Category: On a Slow Boat to China

2 August 2017 – Genoa, Italy

After bidding farewell to the Crawfords, we took a short drive north of Milan to spend a couple of days on the shores of Lake Como.  

Alessandro is among just a few fishermen who are authorized to fish commercially in the lake.  He and his family have a small restaurant in the fishing village of San Giovanni (near Bellagio), as well as a couple of flats for visitors to rent.

Henry joined him one morning at 5 am to pull in the day’s catch, which we enjoyed at the restaurant that evening.

(Next… a “beauty shot” from the park near Bellagio.)

The container ship CMA CGM Vela was scheduled to sail (with us) from Genoa on 31 July, so we made our way there, having planned to spend our last two nights in Europe at a beautiful flat in the old city with a lovely terrace.  (The owner is a charming lady also named Roberta!)

Word came, however, that our ship was delayed for a day or two, so we settled into Genoa for a bit of a wait.  It was a nice place to be.  Its Piazza Dei Ferrari had great people-watching potential (and a cheap cafe!)

Lots of people with dogs (and a sad-looking old cat…..)

Henry purchased a fine timepiece from a street vendor.

It’s a busy port with some interesting ships.

The aquarium there is either the biggest or second biggest in Europe….. very well organized and executed.  Lingered for several hours after the children had been herded home to dinner and bedtime:

The dolphins were especially awe-inspiring.  Are they a smarter race than we are?  Is it cruel to keep them contained in such a setting?  All I can say is that their gentle yet playful nature imparted a feeling of peace and contentment.  We could lean out of the window of our hotel and see them occasionally surface as they swam and played in their tanks, and all seemed right with the world…. All our petty human concerns fading to insignificance.

We have a lot to learn.

And finally, our “new” ship is in port and we are ready to move on, leaving Europe and heading East.

3 August –  Genoa containership docks

Today we transferred with a rather considerable mountain of luggage for the industrial port in Genoa.

Never would have dreamed of carrying so much baggage… anywhere ….. but once established on-board, it is very nice to have our books, laptops, computer monitor, decorative items, attire for both hot and cold weather, etc. 

In any event, and after a couple of unsurprising administrative SNAFUs, we arrived at our new home for the next 5 weeks or so…. the CMA CGM Vela, a large containership (Portuguese flagship, Ukrainian and Filipino crew for the most part, with a German operator).

The accommodations are a revelation.  We have the owner’s cabin, and it is spacious and absolutely spotless… at least as good and better than many of the places we’ve stayed over the last few weeks, artificial plants and all.

Quite a different set-up from the general cargo operations we had on the New Orleans.  The mind boggles at the immensity of this scene.  Remember that each of the colored oblong boxes you see here is as big as an 18-wheeler…..

We are due to depart early the morning of 3 August and to arrive in Malta in a couple of days for a short visit.  More later!

6 August – Off the island of Malta

The Vela has been sitting outside the port of Malta for a full day, in spite of having deliberately dragged her watery feet all the way here. She was originally supposed to dock in Malta on 4 August; it now appears she will not be alongside the port before early morning on 7 August.

Why? No authoritative answer; presumably one or more variables of scheduling, loading and/or fulfillment in the world of shipping. Which is why the cargo ship passenger is repeatedly warned about plans…. and not making any.

A hard if not impossible lesson for the German couple who has been with us since Genoa to learn; they have now re-arranged their flight home for the second time, and have a narrow corridor for success with that. Current estimate is that Vela will arrive at 5 am tomorrow; their flight is at 12:35 pm.  

A few facts on our ship. The Vela is a containership, carrying oblong boxes such as those that fit on train cars and 18-wheelers. The captain and crew do not know (or care) what they contain, except to the extent that they may be refrigerator cars or include hazardous materials. She usually spends no more than 1 day in port, as the loading process is designed to be very efficient.

By contrast, the New Orleans is a general cargo ship – much smaller than the Vela, but designed to accommodate a number of items that are not suitable for shipping in a container – the locomotive, yachts and experimental windmill wing are examples that we saw on our Atlantic passage. She usually spends several days in each port as the cargo experts fit together the jigsaw of items to be carried.

