Columbus Caravelle sold

30.01.2003 - 03.02.2003
M/v Columbus Caravelle

As I was looking for a new job I was contacted by the new Owner of CoCa (Columbus Caravelle), the Technical Manager Alan Lowry from CMM Ltd. asking if I would like to follow the new Owner's to Greece. He said my knowledge of the ship would be important for the project they were planning for her, she was going to be converted from cruise ship to mega yacht. As I knew the ship and the idea of being part of a conversion was exciting, I agreed. Not that I had anything else going at that time.

M/v Columbus Caravelle alongside Gaoyanglu wharf, Shanghai

(photo collage)

To begin with I flew to Hong Kong where CoCa sat at her usual buoy mooring and boarded her in a consulting capacity to Alan Lowry so as to know what was ships property and what was not. The people from Conning Shipping were a bit surprised how the tables had turned with me suddenly on the other side. Not that there were any surprises, Conning removed their stuff, mostly decorations and paperwork and such things. I also confirmed which crew was to follow us to Greece, the Ukrainians were a bit sad that they did not get to do the transit.

Columbus Caravelle

04.03.2000 - 31.05.2000 Chief Officer
01.06.2000 - 07.08.2000 Captain
02.10.2000 - 01.11.2000 Chief Officer
02.11.2000 - 04.02.2001 Captain
05.04.2001 - 04.06.2001 Chief Officer
05.06.2001 - 10.08.2001 Captain
09.10.2001 - 09.12.2001 Chief Officer
10.12.2001 - 26.04.2002 Captain
24.06.2002 - 07.01.2003 Captain
M/v Columbus Caravelle

M/v Columbus Caravelle in Jeju Is., S. Korea

As we did not have too many comers to CC or rather we weren't interested in Officers coming on for one contract and then moving on we decided we would rotate the position between 3 persons, C/O Perttu, me as C/O & Captain and Reijo as Captain. It worked well for awhile but was finished after Reijo got a position ashore and left seafaring life to be with his family.

By end of 2000 Conning Shipping acquired a bigger ship, Omar II, to cater for their growing clientele in Hong Kong and so we were chartered down to Singapore with a partnership where I think Conning Shipping also had a finger in the pie. The MO was casino cruises of course. The rumor went that someone had lost nearly 100mil USD in one night at the casino and that enabled for the fleet enlargement.

We made cruises up and down the Malacca Straits and even once we visited Bintan Island in Indonesia as a trial. I think the massive bribes to get a sailing permit there finished the idea. Usually we cruises up to Port Klang, then down to Melaka, from there to Singapore, then Pasir Gudang, again Singapore and Port Klang. It was a rather pleasant itinerary, some days we could go and explore Port Klang or Singapore.

The Indonesian shipping license, I was told the signatures cost a fortune

As I was going so often to Port Klang I applied and got pilot dispensation so we only needed a Harbor Pilot (he only came for the coffee anyways), but it sped up the arrival. Also the radio communication went entirely in Bahasa Melayu, the 1st Officer then, Jukka Kiuru, compiled a nautical phrase list that we rehearsed ourselves on before we started reporting in Malay.

Malaysian pilot exemption certificate

Furthermore, the requirements became more stringent on passenger ships and crew needed to have a Crowd Management course done. Reijo Granqvist had started this certification by making an onboard course and got it certified by Lloyd's Classification society, I continued his work after he left.

We also were required to start a maintenance program digitally, a program that would remind you if something was left undone. It took us about a year to put everything on database but we got it ready in time to our next external ISM audit. It was a really good tool after that.

Arrival ceremony in Shanghai, China (attended by R. Granqvist)

Then suddenly in June 2002 the charter ended in Singapore and Conning Shipping did not extend or renew the contract so they took away the ship and chartered us in traffic between Shanghai and Jeju Island, South Korea. I was on vacation when the transit happened and Reijo took the ship up north from Singapore.

The sailing was at times quite rough when it was typhoon season and the traffic in the river was chaotic. Nothing we had experienced in Hong Kong or Malacca Straits could have prepared us for the nightmarish traffic situation in Shanghai. The pilots were used to old ships, maybe even steamers as they had only telegraph orders for engines and at times were difficult to understand their pidgin english.

One 1st Officer, Heikki Kaukinen, once counted the traffic and got an average of 400 ships passing our berth in an hour. The berth we occupied at Gayonglu jetty was in the centre of the city so one could walk to the Bund and elsewhere. Unfortunately the Charter went bankrupt at end of 2002 and the ship was arrested and Conning Shipping took back the ship to Hong Kong.

I signed off in Shanghai and handed over to an Ukrainian Captain and left for vacation and to find new employment when the news reached me that the ship had been sold to a Greek buyer and Conning Shipping did not have a position to offer me (Omar II was 100% Ukrainian deck & engine crew and, of course, cheaper).

Columbus Caravelle

07.04.1999 - 22.09.1999
M/v Columbus Caravelle

LOA: 117m, GT 7560, Passengers: ~200

M/v Columbus Caravelle in Port Klang

After Oihonna I was in touch with Captain Reijo Granqvist and he asked me to join back to Columbus Caravelle (CoCa) as Chief Officer and as the boat was now under new Ownership, I agreed. There was nothing keeping me at home as my marriage was on the rocks in my own mind, I was stupidly divorcing Tiina-Maria.

The charter of CoCa had expired and there was a clause that after expiry the charterer have to buy the ship or forfeit the guarantee deposit of 2mil USD. As the Casino biz was booming they bought the ship as a natural evolution of things. So, now she was under Ownership of Conning Shipping and a proper shore Organisation was setup as per ISM standards. It was very nice to work together with Technical Manager/ DPA Mr. P.K.Yeung.

