DCdt’s Log 020941 July 2017 SMT UTC+8

So I’m on my third ship now. Once again, the same class of container vessel, and the same commute to join the ship in Singapore. It started with a short trip to Heathrow first, before then a long flight to Singapore, where I thankfully managed to sleep a fair bit of on the plane.

I’ve joined for a four month trip, before having a brief visit back home and then finally back out again for another 2.5 months to complete my sea time as a cadet. Exciting times! And as the title of this post alludes, I’ve just passed the 6 month mark on my total sea time as a cadet, half of the MCA requirement for 12 months before taking my orals.

The current shipping line seems like a decent one, two week round trip from Singapore to Singapore, with three ports in the Philippines sandwiched in the middle. I say three ports… More like two and a half, seeing as two of the ports are about 1.5nm away from one another…

An advantage of all my middle ports being in one country though is one SIM card! The joys! So even whilst at anchor, and even at certain times when underway (But off watch, obviously…), it’s possible to get signal to contact home. The rates out here are pretty decent, too. Roughly $1 USD for 1gb of data. Pretty reasonable, if I say so myself.

I’m about 3 weeks into this four month trip and am really enjoying it so far. I’ve been given a baby engine cadet too, which is nice. I was looking forward to being someone’s senior cadet onboard. My crew all seem really decent too, in particular though, my Third Officer and Chief Officer are particular legends. Really sound, really interested in my learning, and just generally pretty chilled.

I’m on Chief’s watch onboard (04000-1200, 1600-2000) once again, but I quite like it, despite the early start. Chief hasn’t been getting much sleep though recently before his morning watch. I introduced him into Game of Thrones though when I signed on…. Oops. At least he enjoys talking about it on watch! He’s trying to finish the current 6 seasons before Season 7 starts and we can download episodes in Singapore and the Philippines. To be fair to him, he’s giving it a bloody good effort, considering he’s on Season 4 already!

I’ve got a lot of work to be doing whilst at sea this time, including my dissertation for the degree element of my course, but I’m still hoping to balance everything, from runs ashore to study to sleep. It’s been an uneventful trip as of yet, but I’m sure I’ll find things to write about regardless.

Oh and one last thing, the sunrises and sunsets are still spectacular out here.

Adios for now,

-The Scouse Deckie