Statistics on both ships:

• New Orleans Tonnage (weight it can safely carry) – 30,000 tdw (total dead weight); Vela Tonnage 103,730 tdw
• New Orleans length – 193 meters; Vela length – 347 meters
• New Orleans breadth – 27.8 meters; Vela breadth – 45 meters

(That’s the anchor chain above….)

Some things are consistent – on both ships, the normal mealtime greeting is, “good appetite” or words to that effect, and virtually all of the Filipino crew are avid karaoke participants.

Rose George wrote a book on cargo shipping aptly named Ninety Percent of Everything (as in, 90% of everything we consume spends time in a container ship!). She notes that there are approximately 100,000 vessels involved in the industry, and 6,000 of those are container ships. The biggest can hold 15,000 containers, or 746 million bananas (1 for every man, woman and child in Europe), or else make up a 60-mile long truck convoy.

Our captain tells us that the passage of goods is very much a one-way proposition; many of the containers we carry now are empty – to be replaced and supplemented with full ones in China for shipment back to the West.

If the quality of accommodations and food are any indication, the containership business is more successful at this point than general cargo.  Look at the garnishes on this plate!

A couple of “beauty shots” to close out this entry – the first of still another sunset, and the second of the leading edge of the ship as it appears just below the shockingly clear-blue Mediterranean waters.  No kidding – not sure why the Greeks called this the wine-dark sea……  Looks like an oblong water melon on a blue plate with Saran Wrap over it…..

Once we dock we’ll have a chance to go into town for a brief look around and a shopping expedition……

7 August – Birzebbuga, Malta

What a thrill to enter a new and exotic port!  Particularly so when the local population is celebrating – with fireworks, loud music and great fanfare – an apparently special religious holiday.  St. Peter in Chains?  In any event, the port where we docked is right alongside a town that had pulled out all the stops.

Although it appeared we would experience additional delays, our ship in fact made it into port last night, our fellow passengers are now safely on their way home to Hanover, and the Maltese are recuperating from their frenetic three-day celebration with a half-day holiday.

Apparently, every day is a holiday for the feline species around here; the public parks have a great many cat houses that have been set up for their exclusive enjoyment.  (At first I thought they were shelters for little, tiny homeless people….. my cultural bias coming through!)

Malta has for centuries been something of a meeting point for divergent cultures and ideologies…. going back to the religious Crusades and before.  Here is a monument to a summit meeting that was held here in 1989 between US President George HW Bush and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev that essentially led to the end of the Cold War.

The meeting was also known as the “Seasick Summit”, as it was held on board a rolling ship just off the coast.   You can see our container ship being loaded on the right side of the picture, partially obscured by the monument…..

We loaded up on supplies for the coming weeks in several of the local markets, while wishing we could instead join the crowds of folks enjoying the beach and watching the cargo ships maneuver.

But the sea calls…. the Vela is supposed to pull away from its berth at 1400 hours.  From here on, we understand that we will be the only passengers until we reach China in four weeks or so.  Next stop – Beirut, Lebanon.  Out of touch until then.  Hope all is well in your world!

p.s. Here is a photo of the latest knitted creation from your peripatetic correspondent.  (It doesn’t look like much, but was pretty complicated for a beginner!)

10 August – Beirut, Lebanon

Formerly known as “the Paris of the Middle East”, Beirut has had a rough past since it earned that name.  Hard to believe that this country was torn apart by civil war and insurrection for more than FIFTEEN YEARS (1975-1990), the rift largely due to religious intolerance.  How can that be?  Let’s check with our friends the dolphins……

With less than a day here, we arranged a car and driver through the port agent (who represents the cargo ship line locally).   Not too much to report – Beirut is a large city like many others.  We were briefly fearful that the driver just might be a Hezbollah operative and that we would be pulled from the car and hoods placed over our heads, but we are happy to report instead simple touristic visits to the  Jeita Grotto and Byblos, a coastal town that has been continuously populated for more than 8,000 years.  

