New schedule of vessel

Arr. Arr. Arr. St Site Site Dep. Svc Dep. Dep. St
Date Time Voy Code Name Voy /Route Date Time
---------------------------------------------------------------------
140102 1500 1309 S MYLPKWP Port Klang 1309 FW3/W1 140103 1530 S
140110 2100 1309 S CNNPOYZ Ningbo 1401 FW3/W1 140111 1600 S
140112 0900 1309 S CNSGHY1 Shanghai 1401 FW3/W1 140113 0700 S
140115 1900 1309 S CNNANCT Nansha New Po 1401 FW3/W1 140116 0630 S
140120 1900 1309 S MYTPPTM Tanjung Pelep 1401 FW3/W1 140121 1830 S
140122 0900 1401 S MYLPKWP Port Klang 1401 FW3/W1 140122 2200 S
140206 1400 1401 S ZACPT04 Cape Town 1401 FW3/W1 140207 1400 S
140214 1900 1401 S CGPNRTM Pointe Noire 1402 FW3/W1 140217 0700 S
140220 1500 1401 S GHTMAMP Tema 1402 FW3/W1 140223 1230 S
140226 0800 1401 S CIABJPT Abidjan 1402 FW3/W1 140227 1800 S
140307 1700 1402 S ZACPT04 Cape Town 1402 FW3/W1 140308 1400 S


Looks like I will sign off earlier than I thought!

White crow

Just saw a black and white crow..more on this later.

Stat. Update Cricket

Hoping to read the news that Sachin has made a century. See #Thankyousachin

Drip tray

Just emptied the drip tray of my cabin's refrigerator..Lesson learnt? Never empty the drip tray when sailing..:)

Joined Maersk Copenhagen

I have now started my work onboard Maersk Copenhagen. Im going to state the same thing that I do everytime I change location. I will try to make more blog entries from now on.

Apache Open office writer

 

Just checking out the Apache Open office writer and seeing how it is different from the portable version of ooo that I have been using till now.  I already see that it is much faster when it loads docs.

Internet is back on

 

Finally, Internet at my place is fixed.  For the past few days, internet at my house was cut off due to some maintenance work on the road.  I guess from here on its going to be ok.

Trip to Kerala

 

For the last one week, I have been in Kerala on a tour of Guruvayoor, Trissur and Munnar.  At first My parents and I visited the Guruvayoor temple.  Then on the same day, we went to the Elephant fort where around 60 elephants are being taken care of.  Then we went to the Chalakad beach.

The next day, we visited the Trissur palace and the vadakkunathan temple.  Later we travelled to Munnar.  There we stayed for three days visiting different place.  The Elephant trek was a memorable experience.

Nanga–Movie review

 

I just watched a movie called Naanga on Sun TV channel.  It is a film starring multiple new faces.  The story has been told in such a way that multiple individual stories and two timelines mesh together, though not perfectly.  The songs were an unnecessary addition.

One thing worthy of mention is the effort put in to make the period part of the story as authentic as possible.  It is seen in many scenes that the Director has done his homework for the story.

Pondy visit

 

I have just returned from a trip to Pondichery.  Today is the 16th day since the demise of my uncle Ezhumalai and by the tradition of my family, we gather at his house to perform certain rituals.  Everything went on as per procedure.

Ipad

 

Just considering if I should buy an Ipad..I see that there are no decent options for 10 inch tablets in Samsung or other companies..

Neeya Naana–great show going on now

 

A good show is in progress right now in Vijay TV regarding the stresses related to men and women.  Im really enjoying the show.  It is bringing out a lot of unexplored details in each other’s lives.  Its a re telecast and probably will show for the last time on tv.

Windows live writer

 

Windows live writer keeps a copy of its posts under each user profile in My documents.  Its cool considering that a local copy is automatically retained while your post is being published online.

Its raining

 

Its raining now in Chennai.  There has been a constant downpour for the past few hours.   Yet this has not stopped people from going about their business.  They keep moving on the streets while I watch from my apartment.

