ROLAS

Duty Officer is in charge of ensuring that all cargo is secured. It means physical check of lashing by climbing ladders to lashing bridges. Longer ship equals more bays. More bays to climb. I knew that when I accepted offer to go on E-Type. I wanted proof that people among us are operating very sophisticated machines. Bridge disappointed me. I expected new equipment. But everything was the same since 20 th century. It is huge inside and I could jog from starboard to port. 56 meters is a long distance. On every vessel, from every bridge regardless of ship's length, view was almost the same. It is because. The longer hull, the higher navigating bridge. Same happens on E-Type. Except. When You look astern, You observe that there is also big part behind Your back. Vessel of more than 50 meters long should exhibit two navigating lights. One on the forward must. But there is no fixed position for the second light. So it is placed on the Accommodation mast. Which is middle of E-Boat. O...

There is always something advanced. Something You think You will never be able to experience. It is distant, but You can see. At the same time You do not even realize how people even get there. The fastest, the biggest, the strongest... List is endless. But there should also be the best professionals My first vessel as Second Officer was a proper ship, but small comparing to the ones I sail on now. She sailed in Northern Europe. North and Baltic Sea. I came out on deck being in Aarhus. In front of us was enormous piece of steel. I knew about that type of vessel from magazine. But for the first time I saw that ship with my own eyes. There was also Chief Mate who complained about his life, family, not being promoted and that he was tired of small ships. That he belonged there. One board of one of those floating terminals. He took his camera and started walking along the pier towards “Ebba Maersk”. Worth to mention that it took only a glance for me to know that she was just out from Oden...

I love everything about my PS3. It is such solid piece of technology. So many things that can be done using this console and XMB menu. I do not think people explored everything SONY offers. It is great Media Player and I view my pictures only through PS3. Blu-Ray. Online gaming is free. Huge library of games. Built-in batteries whether it is DualShock 3 or PS Move. PSN Plus is a great feature, but is not available for my region. The list is endless. It simply does everything as advertised. Most of the games this year I am getting for PS3. I only hope the problem with PSN and rumours about accounts will not become huge.

Each Consloe has its bright side and downside. And each of them I bought with intention to support developers by buying Original copies of the games. I purchased XBOX 360, because it was much cheaper that PS3 and there were many games. It was bundled with "Gears of War". I bought many games later. I enjoy XBOX Live. It is very easy. But You have to pay. And I am fine paying while playing. But being at sea for many months amd being able to stop subscription only from Germany. That is not an option. Though it is just few clicks from subscribing to Gold Membership. The piracy is a disasterous thing. XBOX 360 was quickly modified after its launch. No need to mention that if majority of people are paying 5-10$ per pirated copy, no one is importing games which are 60$ just to satisfy my needs. So I had to order games from internet or when I am in Europe. The only reliable site I know, that delivers things to Ukraine is Play-Asia.com. But the other stupid thing is Region protection...

I like current Generation of game consoles. I own every console from Big Three. I should mention that I am most happy about PS3. I played and completed most of games on XBOX 360 so far. And I still do not know how I ended buying Wii. First console was XBOX 360. I bought it 6 months after PS3 and Wii had been launched. Launched in rush, assembled in China. I had my first problem with hardware in less than a month. I had next breakqown two years later. PS3 was a New Years present from my wife. I received during the night of 2009-2010. So I knew that PS Move would be greater than Wii. But 4 months later I bought the Wii. WiiFit was the reason. I am not playing it much, but I am sure this is first console my baby daughter will have fun with. Both SONY and MicroSoft predicted 10 years life cycle. It looks that they can pull it off. And I am ok with it. Wii was outdated when it was released. It can not compete any more. There is not enough horsepower to the system. It lacks the features and...

