Читать книгу Damned Voyage - В. Волмир - Страница 2

This time it all started without the usual troubles that accompany sending a sailor on a voyage – to go many times to crewing companies, humiliatingly ask young girls to be registered because I am a specialist, to give money.

– Hello? I need mister Vlad.

– Yes, it's me. I am listening to you.

– This is a crewing company «Globus». An electrician is urgently needed for the ship. Do you agree?

– What kind the ship?

– A seventy-one thousand-ton bulk carrier.

– How old is she?

– Fourteen.

– With cranes or without?

– Without. Panamax.

– How mach salary?

– Eighteen hundred.

– How long is the contract?

– Nine plus minus one.

– What kind of crew?

– Engineers and navigators from Ukraine, other Filipinos. Captain Greek.

– I'm only at home for three weeks. I want to be more.

– We urgently need to notify the company of your consent. You have two hours to think.

– Well, in two hours I will give the answer.

I hung up. My wife was standing behind me.

– What, they call again?

– Yes.

– You haven't unhooked from the previous voyage yet. Tell them you're not ready. What got sick. Let them unhook.

– They will detach, but then I will have to crawl in front of them to find a place. Can keep half a year on shore.

– And let. Although you stay at home.

– Yes, but we need to pay for the education of our guys, and in the future they need to earn something. For the same apartment for example. After all, the eldest son already has a girlfriend, she said.

– Yes, he has. But it is still unknown how it will end.

– We know what. And we need to be prepared for that. I don't want my son to wait for the apartment as long as I waited. Especially now, when the apartments not given.

– Or maybe he will find such a job where the apartment will be given.

– They give only to militiamen. Everyone else has to earn money for the apartment themselves. To police and to militiamen.

– How is it? What do the police have to do with this?

– Straight. Nothing is taken from anything, everything is obtained only by labor. If someone was given an apartment for free, it only means that someone paid twice as much as their own. And who can buy an apartment now? Either a sailor or a criminal.

– You've gone too far. After all, there is power.

– Power is an opportunity to dispose of other people's lives and property with impunity. Remember this and tell it to the children in class. Let them go to power, not to sailors. Then they will have money and apartments. Subtracting and dividing is much easier than adding and multiplying.

– They will grow up

– They will understand if God gave them reason. But we're not about that. Do you intend to accept the offer?

– I have a choice only theoretically. Practically – no.

– You will lose your health and no one will need that money. You will bring everything to the doctors.

– Yes, it is very possible. But maybe lucky. And do not forget that every year it will be harder for me to go to sea. I'm already fifty.

– I remember, that's why I'm worried. But do as you know. We really need money. And the eldest will get married as soon as you leave. He's just afraid to tell you. I can feel it.

– Then everything converges and this offer is very timely. I accept her. Everything was decided. Everything is so that I have nowhere to go. And what about the fact that I stay at home for another month? You will still need to go more than once.

An hour and a half later the call again.

– Hello…

– This is a crewing company «Global». I need mister Vlad.

– Yes, it's me.

– Do you accept the offer?

– Yes, I accept.

– Are your documents in order?

– Yes.

– Then tomorrow at ten o'clock be with documents at us.

– I have a request for you. Please prepare a photocopy of the contract so that I can read it before signing.

– Well, it's possible.

– Goodbye.

– Goodbye.

That's all. You need to slowly collect things. I slowly pulled out from under the sofa my true suitcase with the inscription «MARLBORO» on the sides. Great thing for travel. When folded, it is no different from others, but if you dissolve the side «zippers», it grows to a height of almost a meter. In addition, it is equipped with wheels.

The next day I showed up at eleven o'clock to crewing. Checking the documents did not reveal anything that did not allow me to go on the voyage. I also liked the draft contract. It stated the number of working hours and hours of rest, compensation for damage to health and personal belongings, and even the fact that I was entitled to a day off. Later, I never encountered this point in other contracts. The director of crewing invited me to his office.

– Hello. Please sit down.

– I sat down.

