Day 2 – 10 March YanTian, GuangDong province, the People’s Republic of China
We had a good sleep on board and it was remarkably quiet given that huge containers were being moved around all night. We woke to see this activity and were somewhat astonished by the size and speed of the cranes – capable of moving 2 40-45’ container simultaneously – and the fleet of trucks moving containers into place. There were some 5 or 6 lanes of truck traffic. This went on all day until the ship cast off at almost 1800 so it was some 19 hours of busy work. No offer or option of going ashore was made. While we were in port during the day, at least 3 other huge container ships came into port and the docks have enough cranes (probably some 40-60) and space to sort and store tens of thousands of containers and tend to a dozen or so large ships. With most of what you buy and carried on these ships and made in southern China – ShenZhen in particular, it would make sense that YanTian is a major port. Too bad we didn’t get to see NanSha which probably ships everything made in GuangZhou (a.k.a. Canton).
IMG_7760 by
yvrcockroach, on Flickr
Early morning loading in YanTian. This had already been going on for 7 hours
IMG_7855 1 by
yvrcockroach, on Flickr
Remember the nghtmare distribution scene in
Monster, Inc.?
Breakfast was early, just 0700-0800, and so we went, to an empty mess. The officers must have been too busy or too tired to eat but it seems to be like that most days as we very seldomly see anyone else. Breakfast is a simple affair with lots of cereal (nothing overtly sugared seemingly from all corners of the globe - Kellogg’s Corn Flakes from Belgium and Kellogg’s All Bran from Thailand, knock-off Weet-bix from Britain, knock-off Kroger shredded wheat), milk (and yogurt on request) is UHT and from Germany (and later in the voyage from Utah). Bread is either purchased at ports of call but seemingly baked onboard after a few days. Cooked breakfast is egg and sausage and/or bacon.
Back in our cabin, we opened the window to see outside and watch containers moving within 8-10’ of our window, and looked down some 134’ into the open empty hold immediately below our cabin.
IMG_7802 by
yvrcockroach, on Flickr
Loading of Bay B, Hold 8.
Passing container lift by
yvrcockroach, on Flickr
Containers for Bay B, Hold 8 were moving less than 10' away from our cabin
Waiting truck fleet by
yvrcockroach, on Flickr
Fleets of trucks attend to the cranes to move containers on or away
With all the time, we also went to look at the recreational facilities. On C deck, there is an exercise room and a swimming pool opposite sides. I’ve read reports where officers from certain maritime countries with a fetish for fresh fish buy live fish from local fishermen and use the pool as a pantry. I don’t think I have to worry about that as far as Romanians are concerned but the pool still hasn’t been filled (the ocean is too cold and too rough perhaps and it is rather unattractively situated).
Exercise room by
yvrcockroach, on Flickr
Palestra of the Libra
On the other side is exercise room. Unfortunately it is somewhat poorly equipped with a couple of ratty, poorly-built Korean exercise cycles (the ship was apparently turnkey delivered from Korea other than artwork reproductions and CMA CGM posters of its ships), a running belt that was apparently purchased in the U.S. as it has a huge voltage transformer, a cheap shock absorber-based rowing machine, a punch bag, a poorly-made Weider-branded weight station and free weights all surrounding a table tennis table. The most interesting is that in addition to the purpose-made weights, the crew have also improvised with using scrap hardware from the ship. Sailors are often a buffed bunch and it’s no mystery when you figure what recreation they have available.
Makeshift dumbbell by
yvrcockroach
No running on the main deck due to wind and rough seas but also because you have to wear safety equipment, the same as you need in the engine room minus hearing protection, to be outside.
Whenever the ship is in port, the very few officers you see in the dining room will just say, “main plate please” to the Messman. They are just eating to live and getting back to duty or sleeping.
The ship duly casted off so it was off we sailed just before dusk and seeing the fading glow of Shen Zhen and HongKong as we left. Casting off meant the ship moving away from dock (it takes quite a bit of energy to get the amount of mass going – 3 generators powering the bow thruster for one) and once sufficiently far away, two tugs work to turn the ship around so it can sail out. The mass is astonishing.
Leaving YanTian by
yvrcockroach, on Flickr
Pulling back way from YanTian terminal
Tug at Yantian by
yvrcockroach, on Flickr
Two tug turning the stern around. One pushing, one pulling
Dinner was a beef goulash and a special treat of ice cream. We came to realise that a proper dessert is served every other dinner with ice cream (just vanilla or chocolate) served only on Thursday lunch.