My first post using Windows Live writer

 

Its been a whole month since I blogged and Im still writing this in a hurry so that I may get to some place on time.  I did not know till now that there was tool for bloggers in Windows by default.  Since Im no longer on board, the internet available to me is fast enough to check a variety of programs.  Im currently testing the Windows live writer using this blog.

Stat. Update.

The day has come when we finally enter Tema port. I hear that my reliever has already arrived and in the hotel. Hope he makes it on time, so that I dont have to rebook my flights.

Stat. Update

We are still anchored off Tema. Luckily for us, we are still within mobile phone signal range. Im enjoying good clarity calls almost everyday.

Ticket details

-----Original Message-----
From: American Express [SMTP:itinerary@mytravelplans.eu]
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 11:19
To: 6HPCHACHAI@maersk.com; mlcrewconc@maersk.com
Subject: SAFMARINE CHACHAI Itinerary for SUNDAR/RAM PRAKASH MR MON 19AUS

Dear Customer,
American Express Global Business Travel is pleased to deliver your travel itinerary.Please find a summary of your travel details below:

AMERICAN EXPRESS BUSINESS TRAVEL
PH +45 43682422
EMAIL APMMMARINE@AEXP.DK
BOOKING REF YWQ6KJ
TICKET PRICE P.P. INCL TAXES GBP618 EXCL VAT ON FEE

Monday 19 Aug 13

Flight Information

Date 19 Aug 2013
Airline Emirates
Flight/Class EK788 L Economy
Origin Accra, Kotoka Intl
Destination Dubai, Dubai Intl
Departing 1735 (Indian Time 11:35 PM)
Arriving 0550 / 20 Aug 2013 (Indian Time 20th 07:20 AM)
Arrival Terminal Terminal 3
Estimated Time 8 Hrs 15 Mins
Stops Non-stop
Confirmed

Tuesday 20 Aug 13

Flight Information

Date 20 Aug 2013
Airline Emirates
Flight/Class EK546 L Economy
Origin Dubai, Dubai Intl
Destination Chennai, International
Departing 1445 (Indian Time 20th 04:15 PM)
Arriving 2030 (Indian Time 20th 08:30 PM)
Departure Terminal Terminal 3
Arrival Terminal Terminal I
Estimated Time 4 Hrs 15 Mins
Stops Non-stop
Confirmed

Stat. Update

I have some great news today. The flight tickets for my return journey to Chennai has been sent to the ship. According to the mail, I will start from here at Tema on the 19th, board the flight at Accra(Ghana's capital) and then reach Dubai early in the morning on the 20th. Then later during the day, I will take a shorter flight in the afternoon and reach Chennai by night around 2030 Hrs. Eticket copy follows in the next entry.

Stat. Update

My quest to complete reading all Ananda vikatan magazines before sign off is still ongoing. I have also read a few interesting articles and questionaires. One question posed to Vairamuthu asks him who is a Magan. He says that the one who has given up desires of the body during the time it is extremely active is a quality of a Magan.

There was a story about a guy who keeps thinking "Namakku enda ippadi ellam nadakudu?". That story was also very good.

Stat. Update

Another sunday passes by and no news about the availability of berth in Tema. The vessel is still anchored outside the port.

Stat. Update

Still at anchor off Tema. My resolve to start with a diary has worked well. I have made 5 entries in the last week alone. I hope to make entries everyday without fail.

First look

Movie review - Startrek

30/07/2013 23:29:30

Startrek

I have finished watching all episodes of Startrek Next Generation today. I have been watching Startrek episodes since 2011. As of now, I have watched NXG, DS9 and Voyager completely, some episodes even multiple times.
For me, Voyager would be the favourite among the lot, because of its unique distinction of being in the Delta quadrant. As a seafarer, I saw that the conditions of voyager had plenty of parallels to the life at sea. We are isolated from the rest of the world just like they were stranded far away from earth. Just as the Captain sets the course for home and never stops, our ships set a course for our destination and run 24 hours a day.
There is another reason why I like the Voyager. The other tv series' had a running theme for two or three episodes max. But Voyager's theme, the purpose of getting home, was a running one from the start till the end when they reach the Alpha quadrant. This is a much better ending compared to DS9 or NXG(the original series doesn't even come in the picture).
More on Startrek coming up soon.

