Travelogue: off the coast of southern Norway 

Date and time: 07.08.25, 11:00
Location: LAT 59.00°, LON 13.50°
SOG (speed over ground): 13.5 knots, 21 knots, coming from astern
Wind: 21 knots

The seas have really calmed down. It was a very comfortable night yesterday.

The crew, though, is under a lot of stress. They have had to start cleaning out all seven holds. That means opening one cover of a hold, then crawling up and down, again and again, a thousand times. They can’t take much more than one or two buckets at a time.

Because it’s iron ore, they use high-powered hydraulic spray pumps to wash down the entire hold. Each hold is approximately 39 meters wide, 20 meters long, and 20 meters deep. They have to spray not just the walls and floors, but get into every cranny, every ladder, every place where the dust settles. When they crawl out of the hold, at least one of them is covered in brown dust, looking wet and completely exhausted.

The Chief Officer said it is gruelling work. Everything is heavy and wet. Even iron ore dust, when wet, clumps together and becomes hard to move.

I saw someone come out of the hold yesterday. He looked shattered. I cannot imagine how he managed it, from 8:00 in the morning until 21:00 at night. There were several of them working together, but it is not enough. It is all because of the quick changeover.

They finished holds seven and six yesterday, and today they started on hold three and four. We only have two days left, so the Chief Officer is planning to speak to the Captain about whether it might be possible to reduce speed just a little, to give the crew more time.

We are near the southwestern coast of Norway. The issue with cleaning the holds is that we are not allowed to continue the process when close to land. That restriction reduces what could have been four days of cleaning between Rotterdam and Narvik to just 36 hours.

There are also other priorities, including repairs and inspections left over from the list in Rotterdam.

I got out on deck this morning. I have decided that my routine will be to get up at 05:50 and work at my computer until about 07:00 or 07:10. Then I get dressed in my safety shoes and overalls.

Before going on deck, I check in with the 3rd Officer. She is on watch from 06:00. I let her know I am heading out, and then I can go walking. This morning, I did 40 minutes. The seas were calm, so it was no problem at all. If it is too rolly, the Captain does not want me out on deck. On those days, I can do my steps on the treadmill in the small gym.

Even with calm seas, I realized I still have not gotten my sea legs. I watch the seafarers walk up and down the deck, right on the line, perfectly balanced. They clearly have another level of body awareness.

So, my plan is to walk on deck from about 07:15 until 08:00. The crew starts work at 08:00, and I do not want to be on deck when they are working.

Then I have breakfast at 08:20. After that, I will come up to the bridge and look out at the sea, and think up stories…

(Right now we are passing a vessel on our starboard side. Normally we would pass on the port side, but the 3rd Officer contacted the other vessel and asked if we could pass starboard to starboard. They agreed, so both vessels altered their course.)

Today I learned that we do not have a First Mate or Second Mate. That only happens on passenger ships. Here, it is the Captain, also called the Master, then Chief Officer, 2nd Officer, and 3rd Officer. They are responsible for the deck, the cargo, the docking, and everything else.

Then there is the Chief Engineer and Second Engineer. There is no Third Engineer.

Other than that, there are various deck crew members and the cook.

Okay. That’s it for today.