A young Italian back-packer named Nik joined us for these explorations.  He is in Lebanon for 3 weeks on his own with his bedroll, an excellent command of several languages, and a lot of charm and intelligence.  

Favorite things about this brief stop in Lebanon – their flag, which prominently features a cedar tree, and fresh figs, which Abdullah (our driver) found at a roadside stand.  

The Vela is scheduled to enter the Suez Canal on Saturday, 12 August, hopefully during daylight hours.  Then, on to the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea.

And still another completed needlework project for your consideration:

 (It’s a hat, dammit.)

 

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – 14 August

Some have called the Suez Canal a Big Ditch, but we found it a fascinating passage. The Vela spent 10 hours in a line of ships going from Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, through Ismailia, to Suez on the Red Sea, with sand and desert on her east and irrigated oases (for the most part) to the west.  

The area on each side of the canal appeared thinly populated, sprinkled with sentry outposts manned by really bored-looking soldiers.  

Rowboats played “chicken” with the cargo ships down below, as fishermen used nets to capture their prey, much as they did in biblical times.

Unlike in other countries, Egyptians value their pigeons, as a food source and for their  droppings, used as fertilizer.  Special cone-shaped houses for them dotted the landscape.

We hid our booze from the authorities before we got to Beirut:

Next stop was Jeddah, the gateway city to Mecca, birthplace and focus of the Muslim religion.  Before arriving there, crew and passengers were instructed to gather “all alcohol, pornographic and other illegal items” for delivery to the captain, to be locked away from inspection and seizure by the Muslim police in the ship’s safe.  And this in spite of the fact that we were not allowed to disembark the ship at all…..

On our way now to Jebel Ali, Dubai’s port.  Not sure at this point when we will arrive and if we will stay long enough for a visit.   Hopefully we’ll get our booze back before we get there…..  

(Here’s a pretty shot of us leaving Beirut….)

 

 

 

20 August – Dubai, UAE

After a brief stay in Jeddah (where we as infidels were not allowed to disembark), the Vela headed further south to where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, the beginning of “Pirate Alley”.

We’ve learned a little about the modern pirate situation, at least from the point of view of the cargo shipping companies.

The reason we could not stay on the Rickmers New Orleans from Europe to Asia is that they refuse to take passengers through this corridor that has been the focus of piracy incidents over the last 15 years or so. The Vela has no such restriction, as the mammoth container ships run too fast and ride too high in the water for the pirates to board. As a precaution, however, we went through three full days and nights of enhanced security measures – portholes and windows were blacked out with sheets of cardboard or curtains; external doors were kept locked at all times; monitoring of approaching ships was enhanced, and nearby police vessels were tracked as well. (I hadn’t realized that the Somali pirates so closely resemble Minions!)

High-pressure water hoses were connected and on stand-by at a number of locations on the outer decks.

We were only briefly counseled on emergency procedures – basically to listen for announcements and go to the bridge if an alert were to sound. We heard there was a “safe room” on board, but were not informed where it might be…Captain and crew seemed pretty comfortable that we would not be threatened, but it was nonetheless stimulating – and a little scary – to pass through the scene of many crimes where victims have been so shockingly helpless.

On to trivial shipboard matters. ….. The crew refers to each other both directly and indirectly not by name, but by position. The Captain is always “Captain”; the Chief Engineer is “Chief”; the cook is “Cookie” (here he is);

the Steward is “Stewie”, and the third officer is (unfortunately when addressed in an Eastern European accent) “T’ird”. Presumably this practice makes it easier to transition from one ship to the next, where the individual crew members have contracts that expire at different ports, so the faces change relatively frequently. I think we are probably just referred to as “the passengers”. Who sometimes get apple pie and ice cream when they clean their plates….

As we approach Dubai’s port of Jebel Ali through the Strait of Hormuz and facing the Persian Gulf, the air has thickened, full of heat and sand. Air conditioning on board the ship has….. well, not completely given up, but is preparing a white flag.

