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“The postings on this site are my own and don't represent Maersk Group's position, strategies or opinions. All views are my own”
  Monday 16th of May 2016 and we're steaming towards Hong Gai in Vietnam. We kicked off the day with the good morning gymnastics followed by a tool box meeting. They guys went on deck and I started to prepare a drawing for a Butterworth hatch. Our Pump Man and I measured the hatch and then I filled up the measurements on the drawing. Then we will  hopefully get a new hatch. The plan is to change the hatches one by one. The hatch we remove is to be chipped and painted and then we put it back on the next opening. And we will hopefully be able to overhaul all our Butterworth hatches.
We will have a black out drill after the coffee break. The crew will get a reminder on how to start the emergency generator in case of a black out. We started in the CCR and our Chief Engineer went through the blackout procedures.      +++++++++++++++
Tuesday 17th of May 2016 and I had have quite a good sleep during the night. I was not exactly turning cartwheels out of bed when my alarm went off, but not far from it. A hot shower and I  grabbed a bucket of tea when I passed the mess room on my way to my office to see the crew.
And of course, the good  morning gymnastics before we started anything else.
We had our tool box meeting and the Painters went on deck to get started with the chipping and painting. The rest of the crew went down to the laundry room. We have an old drying that we will have to get on deck so we can dispose it next time we take ashore garbage. Hopefully in Hong Gai. Hong Gai, as with many other names in SE Asia there are  many ways to spell the names. Hong Gai and Hong Gay is some other way I have seen them spell the name.
But I checked Microsoft's Encarta and they spell it Hõng Gai with the little curlicue over the o. I searched the internet for Hong Gai with the little curlicue over the o and I came up with nothing. So I will spell it Hong Gai from now on. Anyway, the place is located in the Bay of Tonkin, close to the Chinese border. And who knows? There might be a chance to go ashore to look for drinks. Anyway, the crew removes the door and some covers from the dryer so they could get it out through the door and in to the rope store. From the rope store they will bring it up on the poop  deck via the hatch.
When they were done we met in my office for yet another tool box meeting. We will have 3 of the guys to grease our winches and we need to study risk assessments. I completed the inventory of our hospital after lunch and I had made a requisition that we will send before I go home. And as usually the time passed very quickly and it was time to go for a bucket of tea in my cabin before my shower and dinner. And I can put yet another day behind me. Tomorrow will be the last day “at sea” before arrival so it promise to be a busy day preparing discharge plans and a ton of paper work. Now it is changed from Friday to Thursday so no waiting at the anchorage, just a few hours for the high water +++++++++++++++
Wednesday 18th of May 2016 and we kicked off the day with our good morning gymnastics. We had a tool box meeting and the guys took of to do some chipping and painting on deck. When our 3rd Officer was back we had a tool box meeting before we went down to our pump room.
We will test/ calibrate the gas detectors and our Pump Man have the monthly routines to operate the manual valves. We calibrated all the gas detectors and I was testing the ODME while our Pump Man did the monthly valve routines. When he was back up from the pump room we tested the gas detection system on the vapour return system. BOOM!!!!! It was 12 o'clock and time for lunch, the time had for sure passed by very quickly this morning. Our Russian and Indian friend was for sure indulging. Suddenly, as they brought back ice cream to  the table  like there was no tomorrow our lunch turned in to an ice cream bonanza.
- You were looking for a job and you found a home! I said. Well, I told them to take this opportunity as ice cream was unheard of in Russia and India. Our Russian friend told me that they had the best ice  cream in the world.
- YEAH! Best imaginary ice cream in the world. Just as the old lady in the bread line will have the best bread in the world. Imagine her after 2 weeks in the bread line. She really must have built up a “taste” for bread by the time she reach the bread.   Lucky that I was there with my camera
First in a series of 6 pictures. Click and enjoy! 
So what about me? Well, they were eating ice cream and as I had my diet bet I could not eat any ice cream. Well, of course, if I wanted to avoid paying 2000 US Dollars. So I enjoyed a Macho salad. Yeah, for us who care for our great looks! Macho salad
+++++++++++++++
Thursday 19th of May 2016 and we were anchored when I woke up. My alarm was set to go off at 08:35 but I didn't get out of bed until 9 o'clock. We expect to stay up late tonight so our Pump Man and I will not start until 10 o'clock to avoid red rest hours.
