Europort Rotterdam to Zeebrugge and lifeboat drill

Friday 22nd February 2013

Day 28

I wake at 11:30pm. I head back to bed. Wake again at 3 am wondering if we have arrived at Rotterdam yet but we are still at sea. There are many other ships in view so presumably we are close. I continue to write the newsletter email to send in the morning. We both wake at 6am and we are still not close to the coast. 

Another spectacular sunrise over the water.

I transfer the newsletter after a mobile reboot and it works perfectly. We prepare for breakfast, quickly, to discover ETA. Later we can get ready to go ashore. We are told that we are going to anchor and the exact time of docking is uncertain. We get our thermos with boiling water. I use the ball-in-the-bag releases and then a relaxation. The only way to get up-to-date information is to go to the bridge. We go up and we are at anchor. Joey gives us information and I take a chart image. 

Rotterdam Europort and Hoek of Holland.

Captain comes on bridge and takes command. We have to remain at anchor until directed from the port. We hear Joey get instructions and he says the pilot has been arranged who will meet us in a designated transit area. He shows me on the chart. We have to wait in line, with two other vessels passing before us and we turn to starboard to indicate our intention to follow behind. 

Projected course and anchorage.

Captain has time to show Roy his motorcycle images and also discussed his dogs. There are always things to share. I take pictures of the glorious rising sun, the other vessels and the oncoming Hoek of Holland. I explain our family migration from Holland in 1959. 

Time to enjoy the view.

We watch as a pilot boat delivers a pilot to each of the three next vessels including our own. The speed of these zippy boats as it zooms past us on the port side, crosses the stern and pulls alongside for a starboard entry, is great to see. They are built for this quick manoeuvre. 

The pilot boat arrives alongside.
It's rough out there.

We hear the radio bark, "Pilot alongside, pilot on ladder, pilot onboard." We will be taken into the container terminal by this pilot and I capture an image as the Captain shakes hands with him on the bridge. 

Captain welcomes pilot aboard.

He comes over to ask if we are passengers and we concur. I explain I speak Dutch and he quickly changes to speak his own tongue. It takes just a moment to switch the brain but it quickly kicks in. I translate for Roy. I ask if he travels, yes by plane, and also he skis. His poor daughter and partner went to Bulgaria. He was to go tomorrow with his daughter but she has ripped her cruciate ligament. He goes to do his job and we watch as we approach the spit that we had watched last year from the Stena ferry. We can see the small village in the distance. 

We departed from Hoek of Holland last year,
and I migrated in 1959 

The pilot indicates the huge new container harbour that is currently being constructed. Entry will be from the eastern end because to open an extra channel at the sea end would have cost a milliart, which is one billion euros. We watch and enjoy this remarkable Europort entrance. 

New port extensions.

Captain explains that we will be turning and then backing into our berth, there, pointing on the map. 

Projected turning circle and berthing.

I chat again to the pilot explaining that we hope to visit Rotterdam but how far away is It? About 30 minute drive. He asks Joey to pull out the next chart. We can get a taxi to Oostvoorne then a bus to a nearby metro terminal. Then it is an easy ride to the Rotterdam Centrum, either northern or southern circuit. To take a taxi to Rotterdam would be €100. He says Oostvoorne is a place worth visiting but he points to a small fortified town just outside the port called Brielle which is an old fort town, beautiful buildings and churches. Lots of cafes and interesting sights. This sounds perfect and I share this with Roy. It is an easy taxi drive from the port entrance. We are thrilled that this is a much better option than a long drive. We plan to do this once the ship is docked. I thank the pilot for his suggestion. We now watch as these men work together to get this ship safely docked. It is turned around by a combination of tugs and thrusters. Then we slowly reverse into our designated spot. Captain has had time to tell us that when we arrive in Southampton the largest ship on the world's ocean the Marco Polo will be in port and the CMA CGM owners are coming to visit Thalassa too. So we will be visited by the big wigs. Are they staying aboard? I am wondering if we need to vacate the owner's cabin. No, but they will be staying but he doesn't know for how long. It will add tension. There will also be surveyors coming on board. The newest change is that we will not be going straight to Southampton but detouring to Zeebrugge first. So ETA is completely uncertain now. We are not bothered, with no schedule to keep. While we are moving I head downstairs to the Captain's office and send the newsletter to everyone. I return to the bridge. There is so much to see. Huge heaps of black and brown coal on the dockside. 