Transport through immigration and into Dubai has been arranged for us while we are here for a short stay. May be cooler in town than on the ship!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21 August – Dubai, UAE

A few hours of shore time in Dubai, a very modern city of 2.8 million souls, none of whom seem to be from here.  We met Afghans, Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, but not a single…. Emirati?  Not unusual in oil-rich Middle Eastern countries – the local folks do not have to work, so import people from poorer countries to provide necessary services.

Beautiful and apparently new Dubai Museum casts light on what this place was like before all the hoo-rah over petroleum.  Originally this was a bend in a fresh-water river where pearl-diving and trading were the primary industries, later evolving into a major port dominated by Portuguese and English traders.

Sailboats called dhows traversed the waterway running through old Dubai, but now they use motorboats as ferries and tour boats.  

The old suqs (markets) were fairly empty; apparently this time of year is a little too hot for the European and Chinese tourists who normally crowd the narrow alleyways.

Hawkers of goods were very happy to see us; they called Henry “Professor” and Robbie “Sweet Mama”….  We looked at spices, textiles and enjoyed camel-milk gelato:

Favorite product:

(If you look closely, you can see the “Made in China” label in the left corner.  We may have off-loaded a few thousand of these in one of our containers today!)

And of course, we had to go a little native…

Back to the ship for our departure.  The Vela will be at sea for quite a while this time – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is our next stop and we will be skirting the entire peninsula of India to get there!  

Hope all is well with you and yours.  

 

28 August, Port Klang, Malaysia

Shipboard life since leaving Dubai has been serene, although seas have been rougher since entering the Indian Ocean.  The crew is impressed that we have not been sea sick.  The needlework attempts continue, with a lovely view from one of our four picture-window portholes:

At the captain’s urging, we have started using the indoor pool and sauna (both as spotless and well-kept as the rest of the accommodations).  They pump fresh sea water into the pool each day, and we have so far had it all to ourselves.  It’s like having a private spa!

And yes, sometimes we get a little bored.

A couple of days ago was a bar-b-q party for the whole crew.  Very festive – flags from many countries were displayed, including those from Lebanon, the USA and the UAE.  The crew did the cooking… heavy on the meat.

Henry tried to convince the Filipinos to listen to Willie Nelson tunes rather than doing karaoke Engelbert Humperdinck…. it only worked for a short time.

And here are pix of our hunky captain from Ukraine (really – I did not clip this out of a movie magazine!) and our hungry chief engineer from Poland.

And it seems impossible not to include a couple photos of the spectacular sunsets that we hope to never take for granted.

The port agent has arranged a driver to take us into Kuala Lumpur for the day, so we will have one more posting before pushing on to China!

 

 

2 September – port of Xiamen, China and 6 September, Qingdao, China

Updating this blog entry with photos!  

Our tenth port of call was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  It’s a big city, lots of modern skyscrapers, a lot like Dubai.  

We explored the markets and ate some Malaysian food off of banana leaves:

Back on board the ship, we rounded the tip of the Malay Peninsula, glimpsing Singapore in the distance – big city, lots of modern skyscrapers, a lot like KL… at least from afar.

As we passed east of Vietnam, the ship was engulfed by many dozens of large seabirds – gulls apparently – with blue beaks.  They swooped across the bow and occasionally dove down to the water’s surface, sometimes plunging into the water to snag a flying fish.  These birds were without timidity around humans – never has a wild bird flown so closely to our heads.  A fascinating scene.  The deck (and Henry’s glasses and t-shirt) were splattered with their leavings.  

We stopped for less than a day in Xiamen, China, but were not allowed to disembark as the BRICS summit is taking place in this city, and the authorities are very sensitive about security.  BRICS includes representatives from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (hence the name) who are meeting on common trade issues.  

A couple more sunsets:

In just a few more days, we will disembark the Vela for good in Qingdao, China.  Our time on board this ship seems to have passed too quickly, but we are also looking forward to some adventure in China.  We proceed to Shenyang, where we will meet up with Zeng, a colleague of Henry’s who worked with him over several years in the blueberry fields near Wuhan.  From there, we plan to explore parts of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.

We will report back once we are on terra firma again!  We hope all of our friends and family in South Texas and surroundings were able to make it through Hurricane Harvey without incident and are safe and dry.