With a certain amount of apprehension in my heart we approached the pilot station. The pilot was as chirpy as ever, trying to sell a perfect day with perfect sailing circumstances when we contacted him. When we came closer the thing that I had hoped for and needed was indeed happening. The swell was more to the south and ran against the South breakwater and not into the port. We were in business. There was not a great deal of water under the keel but 9 feet was sufficient to go in. The pilot happily announced that there was funding to dredge the port to 12.5 meters instead of 10.5 and that would make things easier for the future. A good thing for the port and based on that NCL has now also decided to start calling at Puerto Chiapas with their big ships and I think they have even more draft than our Vista Class which until now were the largest ones going in. As a matter of fact during our next call in October we will have to share with an NCL ship. This is not a problem as the port has two very nice berths. I just have to make sure I come in first as I have to dock in the back at berth 2. The bigger ship gets the cruise terminal of course as we are only a little one.
Still no problems there and no problems today. By 08:00 we were happily docked at the cruise terminal and all the guests swarmed ashore. The chief officer had found a cherry picker somewhere so he could work on the superstructure, the chief engineer had 3 hoses for water loading and the hotel manager had been promised a local show on the dock for departure so everybody was happy. I kept myself occupied during the morning with giving training. Once a contract I ask all the Head of Departments and supervisors to come to a one hour training course for a little explanation about our company disciplinary system. We have very little problems on the ships, but occasionally corrective action is needed and then it is important for everybody to know how. Not everybody knows what the captain exactly does in the whole process or how it ties into the Dutch law upon which final decisions are based. Most supervisors just accept the “pearls of wisdom” that come floating down from the captain’s office and act accordingly.
Important that they do, but if they also understand the “why” behind it then it makes life a lot easier. I also found out that the requests for disciplinary action greatly improved in quality after doing these sessions and that makes life easier for everybody. Easier for the crewmember on the receiving end as he/she gets proper documented guidance about what sort of improvement is expected. Easier for the supervisor as there is a greater chance that the crewmember will improve, and easier for me as I have to spend less time on correcting what comes to my desk. These have mostly to do with work performance and it is important that issues that do occur are properly documented and also the improvements needed are written down and are accompanied by an action plan that will help the crewmember concerned. When there other issues going on which are not related to “performance on the job” then the company has a very strict penalty system, with zero tolerance in most cases. Anything in relation to drinking, drugs, S&H, stealing or endangering the ship will result in instant dismissal, or worse. Luckily that happens very seldom. If I have to send a crewmember home it is mostly because of work refusal, caused by being home sick. There is nothing we can do about that and thus we let the crewmember go.
By 5 pm we pulled in the ropes and then set sail for our next port of call, Hualtalco de Santa Cruz. We will have to cross the Gulfo de Tehantepec again but the weather forecast is indicating no wind at all and thus it should be very quiet tonight. That means that we can easily make the schedule and I will probably dock a little bit earlier. I can save more fuel by keeping a steady speed on two engines and arrive early than to squeeze and arrive on time. Plus it will give the guests another hour ashore if they want to.
As it is going to be wind still, it will be warm with temperatures up into the 90’s in Fahrenheit and 30’s in Celsius. We will be docking nose in as the chief officer has to do maintenance on his lifeboats and needs the quiet sea side for it, where there is no port traffic coming by.
May 8, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Captain Albert, I absolutely love your blog and enjoy following your adventures from port to port. In today’s post, you were discussing corrective action and punishment. Could you clarify the bit about sick crewmen. “If I have to send a crewmember home it is mostly because of work refusal, caused by being home sick.”
May 9, 2012 at 1:31 am
Good morning Sandy,
When new crew comes out, there is a larger number who have never sailed before. Thus everything is new to them. For some of them it is just not their “piece of cake”. After a while they want to go home and the easiest way to achieve that is to sit down. We do our best to help them but if you feel that it is not what you want, then you are better off going home. It happens in every rank on board. Some stay for the duration of their contract some do not even want to do that and sit down. If you sit down, you do not work and then after being asked to go back to work, and you do not want to, then you are being sent home.
Thank you for reading my blog
Capt. albert
May 10, 2012 at 9:01 pm
Mind boggling, Captain! The many things you have to deal with in your
responsibilities on board your ship!
In the last 7 years I sure have seen fellow crew members at work on shore as a support system of those feeling “sick”, i.e., “homesick”. The most visible on shore is your crew that makes up the ½ of Indonesia 🙂
Count me in as being part of this support system, Captain. Although I do not speak the native language, they can read about the positive & realistic hope for their future. Very few have made the decision to go home and make due with what they have to support and be with their families.