I pushed myself Close to the North Racon. I wanted to make this picture from forecastle. There are not so many rules of the road which regulate collision avoidance. And they haven't been changed for many years. Yet, many Officers can not see the full picture when applying rules. Singapore Straight. Eastbound. My vessel is going Slow Ahead. There is a tanker behind.She is an "Overtaking vessel". Should overtake me and be responsible until I am past and clear. She was following me for quite some time with the course showing intentions to overtake me on my straboard side. Instead, the Officer there called me and asked me to slow down, so he could pass ahead of me to jin left part of the channel designated for deep draught vessel. The explanation was that he was Vessel Constrained by her draght. VTS also contacted my ship to advise me about vessel on my starboard side. But they mentiond that the vessel was also a vessel on my starboard side, which according to the rul...

It is a challenge being cadet. You know nothing about the ship's life. Nothing... You come blank. And people on the ship also know that. So there are many ways Your presence on board may start. And that solely depends on the ship's management. I was lucky. C/O was also Ukrainian. Master was German. He was actually the one who protected me from getting in to the deck's life until I have familiarized myself thoroughly. I was frequently on the bridge. That captain enjoyed talking. One more fortune aspect was that the ship was only 6 months old. So there was no hard job. Just covering existing paint with more layers of fresh paint. But that job was to “danger” for me. I was given the task once. I had to cover few inches of the door with white paint. And captain saw me painting. But in his head through his eyes I was a monkey that tried to launch nuclear reactor. He called Chief  immediately  and told him that I have not been ready for handling small brush and jar of paint yet....

Odessa is a big port. It is not developed, but there is huge advantage comparing to modern terminals. I didn't like the life on passanger ship. Mostly the people. Though food was ok. You just have to treat the cargo better then Yourself. And cargo on passaenger vessel is lot of people. You also get plenty of staff from travel agency. And huge amount of personal above You. Even if Your rank is high. As an officer on merchant vessel I prefer sailing period rather than port stay. Less ports the better. But I enjoyed everyday new place on "PALOMA II". I should mention dramatic difference between modern cargo terminals. They are built so far from nice places, that it is impossible to distinguish one from another. Passanger terminals located in the middle of the city. And it was so comfortable to go out in any European port. Port of Odessa was also in our schedule. There were two calls. 4 days between each other. And I had to sign-off on the later one. But I also wanted to go ...

22nd Aprill 2011. 16:00 UTC. It is midnight at approximate position: Lat 06 degrees North; Lat 090 degrees East. It is dark and quiet. Absolutely calm sea. Surface of the ocean can be used for looking at bright sprakling weirdly named constelations formed by stars. Vessel's is on Easterly course. Then on my starboard bow I can see red glowing object. It is erecting from liquid and is visible just above the horizon. It is like seeing sunset or sunrise wearing very dark eye protection. But this You can watch everyday. Then selestial body and our planet's natural satelite slowly rises high in to the sky, bypassing the surface air which blocks intensity of the Sun reflected by Moon. Luna becomes brighter forming moon walk . She is not full and almost half of upper part is missing. She looks like the dimmed oversized bulb which round-shaped end is sticking out of the table lamp. Night becomes brighter and details of the environment become vivid as they are being enlightened. As t...

I had to join my first real ship in port of Bremerhaven. Her name was "Paloma II". But that was not the first and not the last combination of letters painted on bow and stern of the hull. The joining trip involved bus from Odessa to Kiev. Plane from Kiev to Frankfurt, then Bremen. And taxi to Bremerhaven. We were met with warmth, because vessel was receiving stores and two pair of extra hands is always welcome. My first day ended at 2200. And I had to start the next day at 0700. For the next four and half months it was my regular schedule. In fact I had never a chance to go earlier to my bunk. Later? Of course. The sailing was in Northern Europe. There is no night during June and July. I learned cleaning. All kinds of chemicals and techniques. But the most valueable experience was to learn how the rumour can be spread. If You don't want news to be heard - just shut Your mouth and keep tounge for moisting Your food and swallowing. If You want something to be on everybody...

