The Tale of Two Ballast Tanks

For those land lubbers who can’t figure what the title means, a ballast tank is one which is filled up with sea water whenever a ship isn’t carrying any cargo. This provides the vessel with additional stability as an ‘empty’ ship is more susceptible to the forces of the sea & wind. When the vessel begins to load her cargo, we pump out the water from these tanks. Majority of these tanks are arranged on either sides of the ship, meaning any breach in the hull would cause water ingress into these tanks (and not into the cargo tanks/holds). Since these tanks are more prone to corrosion (plenty water inside!), we do a regular inspection to make sure any rusty spots don’t turn into holes on the ship side...and yes that would mean going into these tanks which are often 5 stories high!

So it was during these routine inspections that 2 of the officers had descended into the tank and I was standing-by at the entrance along with another senior officer to keep radio contact with the guys inside.

It was a warm sunny day that looked like a perfect invitation for the goras of my ship to strip down to their shorts (or even a layer deeper) and let the tan show its prominence. But for his boiler-suit and rugged safety shoes, my Croatian superior decided sit back against the tank walls that were protruding on deck and sink himself in the serene warmth of lady sunshine who was already running her fingers through his neck.

‘Feels like Heaven..doesnt it?’ he said in his broken yet lucid accent.
‘Feels like home ‘Aako’..the temperature at my place is more or less the same round the year’, I said.
(Aako is how I address the Asst.Chief Officer,abbreviated as ACO)

“Aahh..interesting, my friend. The last time I feel this sunshine was when I go to Singapore. Our ship was in a dry-dock (repair yard) and I go ashore and meet this girl from Laos. She’s nice. Very sexy. She show me around the ‘ceety’...show me other stuff as well (with a wink)...but yes we were good friends. She keep in touch for long time”, he said and glanced at his watch.
It was 10 minutes since the party had entered the tank. No response so far. He reached for his walkie talkie.
‘Kraven Kraven..all ok’?
After a swift 5 second delay, “ All ok here”.
 I reached for my walkie talkie and, “Bridge bridge come in..all ok at ballast tank No.2 port (referring to the tank on the port side or left side of the ship).”.
The navigating officer at the command centre (called Bridge),  responded, “Roger that”.

He continued.
“Later on we take the ship to China since the repairs were too complicated. Plenty girls there also. We hire this bar every week for only 500$. Plenty girls dancing around. Plenty ‘Jiggy Jiggy’. But bloody ‘sheeth’, the rooms in the hotel was not so good. Same same like rusty ballast tank you know?”

I pictured an image of him making love with a skinny Chinese inside the ballast tank,and I swear to god, it was the most craziest imagination in all my life. I burst out with laughter as we saw the inspection party exit the tank.

Kraven the Chief officer was out of the tank. Sweaty and exhausted but still agile as he moved out.
“Other tanks after Chup Chup..secure everything for now”, He said.
(Oh btw..Chup chup is seafarers’ lingo for food).

It won’t come as a surprise if some of you are beginning to despise me like a cockroach who finds refuge in the sewers. Yes, I am a seafarer. No, I do not have a problem in associating myself with what some of you would call as low lives and no, I don’t fancy blowing up my money in strip clubs.
But the fact that seamen have always been known to be acquainted with all kinds of vices, can only be described from a man’s urge to vent out his otherwise stressful life onboard.

We returned back to ballast tank no.2, but this time it was the tank on the starboard side (right side) of the ship. Everything was fine barring the fact that lady sunshine decided to spice things up a little bit. The sun was OVERHEAD. Aako was sweating like a greased pig. Definitely not his idea of a tan-promenade.
Me on the other hand couldn’t have been more comfortable.

“Kreeshnaa...how you no sweat?”
“You probably forgot I said this feels like home”, I replied with a smile.

“Pichkumaatreyaaaa (an exotic verbal abuse in croatian)...this is too much”. He replied as he gulped down the last drop of water.

I wanted to lighten up the moment and asked, “So looks like great time at Singapore isn’t it?”

He took a moment. He directed his famished eyebrows at me and said,”Yess Kreeshna...good life I had...but you see..”. He paused for a while as his throat was parched. He swallowed a bit of his spit and continued, “All the fun I had was nowhere close to the time I spent working ashore , for half the salary I was earning. My life was maybe small. But it wasn’t complicated. I meet my wife for the first time when we work in the same building. Then we like each other and marry. We soon have our daughter and I decide not to go back to the sea since I want to see her grow up. These years can be very important, Kreeshna. I did not want to be a father who did not know his daughter well. It is because of those few years, my daughter stick to me more than sticking to her mother.”

I was dumbstruck. I couldn’t really understand the man he was.

“Remember Kreeshna...no amount of money will ever get me back those days with my family and not a single moment with my daughter I would have sacrificed...whatever be the money people offer. It change me as a man. So I stop all these girls after I get married”.

I just gave a feeble smile. Or maybe it wasn’t even a smile. Just an expression of realization maybe.

An hour ago for the same tank inspection with great weather, I was with a man who was flaunting his manhood and here I am with the same guy, who admits being subdued by the warmth of his loved ones, when he is at the brink of dehydration.

We didn’t talk much during that inspection. Maybe he was too famished or myself, stunned.

As we completed our tank inspection, I couldn’t help but reverberate that line from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

“You could be mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could swear,curse the fates... but when it comes to the end...you have to let go.”

Not sure if it was even appropriate to what I felt, but it looks like the tale of two ballast tanks will remind me what a crude seafarer is, after all!