Sailor Finally Comes Home! | Sign Off From the Ship : Finished Contract | Seaman Vlog

I have been on board the ship for more than six months now my contract was originally only for four months but due to conflicts and schedule and a few unforeseen events I'm still here I was supposed to sign off at our previous port in Japan but since no reliever was available yet it is my duties stay on board for another voyage or until such time that I can be properly relieved our ship left Japan around two weeks ago and is headed towards the port of Longview in the state of Washington in the United States to load another batch of cargo so after sailing about two weeks across the Pacific we again have arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River we will be picking up the pilot in about two hours so I'm getting ready to go down to the engine room so as per latest info the port is actually quite congested right now and we will be staying at Anchorage for 12 days that is at the present information it is possible that we will be staying for a little bit more than two weeks in addition I received news from the office that they already found someone to replace me hopefully it all works out and I get the sign-off once our ship reaches port 2 seafarers who have been working on board a ship for months receiving word of their eventual sign-off date it's always a great and happy news the anticipation of being reunited with your family generates a lot of excitement and the feeling that once again you are about to complete a mission and already in the homestretch for extraction our ship finally entered the Columbia River and headed towards a story Anchorage to await our turn to go alongside the cargo terminal we were scheduled to stay for about 15 days in anchor so everyone was just so happy to have a longer break from crossing rough seas and of course enjoy the internet access we were also planning to carry out some pending maintenance jobs and since we had lots of time we weren't in any real pressure to hurry life was good I even started making plans in my head because I have a lot of occasions to attend to when I get home and thankful that I would be able to make it on time but our joy was short-lived because apparently the schedule in the cargo terminals was as fickle as the Pacific Ocean in the winter so our ship just arrived here at the port of Longview its along the Columbia River and just a few miles away from Kalama our previous loading port for the past two voyages I was actually excited for our ship to arrive here in the US because I was expecting to be signed off here we were already at anchor for a few days and based on the original schedule we were supposed to stay there for about ten more days but last night all of a sudden an email came performing us that we were going to be going in in a few hours time normally that's not a problem but unfortunately we will be staying in port for only about two days and since our birthing schedule was drastically advanced without notice that wouldn't give our office enough time to process the reliever because it's going to take about two days of travel from the Philippines all the way here plus the processing time of about one or two days so unfortunately I won't be able to sign off here I'm going to have to wait another 18 days or so when our ship arrives in Japan and most likely by then I'll be going home so once again due to unfavorable circumstances I had to stay on board I know some of you might find that unacceptable and I understand I have even heard stories of a few Mariners threatening the company and demanding to sign off even without reliever again I understand they might have been in a situation where and they could no longer tolerate being on board a ship or maybe because they have a really urgent family emergency to attend to as for me my situation on board this ship is quite okay I have a very cooperative and reliable crew we have a harmonious working and social environment on board and a very approachable and supportive office management plus this ship is relatively new and it hasn't given me any major problems operation wise so I didn't really see any reason for me to act like a prima donna and make demands besides from a very young age back when I was in the Academy I was trained to never leave my post without being properly relieved so as long as the conditions I am men are not subhuman or dangerous or illegal I am pretty sure I could hold on to that principle our discharging port will again be somewhere in Japan and as per calculations we will arrive there in about three weeks it has been a week since we left the US and right now our ship is somewhere in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean headed towards Japan and today is actually the first day that I have seen the sun shining so bright since our ship left port oh and coincidentally it's my birthday today I just turned 40 years old today and I'm still onboard this ship anyway the office and I have already agreed that I will be signing off for real this time once our ship arrives at Japan so that's going to be about two weeks from now that's just how it is in the maritime profession if you choose this career path you have to make peace with yourself that you won't be able to be physically present with your loved ones in many many occasions you won't be with your family during birthdays holidays like Christmas and New Year anniversaries graduation my two kids they were actually born while I was working on board a ship so definitely I missed the first day that they walked their first word and basically almost first everything yeah I know it sucks but after more than 20 years of this you just kind of get used to it anyway since the day it's my birthday and I'll be signing off in two weeks and it's a lovely day outside today we're going to have a party it's a combination that's my birthday and Farrell party so what are we waiting for let's go Here I am just turned 40 celebrating my birthday onboard a ship away from my family away from my loved ones any Seafarer I know would rather spend a simple and relaxing day with their family then throw a party but since we are in the middle of the ocean far away from everyone and everything we try to make the best out of the situation that we have we try to find any diversion available any source of entertainment that we could get our hands on and