WESTWARD ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
WESTWARD ACROSS THE ATLANTIC- SEPT. 28, 2006
From Africa, the ship’s deck was filled by a mish-mash of everything, trash and other materials used inside the cargo hold. Our job to clean up the cargo compartments was lessened when stevedores swept out all the garbage and hoisted by crane into the deck. However due to heavy rain in the final hours, holds number 4 and 5 were left upswept until we sailed.
On the first day at sea, we disposed all garbage into the Atlantic Ocean except the plastic trash. When the ship’s deck had been cleared out of the eyesore materials, we washed cargo hold no. 1, 2, and 3. In hold no. 4and 5 tons of garbage stockpiled. Another back-breaking labor waits. The mountains of trash were removed and we continue the washing for the two remaining holds. We have less than two weeks to prepare the cargo compartments before arrival at Argentina for the next cargo of maize, wheat, and soya beans. After the washing, another tiresome works- derusting. We scaled off thick rusts using jet chisel and scrapers. All deck hands including my junior and senior deck officers, and also Captain worked together inside the cargo holds everyday. Hundreds of buckets of rusts have been scaled off. We found it hard to pull manually above deck due to heavy weight. Five days more to go before arrival, the last phase of our work started-painting. We painted the cargo compartments. A job well done commended by the Master. The question is if it could pass the high standards of Argentinian surveyors.
October 9th noontime, land ahead! A few minutes later, skyscrapers appeared towering high on our starboard side. At the wheel house chartroom, it indicated the city of Montevideo, Uruguay. The VHF radio started to gain signals on its frequency. We were informed by the Recalada pilot station for the scheduled pilot boarding time and other necessary arrangements. We rigged the pilot ladder at starboard side, 2 meters above the water. At 2 pm local time, the pilot boarded. He navigated the ship to Rio de la Plata or River Plate. I steered the ship for two hours then our Third Mate assigned me to plot the ship’s position in the nautical chart at time intervals and record the number of buoys we passed by.
River Plate (Spanish, Río de la Plata, “Silver River”), estuary of the combined Paraná and Uruguay rivers, south-eastern South America, forming a marine inlet between Uruguay and Argentina. It is about 230 km (143 mi) wide at its mouth and tapers gradually inland for a distance of about 274 km (170 mi) to the delta of the Paraná River. River Plate is of major economic and commercial importance to the region. The best natural harbor on the estuary is at Montevideo, Uruguay. Artificial harbors have been constructed at La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The estuary was discovered in 1516 by the Spanish explorer Juan Díaz de Solís, visited by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, and received its present name from the Italian-born navigator Sebastian Cabot, who explored it between 1526 and 1529. Its banks were settled in the following decade by Pedro de Mendoza, a Spanish soldier and colonizer. Jesuit missions established nearby in the 17th and 18th centuries were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
At nine in the evening we reached the anchorage area. We reduced speed because the harbor pilot was replaced another two river pilots. The river pilots are responsible for our navigation upstream to the port of San Nicolas. Before midnight, we entered the Rio Parana inferior, major river in Argentina. It has three main divisions: the Rio Parana Inferior at downstream, Rio Parana Medio in the middle, and the Rio Parana Superior on the further upstream. From the mouth of the river, a vessel can sail more than a thousand miles upstream. The river has many branches and tributaries. Everyday, ocean-going ships pass to and fro along the river loaded with grain products, chemicals, paper, pulp, and refrigerated meat products. We continually navigated the long, sharp-curved, intestine-like river to our loading port of San Nicolas, Argentina.
From Africa, the ship’s deck was filled by a mish-mash of everything, trash and other materials used inside the cargo hold. Our job to clean up the cargo compartments was lessened when stevedores swept out all the garbage and hoisted by crane into the deck. However due to heavy rain in the final hours, holds number 4 and 5 were left upswept until we sailed.
On the first day at sea, we disposed all garbage into the Atlantic Ocean except the plastic trash. When the ship’s deck had been cleared out of the eyesore materials, we washed cargo hold no. 1, 2, and 3. In hold no. 4and 5 tons of garbage stockpiled. Another back-breaking labor waits. The mountains of trash were removed and we continue the washing for the two remaining holds. We have less than two weeks to prepare the cargo compartments before arrival at Argentina for the next cargo of maize, wheat, and soya beans. After the washing, another tiresome works- derusting. We scaled off thick rusts using jet chisel and scrapers. All deck hands including my junior and senior deck officers, and also Captain worked together inside the cargo holds everyday. Hundreds of buckets of rusts have been scaled off. We found it hard to pull manually above deck due to heavy weight. Five days more to go before arrival, the last phase of our work started-painting. We painted the cargo compartments. A job well done commended by the Master. The question is if it could pass the high standards of Argentinian surveyors.
October 9th noontime, land ahead! A few minutes later, skyscrapers appeared towering high on our starboard side. At the wheel house chartroom, it indicated the city of Montevideo, Uruguay. The VHF radio started to gain signals on its frequency. We were informed by the Recalada pilot station for the scheduled pilot boarding time and other necessary arrangements. We rigged the pilot ladder at starboard side, 2 meters above the water. At 2 pm local time, the pilot boarded. He navigated the ship to Rio de la Plata or River Plate. I steered the ship for two hours then our Third Mate assigned me to plot the ship’s position in the nautical chart at time intervals and record the number of buoys we passed by.
River Plate (Spanish, Río de la Plata, “Silver River”), estuary of the combined Paraná and Uruguay rivers, south-eastern South America, forming a marine inlet between Uruguay and Argentina. It is about 230 km (143 mi) wide at its mouth and tapers gradually inland for a distance of about 274 km (170 mi) to the delta of the Paraná River. River Plate is of major economic and commercial importance to the region. The best natural harbor on the estuary is at Montevideo, Uruguay. Artificial harbors have been constructed at La Plata and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The estuary was discovered in 1516 by the Spanish explorer Juan Díaz de Solís, visited by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, and received its present name from the Italian-born navigator Sebastian Cabot, who explored it between 1526 and 1529. Its banks were settled in the following decade by Pedro de Mendoza, a Spanish soldier and colonizer. Jesuit missions established nearby in the 17th and 18th centuries were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
At nine in the evening we reached the anchorage area. We reduced speed because the harbor pilot was replaced another two river pilots. The river pilots are responsible for our navigation upstream to the port of San Nicolas. Before midnight, we entered the Rio Parana inferior, major river in Argentina. It has three main divisions: the Rio Parana Inferior at downstream, Rio Parana Medio in the middle, and the Rio Parana Superior on the further upstream. From the mouth of the river, a vessel can sail more than a thousand miles upstream. The river has many branches and tributaries. Everyday, ocean-going ships pass to and fro along the river loaded with grain products, chemicals, paper, pulp, and refrigerated meat products. We continually navigated the long, sharp-curved, intestine-like river to our loading port of San Nicolas, Argentina.
posted by Arez at 8:44 PM
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