Radiating a Vanguard’s Light: Cresting Tempests of Life

Words by Ian J. Caballero

Shhhhhh… Strident noise from machineries inside the torrid engine room slowly fades away. It felt like a flashback. All I can hear is the deafening silence inside my quarantine room for about 22 days while waiting for our flight details. January 22, 2022, a day filled with mixed emotions as I am about to embark and quest for knowledge knowing the fact that I am also leaving my family for months. My first international flight with three connecting flights from Manila, Philippines to Doha, Qatar, Doha to Sao Paolo, Brazil and a local flight from Sao Paolo to Curitiba followed by 2 hours land trip going to Paranagua, Brazil where I embarked.Upon arriving at port of Paranagua, I was mesmerized by the beauty and size of 45, 223 Gross Tonnage MV Navios Coral for she was really big and alluring especially her red-painted hull.

It was late in the afternoon when we embarked so we spent one night free from duties. The followingday we had turnover of documents, cabin and duties with the disembarking Engine Cadet. After which I got bags of garbage for off landing as well as sacks of incinerator ashes. After lunch there was a public address saying that the provisions have arrived and we went outside to transfer those in the provisionchambers. ‘Twas one of my longest days and it was very exhausting day for a newbie like me engaging myself in physical works. A week has passed, and my thigh down to my feet ached at night going up and down the stairs of five floors from upper deck to Engine Control Room and additional 4 floors from upper deck to the bridge as I obey my senior officers’ orders. I needed to be strong and healthy because I have no choice. After leaving Paranagua, we docked at Las Palmas, Spain for Bunkering which took 28 hours and we were awake for almost 33 hours given that the temperature is 5® to 10®C. We had short naps in between but those weren’t enough to cure the tiredness. I had silent cries that time realizing that seafaring is not easy.

It was the most challenging part of my cadetship journey when we Loaded Iron Ore Pellets from Convent, USA bound to Bakar, Croatia. The pilot went off the ship as we leave Convent at around 1PM, just 10 minutes after, we experienced trouble in main engine which made the ship stop so that we can rectify the problem. The spindle guide of the Fuel Oil Injector was broken causing the exhaust temperature to lower and there was a loud pounding inside the main engine. After stopping, we immediately replaced the fuel injector and I was tasked to go with my 1st engineer in examining the faulty one that we got. This happened every other day or twice a day which traumatized me just by hearing again the pounding of the main engine as well as when the officers purge it. I said “Ato na, nag purging na naman, ihanda ko nalang kaugalingon ko kag manaog kay ma baklas naman kami” and I was right, here we go again.

While that problem happened, we also encountered another big problem since our Fresh Water Generator cannot generate enough vacuum. We have very low water supply onboard to the point that we used the condensate from Air-condition unit for our laundry and when taking a bath. We spent 1 whole week in troubleshooting and reviewing the manual. We overhauled and cleaned all the parts but still didn’t worked. It was really exhausting in dismantling large and heavy parts of F.W.G. and we did it twice or thrice just to locate the problem. Only to find out that the mouth ring of distillate pump was broken and the overboard tube of ejector pump was severely covered with corrosion as well as clogged ends with mud since we had slight grounding upon leaving Mississippi River. We rectified the problem and called for a little celebration but we knew that our fuel valves are still damaged.

Days went by, we just passed Bahamas area when we encountered the same problem regarding F.O.V. so our Captain was left with a choice to go back in USA with tugboats or to continue the voyage at a low speed. We actually resumed the voyage until it happened again. The bigger problem is we no longer have spare parts for the F.O.V. It was when our 1st Engineer suggested that we condemn 1 cylinder or to cut-off supply of fuel in a cylinder. We did that. Instead of 6 cylinders, we only had 5 cylinders working with an output of 3-6 knots of speed. Countless sleepless nights seemed forever for all of us. We were 2 days delayed from our original port call at Gibraltar, Spain. Another challenge was faced as we reached Gibraltar because we had 10 hours bunkering operations which is also a critical operation, and at the same time spare parts arrived. We conducted toolbox meeting, divided the workforce for bunkering and installing the spare parts simultaneously making it more challenging. To my surprise, we accomplished the job orders without compromising safety. It was also a blessing in disguise because I learned how to assemble and disassemble a Fuel Oil Injector without any supervision from seniors. It was also an opportune time to realize that leadership and teamwork are of paramount importance.

To kill the monotony of eat-sleep work cycle, I was also blessed to savor the so called Shore leave on some countries I visited. Given that the pandemic hasn’t been ended yet, some of my classmates said “Sana all may Shore leave” because there are still countries that are not open for tourists. I enjoyed a lot visiting places like an American Crocodile Farm in Louisiana, USA; shooting places of Game of Thrones at Trsat Castle in Rijeka, Croatia and in Conjunto Monumental la Alcazaba de Almeria located at Almeria, Spain. I also wandered Barcelona, Spain for more than 2 weeks seeing Europe’s most unconventional church – Basilica de la Sagrada Familia which can also be seen in the movie of KathNiel; Camp Nou Football Stadium the former home of World Cup player Lionel Messi and Park Güell where Meteor Graden was shot. Lastly in Quebec, Canada where the famous Red Door is located from the Korean Series--Goblin.

Indeed, in seafaring, no matter how prepared you are, there will always be a challenge for you to decipher. Learning is constant so do not hesitate to ask questions if you’re skeptical. Learn how to be a learned learner. Inspire the younger batches of aspirants that the seven seas are vast so as our dreams for the future.

Tempests will always be a hindrance in our personal voyage, only ourselves know how we can pass through it with or without\ anybody and may this be a reminder that “God loves you and God will provide”. Chronicling this article may not be enough to tell all my experiences onboard but I am writing this in the hope of radiating the light after a storm. Have you ever asked yourself “What if I didn’t chose to be who I am today?”. How about you, what is your greatest what if?