BEYOND LIES CAPE TALLIN
With the help of my sister , I was able to secure the endorsement in BPI bank to open an account there in Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall. Career gave me two endorsement forms one for my sister and one for my mom, As of the moment hopefully by next week I'd be able to finish this allottement issue.
Able also to finally take and finish the "Anti-Piracy" seminar from career at room 307. This seminar isn't that difficult and that it just basically describes what to do in the event of a pirate attack on a commercial ship. They also included information that 21st century pirates don’t come with eye patches and daggers in between their teeth with wooden large ships, nowadays they come on inflatable fast rafts with external motors and a ladder and wield some Ak-47's and a huge rocket propelled grenade (R.P.G.). The lecture seminars described a safe room in the ship called a "Citadel" (also called a "Panic room" here in the land based) were in the advent of a pirate attack all crew should be gathered there and be locked up from the outside until help arrives.
During break time to take lunch, I made a mistake and overspend an order in the fast food store which eventually resulted in me walking from Cubao to Marikina after the class. Anyway it was my fault but walking from that distance wasn’t really that hard. Though I did suffer another heat fatigue - yet again.
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| Certificates that i took in career |
All of a sudden , career called back again on my home phone and informed me that the new vessel id be assigned on wasn't going to be "Dale" but instead will be "Cape Tallin" . The difference between the two is that "Cape Tallin" is three times larger than "Dale", but that’s not the worst part - to my dismay I wont be able to join Captain Nicholas Betts in "DALE" and without the him watching my back there's a very huge possibility than I'd be maltreated just like before on my previous ship ( a lesson I learned hard on STOLT Strength). Seriously I have trust issues with strangers and here in the maritime industry it difficult to put my trust on people. Anyway in spite of the possible difficulty I might encounter ahead, it’s a good thing that I already knew how to deal with it and better come there well prepared with anti-personnel equipment (padlocks etc.) Anyway for the general information , The specs of "Cape Tallin" that took my notice is this.
Gross Tonnage: 42,010 Tons
Length: 228 Meters
Beam: 32 Meters
Draught: 8.5 Meters
IMO:9441154
Flag: Marshall Islands
MMSI: 538003422
Callsign: V7QQ9
Following Morning, I went back again at career to finish a few paper works. Notably going to the "Processing" counter and signing up the contract. I do understand the urgency on why I had to sigh up for the contract and that its needed for the Visa, for the moment I could say that the contract I signed up with is more like a dummy contract and I had to yet to signup again if ever I passed the and got the U.S. Visa. From what I saw on the contract that I signed up with , my salary is about 905.75 U.S. Dollars per month and here is the break down slip of my salary according to the processing counter.
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| The Salary Rate Slip that was given to me |
Basic Salary : 445 USD
Overtime pay: 248 lump sum
In Excess 85 hours: 2.91 USD
Leave pay: 163 USD
Seniority Bonus: 5.25 USD
Retirement pay: 44.50 USD
Quite honestly I wasn’t happy when I saw the salary rate that was being offered to me , and that the salary rate was almost the same as a Philippine Flag (POEA) rate for an O.S. which I recall is 900 USD also. However in spite of the cheap salary offer that was being given I did consider signing up because of the "Benefits" of having a U.S. Visa around. Having a Visa gives me an edge as a rating if I do secure one.
Aside from signing up on the "dummy" contract. I took also the time of visiting the medical counter to pass my typhoid fever "yellow card" vaccination along with my Yellow fever "Yellow Card" vaccination. Once I already passed it it means I officially have cleared the medical counter.
Last part was that I had to visit was the TESDA / NAC counter and inform them that I already took the 3 seminars assigned which is VSTC, MST and Anti-piracy . The receptionist told me that there is still two remaining and that I have to see her back again and report back once its finished.
Finished the said task and went home in the afternoon.
During late night I was watching a some sort of talk show program. Wasn't very fond of watching those kind of programs since I was a kid but one part of the talk show caught my attention. A guy named Andrew Alcantara who is now a rising Filipino fashion designer and was a former Sailor (Specifically BSMT) , It caught my attention on the part on how he describes his life back then when he was still a sailor and what lead him to leave and settle for the land based. Based on his testimony the reason why he became a sailor was on the fact that he looked up to his dad as a role model as a sailor and that he was living a comfortable life because of it. When his dad died because of cancer , he took up being a sailor without any further knowledge on what is the general job description of it.
Soon after he finished college, He immediately went to work onboard a ship and much to his surprise he was culturally shocked on what was going on. According to his story there were times, he was being waken up and bed as early as 5 am and being scolded by his superiors saying he was lazy and didn’t do anything. In the end was extremely dissatisfied and left his job - Now feeling burned out , he decided one day to venture out in the land based and see how he fares there. He landed as a fashion designer, On the talk show He was asked why he took up the job as a fashion designer, He simply answered two reasons, One is plain happiness, no matter how high paying the job is , it doesn’t necessary mean that you'd be happy on the job. Second is that he longed for the life of glamour and comfort , Something a life of a Filipino sailor will never be part of.
This is andrew alcantara's facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Designsbyandrewalcantara
This is andrew alcantara's facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/Designsbyandrewalcantara
TWO ALTERNATE WORLDS
My personal comment on this story is that indeed working onboard a ship Is full of hardship and sacrifices. And that people there are very primitive and short on good manners especially people who originated "down south" .
In working as a sailor the main concern that a person should pay attention is the people whom you are working alongside and not the job itself. For the working environment all I could say is that the environment there is somewhat similar to a construction maintenance and the tools and equipment being used is very alike, In fact the equipment used here are a hard hat , coverall's , safety shoes with steel toe, cotton and leather gloves, and ear muffs for ear protection.
Contrary to what is generally perceived by the public. A Sailor will never ever get to wear the summer white uniform - as in ever through the course of their practice in their job ( the only exception is if the sailor worked in a passenger cruise line or Wearing it in a license ceremony). A sailor will only get to wear the gear I mentioned earlier, though its still open to modifications as what I did during my previous ship. Last part I could comment is the lifestyle, being a sailor the life style is very different and that the fashion clothes a person wears is very different , I had already posted it on my previous post on how a sailor dress like.
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| Typical standard school uniforms of a sailor in the philippines |
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| Uniform Overalls used by a Sailor in actual work place |
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| Actual Modified Coverall Uniforms i used during my previous Deck Cadet Years .this is not in anyway the standard company uniform and I only customized and modified the Uniform to suit my needs on the actual shipboard work |
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