Bunkers at Mina Al Ahmadi

Tuesday 9^th – Wednesday 10^th December

Woken up today at 07.00, relieved to find it was not 02.30 but were told we would be going into bunkers soon. We had several jobs to do. The new catering boy and the 3/officer needed safety helmets. Then we had to ensure the right amount of life jackets were on board and in the right place. We found that the boxes which are supposed to contain about 20 could only have 15 crammed in and we tried every possible means of doing this! We then prepared a length of point line with an eye splice and back splice to lash the lids on. On reporting to the 3/O he proceeded to occupy the rest of the morning with a morse code lesson on the Aldis lamp. 

About 18.30 a pilot came on board and we went in. We tied up to a large T shaped jetty opposite the bunker berth. The swell was moving the ship up and down against the jetty putting a lot of strain on the mooring ropes which all needed checking regularly for even tension. There were very strict fire precautions laid down which had to be adhered to. Smoking was only allowed in two rooms on the ship and all portholes and doors had to be kept shut. I stayed up all night helping. When they had finished the bunkering, as they were taking the shore pipe off oil spilled out which ran all over the deck. Quick as a flash the 4^th Eng grabbed a bag of sawdust and he, an AB and myself soon had a dam built around it. We then started a salvage pump going which was used to suck the oil up into an oil drum, similar to a vacuum cleaner. Soon we had it all under control and coated in sawdust. I then went up onto the bridge to keep a look out for the Pilot. He came within an hour so we sailed for Japan. Once off the jetty the pilot left and visibility was low so I was keeping a look out with the aid of binoculars. At about 05.00 Billy was called up onto the bridge to relieve me. I hit my bunk at 05.30 with nothing but the thought of a day’s sleep ahead of me!