The Merchant Marine Express

It’s almost July and five weeks have passed since I’ve called this ship, my home. In the past two weeks, training has been the emphasis as many on board have taken seminar courses on this ship,on board other ships, or within a shore side facility.
I finished up my Chemical and Biological Officer’s course as I described, in my previous Merchant Express posting..and, no sooner, I was chosen among ten others to take another shipboard security course. You see, much of what is required on board government vessels are the vigilance of these on-going seminars that each mariner endures, so to prepare themselves for some type of disaster or casualty. Over the past seven years, I’ve taken no less than a dozen courses that teach and demonstrate certain security tactics which mostly help the interest of the mariners, aboard.. thereby, essentially, saving the ship.
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Tags: S.S Petersburg, Voyages by Admin
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This week has been a roller coaster ride and has had its ups and downs. With the bad comes the good- but not without hard work and possibly some uncertain futures for others.
Well, last weekend we had the unfortunate situation of our Chief Officer being let go as a result of some bad behavior, ashore. Apparently, after the Mate had been drinking and was ready to go back to the ship, he decided on a whim..to drive himself after having a night out on the town. Unfortunately, the effects of alcohol got the best of him, and his poor judgment resulted in a car accident with another vehicle!
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Tags: S.S Petersburg, Voyages by Admin
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SS PETERSBURG

Days are turning into weeks, on board! And all I do, each day, is a bit of preventative maintenance in the afternoons, which are under my duties and then stand the eight hours of Watch from four o’ clock until midnight.
Many of the crew members have the opportunity to go ashore in the evenings. And depending on schedule, I’ll head ashore for a brief time, during the mornings. The Sun shines its warmest between eleven o’ clock and three in the afternoon. Unlike back in the states where much of the hottest part occurs between three and five in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day on Guam IS around noontime.

“Haf a dai “is the greeting phrase of the Islanders. Basically, this translates to “Half a day”. I believe it’s their mantra for work! And the weather has something to do with this expression.
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Tags: S.S Petersburg, Voyages by Admin
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SS Petersburg

The ho-hum life of sitting alongside a pier and ,basically, awaiting orders is just fine with most, onboard the Petersburg! Standing an eight-hour watch and then doing some preventative maintainance during off-hours leads to somewhat of a productive day for me, as well. The time goes by smoothly and quickly and hours spent making ’rounds’ and tending to small chores makes for a safe ship.
Well, we’ve had our second Fire Drill and Boat Drill on Wednesday,and each time, we simulate a
fire in a region of the ship that offers some challenges and lower the lifeboats that are usually poised on either side of the “after-part” (or furthest towards the back) of the ship.
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Tags: S.S Petersburg, Voyages by Admin
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It’s been over a week and I am settling into my job aboard the SS Petersburg as Third Mate. The 730 foot tanker has been pre-positioned in the South Pacific and is under the guidance of the US Navy.

Over a week and a half ago, I was uncertain as to my fate aboard a ship. The Summer was fast approaching and with a new License, in hand, I was sure something would metamorph into a nice paying job. But days grew into weeks and upon the third week in May, I was slightly apprehensive.
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Tags: S.S Petersburg, Voyages by Admin
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