CoCa was still sailing out of Hong Kong on casino cruises so not much had changed, only the new development was that on Sundays we were doing a day cruise. We left around noon and was back around 10pm and after this the crew could relax until Monday evening.

Columbus Caravelle

09.01.1998 - 17.04.1998
m/v Columbus Caravelle

M/s Columbus Caravelle at WTC in Singapore

After Finnmaid I was again back on Columbus Caravelle (CoCa) under the management of BMC. This turn was proving to be very taxing in terms of harmony onboard between the Scandinavians and I did not want to come back to CoCa after this. I was so disappointed in the management decisions taken by BMC.

See the mooring buoy during typhoon

Our neighboring ship, M/s Walrus at her buoy

I came to relieve C/O Hans Söderholm as Chief Officer myself and there was quite a bit of turmoil as Söderholm was going to stay onboard to make the now mandatory ISM manual. Apparently Captain Henning Törnqvist and him had made a deal with the Management behind our backs to make the manual and just use the existing routines that were setup by Captain Ralf Jacobsen while enjoying double salaries. Chief Engineer Eric Seffer was furious, everybody was put off and the paranoia that set in due to this action made the atmosphere quite toxic. In the end I was elected to go and throw Söderholm offboard so I went and asked him to leave the ship and he went (to a hotel) to continue his manual making.

Bullseye by typhoon York, plots from 2 different met stations

At same time I recall there was a big incident with our Filipino 2nd Officer Lucio who went and signed an Engineering work done report without the consent of the Chief Engineer. I had to give him a severe dressing down that did not go down to him as constructive criticism. He somehow managed to get booze from ashore and got himself dead drunk and was in the middle of the night knocking on my door asking for his salary and behaved quite threatening in general. I managed to get him to see reason and to back off. Next morning he was not able to take his watch so he was turned in and when the high had gone he submitted his resignation and that was accepted by the Captain the same afternoon.

Columbus Caravelle

02.06.1996 - 10.09.1996 Chief Officer
10.09.1996 - 04.11.1996 1st Officer (Safety)
03.12.1996 - 07.07.1997 Chief Officer
M/v Columbus Caravelle

M/v Columbus Caravelle

I had finished my Captain's Class and had been in contact with Crossline whether I would like to go there to start as Chief Officer on m/s Atlanta Forest. I had tentatively agreed on this but, was suddenly called up from BMC and offered a steady Chief Officer's vacancy on m/v Columbus Caravelle, the younger sister ship of m/s Delfin Star that I had worked on last summer.

I did not take long to decide where to go as the salary was excellent, I knew the job and the ship was also "fresher". So, I called up Crossline and cancelled our agreement to the Managers dismay and I was once again on my way to the Far East.

Columbus Caravelle in original paint scheme (unknown photographer)

As told earlier m/v Columbus Caravelle was sistership to Delfin Star and both remains of the defunct Delfin Cruises now under Finnish Government Ownership (through offshore connections) and being managed by Baltic Marine Consulting (BMC). Columbus Caravelle (CoCa) had earlier been chartered in Singapore and Indonesia for similar casino cruises as gambling is forbidden so the ever inventive Chinese chartered these ships to go out on International waters to play cards. It is also perhaps ironic that in the collapse of Delfin Cruises the Finnish Gov't became indirectly involved in dubious Far East gambling activities by their Charterers.

Now Delfin Star had been sold and there was need for more Casino ships in the administrative region. My Boatswain Jimmy from Delfin Star was Bosun on CoCa as there had been some crew changes on CoCa's way up from Singapore. I had as Captain Ralf Jacobsen who was interchanging with Captain Bo Rosenqvist. As permanent Chief Officer was Karl "Kalle" Karlsson. Ralf and Karl resigned later as they wanted to take on liner pilot positions in Finnlines, (which they eventually got and pensioned themselves from there). As new replacement came Captain Reijo Granqvist.

The safety culture on CoCa was better than on Delfin Star as Captain Ralf had implemented a rigorous safety program from his years on Caribbean cruise liners. We still had the same problem with the Chinese crew but with this charter we had them on our side and we could discipline the crew to get better. Also the Hotel Manager, Danny Chong, was an energetic Malaysian that never seemed to run out of steam and ways to solve any issues. Also as time went by the mainland Chinese became better and better and once when the crewing agency visited us onboard they said many crew had positive things to say about me and other Sr Officers. I was positively surprised that the word had gone this far.

Hong Kong itself does not offer great sights but as I stayed there I came to visit all places worth seeing and probably not worth seeing as well. It is a bustling city where the never relenting pace pulls the weaker person down. It is not a place to grow up but to make money in. It is like the song New York, it never sleeps and keeps changing constantly, wherever you look you can see building development going on.

As a highlight of these stints I can mention that we were there when Hong Kong was officially handed over to China from British rule, eventually HK remained as a special administrative region for next 50 years and basically nothing much changed for the ordinary citizens. I think the biggest changes were on the political level as well as the gloomy reporting of Chinese military rolling in to the region. The festivities however were huge, the royal yacht Britannia attended for Prince Charles and the fireworks lasted for ages, it was a pity that it was raining cats and dogs that evening. Could have enjoyed the display more if the weather had been better, after all we had the best viewing spot from Victoria Harbor at our mooring buoy. 

Royal yacht Britannia (courtesy of Barbara Jones)

Eventually this was for Britannia her last function and after this she headed for the Philippines. Then it was onwards back to UK where she was laid up in Leith and where she is now on display for the public. I read a special report in the South China Morning Post how everything was still in original condition and nothing had been upgraded since her launch. Boy did they seem to have a lot of brass to polish.