Happy New year 2022

On 25th Dec we received onboard a couple new crew members we made haste and departed Maldives as instructed late in the evening. The wind and seas was against us all the way and it all seemed to be monsoon wind. At least the Malay peninsula gave us a bit of lee from the bad weather that was raging in Gulf of Thailand and South China sea. As per my charts the seasonal current was also against us so we barely made 9 kts at times. Anyway, our ETA held for the 1st of January albeit several hours later than estimated.

Indian ocean

On the 25th the Chef had prepared Christmas dinner for all of us complete with a Turkey. Luckily only few were seasick so most of us could enjoy the get together. When we passed Sumatra on the 31st Dec we could not sight it due to so much rainclouds pouring tons of water on us. As we clocked in New year at midnight we celebrated with Ginger ale for all that was awake. No rockets were seen.

Pulau Perak

Then on 1st Jan we were steaming across the Malacca strait towards Penang we sighted first land on Pulau Perak. Loads of fishing vessels were hiding behind it for lee and possibly a catch. 

m/v Kong, Sierra Leone flag

Then we approached Penang and it was still pretty lumpy so the pilots told us to proceed in along the buoyed fairway. Pilot came onboard fully donned with goggles and mask and requested us also to wear one, we complied. After about half an hour we anchored a bit north of the Swettenham jetty and disembarked the pilot and settled in for the watch. Our bunkers were due only on the 4th as the stem had been confirmed too late.

m/v Stingray

Back in late 90's I had visited Penang on Superstar Sagittarius where we did daily cruises to nowhere. I remember the town being very quaint and it had a thriving market selling bootleg movies on CD's. One movie would go on 2 discs and you could buy a "walkman" for it to plug into your telly. Back in Europe nobody had heard or seen of this, they only had VHS or the very expensive DVD which today are superseded by newer media storage technology. 

Star Cruises fleet alongside Swettenham jetty

Star Cruises was still operating local cruises in Penang and I could see on the AIS that Superstar Gemini, Star Pisces and The Taipan was at Swettenham. In the following day I believe it was only Star Pisces that traded. Covid has really punished the cruise industry heavily. 

Sunset over Penang Island

The city skyline was impressive, the shore of the island was littered with high-rises that gleamed in the night with lights and in the day was shone by the sun in ivory colors. We sat at anchor until the 4th when we received the fuel barge alongside early morning. Most of the day was spent filling us up and then we departed at sunset and entered Malacca straits towards Phuket. The night sky was filled with light pollution from a multitude of fishermen with bright lights probably hunting squid.

Christmas and New year had been spent at sea but I doubt it would have been any better ashore with all the pandemic restrictions going on. I hope this year we will see the end of it, people have suffered enough from this. I wish everyone a Happy New Year 2022!