Life at sea

"It's like our second home"

Introduction

Over 12,000 energy tankers are active on the world’s oceans, making approximately 320,000 voyages every year to move oil, gas and other crucial commodities around the globe at scale and at speed.

This is the story of one of them.

Follow Vortexa’s Arthur Richier as he meets with the crew of James Fisher's tanker the Superiority, interviewing the crew to find out more about what life is really like at sea.

Watch the second video episode: Life as sea

Not long after I boarded the Superiority, I caught up with Captain Remi to briefly discuss what life is like at sea. “It’s the same as working on the land, obviously with a couple of differences, like being away from home”, he said, going on to explain that the crew switch with a reliever crew, syncing up schedules so that both get time off during the summer, and alternating key holidays such as Christmas. While they do get to make occasional trips ashore during voyages, “sometimes there is no time”.

For seafarers who come from shipping families like Remi, this routine can seem quite normal, but for those who are the first in their family to work at sea, the transition can be jarring at first, with differences in everything from mealtimes (dinner is at 5.00pm every day) to names for areas of the ship (the kitchen is called a “galley”). For Sebastian, the engineering cadet, the adjustment was made even more challenging by the fact that he started his training at 16. “They recommend that you stay in halls for the first 6 weeks” he said about his training course, “and that’s just so you can get used to the life at sea”.

For Sebastian, the fact that the Superiority is coastal and operates in Europe made things easier, as he regularly has signal and is able to keep in touch with family and friends, and enjoy the benefits of long periods of time off back at home, “I don’t think there’s a job in the world that does half the year away, and then half the year at home getting paid tax free”.

Arthur's blog

With the multinational crew made up of Romanian, Polish and Filipino crew members, the long distances from family and loved ones can take a toll. Some had moved their careers to James Fisher as the shorter time frames at sea worked better with a young family. When I spoke to Charlie, one of the Seamen on board who comes from the Philippines, he talked about how, even though it is hard to be “very far” from family, his job allows him to provide a better life and future for them.

“Summer is best” said Chief Officer Dan, who in good weather has an incredible view of sunrises and marine life from his office at the front of the bridge. However all the crew agree that winter, with the colder weather, can be challenging. The job of keeping all the personalities on board working as a team during the tough times falls to Remi, who spoke about the need to “find your own way of dealing with people” as captain. The natural camaraderie between the crew mean that most prefer to come back to the Superiority for each voyage, rather than switching between other James Fisher vessels, “It’s like our second home” Remi said.

The various facilities on board play a huge role in creating a home away from home and helping the crew adjust to life on board. Remi and Sebastian took me for a tour of the mess room, where the crew spend most of their time when not on shift. With a dart board, exercise equipment and a large screen TV it functions as a catch-all space for socialising and keeping fit while on board, which is beneficial for the tight-knit crew. When I spoke to Sebastian about the obvious camaraderie on board, he mentioned that the crew often arrange to watch films or football matches together, “It’s quite a sociable vessel, tomorrow it’s the FA Cup final and we’ve all arranged that we’re gonna watch that together, it’s a nice thing to do, we’re a team on board”

As well as the responsibility to keep the crew safe and happy, Remi was also keen to stress the importance of equality on board, with all the crew sharing access to all the same areas for socialising and eating, “There is no separation between the officers and the crew”

I was then taken into the galley to meet Raul the cook, who all the crew affectionately refer to as “the most important man on the ship”. With the crew away from home for months at a time, Raul plays an essential role in keeping the team well fed and healthy, ordering fresh supplies to be delivered from shore, and when possible doing the shopping himself. Food also provides part of the daily and weekly routine on board, with set mealtimes and traditions - on Sunday steak is always served, on Friday, it’s fish.

Interesting fact:

As well as socialising and working out, one of the more surprising activities for the crew in their spare time is fishing, with mackerel and cod being regular catches.