So I enjoyed a bucket of tea while watching an episode of ZOO before going down to meet the crew in my office. We had a tool box meeting yesterday for the chipping and painting. But we need a work permit, working aloft so the crew can get up on top of the cargo lines to paint and chip. And then I need to be out of bed.
We were anchored in the Ha Long Bay and I could see the famous islands not far away from where  No news from the Pilot, or anyone else for that matter. But we got the Pilot boarding time at 14:00 confirmed. In the middle of the lunch they called and said 13:30. Later on it was, well, when we had our anchor up, they changed it and we had to wait a wee bit more for the Pilot. The Pilot, two of them came on board quarter past 2 o'clock in the afternoon and we started to proceed towards the limestone island area. It was a gloomy and grey day so it could have been looking better, but even though it was gloom and grey for as long as I could see it was a very beautiful area. I was in the CCR when we passed the first limestone islands and I got up on the bridge to have a better look. I also took a few pictures so you can enjoy the sights. We will arrive to Hong Gai around 4 o'clock in the afternoon so I went down to do some paper work when I had the pictures I needed.        We passed many bulk carriers anchored loading/ discharging from barges on the way to Hong Gai. I don't know what they carry, maybe rice. Anyway, there were many of them and they were big. We also passed a big tanker waiting at the anchorage. I saw a big Ferris wheel around 3 thirty in the afternoon. I was looking out the window from the CCR and the Ferris wheel was on the right hand side of a huge bridge and a cable car. I had looked up the place on the internet so I knew it was the Bãi Cháy Bridge. 
Hạ Long city is divided into two parts: East Hạ Long and West Hạ Long. The eastern part ("Hon Gai"), where most of the official buildings and industry are concentrated, is connected by bridge with the western part ("Bai Chay"), considered to be more of a tourism attraction. I knew all this from the internet, but there was nothing about the cable car between the East Hạ Long and West Hạ Long and the Ferris wheel. Our friend from Russia was delirious by anticipation when he saw this. Yes, he is going ashore tomorrow. But he was instantly disappointed when the pilot told him that they were not ready for another month.    Our jetty is just a little after passing under the bridge
   We had all fast at jetty B12 at 17:12 and I was soon down in the CCR. There were a crowd coming on board. First the Agent but no Authorities. We had expected an onslaught of officers from all kinds of departments to board us. We got 5 visitors to the CCR, Surveyors and Loading Masters. We did the paper work and when Captain came down with a name card he had got from the Agent I took a few seconds to call. Captain told me that this was a ship chandler and they could provide a little bit of everything. I decided to give the diet drinks a try. It was a girl answering the phone After quite sometimes I (at least I thought so) had ordered 2 cases of diet drinks to be delivered to the ship during the evening. 30 minutes later we had 2 beautiful girls on the gangway.  I went out on deck to see the girls and I got some hugs from these beautiful girls, dressed like they were going to a disco.
I asked for my Pepsi and they would bring it back by boat in an hour. The asked if I wanted to come ashore with them but as I had no time I had to say no. Well, several hours later and no sign of any Pepsi. I was back in my cabin at 23 thirty and I hope I have time to go ashore for some lunch at a 5 star hotel tomorrow. +++++++++++++++
Friday 20th of May 2016 and my alarm went off 20 minutes past 8. I went to bed again as I have a back-up alarm going off 20 minutes later. I was dead tired but it was impossible to fall asleep again. So I made tea and I watched an episode of ZOO.
If I go to work before 9 thirty I can work for 1 hour and then the rest of the day will be red of rest hour violation. I ran in to our 2nd Engineer at 11 thirty and he was on his way ashore. I  decided to go ashore for some lunch and bread. Vietnam and Laos, excellent bread!
So I changed my shoes and I picked up my valet and I was ready to go ashore. When I was back down in the CCR to get our 2nd Engineer I found that there were more crew from the engine departments that would go ashore. We left the ship quarter to 12.  The gate is just 200 meters from the gangway and according to information there is always some taxi waiting there when there are a ship at the terminal. I had asked the Loading Masters about  the best hotel in town and there was a 5 star hotel. Of course, I had forgot to how to say the name when I was at the gate.