Merchant vessel is not an amusement park. New generation of ships are built with cost savings in mind. You suppose to work, eat(also not to much) and sleep. That is Ok for several days. Then You are getting bored and You have to entertain Yourself. The choice is rather shortened. Watch movies, read books, play video games or hang out with guys. Some times sing karaoke and drink beer. I play games. I carry my PS3 or XBOX360(sometimes both) from home. I am always thoroughly examined in airports because of many wires in my bags. But I face questions from people who do not like games or have never played them. I understand persons who state their position, but do not fall in discussion of industry he has no clue about. One of the main statements which annoys me the most is that the "Gaming" is for small kids. Maybe it has been. But those kids grew up and games matured with them. Because those guys enjoyed their time, playing with friends. they were smart. They studied hard and m...

I expect: - basic panel with info showing GPS data, wind speed and direction, flight time. - person will be wearing wind-water-proof suit. Inflatable jacket will be embeded in it. - some sort of Hydrostatic Realese Unit for the straps to let person free, if plane falls and dives deep in to the water. I do not expect FlyNano to fly in windy weather. I do not know how this baby behaves in sky, but You have to take off and land on water. And with wind exceeding 10 knots that becomes a challenge. That is why there will be some sort of landing zones which will be guarded by breakwaters. The landing distance for Hydroplane should be shorter than take-off. But it is always harder to land. And the speed for landing is 70km/h, which is 20m/s. But it is just the matter of practise. Once You touch the water she stops fast. To sum everything. I am explicitly excited. I want to see FlyNano in Action. Of course I want to try flying. Probably it will start slow as clubs for FlyNano enthusiasts. It w...

Sci-fiction books and movies events are miracle for normal people. But they are accepted challenges for genius guys. I would not call those books fantastic. I prefer word futuristic. Azimov's "Prelude to Foundation" was written as the last in the series. But still in the era were Floppy disks were main storage. And even in that universe, with robots and space travels, You could be a magician showing up with SDmicro, Solid Hard Drive, Blu-ray or even saying word Terrabite. I like year 2015 in "Back to the Future 2". Kids in old Arcade questioning the game which required taking the gun in the hand. And now we've got XBOX360 Kinect. But I am the most excited about having hover board. Even if technology is not there, will have some fun with FlyNano. Because this summer mass production of affordable hydro plane is coming. 25000EUR-27000EUR for the plane and 5500EUR for trailer. I do not expect it will come with all bells and whistles of modern car. The weight r...

- Can he speak some English? - Oh, Yeah. He even knows some French. - Good. There is a vacant position for Galley Utility(I do not why I started that position with capital letters). That was conversation between crewing manager and my father. My father was looking for new passenger ship to join after he was "let go", because the group of vessels he was in rotation during that time had become one vessel short. So he asked if there was position and if I could get some actual sailing time on the vessel underway(I hadn't received any proffessional knowledge there). The news were sudden and I had to go. I could have joined other company as deck cadet for lower salary, but there was no time to argue. My parents tried to arrange another interview one year later, but I insisted that from that from that moment I will apply for future jobs on my own.

It is disaster when You're sick Its serious and You will die And there's a cure, but also trick The price tag's high and You can't buy Few drops of fluid that will heal And You'll be good to go. And how exactly does it feel? Say – NO, but also know That soon this drug will go to waste. Much faster than ill person That could of life inhale taste, But soon, like pill he'll leave us also. The saviors don't count paper. They rescue lives, what I can tell. And noble was the remedy creator, But there is link that wants to sell. To earn and prosper on the sorrow, On sufferers and who's in pain. Where money rule, there is no moral. They make existence kinda vain. I wish good health to every human, Who keeps the warmth in beating heart. But if You're greedy man or woman Remember quote below by heart. За неспасенную судьбу стоять будете в ответе. В Аду пылать, коль неспасенны были дети. You'll be in Charge for unsaved lives You'll burn hellflame...

My first vessel was a sailing training ship "Druzhba". She was rebuilt to transport passengers as some luxury yachts do. But the investors didn't work hard enough to bring her incto full operational service. So there she stayed in the port rusting. It is a shame because that ships crossed Oceans in the past. Eventually Academy started to send cadets on so called ship board training. The people were trained to chip of old paint, scratch of dark wood and do the cleaning job. I joined the group of about 30 cadets in mid June and spent two and half months there. Monday til Friday, eight til noon. It was not the best thing You can do in Odessa durinng summer time. But it was just half of the day. Management even told us that ship was scheduled for sailing in mid August to encourage our free of charge work. But it had never happened. There were other groups later. And they went out and spent time in rough Black Sea weather.

