I took a freighter ship from Melbourne to Singapore. The first part of my mission to travel the world without flying. I knew I was the only passenger, which meant I was the only female. I knew that I was going to be away for at least 12 months, that I would be seeing Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, that I would like to make it to India and then Wales by November and apart from that I didn't really have all that much planned.
So with trust in fate and God and my own strength I boarded The Baltrum Trader a German owned cargo ship. About medium size, it can carry up to 2400 cargo containers. Its hull is green and it is meticulously looked after by its divine Filipino Crew and European Officers. (Check out the following links for more technical info).
http://www.freightercruises.com/?source=AdWords
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Cruising/Cargo-cult/2005/05/06/1115092633437.html
http://www.frachtschiffreisen.ch/Schiffe/08/2500TEU_Aker.pdf
Travelling by boat is sensational. Life slows right down and as a passenger there is nothing to do but sit back, relax and enjoy the great company. One of my favourite things was coming into ports. Wharfs are a whole world of their own. Possibly the most inorganic environment, they surprisingly inspired a feeling of warmth in me. Possibly because I felt the protection of my new friends in a place I would have otherwise felt extremely vulnerable (ie all male, labour, work place in a foreign country). They are like a carnival. Lights, beeps, bells, movement, height, the eye doesn't rest and neither does the work. They have their own personality. Here are excerpts from my journal describing the three ports I visited.
Melbourne
A wharf is a strange place, quite surreal. Straddlers flash their lights, hooting and whistling as they position themselves over the box. They go down and come up and roll away. There is a strong element of sex, but not sexiness, about a wharf. No doubt owing to the huge amount of testosterone, nudey pics. call girl pages in the phone book and falics in the bar. Its not threatening though. Otherwise I feel like I'm at a Rebel Base in Star Wars, with the drivers hoisted high in bizarre crane like automobiles (the straddlers) that have their own personality. There is not an element of organic about a wharf, yet it is so very alive.
Port Kelang, Malaysia
The port sits on the mouth of a river, which seems to have two main channels. the starboard channel hosts the wharfs. On either side of the entrances, low, thin, grey trees somberly welcome the ships to Malaysia. They are sad trees stripped of spirit, like they have given up under the imposing presence of man and his trade. But man and his trade seem to be attempting to bring some splash of life back to the port. As though in sympathy for the lack of blue in the water the entire port is painted in various kinds of blue, mot mostly bright blue. It misses its mark, but the intention is there.
Singapore
The Singapore port, in contrast to the blue Kelang port, looked more like an elaborate construction of multi-coloured pick-up sticks.
