fifth ship- nancowry

After getting medical fitness from the doctor in MIOT, I reported to Madras office and got medical fitness from the company doctor. I was asked to report to Bombay Office. I went to the office and was checked up by the chief medical officer. After he declared me medically fit to join ship, I was posted on a passenger cum general cargo ship, M.V. Nancowry. I had to join the ship in Madras and so I flew back to Madras again. Appa and Amma had left for Bangalore, as they didn’t expect me back in Madras. I went to Madras office and reported to them. The ship was due for arrival and so I had to wait for a day or so. I went to Sugavanam Mama’s home in Mylapore and celebrated Bhogi with them. Later that day, the ship had arrived and I joined the ship.
The ship was doing regular run between Madras and Port Blair. I took over as third officer from the guy who was TNO in my previous ship and now AWKO. This was a completely different type of ship. The second officer was the same guy who was in my previous ship and so I was feeling kind of comfortable. The ship had the capacity to carry 1200 passengers and had two cargo holds. On the way to Port Blair, we used to carry onions, potatoes, provision items, etc required for the people there. On its way back to Madras, we used to carry scrap items, mostly. The number of passengers was less when I was there on board, but I heard people saying that it used to be full during the vacation periods.
Apart from the normal crew, who worked on board, there were about 100 persons, who worked for the private caterers(who cooked for the passengers, cleaned the passenger spaces and served meals to them). There was an officer, who was known as welfare officer. It was he who attended to the passengers’ complaints/suggestions/welfare. The purser officer, was also a familiar person, since he had sailed with me in my second ship. There were two assistant welfare officers, who assisted the welfare officer. There was a doctor on board as well, assisted by a nurse, since a doctor is a necessity in passenger ships. Since the run was between Madras and Port Blair, most of the crew were from Madras or Port Blair and so Tamil was more freely spoken on board.
The passengers had different types of accommodation like bunk class, third class, second class, first class and deluxe. The charges were about Rs.400/- for the bunk class and were about Rs.2500/- for the deluxe class. We had separate accommodation for the ship’s crew and officers. The passengers were not allowed to come into our accommodation spaces. They could come to the bridge and see us navigating, if we gave permission. As my watch was from 0800 to 1200, during sailing, I used to have people coming and seeing the bridge. The dining spaces were also different for us and the passengers. There was a swimming pool for the passengers, with a bar. Since the ship was in Indian coastal run, there were no alcoholic beverages available.
The ship had 10 lifeboats and many life rafts. I was again, in charge of the LSA/FFA items on board. There were lots of fire extinguishers as well. The ship had sprinkler system installed to combat fire. The doors in between decks were self closing, to prevent fire from spreading. All these things were not familiar to me. I took some time to know the ship, its equipments and their working. Besides, we had ramps, as well, for loading provisions and other utility items required for passengers.
The voyage from Madras to Port Blair took 56 hours, in good weather. Sometimes, the ship used to go to another island, Car Nicobar, to alight passengers. The passengers used to disembark when the ship was anchored there, since there were no facilities for berthing.
Port Blair was a small port and the ships which come there are those ones, which ply in between the various islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Port Blair is not so big city, but it is like mini India. I went out along with other guys, but missed the show in Cellular Jail, due to my watch timings.
In this ship, we have to lower and manoeuvre the lifeboat every time in the ports before a nautical surveyor. I had to get into the boat, as it was my responsibility to make sure that the boats were in perfect condition.
The passenger ship has to have its underwater portion examined once a year and it was due, when I was on board. The docking wad done in Madras and the bottom was examined. When, the inspection was over, the ship was getting ready to leave the dock. The dock was getting flooded with water and the ship had begun to float, but not fully. The Pilot gave a wrong instruction to the tug and because of which the ship’s bottom came into contact with the huge blocks placed below and it got holed there. The ship came out, but had to dock again.
I used to go home, when the ship was in Madras. That day, when this happened, I had told Amma that I would be back in the evening and that I wanted ‘Adai’ for dinner. It was almost towards the end of my watch, when I was called by the Captain. With him was a person from Madras office. That person told me that I had to go and join a ship, Ravidas, which was berthed nearby and was due to sail later that night to UK. The second officer on board that ship was not well and he had to be hospitalised. A ship cannot sail without a second officer and Bombay Office had sent instructions to Madras office to have either me or the second officer with me transferred to that ship. To my bad luck that second officer had gone out and so it had to be me who had to go to Ravidas. I immediately packed up my things and on the way to that ship, rang up home and informed Appa/Amma that I was being transferred to another ship and that the ship was leaving India that night.
Such things do happen in sea life and one has to be prepared to face them.
What happened in Ravidas? That will be in the next part...

TOTAL TIME SPENT ON BOARD: 1 month and 26 days

PORT VISITED: IN INDIA- Madras, Port Blair
FOREIGN- NONE