A day in the life of a ship visitor

Volunteer ship visitor Neville Cresdee describes a day of ship visiting in the Port of Tyne. The AOS pastoral team on the Tyne uses the latest communications technology to offer broadband connections to seafarers. As Neville explains, making a cultural connection is just as important.

Neville Cresdee

"It is ship visiting day in the Port of Tyne. AOS port chaplain Paul Atkinson boards the M/V Western Trader, a small container vessel and a regular visitor to the port. I use my bike to cycle to M/V Roldo, a bulk carrier loading coal. I dodge the enormous metallic coal grabs to reach the gangway cycling through the slush of dockland water and coal slurry. A ship visitor has to have eyes in the back of the head as monstrous metallic arms swoop down on mountains of coal waiting to be loaded. Coupled with this is the noise of the lorries bringing coal to the terminals. As they disgorge their tipper loads, emergency alarms are hooting or beeping continuously.

As I brake at the bottom of the gangway, a Polish engineer is coming down. He says he is in a hurry and looking for a telephone kiosk as the ship sails in half an hour. I say "Stella Maris". Now he knows who I am and what I represent. The phrase "Stella Maris" has worldwide recognition in the minds of seafarers. I give him directions and he hurries down the quay to make a phone call dodging the metallic scoops along the way. I then decide my priorities. Shall I go onboard? With only 30 minutes to sailing, every crew member will be looking at his watch. As a practiced seafarer, I know I would be a hindrance.

Better to go to the nearby M/V Silver Moon. It’s 3pm and she will be sailing at 11pm so, although they are pressured, they will have some time. It takes 15 minutes to cycle to M/V Silver Moon. The watchman receives me at the aft entrance of the ro-ro vessel now converted into a car carrier with a maximum load of 948 vehicles. The crew is entirely Ukrainian. It takes 15 minutes before someone can be found to escort me to the upper deck. This is unusual but everyone is busy.

When a ship visitor boards a ship, he or she enters the culture of the crew. When we board a predominantly Filippino crewed vessel, there is an immediate sense of their homeland, it is as if we are in Manila. Filippinos are, by nature, warm people without a hint of reservation or suspicion. Polish crews are gentle too but Russians and Ukrainians are different. They are reserved when compared to other nationalities. For an unpractised ship visitor, this can be quite intimidating and can be misconstrued as rude. This is not so! You have to be patient!

Setting up the webcam

A deckhand is finally found to escort me. This ship is old so there is no lift. We take one set of stairs after another until we reach an alleyway that takes us to the crew mess room. There I set up my laptop complete with HSDPA modem, webcam and headphones/microphone and wait. At around 5pm the crew takes a break to eat. Leonard, the second engineer, cannot quite believe that I am offering free Internet access. Initially the English keyboard is confusing for him but, by the time he has logged onto email, there is no stopping him. Now everyone wants a go and the cultural ice has melted.

Another engineer points to a large soup tureen. I help myself. It's basic but I must not offend by saying no. The engineer gesticulates to the bread basket. There is no butter or margarine and the plates are all chipped. Now a young galley steward appears with the main course. Again, it’s basic, mashed potato, cucumber and meat balls in gravy. "Wonderful!" I say, giving the thumbs up and wiping my mouth. Most of the crew have a cigarette lit at the same time. It’s like being in a café in the centre of Odessa. The mess room is full of curling blue tobacco smoke. British Health and Safety officials would have a fit!

The word has gone around the whole ship and there is a queue for the laptop. One by one crew members check their emails. Now everybody has eaten and Alex, the chief cook, can relax in the mess room. He requests a Skype hook up to his wife in Odessa. First he uses on-line texting but gets bolder and asks for Video/Voice VoIP link. I help him focus the webcam and finally there is his wife on screen. Alex is visibly moved. He has never had this service onboard before.

It’s now four hours into the visit and I have leave. The mood of the crew has changed considerably, they have opened up. When I first came onboard they did not have time for me. Now they are joking that they want me to sail to St Petersburg with them. As I leave, I have a full escort all the way down to the gangway. These are hard working men pleased to have found a little relaxation from their demanding routines".

click here for contact details for AOS in the Port of Tyne