Raw materials on the opposite berth.

Roy is outside as he planned ahead and he wore his coat. He indicates for me to come too and I wonder if he can see I have only my angora jumper. He has found a warm place in front of some vents, and it is very comfortable, yet we can see directly astern, where we are docking. 

Perfect warm vantage point.

The actions of the tugs are magnificent. It takes until 1pm before we are actually alongside and have the mooring ropes attached. 

Reversing into our designated berth.

Tugs glimpsed between containers.

We go down to the mess to see if we can still have lunch. Gary serves us once we find him in the kitchen. He knows passengers are either on the bridge or ashore. 

We are always well fed; lunch is ready.

We are looking forward to our visit to Brielle. We go back to our cabin and I shower and dress warmly. Roy is resting and I nudge him a few times to shower. A visit to a nearby town is a welcome diversion. It is 2pm. There is a phone call from Joey, we are needed in Captain's office for emigration. Roy dresses quickly and we go up. Two huge emigration officers are in the corridor. One speaks and I say, "Pardon?" "Oh," he asks, "you don't speak Dutch?" I need to do a switch in the brain before it makes sense. He explains that he has put an arrival stamp in our passports but we must get a departure stamp before leaving.  Yes this was also necessary in Germany. We can get a departure stamp from the head office in Rotterdam. We are only hoping to go to Brielle, the local town. Yes, this is the address there, on the card, where we must go for the departure stamp, locally. But this closes at 4:30pm. I ask if they could not stamp this passport now and we can go ashore but return to the ship in time for departure. This would cause problems if anything happened, for the Captain. We can see that there is no way that we will see anything onshore if we are chasing around looking for offices and maybe missing the time. We cannot go ashore. I am so disappointed but this is the way of emigration. They will stamp our passports now with departure even though we haven't even left ship. The Captain looks more disappointed than us. It is cold outside anyway. It is the way of cargo ships. He himself has spoken of missing out many times and last minute phone calls with delays or cancellations. Planning is impossible. We shrug and accept. I still think we could just go ashore now but Roy is not keen. We return and lie down. I write up the happenings in my diary because it helps to unload the disappointment. I shall take off all my warm clothing and relax with a book.  :::: I feel somehow we were conned into staying onboard because the emigration officials didn't want to return at 8am tomorrow, before departure. Also the small town of Brielle might well discourage the influx of seaman. We represent an anomaly but it somehow felt contrived. I try some puzzling then transfer the images of today onto the laptop. An oiler is alongside so I go out to take some pictures. There are actually two side by side. 

Refueling from oiler alongside.

I see where the inlet is just before D deck and go out on the wing to take a better view. It is freezing out there. All these men wear their warm coats and gloves. 

Connections to ship's intake tank.

It is nearly 6pm and time for dinner. We go down and Gary wasn't expecting us. Yes, we were also hoping to be in town. Still he serves main course. We go back to our cabin and relax. Roy puts on Shantaram. This is an excellent way of unwinding. I undress and lie down too. I missed the last episode but we hear two tonight. Then we sleep. I wake from a deep sleep and it is only 9pm. Roy is dressed, sitting up and reading. I take my painkillers then sleep again.

Saturday 23rd February 2013

Day 29

I wake again at 3am, very thirsty. Again I fall asleep until 5am and Roy is also just dozing. We are still being loaded and expected to sail at 8am. I wonder if we will be able to go ashore at Zeebrugge. Looking on the map we realise that this must be the seaport of Brugges, or Brussels, where we visited last year. Of course it is. It is strange to be revisiting these areas this time from such a different vantage point. :::: I realise I have time to send a sms to the kids so I quickly write a synopsis. Our daughter responds immediately. I send a quick reply. We get ready for breakfast and we have a guest at the other table. He is the pilot for the Zeebrugge port. It is quicker to put him aboard here. We go up again and soon hear a change in the engine; are we moving? But we check on the bridge and nobody is there. It won't be for a while yet. 

