Stat Update [Our Ref:EXE26617]

There is some talk about a new year eve celebration onboard..lets see what happens..

Stat Update-Friday 23rd December-2230 Hrs [Our Ref:EXF09748]

The Emergency drills went on well today. When I came up for morning watch today, I found that it was still dark, due to the advancing of clocks yesterday. Because of this, the drill was started a little late. First we had a tabletop drill(a exercise where we simply discuss what we will do in case of a particular emergency). Then we had the fire drill. As usual, we assumed that the fire was at a particular location(in today's drill, the galley-galley is the place where the food is prepared). Then two people put on fire resistant suits and got ready as they would during a real fire. We also prepared some fire hoses(long strong rubber pipes which can transport sea water to extinguish the fire).
Then we had the lifeboat drill. It is still cold outside and so we did not spend much time explaining the various procedures involved in launching the lifeboat.
After that, I spent the rest of the afternoon ensuring that everything was put back in its proper place. Im the person incharge of all the safety related equipments. So I had to make sure that before I stopped working today, everything is per normal situations.
Then I watched some episodes of a TV serial called Grey's anatomy. Its about 5 doctors new out of college and in a hospital. Currently Im on watch, but then, there is no traffic as its the pacific ocean. We had to stop for an hour because of some minor engine problem, but now, we are going again at full ahead speed.

What I watched today [Our Ref:EXE08751]

Grey's Anatomy-Season 2-Episodes-Its the End of the World& As we know it.

I have been watching Grey's Anatomy recently and the two episodes that I watched today were by far the best I have seen. In this episode, a patient shot with a bazooka is admitted to the hospital. Alex(one of the interns at Seattle Grace hospital and a lead character) later finds out that the ammunition was still active as there was no explosion. The entire hospital goes on Code 'Black' and they call the bomb squad. The explosives are successfully removed from the patient's body later on, but then, the explosive goes off in the bomb squad's possession and kills the leader and a few other people.
A few things stood out prominently in this episode. Fear of death is something not all of us experience. Some lives are eventful and some lives are dreary. The episode above shows reactions of various people when encountered with such an experience. One decides to run, one decides to do what he thought he should have done long time back, one decides to forget differences and reach out and one simply decides to ignore that such an experience happens at all.
Ultimately it all ends with the assurance that its good to be alive. I believe its important that we know this, because, we are, comparing to some other sad human being at some remote location, having a better day.

Stat Update [Our Ref:EXE01650]

23rd December 1300 hours.

Today the ship clock onboard was advanced again. We are now 15 hours ahead of UTC and 9.5 hours ahead of Indian Time. Tomorrow, its 23rd again since we are compensating for crossing the date line. Such frequent change of time is common on this kind of route when the ship crosses the Pacific ocean.
It snowed today, just like yesterday. The temperature has gotten better, thanks to some sunshine in the morning.
Tomorrow we have a Emergency drill on the ship. During this drill, we assume that we are in emergency and act accordingly. First, we assume that there is a fire at a certain point on the ship. We then designate someone to wear protective clothing and carry fire hoses and extinguish the fire. Then we assume that we are going to abandon ship and then try and board our lifeboats. After that, we do the drill for Oil Spill and Man overboard emergencies.
The drill is always a long day, particularly for me, because I have to make sure the equipments used during the drill are put back properly in its place. This kind of drill happens once every month. I will let you know what happenned during the drill tomorrow.

Stat. Update

Here it snowed very heavily last night. The snow was very beautiful. The monkey island(the roof of the bridge) is fully covered with snow. The sun also shines occasionally, but only for a short duration. Outside temperature is around 3 degrees here. The weather has started to get a little bad, but then, I know from the forecasts that it is going to revert back to normal very soon.
Everybody here is getting ready to celebrate Christmas. The common rooms have been decorated with shiny objects and the usual decorative items related to Christmas. The crew's saloon even has a Christmas tree. Everyone onboard is a tad bit lazy thanks to the holiday mood.
I watched Velayutham yesterday. Its the usual Actor Vijay movie, with a lot of references to his political views. Today Im planning to watch 'Mayakkam enna' starring Dhanush.

Stat. Update [Our Ref:EXD28520]

Saturday 17th Dec 1830
Drifting near Korean peninsula

The ship Im on is now drifting a few miles from Korea. Looks like its going to be a while before we start our engines since we are way too early. Kwangyang is the last port before the next Pacific crossing. Can get some breath back then..

Stat Update [Our Ref:EXD19718]

Saturday 10th Dec. 0800
Hong Kong Anchorage.