 Leaving m/t Roy Mærsk behind
  It is not a very big taxi
 Didn't take long for us to realise that we needed more than one taxi
 Non of the drivers spoke more than a very few words of English
There was one taxi waiting outside the gate and one taxi stopped on the parking lot in front of the gate. It must have been the smallest taxi I had ever seen. But I knew that this was the taxi I would have to take. The 4 engine crew had to get in to the bigger taxi. They were going to look  around town and I was only going for a quick lunch and to have a look for some diet drinks before going back on board.
It took me quite some while and an effort to get the driver to understand that I wanted to go to a 5 star hotel for lunch. We drove by a few hotels and one of them reminded me of the name they had told me for the “top” Nong Gai hotel and I was a little surprised when we passed a Novotel, not a 5 star hotel. But Novotel is always a safe bet when you're looking for good food off the beaten track. Anyway, we drove up to a hotel, there were 5 big stars on the road side but the hotel reminded me about former Eastern Europe or one of the “LUXURY” hotels in Poi Pet, the Cambodian border town. If you have been to Poi pet you know exactly what I'm talking about. And the Royal Halong Hotel, I knew it was a waste of time already when I got out of the car. There was a casino and a canteen and I spent less than 12 seconds at the place. Of course, the taxi was gone and I had to walk back down to the road to get a new taxi. I asked the driver to take me to Novotel, and of course, he didn't understand a word of what I was saying. OK, he understood the word “hotel” We drove down the road back towards the Bãi Cháy Bridge and m/t Roy Mærsk and the driver was pointing at every hotel we passed. But I didn't say anything until we approached a sign saying  Novotel Ha Long Bay. We drove up to the entrance behind the hotel. I gave the driver a dollar and I stepped inside.
I asked for the restaurant and it was up on my left hand side. I was not impressed by the sight of the restaurant. But I took a seat and I got a menu. I asked for a pot of tea and some fresh bread and I continued to study the menu. When the Waitress was back with my tea I asked for fresh bread. I walked around and I spotted two, well, girls sitting in the reception. They looked to have a lot of money, at least they had spent a fortune on their looks. But I'm almost sure they were lady boys. Do they have lady boys here in Vietnam? Well, I was not going to hang around trying to find out. I stopped in the bar to ask if they had diet drinks. Instant disappointment, only coke light. I was soon back in the restaurant with my tea. I was soon asking for 2 more rolls of bread. The food  was OK. The salmon & spinach croquettes was not as good as I had imagine them to be, but they were kind of OK.
The best thing was the bread and butter. And, well, the bread was excellent, but if I would have had Danish, Swedish or German butter it would have been unbelievable good.  Chewing gum, this was not the appetizer I had been hoping for
 Salmon & spinach croquets
 The steak was good, but the bread was the best
5 rolls of bread and I was pretty full when my dessert came to the table. Chocolate fountain with ice cream. And yes, I had asked for whipped cream and the Waitress had confirmed that they  had whipped cream. If you ever at a restaurant, that claims to be a good one you should leave immediately if they don't have whipping cream.
Whipped cream and real butter is a MUST for any kitchen if it is a good restaurant. But when my chocolate fountain was brought to my  table there was a bowl of whipping cream on the plate.
Instant disappointment, they had brought out the whipping from the whipped cream. A bowl of whipping cream and not a bowl of whipped cream. OK, I brought her attendance to the un-wiped whipping cream. She was soon back (by the time I had finished the chocolate fountain) with a bowl of whipping cream. This time I could see that it was spray can cream. She explained that the whipping cream was called whipping cream and the spray was called topping. Never mind, I paid my bill and I left the place to go look for diet drinks before going back to the ship. The food had been OK, but the restaurant could have been better managed. Old dishes on many  of the tables in an empty restaurant. A chewing gum on my table and they could have used a broom to sweep the floor! But other than that it was OK and I was happy with my “coming ashore” adventure.
