IN THE MIDST OF INDIAN OCEAN
IN THE MIDST OF INDIAN OCEAN- AUGUST 8, 2006
In a passage plan to Africa, our charterer and company in Japan advised us to avoid sailing within territorial waters of Somalia in Northeastern Africa due to reports of armed robbery and piracy in Somali waters. The International Maritime Bureau has issued a warning to all merchant vessels to clear 200 nautical miles from the coastline of the said country. Incidents have been reported that Somali pirates often seajack ships through their high-speed crafts brandishing their Kalashnikovs and high caliber fire arms. Instead of sailing south of Sri Lanka to the north of Madagascar, an alternative route has been considered. From Malacca, Indonesia we sailed southwest down to southern Madagascar island.
Southwest monsoon affected our voyage in the Indian Ocean. Strong wind, daily rain showers, and rough sea influenced our navigation. Sometimes the sun appear and we do maintenance work such as painting, greasing of ships equipment to caught up maintenance work we missed during one month stay in Thailand. After the day’s work, I would spend my time at the bridge or wheelhouse from six to ten in the evening for the advancement of my seafaring profession. My senior officers have always been challenging me to learn and gain more knowledge in order to practice my license as Third Mate in due time. I’ve always been thankful for their support, motivation, encouragement and willingness to impart their knowledge in the years of their seafaring career.
In reference to our continuous ship’s position monitoring, the island of Reunion was sighted a few miles on our starboard side. The south equatorial current aided additional speed ahead. Several days more, the island of Madagascar was located. A reckon that the ship is advancing to East Africa, port of destination; Maputo, Mozambique.
In a passage plan to Africa, our charterer and company in Japan advised us to avoid sailing within territorial waters of Somalia in Northeastern Africa due to reports of armed robbery and piracy in Somali waters. The International Maritime Bureau has issued a warning to all merchant vessels to clear 200 nautical miles from the coastline of the said country. Incidents have been reported that Somali pirates often seajack ships through their high-speed crafts brandishing their Kalashnikovs and high caliber fire arms. Instead of sailing south of Sri Lanka to the north of Madagascar, an alternative route has been considered. From Malacca, Indonesia we sailed southwest down to southern Madagascar island.
Southwest monsoon affected our voyage in the Indian Ocean. Strong wind, daily rain showers, and rough sea influenced our navigation. Sometimes the sun appear and we do maintenance work such as painting, greasing of ships equipment to caught up maintenance work we missed during one month stay in Thailand. After the day’s work, I would spend my time at the bridge or wheelhouse from six to ten in the evening for the advancement of my seafaring profession. My senior officers have always been challenging me to learn and gain more knowledge in order to practice my license as Third Mate in due time. I’ve always been thankful for their support, motivation, encouragement and willingness to impart their knowledge in the years of their seafaring career.
In reference to our continuous ship’s position monitoring, the island of Reunion was sighted a few miles on our starboard side. The south equatorial current aided additional speed ahead. Several days more, the island of Madagascar was located. A reckon that the ship is advancing to East Africa, port of destination; Maputo, Mozambique.
posted by Arez at 8:35 PM
<< Home