Salvage--A Personal Odyssey by Ian Tew

Author:Ian Tew
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781574093582
Publisher: Sheridan House

Global Mariner 10,000 tons of grain for the starving

FROM LLOYD’S WEEKLY CASUALTY REPORTS, 1979

Global Mariner (Greek) – Massawa, Jan 18 – Understand salvage tug Lloydsman left MV Global Mariner. New salvors signed to refloat vessel. All crew members of Global Mariner abandoned ship and at present at Massawa ... Lloyd’s Agents per Salvage Association.

After delivering the Mare and escaping from Aden’s territorial waters, I took up salvage station in Djibouti. Djibouti is hot at any time of the year; hot and dirty and poor. There were a couple of trees in the main square, Place Menelik, otherwise it was barren and dusty. The further inland I travelled, the more lunar the landscape became – a bit like a hot Iceland. The overall colour on the ground is brown and the sky a pitiless blue. In the afternoon the town is dead as everyone is asleep. The one saving grace is that it used to be French and, although now independent, a lot of French still live and work there. There is a naval base, and the French Foreign Legion was in residence. As a result I could have a decent meal and, if I so decided, a night out in the honky-tonk bars. However, honky-tonk bars aside, salvage standby is very frustrating, always wondering when anything might happen, and when it does, hoping that nothing will stop a quick getaway.

Svitzer, the Danish salvage company, had been in the area for fifty years and did not like the competition from the interloper from Singapore.

Early in the new year (1979), I received a telex from Singapore instructing me to proceed to Assab in Ethiopia and then north to Massawa. There was a war raging between Ethiopia and Eritrean rebels and it was not clear whether Massawa was in government or rebel hands. Assab was in Ethiopia, hence the need to clear in there first and obtain permission to sail through Ethiopian waters. I was not feeling too well, suffering from an apparently blocked gut. However, I felt better sailing at full speed, leaving the Danes guessing as to my intentions! The Global Mariner was aground north of Massawa, and I was to salve her.

In Assab, the agent and lots of officials came on board for their honorariums. The agent had obtained permission for me to proceed to the Global Mariner. Massawa had been in Eritrean hands but it had just fallen and the government was in charge again. However, the rebels still controlled the coastal area opposite the position of the Global Manner.

‘You will be safe enough from the rebels,’ the agent said. ‘They do not have any boats or ships as far as we know. Only move during the day, otherwise the navy might shoot at you. Nothing is allowed to move at night, and the navy carries out regular patrols,’ he continued.

This would be a first for me – into a war zone. The agent and officials left, but it was too late to make the Global Mariner before dark.

Although it was incredibly hot outside in the sun, the accommodation and bridge were air-conditioned.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.