I walked down to the road and there was a taxi waiting. I asked him how much to go to the bridge where m/t Roy Mærsk was discharging. He gave me a  figure and I lost my foothold, it was like a figure grabbed straight from one of the Brother Grimm’s stories. Well, he gave it a try
Of course, he was waiting outside Novotel, same as in Thailand, never take a taxi that just waiting around close to tourist spots or hotels. As I possess some negotiation skills I was soon down to 5 dollars. I had the taxi to follow me while I walked down the road looking for diet drinks. When I came to the last shop I had come up with nothing, great disappointment. I got in to the taxi and I asked the driver to stop at some supermarket on the way back to the ship at the Bãi Cháy Bridge  and if I was lucky I would be able to get back on board with a few bottles of diet drinks. And the driver knew of a supermarket
I had, not much hope, but we might get lucky. I had only seen “hole in the wall” styled MOM & POP stores around. So I made a mental not to check any expiry dates if we would find any drinks.  No diet drinks, but pictures needed to be taken
The driver stopped and there were no supermarket to be seen around. He pointed at a “hole in the wall” styled MOM & POP store. I had no hope to find anything I wanted in the shop, but I went  through the trouble to get out of the car to check it out. No expectations means that ( Hopefully) there will be no disappointments.
There were exactly nothing I wanted to have in the shop and I was soon back in the taxi. I gave up the  diet drink idea and I asked the driver to take me back to the bridge. I had not even tried to mention the oil jetty and a ship as the driver's English was at least to say limited
And it will be nice to get back on board, going around town in a small Vietnamese taxi is not how I fancy spending the afternoon. And the chances of finding any diet drinks are very slim. A few minutes later and I was out of the taxi again and it was a 3 minutes’ walk to the ship. And to climb on board was not as easy as get off. We don't have much cargo remaining on board and we have a high free board and the gangway is almost in a 90° angle. But I made it up on deck and I was soon back in the CCR again.  
We could see when the other guys came back on board and our 2nd Engineer was wearing a Vietnamese hat so they had obviously found souvenirs while ashore. We completed discharging  around 6 o'clock in the evening and we will not leave until tomorrow because of daylight navigation only.
I had expected the paper work to be ready in an hour or so and I would spend the rest of the evening relaxing and having a good time. But the Surveyor claimed that we had not discharged all the cargo so we were busy all night long waiting for the Surveyors to be ready. We had to leave the jetty 7 o'clock in the morning and it was decided that we should go out and drop the anchor and our P & I will attend the vessel. +++++++++++++++
Saturday 21st of May 2016 and it was almost 1 thirty when I was in bed. But I was lucky, the pilot didn't showed up until almost 8 so I had a bonus hour of sleep.
We were anchored when I woke up and the P & I and the Surveyors came on board jus after lunch. We dipped the tanks again, and they are still empty. But around here they are obviously working in a different manner and it was almost 7 o'clock in the evening when they left the ship.  Anchored at Ha Long Bay
 Tourist boats
  Anchored at Ha Long Bay
 Anchored at Ha Long Bay
 Well, the whole Saturday was destroyed and all our plans was down the drain. At least I could enjoy a cup of tea in my cabin in the evening. And it was pretty nice when we left Hong Gai and the Ha Long anchorage behind. And when we arrived I made plans to come here for a few days exploring the Ha Long Bay Limestone islands, but when we left I had no wishes for ever to come back. +++++++++++++++
Sunday 22nd of May 2016 and we were on our way to Map Ta Phut in Thailand when I woke up. We will not start to load until earliest on the 29th so we have plenty time. Singapore to discharge and I will sign off together with our Chief Engineer.
+++++++++++++++
Monday 23rd of May 2016 and we're steaming slowly towards Map Ta Phut, Thailand. The sea is like a windmill pond, but there are bad weather up ahead according to the forecast. Well, ISPS piracy drill, testing the anti piracy water jet machines and we had a H2S awareness meeting in the afternoon. And we can put yet another day behind us.
+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 24th of May 2016 and we're still steaming towards Map Ta Phut in Thailand while we're doing our good morning gymnastics. Tool box meeting and the guys were off to deck for painting and chipping. Our Pump Man stayed behind and we finalised some requests that we expect to be delivered next time in Singapore. And that will be the time I go home.