Future blog entries

30/07/2013 22:37:00
Today, for the umpteenth number of time, I have resolved to make log entries(diary) everyday. I have seen that it is impossbile to blog everyday, which meant that I had to find a way to keep track of life. It is also not possible to enter certain personal opinions in the blog, for it could be misinterpreted at a later time. Due to the above reasons, I will start maintaining both my blog and my diary. Im also planning to put the email facility of blogger to better use.
My plan now is to create my blog entries except stat. updates in the diary and publish them. Lets see if this works out. I will give you an update on how it fared, in a week from now.

Stat. Update

Finally, there has been concrete news on the ship's schedule for the next few days. I will probably be signed off on 13th or 14th August when we reach Tema, which is three weeks from now. If that is not done, I will be staying onboard for another 3 to 4 weeks, sailing all the way upto Port Klang.

Stat. Update

Today Edison and I drove around the Point Noire port in the rescue boat as part of launching. We managed to get some very good pics of ourselves with the ship in the background. Im wondering if I attached the pictures to the mail, then the pictures will be published or not. I will have to try that when Im ashore or when Im back at home.

Stat. Update- Point Noire visit

Today, I had a chance to go ashore in Point Noire in Congo. The trip was a waste of time for most part, since there was nothing interesting that I could do out there. I did manage to buy a few eatable including half a kilo of raisins and dry grapes each. I also bought some frozen pizza, but Im not in the mood today to prepare them today.
I managed to get the sim card of Point Noire working again. I will probably call back home tomorrow.

Stat. Update Outside Point Noire

We are once again back at Point Noire and as usual, we have not been provided with berthing on arrival as promised. Any delay here could result in an entire schedule change leading to missed/late sign offs.

Experience

I just had a strange experience unique probably to ships alone. When I was in the shower, the ship rolled to one side, which resulted in the shower spraying water for almost 5 sec, a feet above my head and clear of my body. As my face was covered in soap, I thought the water had somehow stopped. I staggered to wash my face with some water from the wash basin only to find that there was water all along.
After writing this, I have realised that no matter how good the writer is, it is not possible to capture certain actual moments in words.

Philosophy- Reverse mermaid theory.

I just had an experience which is the opposite of the Mermaid theory proposed by Barney Stinson's blog. I used like this ring tone which I later used as an alarm. I have been waking up to this tone for the past 5 months onboard. Yesterday, I was very tired from work and when I woke up due to the alarm, I felt real hate for a minute at that tone. It is true that sometimes Familiarity breeds contempt.

Event- Maersk M. Moeller's birthday

Just had the oppurtunity to hoist the Maersk flag onboard Safmarine Chachai today on the occasion of Mr. Moeller's birthday. It is a fact that in some small but significant way he and his policies have had an effect on each and every employee of Maerskline, myself included. The company's move to recruit more Indians was the reason I was recruited as a cadet in 2005, just after high school, which was standard practice for Europeans that time. It was unfortunate that he could not live till 100 years old. RIP Mr. Moeller.

Stat. Update

Just read an piece written by Manushyaputran in Kungumam. He has similar feelings about the movie Naduvula konjam pakkatha kanom that I had when I watched and reviewed it. I feel so happy that at some point of time, I was on the same wavelength as someone like him...

Stat. Update

We will reach Cape town in three days. The temperature has already gone to mild discomfort levels. Brrrr..

Stat. Update

I just received news that there may be some delay this time around in West Africa. This is probably going to affect my sign off date of 08/07. We are visiting the place 10 days later and Im not sure anymore that it will even be on the list of ports called. We will know more on that when we depart Point Noire.

Stat. Update

Finally, the Far East call is over. We are now on our way to Cape Town. I have just received info that I will signed off from Walvis Bay by a South African 3rd mate. So it looks like we are now on course in the right direction:)

Stat. Update

Just last night, we passed the eye of Hurricane Bebinca. It was a good thing that the storm was only one fourth of the usual hurricanes.