Sometimes, but probably most of the times, I do not understand decisions of the top managers. There is a huge Company “American Eagle Tankers”. Logically, they've got ships. And the ships are operated by multinational crews. By multinational it is safe to say Asians. Some people do not know, but Indians also belong to that term. That Company had tradition of raising Officer by sponsoring cadets and sending them to study in Malaysia. I do not know how, but my brother's technical school attracted their attention. Maybe they wanted young guys, without education, but who proved their intention to join life at Sea by studying 3 years in that school. They held interview and some 30 boys including my brother who barely knew English passed. He received lucky ticket to Malaysian Academy. He dramatically improved his English. I saw their Academy's facilities. They surpass by leaps in bounds our National Academy. I heard about low level of corruption in Malaysia and he only co...

My brother's school was not special. It was very regular. There was no English everyday with great teachers. So decision was to send my brother to technical school were he would complete remaining 10 th and 11 th years of school and get “Diploma” of Able Seaman/Motorman. He was not considered as brightest mind. - Wrong. I was not favorite son, but there has never been a slightest doubt in my intellectual abilities. - Right. My progress could only be slowed down by my laziness. He was simply overshadowed. And mother and his father thought that it would be just waste of money and time to send him in Maritime College or Academy. - Wrong again. Since his first day he became one of the top student in the new place. Parents could not believe in that. - That feeling will stay for a while with them. He finished among the best. In first five. That was achievement, but his life as Seafarer had only started. He would have to sail at sea as AB or Motorman. Then save money. Apply for c...

School is probably the latest place in Your youth were You can get something just by being nice person which most people adore. And that helped me to be caught in the crossover of following conditions: I wanted to join Academy the easiest way. There was agreement between my and Only my school for the faculty of Navigation. I was the first who asked head of the school about opportunity to count my school exams as entry exams in Academy. And I was the only person out of 207 students who had neither entry exam nor consultation. I just had to apply and pass Medical examination. And that cost me nothing.

Serious discussions about attending me some sort of maritime related educational building started when I was in the 9 th grade and had 3 years ahead of me before completing High School. My School was probably the best in city and region. But good things cost money. The speech which the head of school held that school's start of the year was implying that parents had to invest money if they wanted their kids to continue education. So back-up plan was developed. I could have finished 9 years and joined college. So there was maritime one. (Many guys have completed that college and started sailing as Officers after 9 years in school and 4 years in college being younger than graduates with Master's Degree after 11 years in school and 6 years in Academy). Although my father's desire was to let me finish high school and join Maritime Academy. It is easy to imagine his joy and happiness when we received news, that there would be no compulsory charge and I can study 3 years m...

It seems now that my career as Navigating Officer was inevitable . Same with my younger brother . We are the last and I sincerely hope that we ARE The Last link in this chain of dynasty . We are from different fathers and consequently from different grandfathers . Who were very respected Captains . Both died and neither me nor my brother have ever had a chance to meet any of them . Our living common grandfather has never had desire to meet any of us . " Grandfatherless " childhood . But we were constantly being reminded that we were part of Legacy and other nonsense parents tell their children to encourage them set goals . And if my way was clearly foreseen as steady approach and required just the Time , my brother's future was more like a leap of faith . And I should say . That during that free-fall the Miracle did not happen . He did...

Shipping industry is huge . 90% Of all goods in the world are transported on the ships . So there are many people involved . And millions of are currently on board thousands of vessels . At sea . Some cross Pacific , Indian or Atlantic Ocean . Other guys are in smaller and less deeper waters . It varies from ship to ship , but port stays can either be awful experience or great relaxation from long trip . Enormous number of men and women have their lives at Sea as Seafarers . And they've got different stories as well . Good , bad , sad , funny , twisted . In short . All kinds of stories which even gifted writers could have not imagined . And I've got some stories and personal opinions in general on the whole industry state .