two barges with stores alongside in a jiff. The bunker barge was coming alongside on our port side. And our on signers were climbing on board a few minutes later, of course, they required someone to pull up their luggage from the service launch. And as almost half the crew were signing off there were not much people around. And of course, on top of that the crew had been on 6 BY 6 during the whole cargo operation and sleep is needed.
I had about 2 hours with the on signing Chief Officer before it was time for us to leave with the service launch. My luggage was stand/by at the accommodation ladder. The remaining luggage was on the poop deck and I discovered that they put all the luggage in a net and they used the provision crane to get it down to the service launch. Of course, this was the way to go. But I didn't bothered to bring back my luggage. One of the ABs will lower it down to the service launch with a heaving line.
Luggage hanging in the net under the crane
Luggage on board and we're leaving m/t Romø Mærsk behind
The bunker barge moored to m/t Romø Mærsk
Leaving m/t Romø Mærsk and the bunker barge behind
We climbed down to the service launch and when we had my two bags on board we reversed the engine and backed up under the provision crane. The crew lowered the luggage and we were soon on our way.
We left m/t Romø Mærsk and the bunker barge behind us steaming towards the boat terminal in full speed. We will pass through immigration and custom and there will be a car waiting for us to take us to the airport. And needless to say, everyone was in a good mood.
It took us about 15 minutes to reach the boat terminal and we passed immigration and custom. The boat driver told us to go to counter #1 after the immigration and custom.
They asked what ship we came from and then he pointed at a white van. Our driver was waiting for us and at 3 o'clock we were on the way to Changi International Airport. Everything went smooth and we were way ahead of the expected schedule.
And that is even though I delayed us by asking for a Diet MAX in one of the shops at the boat terminal. And it took quite some time to get the luggage in to the van. And the van was parked, well, it was more like the driver had squeezed in the van between 2 cars.
Our Danish Engineer had to fly from Terminal #3 and the Filipino crew were flying from Changi terminal #1.
Thai Airways flight TG 408 was departing from terminal #2. And of course, we were not told about this until well on our way to Changi. The luggage was, well, not stowed in the back according to the different terminals we were departing from. So we dropped the Filipino crew at terminal #1 first.
Loading the van
Getting in to the van
Our Filipino crew leaving us at Terminal #1
I was the last man out of the van. Terminal #2 and we stopped at door #2, straight at Thai Airways check-in counters. Check-in was open and I went straight to one of the counters to check-in
The girls at the check-in was from Taiwan and I asked what they were doing here in Singapore. Obviously a stupid question. They were here to work. I asked if all the staff was from Taiwan.
- Not me!
An Indian looking girl at the counter next to us said. I asked where she came from and she was from Singapore. Of course, I had to ask what their parents would say if they brought home and introduced them to a boyfriend from Skåne. For sure, time have changed. OK, in the most of the world, we still have people living in the Dark Ages But not here. Sweden is slowly, well, the whole of Europe is slowly turning in to Middle East. But here it is a different story.
- Why would they say something?
- You bring home a Swedish boyfriend!
- UP TO US!!!
I checked in and immigration was a quick affair. They offered me candy but I was politely declined their offer as I'm on diet. I was going to Thai Airways lounge when I remembered that I needed a USB stick. I have a 10 year old 16GB USB stick and this stick is obviously out of date. Last time in Bangkok I saw 64GB USB 3.0 sticks. But buying it in Bangkok is risky as you never know what you get.
Remember! You are ALWAYS BETTER OFF paying the correct price. If it is too good to be true it is almost always too good to be true. I paid 160 Dollars for a USB 3.0 SUPER speed memory stick. And it was 128 GB so it is twice the size of anything I saw in Bangkok.
The guy in the shop was a cheerful person, but the Cashier looked more than a little grumpy. So I rated the service as “average” I had my memory stick and I went to the escalator around the corner and I was soon outside Thai Airways lounge. I grabbed a soda water and a diet drink and I took a seat at a table.
I fired up my computer and I backed up some of my stuff to the new ScanDisk EXTREME Pro USB 3.0 SUPER speed memory stick. Well, it worked out OK and I was satisfied with my purchase. The USB stick will come to use, a different story with the stuff I bought last time I shopped at Changi. At the exactly same shop. I had been to Singapore to see the sights and I had a hangover that I thought was going to kill me. Seriously, I was convinced that I would drop dead any second. Yes, I was scared and I bought all the TOP OF THE LINE medical equipment available at the tax free shop. Never came to any use though.
Well, one time, I was at Bumrungrad to take some blood tests and health check up. The Nurse was at least to say surprised when I brought out all of my equipment.
- What the
- Oh yeah, I'm just going to compare
Before that, and after that, never been to any use. But I'm stand-by in my kitchen for any heart surgery you can come up with. I spent 2 hours in the lounge before I left for Thai Airways flight TG 408 at gate C23.
I passed security and they asked what I had in the bag. I could sense what was coming and I emptied my tray as quick as possible.
- What was that metal?
I pulled out my new ScanDisk EXTREME Pro USB 3.0 SUPER speed memory stick from my left pocket
- The other pocket
I had to pull out my e-cig. Will they confiscate the e-cigarette? They asked if they could check my bag and I heard them mention the word e-cigarette a few times.
- Ah, an e-cig, that is OK
I was relieved and I can smoke my way to Bangkok. They thought my e-cigarette was a pistol or something and they were happy to discover that it ONLY was a e-cig.
They had just started the boarding when I was through immigration and I was soon in my seat with a glass of water next to me. There were not many empty seats and I had to sit next to another guy. Well, 2 hours to Bangkok and I will survive. I had been in the seat for 10 to 15 minutes and I had have 2 or 3 glass of water when we started to back out from the terminal
Ted Nugent - Stranglehold
TED NUGENT PERFORMING LIVE FROM GERMANY 1976
Ted Nugent - Stranglehold
On July 4th 2008 Ted Nugent celebrated Independence Day as only he could with a concert in his home city of Detroit that
marked the 6000th live performance of his remarkable career. From the opening that sees the Nuge perform the US National Anthem
in front of a military line-up and joined by a girl leaping out of a cake clad in a stars and stripes bikini, the party never stops
with Nugent classics and cherished cover versions delighting a huge and enthusiastic crowd. Ted Nugent is unique, a truly larger than
life character and a wonderful guitarist. What better way to enjoy Independence Day!
Bringing refreshments before take-off
Getting ready for take-off
Taking our dinner order
Preparing for dinner
We had a nice flight and time passed quite quickly. Landing at Suvarnabhumi in time and I was stepping inside my door before 9 o'clock in the evening. I had stopped at my post box and there was a big envelop from Polar Quest. Log book and a video from the Polar bear Quest adventure on Svalbard June '15. And of course, the log book and video contains our Guides pictures so it was nice with a different view than from my own pictures. ENJOY!
Well, I had not been home for more than a few days when they called for an emergency on board m/t Ternvag. So I had to fly to Sweden, well, actually I had to fly anyway as my bank had merged with another bank. My internet banking and card was expired and I had to arrange this in person in Sweden. So I took off to join Ternvag in Sweden. Click HERE to join me on this adventure.
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!