Right now at Hong Kong Anchorage. Arrival Hong Kong has been delayed and further, has spoilt all my plans about going ashore. Vasanth is suggesting that we go ashore after 12 just to the nearby departmental store. I like the plan.

News Reel [Our Ref:EXD05996]

WOMEN CANNOT PUNISHED FOR ADULTERY: INDIAN SUPREME COURT

I read an article on the Ocean News(A newsletter being delivered to the ship through the ship's email system-common for all) about how the Supreme court has ruled that women cannot be punished for adultery.

"The Supreme Court today said a woman in an illicit relationship cannot be punished for adultery despite being an abettor in the crime though the man is liable for punishment".

The Supreme court quotes Section 497, which, by definition, applies only for men. I guess this was made to protect the interests of women coerced into a relationship by threat, but this hardly seems the case in the above condition. It is the woman who has moved this to the Supreme court and she has questioned the government's right to file charges against her and not moved to nullify the charges against her.
I think it would have made a huge uproar all across India, if a man had done the same, trying to justify adultery the way she did. But then, the world is almost always biased, sometimes in favour and sometimes against, both men and women. In fact, I think it is biased for everyone on some particular circumstances and its better to join the majority and call it fair instead of fighting it.

News Reel [Our Ref:EXD04761]

CHINESE ANTI SHIP MISSILES A NEW THREAT: INDIAN NAVY CHIEF ADMIRAL

Chinese are building weapons as if they are preparing for a global war. Im sure that if they see that the moment is appropriate(with Uncle Sam looking somewhere else and Buddy Russia just turning a blind eye towards them) they will engulf the neighbouring countries without second thought. Taiwan, Japan, Korea..Beware. Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam..lucky the Indians are between you and the namesake Republic's army.

Stat. Update [Our Ref:EXD21006]

The same old breakfast again..And for the past one week with no yoghurts too..why does the cook always not buy
the good stuff in large numbers, but only the cheap stuff...Skipped the special dinner yesterday too...I was looking
forward to the garlic bread..

Stat. Update [Our Ref:EXD31486]

Doing 22 knots speed now...Got to say that this ship really vibrates when it is racing across...
Weather has improved since yesterday. Has decreased to half of yesterday's winds...

Left Yokohama [Our Ref:EXE02421]

Just left Yokohama port..heavy rains previously and now strong wind..
Fortunately not much traffic...

Diary 25-11-2011 [Our Ref:EXF03215]

Pacific Ocean
2350 Hrs.

Last few days have seen my workload rise, thanks to the news about the Internal Audit to be conducted from Dec 11 to 16. When I survive this trip to the fareast, I will have just one more fareast trip to encounter, and after that I can go home. I have glanced at the port schedule copy on my desk more than usual these past few days. I guess the Pacific may have this effect on seafarers.
We are still crossing the pacific ocean, and will reach Yokohama on the 3rd of december, around 6 AM. There has been no vessel traffic for the last few days.
By the way, the hard disk that I bought at Balboa is not working right now. I thought I could fix it, but then I gave up after two days of trying. Im planning to take the hdd back to the place where I bought it and ask for a refund. I am doubtful of receiving one since I may have broken the warranty when I opened the casing of the hdd.
The headset that I bought turned out to be a handy piece of equipment, eventhough it was not operated using wifi, like I thought.
Mom and Dad came across this nicely placed land for sale in Bharathi nagar last week, but I felt the land was a little beyond our budget. They agreed and so, we have dropped the project.
The coming week is going to be busy, since I have only 7 days till we reach port and then, its going to be one port after another for the next two weeks. I might as well get some good rest now.

Diary 20-11-2011 [Our Ref:EXD29040]

Location: Pacific ocean. 24-36N 130-57W

A few things have happenned since my last post. One of my batchmates, Vasanth, has joined the ship at Balboa. Thanks to him, Indian onboard are having Puli Kaichal mix and Pepper rasam for lunch. Moreover, he has brought with him the latest movies released after my sign on aboard this vessel.

My life is going on as usual, that is, not so good but not so bad either. Ive been seeing one of the senior officers work and I have been wondering about my future and what I should be, say, in the next 5 years. However, thats for another post.

We have news about an Internal audit and an Annual safety survey and so Im getting things done here as much as possible each day. Though Im concentrating on these, my main concern is my lack of experience in handling such events. Some people I know are just too casual about not being experienced, but I can't be that way. But then, I cant do much anyway either.

The Harddisk that I bought in Balboa is not working and I made the stupid mistake of opening the case, which will make my warranty void according to company rules. I still wonder what I was thinking when I opened the protective case; I have never fixed a hard disk before.

