29 May 2009, Trabzon, Turkey.

This was an interesting experience. I had been advised that the pier was 300 meters long and I knew that I had to be careful because of cranes on the dock. Cranes that could not moved away and were extending over the edge of the dock as well. So with an extra officer near the lifeboats (as they stick out from the side of the ship, I thought that everything had been taken care of. Wrong. When the pilot came onboard, he happily told me that there were ferries at the North end of the dock and that there was a coal ship at the south end of the dock. But, the good news was also that there was 240 meters reserved for us so we fitted in. The Prinsendam is 204 meters long and yes that is sufficiently space but it was calculated without taking into account that the width of the coal ship would take another 20 meters away from the 240 during the swing. The 240 meters was only there, when the stern would be past the coal ship. Oi, and also he forgot to mention that the ferry ahead of us had its lines running from the bow over the water to the dock, taking another 10 meters away.

So the Prinsendam fitted in, but I had to go very gently as a little too much astern or a little bit too much ahead would cause a bump. I do not like bumps, the company does not like bumps, the authorities always want a lot of paperwork when bumps occur and there is always somewhere, somebody, who gets really upset……………. Thus we inched the ship in very slowly; the Chief Officer being in constant contact with the officers fore and aft to relay the clearances to the ferry ahead of us (moored Mediterranean style, so with the stern perpendicular on the dock for its car ramp) and the coal ship behind us. The Prinsendam has two strong bow thrusters, a small stern thruster that is omni rotational and for the rest two rudders so I can twist the engines to get rotation over the stern. The latter is nice when you have room but not when you work on the foot. Applying 5000 HP on a propeller tends to get the ship moving and that is what you want to avoid, as things go bump then.

As I decided to dock the other away around than the pilot had planned, the cranes were not a problem. The lifeboats which also overhang the dock, where way behind them, so I could continue to swing in the stern without that worry. However there was one crane, a big one, that did not move and that was of course the most perfect position for the gangway. Thus we had the move the ship gently inch by inch further astern until we satisfied the security officer for his gangway position. In the meantime the pilot was advising that he had two tugs, old, but with very experienced captains. In case I needed them. I had to pay for them anyway due to port regulations. However the chief officer remembered from last call that the tug had managed to hit the pilot boat when maneuvering into position so I preferred to keep things under my own control, experienced tugboat captains or not. If the tugs want to make bumps, fine but not with me involved. Without a tugboat the maneuver takes a bit longer but at least you know what is going on.

The Prinsendam, being an older ship, has less power then the newer ships, no Becker rudders, no very heavy thrusters fore and aft and on a windy day you do need a tugboat to catch the stern. On average however if you give the stern time to build up momentum, the Prinsendam does maneuvers quite well. It is an older lady, so she dances slowly.

Trabzon is a real Turkish port. A summer resort for the Russians and it exports a lot of agricultural products. Western cruise ships are fairly new to this area and a guest has the chance here to observe the real daily life of Turkey. The reports from the guests have been mixed. Some really liked it, as they found their way into the centre town area, or participated in the tours, some thought there was not enough to do and some guests just stayed onboard, still recovering from Istanbul.

We pulled out just before 5 pm. In the same way as we had come in, slowly, slowly as the other ships were still there. The moment I swung the bow free of the ferry, the pilot said goodbye and left the ship before I had even lined her up for the course through the port and into to open waters. He had his papers signed, so the money was in and dinner time was nearing. 5 minutes later we were outside while greeting the ferries docked at the port breakwater, which all blew their whistles for us.

Tomorrow we are in Sinop, also Turkey, which is further to the West. There is neither pilot nor a tugboat and the dock is fully exposed to all winds but the North. Luckily the wind forecast is not more than force 3. and another sunny day has been predicted for us to enjoy.