– I reviewed the folder with your data. You have proven yourself well in previous voyages. This time The Greek company asks to send an experienced specialist. It's a little alarming. The previous electrician was sent home two months later as inexperienced, although he had already flown twice and had good reviews. There is something wrong. The Greeks don't tell me much, but I'm not married the first day, and I understand more than they tell me. I do not doubt you as an experient, but please be careful, because most likely the captain of the ship is a sharp man.

The chief of the walkie-talkie will also go with you. Radio officer. He is from another town and will arrive tomorrow. Tomorrow you will meet with him and tomorrow at twelve o'clock the contract will be signed and you will receive travel documents. At the same time and get acquainted with your voyage companion. Did you understand everything? Questions?

– There are no questions, everything is more than clear. You could do it

tell me earlier.

– Then you would not agree to go on this ship.

– So it's true.

– See you tomorrow.

– See you tomorrow.

So that's it! The captain of this ship is a tyrant. Crazy captain. I'm great. This means that I will have to spend the remnants of nerves that I still have. And this is the right way to a hospital bed. It is necessary to think carefully about possible options for misunderstandings in relations with the captain. And what can I really do? According to the terms of the contract, I must silently carry out everything that is ordered. In any case, I'm a loser. Crewing just covered his ass with my persona. I have to cast a shadow over Crewing company reputation.

«You must by honored with this» as they said at the Union. One can only hope for the support of the «white» members of the ship's crew. And what are they? Well, everything is in God's hands. Give up? It is possible. But these are unpredictable problems for the future, and I am no longer a «young man». In addition, I have given my word and it obliges me to keep it. The next day I met my voyage companion. Oleg. Radio officer. All life at sea. Medium-sized brunette, thirty-five years old. Fifteen years of difference is too much for our like-minded relationship. Signed contracts. All. All bridges were burned back.

Just a few seemingly ordinary pieces of paper completely change a person's status. A moment ago you were a free man and suddenly you became someone's property, you became a slave. According to the teachings of Karl Marx, there are two types of slavery – forced slavery (captivity, sale, etc.) and its highest degree – voluntary slavery. You give up this and that, and instead commit to doing whatever your master tells you to do. If you get sick – go home. The company only pays if you need to pull a tooth. Do not treat, but only snatch. And only if you are very «lucky» – you lose an arm or a leg, or die, then the company will shell out and make some payments, but only after you can prove in court that you did it through no fault of your own. Strange state after signing the contract – you understand everything, but there is nowhere to go. It feels like you have become a rag and wiped your feet. Probably the same feels a frog that goes to the mouth of a snake. And why are you doing all this? For the sake of the family. An ancient law – if a penny disappeared in one pocket, it increased in another. Nothing disappears anywhere. If I want a little more in my pocket, I have to give part of my life for it. I will spend the next nine months in an iron barrel in the middle of the ocean. There is a plus in the contract. This is an opportunity to travel around the planet and you get paid for it. You have the opportunity to compare life in your country and in others. You can also communicate with many people from different cultures, with different levels of development.

The director of the agency shook our hands and said:

– I'm sure you won't let me down, you guys have already been beaten.

Mister Vlad will be the senior. He is an employee of the shipping office and knows the business. You are leaving today at 8 pm by minibus from the square near the Opera House to Kyiv. Seats are already paid. Here are the travel documents: a ship's application in four copies, a waybill with the phones of managers in Tel Aviv and a letter of guarantee from the company. Tickets have already been ordered in Boryspil for your names. Come with these documents to the box office number eight and get tickets. Departure to Vienna at eight thirty in the morning. Tickets in Vienna are also booked. Receive immediately upon arrival. Departure from Vienna at eleven forty. At three o'clock you will be in Tel Aviv. There you will be met and taken to the port of Haifa where the ship is. The ship is called «Ivannis». When you receive your tickets in Boryspil, call me immediately so that I know that everything is fine. Questions?

– No. As usual.

– Then do not waste time, you already have little. Good by.

I took the papers, reviewed them, and put them in a folder with other documents. We left the company's premises.

– Oleg, do you know the place where the bus leaves?

– Yes, I already left here.

– Then until the evening.

I arrived home at three o'clock in the afternoon.

– Well, are you leaving tomorrow?

My wife greeted me with a question.

– No, not tomorrow. Today at twenty.