Stat Update

Finally the vessel has managed to get to Shanghai(Yangshan island)..The MLC Audit is currently in progress..This is the first time someone has asked me if I was happy onboard:)

Stat. Update

Congratulations to my cousins Praveen and Kannan for passing their 10th Standard Exams:)

Stat. Update

Now in Northern hemisphere..crossed the equator on my watch..brings back memories..
Another week has started. This time, Im sure to get a lot of traffic in South China Sea. Its been a while since I navigated the ship in densely packed sea area. Lets see how it turns out.
Meanwhile, at home, Dad has undergone a regular medical examination and will receive the results tomorrow. Im eagerly awaiting the results since Ive long been suspecting that he has high blood sugar levels.

Stat Update-Rainbow

I just a saw a rainbow at sea. It is different in that it was made at night time, by the light rays of the moon and not the sun. It was pale white in colour and was spanning almost 100 degrees. This is the first time that I have seen such a rainbow.

Movie review- Naduvula Konjam Pakatha Kanom

The first thing that comes to our mind after watching the movie is the dialogue 'Ennachu..' which is being constantly repeated in the movie. But this is a good example of how the same words can be used repeated, but in different contexts and in different mannerisms. Overall, this movie is one of the best comedy ventures that I have ever seen. Starting from the days of Karagattakaran, when someone kicking somebody else was the essence of the comedy track, Tamil cinema has evolved to a new level of situational comedy, thanks to movies made by Kamal haasan(see Panjathandhiram, Pammal K Sambandam) and others. This new venture is a continuation of the trend.
On the eve of his marriage, Prem injures himself in the back of his head while playing cricket. This creates a temporary memory loss, making him forget everything that has happenned in the past one year, including his love life involving Dhanalakshmi. How his friends manage to get him married to her inspite of his constant refusal and misunderstanding of the circumstances of various events.
When I first saw the word ROFL on facebook, I did not understand what it was. Then I learnt what it stands for and only after watching this movie, I truly understood the meaning. It is heartening to see that such movie ventures are succeeding and encouraging new movie makers to turn to good plots.

Stat Update

5 days from Cape Town now..

Iron Man 3 review

Iron Man 3 starts where they left off in Avengers in the Marvel comics Universe. Tony Stark is now ina relationship with Pepper Potts and leading a rather quiet indoor life. Pepper is now the MD of Stark Industries.
The story flashes back to 1999 when Tony ignores an offer made by a crippled scientist for joint venture on his firm the AIM. In the present, the scientist is a rich guy who has discovered an application for the regeneration idea originally invented by one of Stark's girlfriends. He now creates a wave of terror hiding behind the face of one known as the Mandarin. How Stark manages to thwart his plans and save Pepper and the US President from him is the rest of the story.
The last half hour of the movie happens on a ship, which is filled with Maersk containers. There are multiple iron man suits involved in the climax scene, which was a thrilling experience to watch. Otherwise, I would say that it was a usual Iron man movie with all the necessary ingredients.

Ghana visit on 08th May

On 8th morning around 4 AM, we reached Tema port. After that, I worked till noon time. After noon time, I got ready and went ashore. A local guy picked me and two others, one fourth engineer and one motorman and we proceeded to Accra, the capital city of Ghana. It was an hour long trip, including the short stop for fuel.
Once we reached Accra, we went directly to Accra mall. It is very similar to the Pheonix mall in Chennai except that it was smaller. For half an hour, we did some window shopping, visiting shops that we liked and asking prices for things like cellphones and hard disks. After that I noticed a poster of the movie Iron Man 3. Since I didn't have anything else to do, I asked my friends to meet at the bank where we exchanged cash at around 4.30 PM. Then I watched the movie in their Silverbird Cinema theatre. The movie was very good and the last half hour happens on a ship containing Maersk containers. Then all three of us returned back to Tema, where we bought a few items in the market. I bought boxes containing Cocoa powder and a box full of chocolates, because Ghana is well known for its Cocoa.
On the 9th, I left the ship again at around 01 PM. This time I went out to visit the places that I had already been in my previous visit to Tema. I went to the Delhi Palace restaurant and then to Saagar supermarket, a place where Indian eatables were available. In the Delhi Palace, I met three tamilians from Thiruchengodu. They were here in Tema about a Borewell contract and to buy land for setting up the borewell equipment. They were also very good natured. We had our lunch together. After that, they invited me to their hotel. I went with them to their place. There, we watched the Pune-Kolkata IPL match using Internet. Then we watched another tamil movie over youtube. Around 5 PM, I left their hotel and returned back to the ship.
On the 10th around 01PM, our ship left Tema. The ship is now on its way to Capetown, but only to take in some provision for the month long journey to Port Klang in Malaysia.