Driverless vehicles directed by GPS tracking.

There's only 3.3 metres draught!

We relax and Roy falls asleep. When I next look out the window, there are two tugs hovering, so we are about to depart. We go up to the bridge to watch our sailing away from Rotterdam. 

Gangway is hoisted up.

Brown and black coal on dock.

It is so cold water spray ices.

We head off from our Europort berth.

I speak to the Zeebrugge pilot about places to visit in Zeebrugge, if there is time. He says Brugge is wonderful but if we don't have much time, Lissewegge is worth a stop, just 5 minutes away and there’s a fantastic restaurant. I take note. We don't know if we will be stopping long enough. Later the Captain explains it is only a very short stop, arrival at 4pm and away by 2am. The Rotterdam pilot is full of interesting information pointing out the Edith Maersk ahead of us, the biggest ship in the world. Not the Marco Polo? There is a competition between companies. Edith is 500m long, 54m wide. She sails off ahead of us. 

We follow Edith Maersk out of Europort.

The escorting tugs weave their way off.

He points out the sand blowing off the newly reclaimed section at the starboard side. The new port was built the same way. First filling, banking it up, we can see the monstrous dredge spewing an arc of sand, then digging out the port dockings and channels. 

Sand blows off newly filled area.

Dredging machines build up new port. 

400,000 tonnes of different sized rock was tra

nsported from Norway. Holland has no rock. The other huge, neat cubes are all made of concrete. He shows us an aerial view which he took when he was transported by helicopter to a ship. I try to take a picture but it is a computer screen with reflections. The new port is almost ready to be used, though it looks empty. Its infrastructure is all in place, rail, tarmac, etc. It only needs the cranes and they will open. 

Actual aerial view of new port.

He tells a story about a bright green and black ship which follows us. A rich shipping magnate bought his sons two of these container ships and had them painted in opposing soccer teams' colours. This one is called Borussia Dortmund and the other is the Werber-Bremer which was the trophy bar we visited in Bremerhaven. Nice present! 

Borussia Dortmund versus Werber Bremer.

The Captain comes over to chat too, when we are heading straight out, and their talk turns to shipping trade, countries ownership and the fall of the US Evergreen being taken over by China. We see a pilot boat approaching and it is huge. Suddenly a small orange jet boat drops from her side and we shake hands goodbye with the pilot. 

Pilot awaits his pickup.

We watch as he steps into the tiny jet boat from our hull and is returned to the mother ship. The davits raise it back up onto the pilot boat.  

Pilot mothership draws near. . .

Small pilot boat pulls alongside
and pilot transfers. 

Boat returns to mothership and is hauled up.

We are underway again. It is 11:30am and almost lunch time. We are expected to dock in Zeebrugge at 4pm. We have lunch then rest in our cabin. There has been another change of schedule  Southampton now tomorrow afternoon, 24th and we can arrange a car then return to the ship for luggage. It should be easy. Roy sleeps again and I need to rest as my pelvis is suffering from the upright watching. At one point I look out and see the power windmills just outside our porthole; a whole farm in the middle of the sea. I go up on bridge to check out how deep the water is here. It is just 12m under the hull. and the windmills are built on sand bars. The pilot and Captain are on the bridge. I watch as the original recommended route is circumvented by a short cut.

Chart of Zeebrugge port and berth.

English Channel routes.
Shows Hoek of Holland to Zeebrugge.

Plotter shows shortcut  to save time.

Captain has to trust the pilot. Roy comes up, too. He was fast asleep and I was only coming up for a moment. The bilge alarms sound as the ship turns more sharply. The shortcut is to save time. The Captain says that if there is daylight, when we dock, he will be arranging a lifeboat drill. It is not permitted to drop the lifeboat with crew inside but they will be put into it by another small boat. The lifeboat will do a small circuit and then return and be lifted aboard again. Zeebrugge is ideal as it is quiet and the position is like a swimming pool. We see Zeebrugge in the distance and stay to watch our approach and entrance. 

Zeebrugge cranes ahead.

