BLOG 23 - A MASSIVE STORM IN THE NORTH PACIFIC - CUSTOMS' DECLARATIONS AND INSPECTIONS

Chennai Perumai

Storms at Sea:

Perhaps the innate vulnerability of Mankind is best exposed when facing the fury of Mother Nature.

It takes a kind of fatalistic courage to go through a storm. Deep inside, one should feel that "If Death were to come astalking, I will face it with Courage and not Cower".

The Pacific can be very Pacific at times, to the extent of of glassy waters, through which the ship glides through and its passage seen through its even wake, reaching the horizon aft. This is mostly in summertime.

The South Pacific can be choppy at times and is, mostly, the area where storms incubate, slowly move up north and east and become demons.

The North Pacific in late autumn and winter is a cesspool of storms, where one depression follows another, sometimes combining to become more deadly - and you have nowhere to run. During those times, we have faced 10 to 15 metres' high waves, where the foc'sle slams into the wave and dips in, the water pours Niagara-like, on to the fore deck, the hatches, the main decks (or weather deck) remaining awash with foamy, frothy seas, the heavy sprays reaching the Bridge glass front, 6 stories high

The submerged fo.c'sle then slowly, tiredly, strainingly, rises like the proverbial Phoenix from the Ashes, giving all of us Hope and Courage before slamming into the next wave.

More on storms in other parts of the world, as I come across them.

After completion of loading, we set sail for India. We got battered by bad weather close to the Aleutian Islands for about 10 days or so.

I am attaching the reminiscences of my friend and colleague Rajkumar, who was 2nd Mate at that time. The following are in his own words.

(Rajkumar, later, went on to receive the Gold Medal for his exceptional knowledge during his Master's Examination and Certification.)

Recalling the worst North Pacific Crossing in late 1971. MV Chennai Perumai –loaded Bulker from Kalama (near Portland) US West Coast in late 1971 winter time with 42,000 metric tons of bulk wheat for India discharge.

After loading at Kalama we sailed out into the Pacific whilst a Mid Latitude Storm was approaching- That Voyage across the North Pacific crossing – via Philippines- South China Seas- down Luzon to Singapore and to India ave time est 34 days at 12 knots saw the worst weather with head seas and swell for about 12 days .

Capt M.Madhusudan Veteran master (late), Capt RK Ambady Ch Mate and me 2nd Mate – Late RK Menon was Cadet attending 3/0 watch with Master

The Port Authority and Pilot left us at Inner anchorage as we had to secure vessel for a stormy passage across the North Pacific in Winter and Lows Mid Lat Depressions which was an experience I can never forget . Weather reports were not good and so all precautions were taken. We managed that and tightening all hatch covers, cleats and weather deck ports and the most vulnerable Forecastle…esp the Spurling pipes, but little did we know what was in store for the next two weeks.

About 50 Drums of Float Coat + [paints and all Cassabs store broke adrift and smashed and Leaked out; Float Coat ...coated the Fore peak and needed 2 weeks cleaning when weather improved on additional OT and Beer cases as Incentive I think –

A bulker has a low Freeboard called Spl type B like a tanker under SOLAS and shipping seas on weather deck even in Force 4-5 is common- . In deep loaded condition to Summer Load line , such vessels in storms have decks awash and it is a formidable and frightening sight as the ship's forecastle dips in and out of the Sea; Bulker or Partial Submarine ?

Our forecastle was soon flooded as the spurling canvas and cement covers tore in the heavy seas in violent pitching and pounding.

The Weather deck Manhole covers were ok and W/T but slight leakage in fwd hatch No 1 was considered as inevitable .

The lower fore peak was however sea water flooded in a week of seas battering and ingressing- It wrecked all the forepeak stores and paints and when it reasonably abated – clearing up operations began. It took over a fortnight for the crew to toil and clean out Lower Forepeak in seaway –Float coat is horrid to clean .

