Kalizma

28.07.2023 - 24.08.2023

06.07.2012 - 20.08.2012
15.02.2012 - 14.03.2012
03.05.2011 - 29.05.2011
17.07.2010 - 19.12.2010
19.08.2009 - 29.05.2010
30.07.2009 - 07.08.2009
01.05.2008 - 28.06.2009
Captain
m/y Kalizma (ex. Minona, Cortynia, Odysseia)

Kalizma in Kuah Royal Langkawi yacht marina in 2008

The Kalizma history:

Click here

My history with Kalizma:

Having done the song and dance with Management, first via Cmde S.K. Mongia who managed Dr Mallya's fleet and then having flown to Mumbai, India to meet Dr Mallya himself and gotten approved my appointment. I signed on Kalizma in 1st May 2008 in Phuket, Thailand at the Yacht haven marina. As I was living in Thailand at the time I just flew down from Bangkok and arrived in the evening so there was not much going on, I recall the Chef Richard handing me a Kingfisher beer in the crewmess and we chatted a bit before hitting the sack after a long day of travel.

Kalizma in 1913 (courtesy of BOAT international)

Next morning I met with Capt Avnish and the rest of the crew, we cast off and cruised off close to Ko Yao to test engines and other appurtenances of the yacht. Capt Avnish himself was going off to further his studies in UK and upon completion he then was going to return back to the Company service. There was talks about Dr Mallya investing in a local Island development and basing the yacht there for the future. 

Dr Mallya (courtesy of Economic Times)

In the end it all fell through with investors, Dr Mallya had his legal beagles survey the ventures paper work and I supposed they smelt the fish head. Soon after the whole project fizzled out to a stop (they had already started landscaping the small island with bulldozers) and as I understand the projects Canadian "motors" disappeared pretty soon from the scene. Capt Avnish returned eventually as Capt of Indian Empress and then as Owner's representative. 

As Odysseia in Monaco (courtesy Superyachttimes)

In any case, we were still berthed in Yacht Haven and I had instructions to finalize the refit that had taken place the previous year in Mumbai and to have her commercially registered for charters. I had a lot of time on my hands to carry out all kind of improvements and rectifications between guest trips and it was interesting. I eventually made contact with MCA for the commercial certification and got a "to-do" list the length of my arm to comply with. I also had to maintain the yachts website and type together a monthly "Captain's blog", I learned online skills I didn't have before.

One benefit was also that I had to exit Thailand once a month for visa reasons as well as it was good for the machinery to get used and I planned some activities along the route, usually we dived off some islands before we entered Kuah marina in Langkawi where we usually docked. Eventually I also ended organizing and carrying out 2 dry dockings in Malaysia, one in Langkawi and another in Lumut. Both were very exasperating experiences. Generally I preferred using contractors in Thailand as they gave good results pretty fast but there is no drydock that could take us on the Indian ocean side, for that I could only got to Bangkok. Singapore had priced themselves out.

Our 1st mission for Dr Mallya was to attend Singapore GP,  we berthed in the 1deg15 marina but never received guests. After that we returned to Phuket again after having bunkered in Langkawi.   

Eventually we were called back to India and ended doing a bit of an odyssey over the Indian ocean and visited Port Blair in Andaman islands and Galle in Sri Lanka before reaching Mumbai. In India we had nice berthing inside the colonial docks albeit only for a short while before MPT filled them up in way of a container port. We also cruised down the coast to Goa. Then we stayed the monsoon in Mumbai which was wet and windy. 

For the commercial class, first I had to contract a naval architect for drawings as the ones used during refit were not accepted for several reasons. For this I made my acquaintance with Dhananjay Mishra of Yeoman marine Pvt Ltd based i Mumbai and had all principal drawings remade and then I made contact with MCA to submit my achievements on the to-do list as well as documentation. We got as far as getting a surveyor to Thailand to witness a stability experiment which results then failed to meet required criteria. MCA would also not grant exemption on stability. 

The next step would have been to change to a more "acceptable" registry and try again or to add several tons of fixed ballast in the bilges to get the stability within criteria. By then, in 2010, I had been requisitioned by Dr Mallya to join Indian Empress and the commercial issue was left on the table. I still went onboard Kalizma to boat sit her after that but no progress was made due to lack of funds. I could see the writing on the wall and in 2012 I left Dr Mallya's employ.

After that Dr Mallya went bankrupt around 2016 and Kalizma was laid up in Sri Lanka, her masts rotted and teak decks were taken off and she sat in Colombo waiting her fate with a skeleton crew of a few night-watches onboard. Finally she was sold to Mr Shirish Sharaf in 2019 that then refitted her interior fully and she sails again under my former 1st mates command, Surender Saini. 

In 2023 I was contacted by Management to sail her to the Med with a temp crew due to the incident that occurred off the coast of Yemen and they needed a reliable Captain not connected to the incident, as I was available at the time I agreed to do it and successfully pulled off the transit albeit she was not in a very good shape having first been peppered by pirates and then sat in Djibouti for a long time. The same winter she went in for another refit that was completed in spring 2024.

Kalizma in media:

Homepage

The history and recent refit of the 1906 sailing yacht Kalizma by Superyachttimes

Kalizma reborn by Boat international magazine

Kalizma in Wikipedia

Specifications as per Yachtharbour: 

Yard : Ramage & Ferguson
Type : Motor yacht
Guests : 10
Crew : 9
Length : 48 m / 165′0″
Beam : 6.34 m / 20′10″
Draft : 2.9 m / 9′7″
Year of build : 1906
Classification : RINA
Refit : 2002
Displacement : Full displacement

Propulsion: Cummins engine
Maximum speed : 12 knots
Cruising speed : 10 knots
Range : 3500 nm

Design
Gross tonage : 292
Hull : Steel
Superstructure : Aluminium/Mahogany
Decks : Steel/Teak
Interior designer : Anthony Hail, Dellatecnica