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Thread: Saudi Arabia

  1. #21
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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    rastanura 1974 Texaco Norway,2nd tripper,brilliant run ashore we were told,big sub.
    on with the platform shoes,woolen hipster flares(red)crushed velvet jacket,shirt tie, ready for the promised ladies,off ship up the longest jetty I have ever walked ships crew leaning on the hand rails,they were still there when we came back 3 hrs. later laughing theyre tits off.what a wonderful life.

  2. #22
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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    I sailed with P&O Bulk as R/O for 9 years in the 70's and for most of the time never went near the Gulf, I would join ships that only went back and forth to Ras and immediately get orders to do something else. Eventually, towards the end of my career in the MN, I did go to RAS. As we approached the Chief Steward started throwing oranges over the side, Jaffa's, £10K fine if the Saudi's found any. Second Mate reckoned you didn't need to navigate into Ras, just follow the oranges.

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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    Executed , now that's a good idea we could do with in the UK.

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  5. #24
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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    As some of you may be aware we have a feral erection later this month.
    The shadow foreign minister, a female, is a lesbian.
    If she becomes the new foreign minister it will be interesting to see how she fare in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Brunei and a, few others where any form of homosexuality can result in the death penalty!!!!
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
    World Traveller

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  7. #25
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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    Quote Originally Posted by David Swan View Post
    Remember once, we were discharging Ro Ro cargo in Dharhan (most of which we did ourselves). A few of us were taking a break in the Officers bar. All the booze was locked away as usual. The 2nd Mate had poured a tin of Fanta into a pint glass. Next thing a Saudia guard had walked past, saw the pint glass and his AK-47 was off his shoulder, cocked and ready to fire, pointing straight at the 2nd Mate. As you can imagine, we all damn near Sh@t ourselves and started yelling at the guard that it was orange/citrus. Took him some time before he finally got the message and he lowered his weapon. Really brought home to me just how little regard some races have for human life. To be possibly shot for drinking orange juice from a Pint glass doesn't bear thinking about.
    Went to Saudi a number of times. Always found that the Red Sea side (Jeddah) was fine and a decent run ashore, but the Gulf side was a real pain in the posterior and was really glad when we finished and got underway again.
    It was quite unusual to discharge cargo in Dharhan as the ports around the area were Dammam and Al Khobar the city is better known for being the head quarters of Aramco and is a huge area for expat employees and there families (About 50,000 of them) the families live in there own compounds and even have their own private beach for swimming and sunbathing, They also are the only people in Saudi Arabia who have access to pork and pork products from their own supermarket. I worked twice in the Eastern province of the K.S.A. and remember that certain food products including FANTA were banned due to them also being sold in ISRAEL. The name was changed to Santa and every one was happy. The security guard certainly over reacted to the incident but maybe you got the wrong end of the stick and He was reacting to the FANTA

  8. #26
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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    We would normally have the Brit ex-pats on bachelor contracts, 2 months in and 2 weeks out for 2 years, a few of the real bachelors would go off to Thailand for a 2 week session. We had a relatively small ex - pat operation in Dhahran / Dammam and our guys lived in regular apartments. One of the problems we found was that if any of them ever got lifted by the police, even for traffic offenses, they could disappear, this is before cell phones etc. The trick was to get the joint venture partner involved as quickly as possible before they and their paperwork was sent to Riyadh. If it could be “dealt” with by local contacts the solution was cheap and quick. On one occasion an accountant had finished his 2 years and was being replaced by another Brit ex-pat. There was a 2 week transition period where they both shared the same apartment. The existing accountant had developed a taste for Siddiqui and was accumulating quantities for his leaving party but was spotted stocking up and shopped to the police by the Farash (building super). The result was a midnight raid with both being arrested, because of the quantities, for trafficking and shipped off the jail. I was in Dubai and knew nothing of this and for some reason when they did not show up at the Dammam office non of the clerks reported them missing and it took 3 days before any search began. It took another week or so to find them and by that time their paperwork was in Riyadh and we could do nothing. They got 5 years hard labor. Our JV partner was not a Prince but had “influence”, but even so it took another 9 months and some significant funds to get them out and deported on a Ramadan amnesty.
    Last edited by Chris Allman; 3rd May 2019 at 02:21 PM.

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  10. #27
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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    Martyn #26 the two times that I worked in K.S.A. were on military contracts and we were fortunate to have a Saudi prince as our Government relations officer. I tried sidiqui once (Sidiqui = the Arabic word for friend or in expat circles illegally brewed hooch) All i got out of the experience was the hangover from hell. I ended up in prison once which was the traffic offenders prison for a night in Al Khobar. The Saudis were well aware of the amount of boozing that was going on in various compounds across the Kingdom and I believe if you stayed on your compound and kept a low profile they let sleeping dogs lie it was only the traders in illegal alcohol and those who were stupid enough to be on the streets smelling of booze or even worse drunk who were targeted and received prison sentences/public canings etc.

  11. #28
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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    Quote Originally Posted by john walker View Post
    Martyn #26 the two times that I worked in K.S.A. were on military contracts and we were fortunate to have a Saudi prince as our Government relations officer. I tried sidiqui once (Sidiqui = the Arabic word for friend or in expat circles illegally brewed hooch) All i got out of the experience was the hangover from hell. I ended up in prison once which was the traffic offenders prison for a night in Al Khobar. The Saudis were well aware of the amount of boozing that was going on in various compounds across the Kingdom and I believe if you stayed on your compound and kept a low profile they let sleeping dogs lie it was only the traders in illegal alcohol and those who were stupid enough to be on the streets smelling of booze or even worse drunk who were targeted and received prison sentences/public canings etc.
    I agree, going in to the Gulf certain rules are pretty clear. But in saying that, even though I have visited them often, there are only 2 countries that I have refused to live, Saudi and Nigeria. In both places I could never really get comfortable.

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    Default Re: Saudi Arabia

    My brother worked on a construction site in Saudi Arabia, can't remember the exact time but must have been around the seventy's, although my brother he was a bit of a nut case. When we went home for a visit his wife told us that he had been flown out on a private jet to avoid being picked and charged for making illicit booze, he was very lucky as i think he would have still been locked up there today, or worse.
    Des

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    #28 I worked a one year contract between November 82 and December 83 in Al Khobar and skinned out on an exit reentry visa. Then took a worse job in war torn Southern Sudan in February 84 I was medically evacuated from there after only 5 months 'After an incident' When I had recovered from my injuries I then took a job in Nigeria. later on in my working life I worked in the Yemen for three years and Angola for one year probably the most 'Comfortable' of those countries was Saudi but one thing they all have/had in common was the work was highly paid because of the difficulties of both the climate and working environment including a very volatile population. My only reason for going to work in such places in the first was purely financial. I had visited Saudi,Nigeria and Angola several times on various ships so I thought that there would not be to many surprises working ashore. Well I soon found out that I was blinkered to the realities of the countries and the thing that I found the worst was the utter boredom when not working as the usual T.V. newspapers, shops and social life were not available.

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