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In 1978 some of the ESSO Tankers were Dry ships, Master`s discretion and by 1989 ALL ESSO tankers were Dry, all Bars removed,
Masters were issued with BREATHALIZER KITS,. From VLCCs to small coasters.
If he suspected that someone had been drinking ashore or on board it would result in Instant Dismissal and loss of Company Pension
The ships were much Safer then , Seven Months between drinks is not too long.
Brian
sadly i was never on a ship with a bar .....dont think if any sailed out of the shields pool with a bar ....think the pig on large passengers was a good thing but apart from one broached rum ration never saw perhaps one or two drunk ever at sea ...in fact two vessels were dry ......one chief officer endangered ship and crew and one second engineer thought he had the power when pissed to trot off down below and open her wide open ....he soon found out he didnt ...and his tap was stopped.....but thats what i saw 683532
Ah! yes, the lines that thought they were a cut above the rest of us mere mortals, and some had their personal cheap labour steward pour their pre-dinner, pre-watch drinks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lewis McColl
On the the trampers I sailed on I never saw heavy drinking by multiples of seamen at sea, probably one or two out of a crew of circa 45/60 over imbibed. Saw plenty of antics ashore, but as soon as up the gangway some never touched a drop until next port, even though their allowance was 1 or 2 tins per day, and definitely no spirits
#17 Cappy I am not going to argue with you, Attachment 31611Attachment 31612Attachment 31613Attachment 31614Attachment 31615. So you never sailed on ships that there was such a thing as an old mans bond? So you never got a brown bag take away? Seems to be an awful lot illicit drinking went on then on ships that you were only allowed 3 cans a day. So getting hammered up the road did not count then? The fact that a few have rolled up the gangway the worse for wear due to drink never happened then? I have often read with enjoyment some of your own posts and exploits when a lad up the road in foreign parts. The occasional night in a B&B courtesy of the local constabulary. Missing the ship , jumping ship, perhaps I am thinking about some one else then and if it was not you I do apologise. The last time I sailed with an all white crewed ship was in the 80's feeder ships for the container company Sea land , M/v Ohau & her sister ship the m/v Panarea 1. The old man owned the bond and he certainly was not issuing 3 beers a day per man. He openly admitted that he sold enough booze onboard over the year to buy himself a brand new car & a holiday for him and his wife. The attached photos certainly see these lads getting some mileage out of 3 beers a night. Even as a J/Eng at 20 years of age I was allowed a case of beer a week and a bottle of spirits. I never drank spirits in those days but many a time I was paid to get my bottle and it was passed along the alley way to others. We berthed once in Porto or Lexicos with a crowd from Harwich on deck. Some of these guys had never been beyond lands end. They went up the road got hammered in a bar caused a riot with the locals. They found out the hard way not to try and take on the local police force , got battered banged up and had a guest appearance in front of the magistrates next morning. The ships agent had to turn up with a brief case full of cash to pay the fines. We lost our sailing slot. The old man logged the lot and got rid of them all next time back in our home port which was Rotterdam at the time. Not bad on 3 cans a day eh Cappy.
1st trip apprentice mid 60s I had no restrictions, regularly had a case of beer and bottle of rum in my cabin, also had access to anything that was available in the officers bar. Crew got two warm cans per night issued from bond.
scroll forward twenty years, no drink in cabins and regular check kept on bar book
lewis you stated in an emergency 20 percent of the crew in the 50 and 60s were incapacitated with drink or under the influence AT SEA.......i have been drunk joining a ship at home and abroad .......i have had drink aboard many times in port i have been in local nicks at least4 times ...but i stated what i saw in my time at sea and to be honest i dont think you thought it out .....20 percent pissed at any one time at sea. .......ridicoulos ......sorry if you dont like this ...but your full page will not change what i saw .......very little drinking at sea.....and never a bar on any ship i was on .....and 3 cans was the best i ever got at sea in the 50s and 60s......BUT IF YOUR SHIPS WERE 20 PERCENT PISSED CREWWISE ...GOOD FOR YOU eh lewis
Not wanting to be officious but please stop the bickering on a silly Subject!
Its not nice and not necessary at all really!
Also not standing up for anyone just my own experience , i recall that we were allowed far more than three Drinks in the Pig on the Castle Ships. I myself used to put away quite a few when in there.
But as for 20% well that i cannot say, it does sound a lot!
So that said please calm Lads !
Thanks
Cheers
"The Boiler Room's an oily mess, Bright Spark himself couldn't care less, but fire mops up the oil for him, now his prospects are prity dim"
Hi Peter,
Some parallels there: I too was a R/O who left to join the Fire Service.
("Service" you will note: Not "Brigade"...yes, the wedge was coming into play!)
I only did 2 years with Greater Manchester and left when I saw the writing on the wall during the national strike: Two Unions of Firemen [as was] doing the same job with opposing views...Mmm) There were other factors involved but a career in the Fire Service I felt was changing & was not for me. So I went back to sea.
Anyway: I remember with fondness the job I did....Mill fires....Lovely. Thick acrid smoke...getting to the source wearing full SCBA to put out the waste cotton on some shaft end, smouldering away due purely to friction...only to find yourself surrounded by Asian women sat on the floor who had seen it all a thousand times before and so did not bother vacating the premises!
And on the fourth or fifth floor!
Who the hell allowed such lax control of the workers? The management would phone the Fire Service (sic) but not evacuate the building or take a roll call of its workers! Unbelievable. This was in 1975/6...we are not talking Victorian Mill Owners here....but a nationally recognised major company.
It occurred to me that we were, in some way, simply being used as "maintenance"! We would attend the fire, strip out the smouldering cotton from various shaft ends..that simply should not have been there, ventilate...and leave.
How the owners were not billed for this (they may have been, one supposes) is a mystery to me.
Imagine: we are attending, yet again, the same mill almost night after night to put out a fire that was simply down to lack of basic correct operation of these machines....during which, a genuine house fire could be occurring miles away with, as was the call, "Persons reported" That dreaded phrase. An unbelievable state of affairs.
I've diverged somewhat from the "Ship Fire" subject..but I'm relieved to say, that apart a few scavenge fires on some ships, I've never experienced a fire at sea. And for that, I am mightily relieved!
As later responses to your story suggest: The danger these days seems to be containers labelled "Safe" when in fact they are obviously anything but and get positioned deep within the bowels of a ship where nothing can effectively fight any fire which may occur....there have been several cases all too recently...... a truly worrying trend.
And also, the comments drawing attention to the reduction in crew numbers...just who is going to fight a fire on-board?
Poorly trained, multiple languages involved.
(Those that have seen videos of the situation on board the Costa Concordia will know... a factor there was the sheer poor communication between crew members....due to language differences. Had the ship not grounded, after the fatal damage, the consequences would have been far, far worse.)(Not fire-related...but you see my point.)
Anyway, Peter, thank you for your story & observations....Fire at Sea....a Nightmare!
Stay Safe. Cheers.
Cappy read my post no where do I mention that in the 50's or 60's 20% of the crew were under the influence. I was not at sea in the 50's and only started sailing in last quarter of 1969. As Doc says let it go, the thread was started when I challenged a statement by poster # 2 that to seafarers were basically not up to the job today.
Not getting into it anymore FWE on this subject now.