– As soon?

A tear slowly crept down his wife's cheek.

– Again one for a whole year. As if not married.

– Why one? The guys will not be bored.

– So. The younger one still listens, and the elder one doesn't get away with it.

– He already has hands to go to. He is already a man, do not disturb him.

– I do not interfere, but he does not have a job yet and I have to provide him.

– He is an adult and will not be idle.

– I hope so. So, collect already on the table?

– Do not hurry, there is still some time.

– I'm not going to see you off. It's too late.

– You will do well.

I myself do not like when a healthy man is followed by a whole caravan of relatives. Sometimes even grandparents. One of the guys will help bring the suitcase.

I was already there at nine o'clock. Nearby was a handful of people with children, next to a pile of luggage. After a while Oleg and other passengers came. Then a bus pulled up and we loaded our suitcases. In addition to us, there were fourteen other passengers. Forty minutes later we took our seats on the bus and it slowly went upstairs, turned left and half an hour later we were already racing on the road to Kiev. The voyage began.

At half past five in the morning the next day, the bus stopped in the square to the left of the airport building in Boryspil. We half-asleep disassembled our suitcases and went to the waiting room. They were a little nervous, because the ticket office opened at eight o'clock, and at eight-thirty it was already leaving. But it all worked out. The tickets were ready and after checking the documents we were handed them over.

Then customs control, baggage claim, border control and we are on the second floor in the departure hall. From the air we look at the Dnieper and Kyiv below us and mentally say goodbye to our homeland. Vienna airport is familiar. I already had to be here and therefore there were no complications. Very meticulous control of the security service to passengers flying to Tel Aviv – The threat of a terrorist attack.

– Give your documents.

– Give your first and last name.

– Why are you without luggage?

– Take off your watch and put everything out of your pockets in this box.

– Go through this passage.

– Immediately back. You have metal items in your pockets!

– What? A plate on a belt? Remove the belt.

– Stand here. Come back.

– Turn out the pockets. Good.

– Go through this passage again.

– Come through. And don't make such an unpleasant face. This is for your own safety.

– Take your things. Happy flight.

After such a procedure you need to calm down a bit. Indeed, this is for the safety of passengers, not just exhausting nerves. And still need to be very careful and attentive to prevent any incident in the air. A little more time and we are in the air. At the bottom were Austria, Turkey, the Mediterranean Sea and our plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport in the capital of the Promised Land – Tel Aviv.

The plane stopped two hundred meters in front of the airport building and the passengers went to the building on foot. An interesting point. Then all services as at departure, only in reverse order: Border control, baggage retrieval, customs control. Then exit to the round hall where there is a crowd of greeters. Cheerful noise, joyful shouts, laughter. We look around to see a sign with the name of the ship. None. Passengers

it turns out, the crowd of greeters decreases, and our greeter is not visible. Twenty minutes later we are two and a few more people. We pay attention to the man who holds over his head a piece of cardboard with some inscription. Let's go to him. Our names are written in Latin letters on the cardboard with a bad felt-tip pen. This is our driver who will take us by car to Haifa. Asked to show the city a bit. The driver reluctantly agreed, but warned that he had little time.

Tel Aviv is a modern city with wide streets, quite green. There are many houses with interesting architecture. But Haifa was waiting for us and the driver got on the highway and ran towards Haifa. An hour and a half later we were in Haifa. The port is located at the foot of the hills, as in Odessa. Checking documents by armed guards and we went along the berths. At one of the ships the driver stopped and the driver said:

– Everything, we have arrived. Get out.

There was a ship near the berth, but it was called «Anna». They explained this to the driver, but he just slyly smiled.

– This is your ship. Don't be fooled.

We took our suitcases and climbed the steep ladder aboard the ship. We were met by an assistant captain and a Filipino watch sailor. Yes, the driver was right, this is our ship and we were waiting. And the name was changed because when we have to go back through the Suez Canal, we may have problems if the Arabs know that the ship is leaving the port of Israel. Such a small conspiracy. So «Ivannis» became «Anna» for a while. After going to sea, the name will be restored and the ship will enter the canal as «Ivannis» with cargo from Greece. Visit to the captain. Called. Then gave the papers.