Pitching and Pounding all the way with Rolling meant “Hang on to the ship's rail” in accommodation to go to the bridge or ER as vessel violently rocked and rolled as each high wave came- things were loose in some places and plates and things all flying around below- We took control and managed – Sleep was lost as we doubled our Alertness and efforts… About 3 week after leaving Kalama, weather subsided after crossing of the wide spread area of the Mid latitude depression-which had joined one more and formed a massive low across North Pacific-No evasive action or sea room practicable is what makes Mid Lat Depressions so horrendous- .

All credit to Veteran Master Capt M. Madhsusudan –who conned the vessel many times in rough patches . He passed away a few years go RIP. Good Man and I worked with him ashore and we kept in touch -

That Pacific Mid Lat depression was the worst I had seen in several years of crossing –God Protects- Horrid nights of 12- 04 am . Hang on Rail and no sleep as ship pitched pounded rolled –tossed about .In youth it was ok but still a tough time.

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Meanwhile, in the Engine Room (my part in this narrative):

The heavier items were lashed with wire ropes and chain blocks, the lighter items with rope and seamen's knots. Weaving around like a drunken sailor after shore leave, due to the constant sideways rolling or the constant up-and-down motion because of the 'pitching' or the 'corkscrewing motion' due to the effect of simultaneously rolling and pitching, one had to constantly take rounds to ensure nothing is amiss, while holding to anything that does not move, in order not to be thrown around. One has to deafen himself to the constantly recurring heavy 'thud' of the after portion of the ship slamming back into the water after having risen a few metres, the Engine Room being right aft.

To the uninitiated (who is not a seafarer) -Take a pencil and hold it with two fingers at the centre. Tilt one end and the other end comes up automatically. Repeatedly keep tilting each end - this is called 'pitching', Depending on the distance between each wave that the ship faces, the 'pitching' can take place every minute or every two minutes or longer (or shorter). The height of each such wave causes the heavier or lighter thud.

'Rolling' is when the ship moves from side to side, like a swaying tree that is buffeted by a wind from one side, stops, and immediately strikes from the other side, making the tree sway in the opposite direction. When it happens to a ship, it is called 'rolling'.

When both - pitching and rolling - happen simultaneously, the ship 'corkscrews', your stomach lurches, you turn green around the gills and hope you don't retch in front of a person who is in worse shape than you. Some felt 'seasick' with just a bit of rolling or pitching. I used to start feeling a little 'queasy' only when the ship started 'corkscrewing'. Many used to envy my not being affected by the state of the sea. They never realised that a thick skin and a thicker brain was the contributing factor.

There were other serious things that were happening to the Main Engine and other auxiliaries.

The Main Engine would be 'racing'. As the propeller came out of the water, finding no resistance, the engine would speed up and, as the propeller slams back into the water, slow down. So, the rpm would fluctuate widely and wildly. Our engine had mechanical speed governors that had to be manually engaged and needed expert precision to synchronise with the fluctuating revolutions of the main engine. Something akin to shooting an arrow at a fish that is swimming around in a bowl, where the bowl is placed on a rotating platform. To be fair, it was a little easier than the above example. (Just a flair for the dramatic, I guess). This governor needed constant physical adjustment.

Future ships that I sailed on had electro hydraulic governors, easily adjustable.

Because the oil in tanks keep sloshing around, important pump pressures fluctuate and, sometimes, loses suction, causing the Main Engine to stop. To avoid this, constant monitoring is needed.

One may have come on duty before the rolling started. You go up, after your watch, to find the cabin in shambles - you have tied down everything you can think of in the Engine Room, but have forgotten your own cabin. So you spend the next hour cleaning up and securing everything.

To make sure one does not fall out of bed, you have to put up a barricade (provided). The bed and the settee (or sofa) are 90 degrees to each other, so if you are uncomfortable sleeping in one, you can always switch to the other.