believe it or not these simple pleasures helped get us through our contracts even if it's just one day at a time [Music] so our ship just arrived here at the port of Canora in Japan so this is going to be our first discharging port here in Japan the ship is going to stay here for about two days since it's a very short stay I won't be able to sign up from here I am scheduled to sign off at the next port at Genoa where the ship will be staying for about four days something like that which means I got laid again for a few more days but hey I've been here for more than seven months now so what's a few more days right anyway you know what they say more days equals more money thankfully we only stayed at canoe or for two days after completing our cargo operations our ship departed for our next discharging port in Hatchin oi upon our arrival there we stayed at anchor for about two days before finally going along side the terminal we have just arrived here at our second port in kachanov Japan and this is where I am scheduled to sign off we haven't received the final flight details as yet but most likely the reliever will be coming possibly tomorrow and then I'll be signing off the day after that I have called the office many times actually in the past few days and they assured me that it's already a done deal they're just waiting for the schedule so I guess I'll have to do for now is wait but at least finally after almost eight months of being on board I'll finally be able to go home with my impending disembarkation just a few days away I decided it was time to pack my bags I normally pack up a day before leaving and only when I am 100% sure that I'll be able to sign off in my experience the schedule can still change as long as you are still onboard a ship I also finalized my handover notes for my reliever making sure every important detail was included so today is our third day here in Port and I have finally received the best news today so as you can see the office has already sent me my flight details so the reliever is set to arrive tonight and my flight is scheduled tomorrow afternoon but I have to disembark from the vessel early morning tomorrow for customs and immigration formalities and such so the captain has already returned my documents and I've signed pretty much almost everything I have signed the only thing left is for me to handover the duties and responsibilities of chief engineer to my reliever the only thing left for me to do is wait for the reliever to arrive in order to complete my hand over so the reliever is finally on board well actually he's not my reliever because my reliever has been on board the ship for many months now the new guy is going to replace second engineer and my second engineer is going to be promoted chief engineer and he will be the one to relieve me when I go the truth is I've had my reliever on board with me for the past five months and I have been mentoring him in preparation for his promotion as soon as I saw that he was capable and ready to take on the responsibilities of chief engineer the captain and I send a letter of recommendation to the office and eventually it was approved this ship Motor Vessel Belgrano is my seventh contract as chief engineer and so far my time aboard the ship as being one of the most peaceful in my entire seafaring career sure there were a lot of things that were lacking particularly in terms of internet access entertainment facilities and good shore leave but the harmonious working environment and comradery fostered by the whole crew more than made up for the things that we lacked this has been my home for the past seven months I have made great memories during my time here it has treated me well but now it's time for me to say farewell and return to my real home and now my watch has ended today's finally the day guys I'm going home my flight was scheduled at three thirty five in the afternoon but since the ship was already leaving before noon I had to disembark at 7:00 in the morning as much as I would have loved to personally say goodbye to everyone I just had to settle for the ones that I encountered on my way down it's a good thing that my ever trusty Engine cadet was there to help me with my luggage apparently it was quite a long walk from the ship all the way to the gate [Music] so I'm here now at the Misawa Airport so this is my first flight this domestic flight and my plane is headed for Tokyo to Haneda Airport it will be my international flight soon after I boarded a plane headed for Tokyo the flight took about an hour and a half and luckily we arrived above Tokyo during the golden hour which gave me a good bird's-eye view of the city and Tokyo Bay at the airport I was met by another agent who assisted with my next flight which unfortunately was scheduled at around 1:30 a.m. and it's only 7 o'clock in the evening okay so my flight doesn't leave for another six hours that means I have a lot of time to kill here in the airport I'll just sit down here for a moment but maybe later I'll be walking around seeing what's what and have dinner and again wait there's nothing else to do but wait and browse the Internet at least there's Wi-Fi so that's quite all right during all that time waiting in the airport there was nothing else for me to do but have dinner and browse the Internet to be honest six hours pass by so quickly it really is a strange phenomenon that on board a ship time seems to move very very slow but as soon as your contract ends and you leave the ship time just seems to fly by and just like that it was time to board my flight destination Manila [Music] seafaring has been my profession for the past two decades I have been assigned on board many ships and had the opportunity to visit many countries I have experienced a lot of things that many people would never experience in their lifetime but all of that doesn't even amount to anything when compared to the sheer joy of coming home to your loved ones myself [Music]

Channel: Chief MAKOi

Views: 762,314

Rating: 4.9390736 out of 5

Keywords: sign off, finished contract, life at sea, merchant marine, ship, seaman, seafarer, merchant navy, maritime, boat, sailor, humans at sea, cargo ship, seaman's life, ocean, sea, us navy, us merchant marine academy, going home, disembark, shore leave, liberty, townsends, jeffhk

Id: lRZw9KTFji4

Length: 17min 55sec (1075 seconds)

Published: Sun May 26 2019