– All right. Arrived on the time. Now occupied the cabins and tomorrow to work. Go.

Very concise reception, very typical in such situations. The captain was a man two meters tall, had a proportionate body structure. He had a powerful voice. This was felt even in ordinary conversation. The face typical of the island Greeks was adorned with a large hooked nose – a sure sign that there is a portion of Turkish blood in his body. Next visit to a senior engineer. It was a below-average man with a straight sharp gaze. A sarcastic or contemptuous smile on his face. He did not offer to sit down.

– Did you have to work on the ships?

A very silly question in my opinion.

– This is my profession.

– How long did you work on the ship as an electrician?

– All my life.

– I do not like your answers.

– I'm telling the truth.

– We have very complex equipment. You need to have good training to service it. Are you sure you are ready to do this?

– So far there have been no problems. Time will tell.

– What? Ah, yes, time will tell.

His smile became even more contemptuous.

– Go to the second engineer. He is also from Ukraine. Ask him

to give you work clothes and shoes. Go.

It was obvious that this man wanted to seem bigger and more significant than he really is. I go to the cabin of the second engineer. Let's meet. The name Serg from Odessa. Forty-two years. On the ship for two months. The previous second engineer was «eaten» by the current senior engineer. We talked about all sorts of things, about life, about work. Especially about situation in the crew.

– In no case do not show that you know the job better than a senior engineer. He believes that there are only one «right» people in the world – the Greeks, and all the other pure idiots. Be sure to schedule and work with the Union and sign it. He had never seen such a thing. He will be happy. When he tells you to do something off schedule, go do it in silence. Sometimes ask how to do some simple work. You will get a lot of pleasure from his explanations. The previous electrician was careless in making remarks to him and proved to him that he did not understand what he was talking about. That was enough to write off the electrician. I warned him, but he arrived on the ship earlier and worked with this senior engineer longer, so he did not heed my words. And keep that in mind. He comes to the engine room only twice a day – at eight o'clock in the morning and at eighteen o'clock in the evening.

During these times, do some work in the workshop so that he can see you. From morning till noon he and the captain are on the bridge, so in these times to go on deck unnecessarily is not necessary. In the afternoon they have a siesta – sleep up to three hours. Then you can take a walk. And be vigilant in conversations with our navigators. They are also all from Odessa. Everything they hear from you, they will tell the captain and he will draw conclusions. So there is a possibility of unnecessary trouble due to some careless statement. The captain trained them that way. In addition, they themselves have too high an opinion of themselves.

One more addition. We have another doctor who heave the sailor sertifikate and works as a sailor. He also considers himself great and more drawn to navigators. There are no problems with Filipinos.

They do their job in silence. They live in their community. They have a chef cook for the senior, so you must tomorrow meet him. You also need this contact because all the control devices for the operation of the refrigeration machines of the provisions are in the dry provisions chamber and you will need them all the time. Take the keys to monitor the operation of refrigeration machines. Well, everything else as everyone else. When working on the main engine, your place on the crane, when ready – in the central post. Read the alarm schedule in the cabin. Guide to choose work clothes.

We went down to the engine room, where one of the platforms had a pantry for second engineer. I chose black pants and a jacket, as well as «shoos» – work shoes. With this property I came to my cabin. The cabin was located on the second (from top) tier of the ship's living quarters. Machine team deck. To the right is the cabin of the fourth engineer (Filipino), to the left is the cabin of the third engineer, also a Filipino. The cabin was three by three meters plus sanitary facilities. By Union standards, this is a room in a dormitory where the family lived.

I go down to the cabin company. There I find a senior navigator who explains to me everything about food. Fortunately, in this crew, the Greeks keep the brand: in the refrigerator at night every day put hard cheese, sausages, canned fish or bacon. I'm having dinner right away. Tea can always be made because there is always boiling water – the electric stove keeps the water temperature in the kettle at 95 degrees constantly.

The next day acquaintance with the ship and crew. No one specifically assembles the crew, so I go by myself, inspect the room, the installed equipment and introduce myself to the staff which are in the room.