Stat. Update

4th day in a row at anchorage Tema and still counting..Never been this long at anchorage before!

Stat. Update

Just crossed the equator for the second time this month!

Stat Update Hurricane 21

Today we came to know that Hurricane 21 centered in Indian ocean is about to cross the area where the ship is going to be in two to three days.

Sign on

Joined Safmarine Chachai again today!

Sign on

Im now at chennai airport inside a malaysian airline flight. Leaving for kualalumpur.

Samsung galaxy tab 2

Just bought a galaxy tab from samsung:) trying out its new features:)

Stat update

By the way, traffic is awesome at mount road, not that you are not aware of it.

Kamaraj auditorium

Im now at kamaraj auditorium attending the reception of the same couple who celebrated their 60th anniversary. The effort that they have put in is excellent. Another chance for me to get together with my relatives while im still on land :-)

At the dentist

Im now at a dental care facility. My father and I visited them yesterday for a general checkup. Now we are taking care of some cavities which Dad had for a while. The treatments here are extremely costly. I guess the investments made on modern equipments had to come from somewhere:)

Back in Chennai

Im back in Chennai now after a long two day tour of various temples in Nagapattinam district.  The family function was a Sastiyapdapoorthi, a celebration of 60th birthday/a long happy married life.  The procedure is simple.  All rituals followed during an actual marriage are repeated ceremoniously(literally).  The gathering ends with the married couple blessing others instead of the couple getting others' blessings like in normal hindu marriages.
     We then came back the same way we reached there.  On the way, my uncle got mad at one of the guys working at the Toll centre near Dindivanam.  Nothing big happenned, since the mistake was on their side.  They overcharged the van that we were travelling in and decided to take their own time in doing it.
      Today and tomorrow, banks have gone on strike and so my plan to approach my bank regarding a certain procedure(don't want to discuss what that is, since some of the followers don't need to know) went eschewed.  I then booked a course with the HIMT for the time between march 13th and march 24th.
      And finally, the highlight of the day was that I received information about my next sign on.  I will be signing on again on the Safmarine Chachai this April 1st at TPP.  Granted the route is not that appealing, and the ship will be facing its annuals this time of the year, but then, familiarity doesn't always breed contempt(hopefully!).

Some pics from this tour

Stat update- at kethu temple

We had trouble finding the temple in the first place. It turns out we were approaching from the west though coming from poompuhar would have been much easier.
In the temple we were asked to do a few ritual steps including going round the temple seven times(which is difficult considering the size of these temples)
We then visited poompuhar beach after which we went directly to thirukadaiyur. Im still at thirukadaiyur waiting for the family function to get over.

Seergazhi temple

The temple's paint reminded me of the designs at the big temple Tanjore. Thoniappar temple has a mesmerizing effect due to the statue's large size and the clarity of facial features. this temple has the unique nature of having 8 bhairava shrines under one roof. Sattinathar statue is equally impressive(see pic)

Chidambaram temple visit

Our group just left the chidambaram temple and are proceeding to seergazhi.

Coffee

Our group of people just had coffee at a rather desolate area near acherappakkam. the coffee was served in brass tumblers in coimbatore style. for those who want to try, the shop is a few kms ahead of Melmaruvathur.

Before thirukadaiyur visit

Im right now on my way to thirukadaiyur to attend a family function. The trip has been refreshing till now thanks to the early morning fresh breeze. We are hoping to cover a few other places on the way. Stay tuned for more.

Stat. Update

I will be signing off early morning on the 10th. It is going to be a short flight from Kuala lumpur to Chennai. I hope the journey will be smooth.