Everybody is up when we arrive in the harbour
After a voyage of less than five hours, the dawn begins to break. The lights of the Muuga Harbour are seen as an orange stripe on the horizon. In the slumbering vessel people have awoken as though they have been hit by a bolt of lightning and the corridors are swarming with people. Outside clothes are quickly put on. The dressing room is otherwise a little over crowded.
“We get enough exercise just from the work”, somebody shouts and winks an eye towards the two exercise machines, which take up half of the dressing room”.
Viktor Siman and able-bodied seamen Rene Kopli the ship’s cook are positioned in the stern of the Carissa when it arrived in the harbour. First mate Anders Wiberg and Vladimir Zmenja are in position at the bow of the ship. Then everybody stands as quiet as a mouse and follows the edges of the approaching quay. The Carissa glides past the dark cranes on the quay, which at night look even bigger. The water murmurs in the harbour under the ship. But then something starts to happen! The ship does not seem to be berthing as planned.
“Pull that rope, tighten it up”, shouts Anders to Vladimir. The ropes have frozen up during the voyage and will not bend. The mooring ropes are being tightened by the mooring ring, (i.e. the mooring winch), once, then twice and even a third time. The ship is swaying but finally it gives in as it should, i.e. it berths into its right place. It is eleven o’clock in the evening. The whole crew is awake and working.
“This is a bit more of a special trip”, everybody laughs about the nocturnal goings-on.
After arriving in Muuga, Ari Kalijärvi the ship’s chief engineer goes down to the engine room, because it is only really possible to carry out maintenance work on the main engine when the vessel is in the harbour. Work is also being carried out in other parts of the ship.
“The quicker the unloading and reloading work is carried out, the faster we can start the return journey”, says first mate Ander Wiberg, during a minor negotiation with the crew concerning the timetable.
In Muuga, cargo is handled around the clock. The loading work, the timetable for which was originally estimated to be four-five hours, was carried out faster than expected and the return voyage can begin. In the small hours of the night, people are awake in the bridge, the others can sleep. What happiness and bliss it is to be able to sleep!
“The most difficult hours are during the graveyard watch, i.e. between two and five in the morning”