The ship is designed to transport bulk cargo (ore, coal, grain) class «Panamax» was built fourteen years ago in Japan. Automation class A1. The customer company saved a little, because the main engine from Europe, the company «Sulzer» with a capacity of ten thousand kilowatts at one hundred and sixteen revolutions per minute. Swedish alarm system – «Autronics». Everything else is Japan. Scheme of work in progress: everyone works from eight o'clock to nineteen. Lunch break for one hour and supper for one hour. Two coffee time of thirty minutes each – at ten and at fifteen. In the engine room the general management of works is carried out by the second engineer Serg therefore with it I need to coordinate all actions. Beginning as always: which room is where, where it is turned on, what signals, who is responsible. A separate day to study the Main Switchboard, because it all starts here. In the morning I climbed the gangway and found the second navigator in the wheelhouse, who was engaged in navigation maps. Today we leave Haifa for the port of Kalamata, Greece. From the height of the bridge I inspect the port. Twenty miles away, an American squadron, an aircraft carrier and escort ships, can be seen.

Then I inspected the navigation devices and the lighting of the bridge and the wheelhouse. The second navigator is also called Vlad, he is twenty-five years old and has been on the ships of this company for four years. Originally from Odessa. A senior navigator named Jan is also from Odessa. Vlad said that the captain is very strict and does not tolerate laxity. And what captain tolerates this? I get down to the engine room, to the central post. There are already senior and second engineers who are discussing the preparation of the main engine for access to the sea. Release time – sixteen o'clock. Time passes quickly in the hustle and bustle and one hour ready heave been announced. I go around the diesel generators, boiler, pumps and go to my place in the central post. From now until the sea, the senior engineer, the second engineer and I will be in this room. From here control all mechanisms and the main engine.

We do a test run of the main engine – good. We do the reverse – well.

We report on the bridge about the readiness of the main engine. The voice control on the steering wheel is on, so we can hear all the conversations.

– Pilot on the board.

– The tugs are ready.

– Request «good» to go to the sea.

– Give out the mooring ropes!

The machine telegraph came to life, the main engine started working in alternating strokes. We make reverses, I write down everything in the log of readiness and I follow on devices on work of electric generators.

– Tugs are free, thank you for your work – pilot.

– Pilot boat to the board! – Captain.

All. This means that the pilot leaves the ship. Then increase the engine from «small» to «medium» and wait for the cancellation of readiness. The engine increases to «full», but the readiness continues. Forty minutes later we hear the captain's request to the command of the aircraft carrier to pass such a course. It was well received and in twenty minutes the cancellation of readiness was announced.

Then I was told that it was forbidden to approach a US warship closer than four miles – they could fire. I go out on deck to look at the squadron. The impression is strong. I have never seen an American aircraft carrier before.

After supper, I again examined the mechanisms and meet in the central post with both engineer. Talking about the plan for the works which necessary to do. So ended my first day aboard the ship. The ship at the sea and heading to the Greeks port Kalamata. The port of Kalamata located on one of the great South islands of Greece in the arc of calm bays, even the ideal round shape. The depth in the bay more than a hundred meters and the ship is not stay an anchor, but wrecked at the drift. At port of Calamata all ships of the Greek shipowners call that are in Mediterranean pestilence, to get supply and spare parts. To encourage shipowners, the Greek government has introduced tax breaks for those who use goods made in Greece.

We also have to get provisions and spare parts. They drifted around four in the morning. Receive command to prepare a stern crane to receive cargo. I go to the deck and by the way pay attention to the fact that not all floodlights are on. It is necessary to deal with it urgently.

In Kalamata stood twelve hours. While accepting the cargo, the captain's wife came to the captain – a woman of medium height with gray hair and brought with her two barrels of wine.

Later I learned that the captain comes from this island and has a lot of land here where he grows grapes and olives.

On the ship, the usual hustle and bustle – acceptance of cargo, reconciliation with invoices, quantity, signing of invoices and returning them with a thin rope down to the boat. I noticed a very unpleasant picture: down on the boat, one of the two people who brought provisions, leaned over a stack of boxes and greedily stuffed peaches in his mouth. Several dozen apples lay side by side in an empty cardboard box.

