I've been on the largest Roll On - Roll Off ferry operating in UK waters, and to be honest, it's a cess pit in parts.
For now!Allright ALLRIGHT! I retract my statement..... Ok?!
A quiz for you to test your shipping industry knowledge
http://dayoftheseafarer2016.imo.org/?captain
Yes and because of the war i missed out on my trip
Read the f*****ng question.
My first job after leaving school in 1978 was as a Deck Cadet (apprentice navigating officer) with P&O; owners of @Fubar and @Spinney 's "Uganda".
My first trip was 6 months on this, at the time it was only a few months old and very high tech....
Stratheden.....
Joined her in Khorromshahr, Iran (on the Shatt-Al-Arab river between Iran and Iraq) and did 2 round trips between the Gulf and Japan, visiting such exotic places as Karachi, Bombay
, Phuket
, Penang
, Singapore
, Hong Kong
, several ports in Japan
, then back to the Gulf (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Damman, Basrah)... Flew home from Kuwait March 1979.
Absolutely brilliant time for a 16 year old boy, and I thought ALL jobs would be like that. What a naive nobber.....
I did another 3 trips at sea (ship names Wild Marlin; Taupo; and Ardmore) plus a spell at Glasgow Nautical College. All were good in their own ways, but none like the Stratheden. In 1981 the British Merchant Navy was in a bad way and P&O were selling all their cargo ships. There were no jobs for anyone who was recently qualified, so like most others at that time, we bailed out and went in search of pastures new.
Wild Marlin ..... (UK, South Africa, Europe).
Taupo..... (Dubai, Singapore, New Zealand, Pitcairn!!, Panama Canal, UK).
Ardmore.... (6 months on contract to Pemex of Mexico; running up and down Pacific coast of Mexico!).
Yours truly on the left in the brown! Crossing the equator for the first time ceremony on the Wild Marlin.. Aged 16; seems like yesterday (it was May 1979).
We probably have a few shipmates in common! I had my joining instructions for the Flinders Bay in April 1981, for a trip to Oz from Tilbury. That was when I became one of those who fell by the wayside and ended up in the Police - as did 3 of our intake of 10. I think one ended up with a job at sea. Great days though, loved every minute, apart from tank cleaning on the Ardmore!!!Have only just found this post. I also did a schools cruise on the SS Uganda in October 1975 and then joined P & O as a Deck Cadet in 1978.My first ship was the Ardmore,(Europort/West Africa) followed by the Gazana,(Suez/Finland/Suez) Resolution Bay, Flinders Bay, Remuera Bay (The black pig!),(all Europe/Australia/New Zealand) Strathelgin (sister ship of the Stratheden, Persian Gulf/Far East), Elk (Teesport/Helsingborg/Gothenburg)and Danah, (Antwerp/Marseilles)
..
Sixteen of us started the four year course, six fell by the wayside and ten of us got our second mates tickets. As far as I know none of the ten got a job at sea! I left in April 1982 just before the Falklands. The Elk was requisitioned with the Canberra and carried 5000 tonnes of ammunition to the South Atlantic.
Just found my old discharge book. I was on the Flinders Bay from 5/12/79 to 4/6/80 which was my longest trip, then flew out to Kuwait and joined the Strathelgin on 17/6/80! The tank cleaning inspections on Ardmore were a bit scary, balancing on a narrow ledge halfway down the tank whilst at sea with only torchlight and a smidgin of daylight coming through the hatch lid. As you can probably tell I liked the "box boats" and would have liked to have stayed on them permanently after getting my ticket. The Resolution Bay at the time was the largest refrigerated container ship in the world and also had one of the first marine Sat Navs on board, a box about the size of a desktop pc costing around £25,000. There were only 6 satellites at that time so on average you got about 3 fixes per hour!
