Good VS Bad Experience Onboard ship

Good and bad are integral elements of our life and remain with us throughout. What is good for a person may be bad for another and so it is a subjective issue and nothing is absolutely good for all (and vice versa). There are good and bad in every aspect of life, and it is hard to escape from anything without being judgmental and categorizing it as good or bad. On the whole, a society sets the norms for good and bad and guide people in their lives. But people never try to delve deeper to analyze the differences between good and bad and accept things at their face value. Let us take a closer look.

We become accustomed to the bifurcation of good and bad in all aspects of our life and unless we decide or finalize something as good or bad, we are not comfortable. In fact, we make stereotypes for this very purpose and categorize people around us as good or bad to sort out our friends and those whom we do not like. In fact, there are qualified people who indulge in this very exercise, to earn a living. They separate the good from the bad to let others know and deal with things accordingly. Because of the efforts (or shall we say subjective liking and disliking) of some people, we are helped in no uncertain means and know beforehand what is good and what is bad for us.

Thus, we have good food and bad food, good and bad music, good and bad writing, good and bad films, good and bad actors, good and bad rulers, and so on. We are left on our own rarely. Perhaps food is one category where we decide on the basis of our taste buds what is good and bad, though even here there are nutritionists and doctors who keep telling us what to have and what to avoid. Similarly, when it comes to clothing, we tend to follow fashion as we are told what is good (in fashion) and what is bad (out of fashion).

Therefore, I would like to share about my good and bad experiences onboard ship.

For the past few years ,numerous amount of good and bad experiences came upon my life when I was onboard. I would go with the good ones first.

GOOD EXPERIENCES

First in the list is definitely , going on a shore leave in Japan.I never travelled to foreign countries before in my life on my own and now I have the chance to do so after joining the foreign going lng tanker of MISC Berhad.This time,i went to a famous tourist attraction hawker street in Kanai,Japan.

I had a good time around with my colleagues and got the chance to shop few things for myself and family.In addition to that,I tried few famous dishes of Japan such as tendon, takuyaki, tempura and etc.

That delightful experience in Japan is still fresh within my memories .I really couldn't resist the moments in the coldness, beauty and the traditions in Japan.

Next, I really couldn't believe that I learned cooking onboard ship. Thanks a lot to my shipmates whom pushed me hard and made me learn how to cook various types of dishes in different cuisines. Everyday around, when I was onboard, I would go to the galley in the evening and prepare some dishes for the shipmates. After all the effort, we would all enjoy the night with a wonderful movie session. Laughs and banters around the crew lounge is always helpful to overcome the stressful work during the daytime.

Last but not least, the very good experience is sailing on a mighty vessel in the vast ocean itself. I am preety sure that not all of the people around this world would have experienced this. As far as I am concerned ,nothing is more peaceful and challenging at times than this .On a lng tanker, a lot of critical operations done such as loading , discharging, ship to ship operations, ballasting and etc. All of these were good experiences for me as I never had the chance to do it here on land. I am always proud having to say that I am a sailor and I would really like to pursue my dream in this career.

BAD EXPERIENCES

The good ones are over, it's time to share about the pain now. The very first on my list is a blackout incident onboard ship. Hell, Yeah !! It was terrifying, the mobility of the crew were all limited and some began panicking when this happened. Sharp at 2 in the morning, on my watch ,it happened. It was pitch dark and a lot of alarms broke out. That was the very first moment that gave me a scare about life onboard as it came unexpected.

Next, there is one real bad experience that I faced onboard and it summed up everything, I met with an accident. It was about time to drop anchor in hours of darkness, I was there with the anchoring team in the forecastle. Not as part of the working team but just as an observer. Unfortunately,while removing the bow stopper, the guillotine bar fall away from it's position and hit me hard on my hand and thigh.

All the crew started panicking, I was just hoping that nothing real bad happened to me. But, it was not as expected ,I was hospitalized and went through several surgeries after that. My finger was amputated .It was real tough to accept the fact in the beginning but I got on with that and here I am kicking again. Life goes on and I am even stronger now to face it.

And that wraps up all my good and bad experiences onboard ship. 

THANK YOU.