That concludes today's day. There are 20 minutes more for the watch to complete and then, I believe I would fall asleep easy thanks to the heavy work today.

Diary [Our Ref:EXF20610]

Off the coast of Mexico
Proceeding to Balboa

Its been quiet since the departure from Lazaro Cardenas. The Captain here is about to sign off in Balboa and so Im trying to complete all the paperwork signatures as soon as possible.

I have also taken up some stock counting to assist the Chief Officer. Apart from this, I just updated the gen. arrangement plan with some latest data and wrote to the company about the shore based check of the EEBDs onboard.
WILD has been updated.

Today morning, I read on the ship's mail that the internal audit will be conducted between 11th to 16th december. The person who is coming onboard to conduct this audit is none other than the same person who conducted it on my previous ships. So its 2 out of 2 for me with regards to Internal, External audits and Annual safety surveys.

ETO Ram is about to sign off in Balboa. The Indian onboard will be lose strength as my friend Vasanth is joining the ship at the same port. We have asked him to bring as many tamil movies and food items as possible. So for a few days after Balboa, the tamilians onboard will probably have a hearty meal just like their friends back in Chennai.

For the last two days, I have tried and succeeded in forwarding facebook updates and twitter to my 'text only' email service which I can access while at work. This has been an interesting experience, ie, getting facebook updates and twitter updates once every hour. My inbox looks a bit crowded now though.

I have also been browsing through many blogs by Indians and I feel I have not been writing as much as I could write if I apply my mind on it. There are few uncovered topics still left on the internet and there are still a few who could not get what they need, from the internet. It would be a nice idea to cover these topics into blogs of my own.

Ship Visit [Our Ref:EXE25824]

On ships, we dont get many visitors. Nowadays its even a bigger rarity thanks to the insanely quick turnaround we make at ports. Sometimes we stay for just 5 or 6 hours.
The reason I brought this up: We had our ship visited by 6 beautiful Mexican girls working in the terminal. Sounds unreal? Check out the pic below. They were nicely dressed up for the occasion in uniform white shirts and black pants with port authority safety vests just adding to the smartness.
I showed them around(guys here on the ship are still jealous that I got the chance, but unfortunately for them, the visit happenned during my watch, which is 6-12AM, for those who dont know). They did not speak English, so everything I said had to be translated by the agent. The height of the event was when they asked me to demonstrate the operating of all the bridge equipments(which incidentally is my forte). They were delighted to use the equipments themselves as they took turns.
One of the girls wanted my mail id and I have given it to her future references. But from my experience, I have seen most of these one time acquaintances during ship visits never lead to further conversations.

Ram's diary [Our Ref:EXD29891]

06/11/2011 05:39:18
Off the shores of California

My day today did not start well. I awoke at the ringing of the phone to find that its already 8 AM, the time I take over the watch from the Chief officer. I brushed, rushed up to the bridge and took over. The Captain and Chief officer offerred to wait till I got my breakfast, but I refused. I guess my pride wouldn't allow it. Or just that I realised they were just being polite.
No traffic was there during both my watches. Though I may not be able to say the same tomorrow, as we reach port tomorrow night(sunday night). Saturday afternoon went well. I designed my blog for around three hours and then read A's blog for another hour.
Then I watched 'Pirates of the Caribean' part 1 after dinner. This time, I was watching it along with the Captain, Chief Engineer, third engineer and two other guys of the same rank. The conversation in between the scenes was quite amusing.
I called Mom and Dad, as per my usual practice of calling them on sundays. I came to know that Mom is going to be incharge of a voters id process on sunday. I also came to know that apart from them, there was noone else in the house, since the house owners had left the place to go to Kerala for some medical reasons.
Its right now 11.45 Pm and Im ready to go to bed. I may have a long day tomorrow and I wish to be ready.

Why I dont like Facebook now [Our Ref:EXF23243]

