| CAPTAIN'S
LOG
Sunday At Sea! Gibraltar in
the morning......
For most every vessel a Sunday at
sea is not a whole lot different from any other day. When you
operate 24/7 in all areas of the world it has to be so. Unlike
airlines there are no different weekend rates nor much else that
changes. However the weekend and National Holidays do have a
huge affect on ship logistics in port. The cost of stevedoring
gangs pretty much doubles on weekends, so many many liner trade
companies schedule their ships to be in port during the weekdays.
Even simple things like ship stores (parts and groceries) can be
logistically difficult to acquire in port on the weekends.
Here on STATE OF MAINE, our port itinerary is pretty much dictated
by time between ports and our training rotations. Weekends do
not affect us too much, although occasionally we pay more for tugs
and pilots on the weekend. Likewise we try to keep arrivals
and departures after 0800 in the morning to stay away from any
overtime charges. It is simply a management
exercise....looking for best value at all times.
SUNRISE THIS MORNING
Our key issue at all times is safety.
Regardless of the wishes of a few who want to see heavy weather ands
seas coming over the bow, we do try to avoid that as much as
possible as the safety risks increase exponentially with a lot of
lively ship motion. In the world of ship transport this one is
fairly small and she can be lively at times.
We passed the QE2 last night about
suppertime. She was headed to Gibraltar at 28 knots and was
scheduled to arrive this morning at 0900............no grass growing
on her bottom!
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