Floating Lies and Sinking Truth - P1 COMPLETE

Chapter Seven - July 1980

After an uneventful afternoon and night the loading of the iron ore commenced in earnest as the sun rose and the ship started to settle deeper into the water as the weight of the ore took effect.

Of the eight holds set out along the ship only six would be filled with iron ore as the stuff is so heavy that if they filled every hold the ship would sink. Filling six of the eight holds will leave the ship full by weight but not by volume. This pleased the Captain as it meant loading would be quicker.

The replacement crew members appeared on the dock side after a long journey which took them on a plane from England to Quebec City and then a bus up to the dock. The crew were tired and keen to settle into their new quarters but were meant by an officious and pompous Second Officer, called Neil Farmer, who wouldn't let them even touch the gang plank until he had vetted their appearance, attitude and luggage.

The new crew members finally boarded and got assigned quarters and no sooner had they partially unpacked but they were summoned for duty.

'The bloody Captain better be better than the Second Officer or I'm jumping ship!' Chris Hammond said to his new roommate in a mixture of anger and contempt.

His roommate looked over and they exchanged a tired smile. 'I'm James Long, Third Engineer' he said and put his hand out to shake.

'Chris Hammond, Second Engineer. Good to meet you.' Chris replied.

'You too. I guess we'd better get on upstairs' James replied.

'Yes indeed.' Chris said as they shut the door and headed up the steep stairway toward the Recreation Room, or Rec Room as it was more commonly called.

*

They all milled around in the Rec Room waiting for the annoying and pernicious Second Officer, Neil Farmer.

As they stood around Chris and James noticed another crew member wearing the uniform of an Engineer. Chris looked over at the engineer with his mop of blond hair, glasses and oversized overalls which made it look as if the lad was drowning in his own clothes.

With a raised eye brow Chris made eye contact with the lad and said 'did you steal those overalls or are they yours?'

The lad looked back puzzled for a moment then came over timidly and introduced himself. 'Joseph, or Joe, Smith. And no, these are my overalls but I lost a bit of weight on the journey here from Iraq.' This ships previous journey had taken it from Iraq loaded with Crude Oil to the US east coast.

'I'm Chris and this is my lucky roommate, James.' They all shook hands and gave each other a look over, sizing each other up.

'Lucky roommate, er I will reserve judgement on that one as we've only shared a room for five minutes so far.' James responded sarcastically.

'Tough journey over was it?' Chris asked pointedly to Joe.

'Yeah, well it was for me. I got sick and spent a bit of time below decks and lost some weight, hence my oversized overalls. The Purser keeps saying he'll get me some better fitting replacements but I won't hold my breath.' Joe Smith responded calmly with a smile.

'So what's the gossip, who should we avoid and who should we keep in good with?' Chris asked Joe conspiratorially as they were fast friends.

Joe was wary about bad mouthing any of the other crew members as if it got back to them it would cause trouble so he responded non-committedly 'Ask me later and I will fill you in'. Joe didn't want to be rude to his new friends by refusing so offered a postponement.

Chris and James exchanged knowing glances as they could tell from Joe's response there was plenty to tell and it was obviously not all good.

Just as Chris was about to push Joe for some more details Second Officer Neil Farmer walked in and everyone tensed including the senior crew members present. Neil Farmer obviously was a hard-ass and a force to be reckoned with!

It would be over two months until they touched land again after they left here and arrived in Japan. With Neil Farmer on their backs it was sure to be a long two months! Chris thought to himself...is it too late to get off? He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he wasn't going to make himself look a fool in front of the others by trying to back out.

The Captain stood on the Bridge Wing watching the iron ore continue to pour into the hold of the ship as the sun started to set. The job of loading would be fininished by morning and then that would give them a whole day to sail up the St Lawrence Inlet and baton down all the hatches. Leaving in the dark was possible but increased the risk of injury to the crew as they would be out on the vast deck in low light conditions. Better they get a good night's sleep the Captain thought and have then ready and raring to go.

*

The sun rose and the Captain checked the paperwork provided by the workers who had loaded the iron ore. Just over 150,000 tonnes was perfect and the Chief Officer reported that loading had been carried out as per instructions.

With the iron ore all aboard and the paperwork completed the huge hatch covers were closed and the ship made ready to leave.

Baton down the hatches is a term which has crept into wider use in the English language and the crew were preparing to literally baton down the hatches. All hatches, big or small, would be secured shut in preparation for heading out into the wilds of the Atlantic Ocean.

There was a frenzy of activity as a tug boat came alongside and pushed the MV Shire out into the deeper channel. Once the deck work was complete the crew returned to the superstructure, the main block at the back of the ship atop which sits the Bridge.

Some of the crew looked out the windows forlornly as they knew that once out at sea it would be months until they touched land again.

The crew all had a busy day ahead of them and they worked hard in order to distract themselves from the sixty odd days ahead of them which would all be spent at sea. They also wanted to be distracted as then the day would pass quicker and they were all looking forward to the first night's dinner, it was always a special meal hopefully a thick steak or such like.