Being a regular internet user myself, I thought writing blogs would be simple. Not so much. I had another blog previously, but I used it only to follow the blogs of other people. The main reason that I started to blog is because I grew tired of facebook. Most notifications received are either game requests or that you have been tagged in a photo. When I access the photo, I see that its not a photo of me(why are they gonna do that-putting up my pic in their albums?) but a tree or a list stating that Im 70 percent compatible with them or Im their dearest friend or soul mate or such weird things.
I dont even want to get started on the status updates.
'having coffee'(as if I care if its not coffee)
'finished coffee'(you've got to finish it anyway)
'enjoing rain-having coffee'
The worst ones are those which talk about relationships or about extremely obvious things that it makes me quote Robert Downey from Sherlock Holmes, "Good Lestrade..Now we have a firm grip of the obvious".
Sometimes I do enjoy a video or two or an occasional pic. But then, among the 5 page long feeds, things that interest me are extremely rare.
There is also this extreme gender discrimination which irks me. Girls are often showered with likes and comments for some posts which, I believe, are pure nonsense. Boys on the other hand, often post stuff that have already gone viral. This means you get the same video, say, a dozen times and the comments by friends on this video another dozen times.
Eventhough Im tempted a few times, to delete my facebook account, I fear the implications of doing so, since keeping this account virtually costs nothing and if in the future, you meet someone and they say 'Ill find you on facebook' when they leave in a hurry, then it may feel a little stupid to have deleted it before.
I know someone who deleted his facebook account and as of now, he does not regret it. I hope I get the courage someday to get rid of the facebook monkey off my back.

Kannadasan [Our Ref:EXE30903]

I am currently listening to songs written by Kannadasan. Its a little depressing thanks to the long pacific journey. One song made me look at things differently. Its 'mayakama kalakama' and specifically the words 'unakum kizhe ullavar kodi, ninaithu parthu nimmathi nadu'. It means that there are millions of people who are less privileged than you are; think about them and then seek inner peace. These words brought a soothing sensation to my heart, for it is true. There are many who would do anything to be in place right now. While I still would go for more, I must respect what I already have.

Last five entries from my diary

30/10/2011 20:48:18
Its been a while since I wrote. Everytime I start, something comes up which needs my attention. This time, its the monthly due items which are to be completed before 31st. Except for a few items, they are all done. So now, Im free to write to you until next week, when my ship reaches the next port.

6 days have passed since I wrote to you. A few interesting things have happenned in the meantime. My lucky pen broke, I experienced a large roll which single handedly pulverized the entire ship, I saw the movies 7g rainbow colony and Deivathirumagal(it is strange because of the fact that I watched it with people from 3 different nationalities who did not understand tamil) and so on. 

4 days ago, I leaned over the chart table to pickup something and heard a cracking noise. Sensing that it came from my pocket, I searched it to find my lucky cello gripper pen in two pieces. At first, I was upset, but then, for some reason, I pulled out the refill and started writing what was in my mind. When I finished I was surprised to see that I had written 7 A4 sheet papers in 1.5 hours, about just a broken pen. This, I believe, is my first long article. I will put it in my blog when I have the time.

Day before yesterday, around 23.45, a sudden huge wave pushed the ship all the way to 30 degrees to startboard(right hand side is called starboard, left is called port). Things started flying around on the bridge. I switched the light on and secured the things immediately. I then got calls from everyone asking what happenned.  I found out that in most of the cabin, unsecured items were thrown off the table. Things in my cabin were ok, since I had cleared up most of it, due to bad weather.

The rolling still continues, but its much better now than it was yesterday.

The day before the rolling, I watched Deivathirumagal with a few of my friends(2 korean, 1 filipino, 1 guy from Kolkata and 2 guys from Chennai). I was surprised to find everyone, even the guys who didn't understand the dialogues, in tears during the court scene where the girl is sent back with her dad. I learnt that language is not a barrier when it comes to expressing and being affected by emotions.

Onto today's news. Dad is now in Vandavasi on the occasion of grandpa's brother's 16th day function. He is also attending Periyappa's retirement celebration and party at Thiruvannamalai. Mom is at home as she does not have anymore leave.

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25/10/201114:04:12
I was a little busy yesterday. Nothing important happenned yesterday. The fixing of ballast tanks is still going on as per schedule. The Chief officer is a little busy. 

Today we received the new dmi advice during my watch. So I saw the captain change the route on the ecdis. It was a good learning experience. I have updated WILD regarding this.

I had my last 'ready to eat' yesterday. Today I told one of the filipinos about deepavali(which is tomorrow, as you already know) they told me that it was unfortunate that I will go hungry on deepavali. it turns out tomorrow is the day we advance our clocks by 3 hours. I still havent figured out how the working hours are going to be.

today I also managed to get some sleep in the afternoon and then went on to complete some of my monthly items. 

I heard from armando that there is a good shopping mall in balboa. I will try it out when I go there next time. I have also asked for 400 dollars cash advance in balboa. I already have 650 dollars now(including the ones that I lent) and so I will enought cash to buy anything at balboa. I was thinking on the lines of a new electronic device like a music player that I can use on the bridge.
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23/10/2011 12:49:06


Still weary from my long watch yesterday, I started today at 12.15 in the morning. Then I was involved in a mooring operation which lasted till 01.30 AM. It didn't go well. The mooring rope fouled itself on one of the winches and I had to fix it. It was fixed eventually, but only after a long struggle. Then I slept till 6 AM.