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Many years later in late 1980s and sinking of Bulkers inc. M. V. Derbyshire and and Indian Bulker of Jayanti Shipping with all 53 crew revealed a lot on vulnerability of the Bulker Category vessels and a special study was made.

There was a lot of criticism on Type B and loading systems but all was eventually lost in time – Nothing has changed and a Winter loaded bulker crossing the Pacific or Atlantic remains a high level risk. SOS &Life boats etc have little utility in a vast sea expanse of a storm and that is what Sea life is all about .

"Secure for Sea " means to keep sea water out.

To him that pursueth a Sea career and life - Let him learn to Pray is a statement of yore

My narrative continues:

We limped out of the bad weather, picked up speed and courage and went on to Singapore, where we bunkered, picked up stores and provisions and went on our way to Bombay for partial discharge. We went on to discharge the rest of the cargo at Kandla, Gujarat.

In those days, discharge of any cargo in India was cumbersome, to say the least, as everything was done manually. To elaborate, hundreds of workers used to get into the hold and bag up the wheat, which was then lifted by ship’s cranes and put onto trucks. So, such discharge operations would likely take a month. As Indian ports’ facilities improved over the decades, one saw the use of mechanical grabs or suction excavators that would suck up the grain and discharge it on to a moving belt ashore, for transport to a wheat granary or terminal. Grain came under the purview of the Food Corporation of India, run by the Indian Government.

On this voyage, I was promoted to 4th Engineer, after 11 months of being a Fifth Engineer. As I was still the junior most, my jobs, responsibilities and work load remained the same. But my salary almost tripled. Whatever the shortcomings of the Company, the one great thing about SISCO was all salaries were paid into bank accounts before the 1st of each month. We were allowed to draw 25% of the salary in foreign exchange at various foreign ports for our own expenses.

Those were the days when foreign exchange was as good as gold in India and the Indian Government had put curbs on Indian shipping companies to restrict foreign exchange expenditure.

The Government of India severely restricted the amount of foreign exchange that one could carry with you if you were to leave Indian shores, by sea or by air.

The amount allowed was a measly US$ 8 (Eight) or its equivalent in other foreign currencies. It meant that it was essential to have a sponsor to receive you at the other end, or else you were stuck.

It is rumoured that Raj Kapoor's (flop) movie "Around the World" was originally titled "Around the World in Eight Dollars", but the Indian Censor Board disallowed it. Incoming passengers could bring in any amount of dollars, provided they exchange the dollars into rupees at the airport itself. This was noted on the last pages of the passport and receipt given. Of course, the exchange of large sums invited scrutiny from Indian Customs' Department and Indian Income Tax Department.

That this gave rise to a huge black market and 'havala' transactions in Dollars, is another matter. Dollars could be exchanged for 30 to 50% more than the official exchange rate in the black market.

Depending on the countries visited, we seafarers used to find ourselves with the remnants of whatever advances we used to take in foreign ports. So, on reaching India, we had to fill a Customs' Declaration Form, where one had to declare everything except your personal belongings. All items bought in foreign countries had to be declared. Every bit of foreign currency had to be declared. This was quite a cumbersome process as we had to inventory everything in the cabin, accumulated over the course of a 6 or 8 month voyage and tended to be exhaustive.

Most of the time, Customs' Inspections used to be cursory, unless they had prior information that some contraband was being smuggled, mostly large amounts of gold or dollars. If they possessed such information, they would turn the ship upside down - check all cabins, open panelings, open secured manhole covers and, effectively, be a nuisance to the ship. Sometimes they were successful in finding the contraband. The most notorious were the passenger ships plying between Madras and Singapore.

In contrast, the US of A and the European countries' concentration was on drugs. So if a thorough search was being made of the ship. one had to assume they have had some prior information.

In communist countries - and also India, for that matter, in those days - a few cartons of cigarettes and a couple of bottles of whiskey would make all problems disappear.

===== Blog 24 continues =====