Further course to Gibraltar. There's bunkering and on to the States. The next day, I agree on a plan for my work with Serg and receive a «good» for all four days left in Gibraltar to do deck lighting. I decided to start from the top – from the bridge. I am made himself a donkey so that he could get to the lamp freely, gathered the tool in a bag and started working.

As is done on all ships in the world, behind the wheelhouse was a radio cabin to which adjoined the cabin of the radio officer.

Because light armature not serviced for a long time, then I had to dismantle all the middle from the armature, bring everything to workshop and them mount everything on a regular basis.

After lunch, when I began to dismantle the lamp armature that was directly above the porthole of Oleg's cabin, I stood on a bench and involuntarily looked over the curtain window into the cabin.

In addition to the owner, the senior and third navigators and a sailor doctor sat at the table. On the table was a liter bottle of vodka and some snacks. They drank.

Only then did I realize that in the afternoon until three o'clock the Greeks had a siesta – they were asleep – and at this time they could quietly drink. The appearance of my face on top of the curtain in the porthole shocked them. First, someone grabbed the bottle from the table, and then the shock passed and they continued. I also continued my work. If I only knew what it would lead to!

But I did not attach importance to it. I have already met this many times. Night call: urgently on the bridge, electrical equipment does not work. I quickly get dressed and hurry to the bridge. The third navigator is on watch.

– What happened?

– Where?

– Why did you call me?»

– There is no light on the navigator's table.

I try the switch – there is no light. I feverishly check the shields on the bridge – everything is on. I unscrew the light bulb from the lamp above the navigator's table – it burned out. I immediately take a light bulb from the shelf and screw it into the lamp armature.

– Was it difficult to do it yourself?

– This is your job. You talk a lot. Leave.

The answer of a twenty-two-year-old boy to a fifty-year-old man. Very unpleasant residue in the soul. The next night the same challenge. This time the senior navigator Yan is on watch. I change the light bulb again.

– Have you decided to teach how to love the Motherland?

– Keep track of equipment. This is your job. You don't have to sit in the office here.

So that's it! Now I understand what I am talking about. Oleg. This freak told them what he heard from the director of crewing before sending that I worked in the office. But it was still flowers.

It was bad that there were two people on duty in the bridge: the navigator and the sailor were Filipinos, and in both cases the Filipinos witnessed my night visits to the bridge. This immediately becomes known to all. There are no exceptions. I don't sleep until the end of the night, I think about the situation. The ship approached Gibraltar at four in the morning. According to the rules of navigation, an hour before the ship approaches the port, the state of readiness is announced and the crew takes seats according to the schedule.

In Gibraltar, we have to get a bunker – one thousand five hundred tons of naval fuel oil. I'm in the central post. Suddenly a voice command:

– Electrician urgently on the bridge!

I take the bag with the tool and go to the bridge. There are the captain, senior and second navigators, Oleg and a Filipino sailor.

The captain immediately declares:

– You can't do your job. Now there is no lighting near the windlass, sailors can be injured. Repair immediately! There have been many problems with your arrival on board. I warn you that if you do not recover, I will send you home!

I turned my gaze to my «countrymen» – there was an expression of quiet joy on their faces. I silently went to the bow deck, climbed on the mast on the spotlight. Of the five searchlights, the middle one, the one that illuminated the windlass, was off. I loosened the spotlight, turned it over, and looked inside. At the bottom of the searchlight lay a twisted DRL lamp.

I screwed it into place – it immediately caught fire. Butterfly glass mounting nuts are unscrewed – a clear sign of human hands. Put everything in place. At the bottom, the Filipinos were giggling merrily and mocking the type of «well done», «you work well», «a top-class specialist.»

Returned to the central post gloomy.

– What happened? – Serg asked.

– The lamp burned out in the spotlight.

Then the usual actions: anchoring, preparing to receive the bunker, checking the connection with the engine room. At the end of the bunkering immediately ready, disembarked and set course across the Atlantic to New Orleans. In the evening I went into the cabin to the second engineer and told him that my fellow countrymen wanted to push me out of the ship, and the initiators of this process were not Greeks at all.

– Here bastards, do not calm down in any way. The second and the third