Picking up a tow from another banana boat

[Christopher Tennant]

78319085-5DF1-4D98-BC13-5A68C751440E.jpg
Following a major engine room fire, the Darien (loaded Fyffes ship out of the Philippines), we were adrift for a number of days when the Turrialba (ex Fyffes, then Empressa) arrived to give us a tow.
Superb ship handling by the master of the Turrialba allowed a rocket line to be shot from the Darien across to the Turrialba. Being a 4/E I was awed by this demonstration of ship handling although the deck department were quite nonchalant about it.
Then began a 6 day tow until a tug from HongKong could take over.
in total 17 days without power although we did get one of the auxiliary diesels ready to go but the amount of condensation in the alternator and switchboard deterred the C/E from starting it up.
many side stories are attached to this event, maybe some of the other participants will contribute.

[Ernest Martin]

I was taken off the Bayano in Gulfport to fly to Hong Kong for the five week drydock of the Darien. The ripe sweet smell of the banana pulp in the holds, could be smelt all over the place. All the fruit had of course ripened and had turned the cardboard boxes they came in, into a soggy mess and had to be pumped out. Three local crew members to help with the accommodation cleaning were employed. The Fyffes employees were put up at a very nice hotel where a car would pick us up for the ship in the morning and return us at night. The wooden gratings from the domestic 'fridges had all been burnt, presumably for cooking purposes. These all had to be re made and installed. I'm glad I wasn't an engineer as they had a lot of hard dirty work to do. It was a change to normal routine of ship at sea and so an interesting change.

[Christopher Tennant]

I was taken off the Bayano in Gulfport to fly to Hong Kong for the five week drydock of the Darien. The ripe sweet smell of the banana pulp in the holds, could be smelt all over the place. All the fruit had of course ripened and had turned the cardboard boxes they came in, into a soggy mess and had to be pumped out. Three local crew members to help with the accommodation cleaning were employed. The Fyffes employees were put up at a very nice hotel where a car would pick us up for the ship in the morning and return us at night. The wooden gratings from the domestic 'fridges had all been burnt, presumably for cooking purposes. These all had to be re made and installed. I'm glad I wasn't an engineer as they had a lot of hard dirty work to do. It was a change to normal routine of ship at sea and so an interesting change.

The voyage to Hong Kong was difficult for all on board but the crew pulled together and accomplished many things. Yes, we did burn most items made of wood to enable cooking. Pete Downie (purser) worked tirelessly to ensure we were all fed.

[j.sabourn]

I’ve just remembered the name of an oil rig on a memorable passage I did from the East Coast to the NW shelf in the 1990s. Usually I was master on one of the tugs , but this time I was on the oil rig where one had the grand title of tow master. The oil rig was the Ocean Epoch and was American. In the oil Industry people have different titles and the real person with all the say is the OIM which means for those unaware “ Offshore Installation Manager” . Who was of course American. After sorting out the language difficulties he was a very pleasant man, the language difficulties for example was finding out what he was talking about when he kept asking me “ Had I seen the Boooeee yet “ , finally I said what the hell is a boooeee, and discovered he was talking about a buoy. After seeing his point of view , as that is how it is spelt. However he was avery competent man and a great help when crossing the Bight the towing bridle parted , and we had to deballast to get on to the pontoons to replace. On leaving Fremantle the towline parted , and rushing out on deck on his own initiative he dropped one of the anchors right on top of the telephone cable running north to Asia. However he was man enough to own up to it and to carry the can. That tow distance wise must have been well over 2000 miles , but that saying worse things happen at sea was very appropriate at the time. JS

[Red Lead Ted]

Amazing, After all these years you only have to think of a cargo like bananas and you can still sense the smell, I can when i think about the Sugar brought back on the Harrison boats, My sense of smell can recall the hatches opened and it never goes away, Another one was Palm oil from the west coast on Palm boats that never leaves you Timber another one. I am sure there are many more out there Terry.

[j.sabourn]

#5 Whenever I hear the word banana I immediately think of the curved ones, unfit for human consumption according to some continental dimwit. Then my second thought is on the first one I ever saw which was after the war and curved round a candlestick on the mantelpiece . And someone explained to me what it was. I had a good laugh sometime ago when on a train going to Perth which is very unusual for me.one of the stations en route is Kwinana, and these young kids on train were shouting hey mum ! We are passing through Banana. Maybe their teachers thought the same way. JS

[Christopher Tennant]

The voyage to Hong Kong was difficult for all on board but the crew pulled together and accomplished many things. Yes, we did burn most items made of wood to enable cooking. Pete Downie (purser) worked tirelessly to ensure we were all fed.

https://www.merchant-navy.net/forum/newattachment.php
Improvised galley on the Darien following the fire.