The departure was also a nightmare. I was sent to the forward mooring station where it took almost one and a half times the normal time to let go all the mooring lines, due to a delay from the shore crew. I was on watch till lunch.

After lunch, I watched Murugesh play angry birds for some time. It reminded me of the time I was addicted to flash games during my idle period in 2010. I left later and then went to sleep.

I had vegetables and egg for dinner and then relieved Sudheer at 1800. It seems the Chief officer will be busy hereon with the Korean repair team. I hope this 6 hour watch does not become a regular affair.

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16-10-2011 14:27:00


My ship just docked at a port called Yantian, just a few miles away from Hong Kong. I had too short a port stay at Hong Kong to go ashore and to my utter dismay, arrival here is on a bad time and hence I wont be able to go ashore here either. My friends are going out here though. So it would have been just another day over here with absolutely no surprises.

I just talked to my dad over skype. My mom is right now on election duty(remember the local body elections in Chennai?). She has to stay at the election centre along with the voting machines. Our family knows someone in Madhavaram where my mom is and so Im guessing she will visit them and stay at night over there. 

When I called Dad again to let him know I couldn't reach mom, he was on another call with Elumalai uncle. I wonder what they were discussing.
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15-10-2011 12:52 
Hong Kong Anchorage


This is my first entry onboard this ship. I have started to blog, thanks to the comparitively faster internet onboard this ship. When I first saw the blog interface, I could not figure out why someone would have to click on a particular post to view, since most internet users are not sure what they wish to access(hence the facilities like 'stumbleupon'). So I decided to use the static page facility, which is, after all, a garland of posts once its formatted well. I dont think anybody would follow my blog in the near future and so, not worried that the enthusiasts may not be well informed about changes made by me to my blog.

Life is not good enough to be called good, but its not bad enough to be called bad either. Stepnica is now my home, and my home is right now at anchor off the coast of Hong Kong. There is speculation onboard about when we will reach Hong Kong, since no expected time of arrival has been informed to us by our agents.

Just watched Michael Madana Kama Rajan movie on my laptop, with one of my friends onboard. It turns out that classics can be watched any number of times without being bored, if there is company. 
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My First Post-A passage from Ignited Minds

05/11/2011 04:47:24
I start the blog with a passage from Ignited Minds by Dr. Abdul Kalam. I read this passage on 24th of jan when i was totally desperate abt not being on the ship again due to the inconvenience created by one of my own college mates. I had just got off the phone with Senthil, who is currently enjoying his time as 3rd officer in an Executive Ship management vessel, though I could sense some sadness in leaving the company. This phone call had just instigated the pent up anger in me abt not being able to use my time wisely. Then I read a random chapter of the above book which turned out to be below.
"For the society to prosper there are two important needs. They are: prosperity through wealth generation and cherishing the value system of the people. The combination of the two will make the Nation truly strong and prosperous"(Note that he used caps N for National...such is the patriotism).
In this chapter Kalam emphasises the need for value based education and the importance of parents, teacher and guru in such a system. The thing that most interested me was the below passage:
From Abdul Kalam's Ignited Minds:
Chapter 4, pg 70, Learning from Saint and Seers:
"I always tell the young to dream. This message comes from the understanding that each one of us has within ourselves the ability to create the circumstances for success-to attract, so to say, to ourselves what we desire. When as a child Einstein first saw a compass he was fascinated by the way the needle moved whenever he changed direction. Watching the needle became an obsession with him as he tried to understand the invisible force that moved the compass needle. Where was the force located? Who controlled it? Why did it always work? What was it made of? Were there places where it didn't operate? It is of course the magnetic energy of the earth that keeps pulling the compass needle, a tiny magnet, along the north-south axis of the earth's magnetic field. But is that all there is to it?
We can easily see the magnetic field at work, but cannot detect it with our senses, even though it is everywhere on our planet. Logically then, it is in us also.
Similarly, our planet is in a perpetual state of motion as it goes spinning through space. Everything on the planet is a part of this movement, even though it appears to us that we are motionless. I am on the planet and thus part of the energy that moves it. The energy that is the very essence of the planet is in me.
Dyer argues that we can use this universal energy to bring to us the objects of our desire, because what we desire is also in us and vice versa. It becomes a matter of alignment and will that allows us to tap into this force."