About 2 weeks or less until I sign off, and today I opened my Thai books for the first time. +++++++++++++++
Wednesday 25th of May 2016 and the crew is chipping and painting on deck Our Pump Man and I was in the pump room and it started to pour down not long after we came up on deck again. Painting had to be cancelled, but the chipping machines are singing on deck.
+++++++++++++++
Thursday 26th of May 2016 and we started the good morning gymnastics with some  disco dance to warm up. Then we did the exercise the Guide thought me on my Ayuthaya. I don't remember,  but I think he called it shing shoe. Some oriental mystique gymnastics he told me about when he sold me some herb capsules with some Chinese  mushroom powder. Should be so very good for you
Anyway, I call it the sushi exercise and, well, it might do us some good. Anyway, the weather, well, gloom and grey for as long as we could see. Raining so not much painting today, lucky enough they have our painters in the engine room painting. They day moved along slowly and it was very nice when it was finally time for a shower and a cup of tea. Yet another day we can put behind us.
I got a picture sent to me via Line. She had been at the Kaset University Art Faculty and, well, I  had sent her a picture from Donsol, Philippines. Of course, I had sent it to her via Line. Anyway, I had forgot all about the picture until I opened my Line program. And to call it a program, yet another sign of how old I am, I think they call it app today.
The rest of the evening was spent in my cabin watching season 1 of the Wicked City or whatever they called it. What a waste of time and I was soon in my bed reading one of my Thai books. Soon time to go home and a refresher comes in handy. OK, it didn't take long before I was back wasting my time with the Wicked City until it was time for sleep. Surprisingly enough, it was easy to fall asleep today. +++++++++++++++
Friday 27th of May 2016 and today there were not any signs of any rain, so the crew can do some chipping and painting on deck. Always something to be excited about.
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 28th of May 2016 and we dropped our anchor outside Map Ta Phut around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. We expect Pilot to board around midnight so it will be a full night.
+++++++++++++++
Sunday 29th of May 2016 and I was watching video in my cabin. I had woken up at 11 o'clock in the evening, Pilot was confirmed for midnight. So I was waiting to hear them starting the engine, nothing. When I called at midnight thirty they told me that pilot was now coming at 6 o'clock in the morning. So here I am expecting a long night that I have prepared for. Now it will be a long morning and I will be dead tired as I have had no sleep.
And it was 11 thirty before I could leave for a shower, and I was hungry so I went for lunch straight after my shower. +++++++++++++++
Monday 30th of May 2016 and we were loading when I came down to the CCR just after 9 o'clock in the morning. They had stopped loading 7 o'clock yesterday evening. They had resumed loading 2  o'clock this morning. I discovered a bag of Pepsi MAX in the CCR that our Agent had brought me. I was enjoying my second bottle when they stopped loading again and this time they told us that they would stop for 12 hours.
Not much to do, so I had time to book a ticket to Sweden. And a room at Marina Plaza in Helsingborg. So now I'm set up for my  adventure in Sweden and Ternvag. I sent an e-mail to Singapore Airlines to see if they have a flight available on the 13th of July.
I'm back home from Sweden in the morning of the 13th of July and if I'm lucky I can be off to Australia in the evening. Before the evening came to an end I had booked two tickets. Usually, these flights would have been with Thai Airways, but now they lost two tickets. But they might be happy to know that the tourists pay 10x the price for Thais to get in to the national parks. Well, if they like to scam the tourists they cannot expect me as a guest on board their airplanes  And we can see that there will be time to spend in the best lounge in the world.
Turkish Airways lounge in Istanbul. Baklava and good food for long as you can see  And we can see that I made a mistake booking on line, NOT THE FIRST TIME
I want to arrive on the 15th and not depart on the 15th - So I hope Singapore Airlines will change departure date for me to 14th of July +++++++++++++++
Tuesday 31st of May 2016 and I was in the CCR around 1 o'clock in the morning as we expect to complete loading around 2 o'clock. They resumed loading at 21:18 yesterday evening. It will be a long night with no sleep so I was lucky that I got to sleep until 9 o'clock this very morning.
The terminal stopped the loading at 2 and the pilot came on board just after 6 o'clock and I was in bed at 7. And we have had enough of the excitements for the month of May 2016. Click HERE to see how the month of June 2016 turns out.
    
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