We see the beach stretch out into the distance on either side of the port. The Schelde (Scheldt) River exits here, with the smaller port of Vlissinger (Flushing) on the other side. There are multi-storey buildings all along the coast stretching for miles into the mist. We see the cranes of the container port. 

I practice my Dutch with the Belgium pilot.

Once again we watch as the pilot manoeuvres the ship to the correct bay, uses the tugs to swing Thalassa on her axis, then backs her into her designated berth on the quay. It is wonderful, slow and amazing. 

The small inland berths of Brugge City,
which we visited last year.

Tug one to port . . .

Tug two to starboard . . .

. . . and both together to tuck Thalassa in.

It is bitterly cold and neither of us have the correct clothing. I have to lie down and rest on the couch. The Captain and the pilot are outside on the port side, precisely positioning the ship. I cannot find Roy so head down to our cabin. I lie down to rest. My upright stretches without rests on the bridge causes pain. I quickly check to see through the passengers lounge window if they are loading and again take some pictures. 

View past our loading cranes.

Every port is different. There are no cranes at the stern of our ship. I tell Roy we should check if the lifeboat drill is being undertaken, so we dress up to stand outside. Just as we step out Gary brings a new man up to the passenger’s suite. It is an Englishman, who is engaged to give piracy lectures to the crew. He is sailing with us until Southampton. He introduces himself, Dave. He has given these lectures every six months. His background is fascinating, been aboard pirated ships, tuna boats off Africa, Somalia and has some extensive experience of travelling on smaller boats. Some are very filthy and food is dreadful. He says these bigger newer ships are better. He will tell us which to steer clear of. Roy says we'd be interested in the piracy talk if we could join. We check outside but the lifeboat is firmly in place and there's no activity. It is getting dark so maybe it is off. Again it is dinner time so we head down. Tomorrow is our last day. We ask the Captain when he sits down about the drill and he is doing it right now. He rushes his dinner. Apparently the Chief Officer doesn't know how to start the engine of the lifeboat so he has to show him. He comes back in his oilskins, out through the mess door, where the lifeboat is tethered. Joey follows but he is less well dressed. Just a jumper and beanie. We dash upstairs to put on all our warm clothing. It is bitterly cold, the wind whips through everything. As we step out on our deck, we see the lifeboat swing. 

There she goes, lifeboat away!

We go down to D deck wing but the wind cuts through. Roy calls me down to the C deck. I take pictures of the lifeboat being lowered, the other boat putting the well coated crewmen aboard and then the release of the lines from the lifting davits, finally the lifeboat does a small circuit away from the ship's side. 

Officer and crew transfer. . .

. . . and a single test circuit is taken.

The Captain is on board calling instructions into a walky talky. I see Joey also taking pictures. He must be freezing! It is all exciting and we watch everything from C deck just above the position of the lifeboat. After a pause, where we stand out of the direct wind we watch as the men are transferred into the other boat and the lifeboat being lifted.

Lifeboat davit lifted back onboard.

 Suddenly there is a halt. Roy knows what's happened because he's worked on commercial lifts. The brake safety line, which prevents the lifeboat from hitting the davit points, has broken. This will need to be removed and fixed. We watch as a spanner is used to disconnect this line from its anchor point, so the winch can lift and swing the lifeboat back in. The Captain does not hold back, no gloves, freezing cold and he gets right in to fix it, gets the work done. It is a remarkable unfolding of a drama but it needs to be practiced for this very reason. Things go wrong. Finally the line is loose and the lifeboat is positioned. Two crew members wave us out of the way as they come up to our level to secure the hooks and pins which keep the lifeboat locked in.

Final adjustments made to secure lifeboat.

There is a problem. Roy thinks the lines have stretched and they need to lower and re-lift the lifeboat again. His experience working on lift installations had given him this knowledge. We watch for a while as they try to bang and adjust the lever then we go inside, leaving them to sort it. It will be repaired. We are pleased to get inside and we go to our room. We settle down to listen to Shantaram. I fall asleep.

Click on YouTube video link to view:

Rotterdam Europort to Zeebrugge.

The marked berth at 1616 and
the unvisited town of Lissewegge.