KOTUG STARTS FIRST OPERATION IN SOUTH AMERICA    

September 2, 2020

KOTUG Canada is a loyal supporter of the Mission to Seafarers enabling them to provide good shore based facilities and on-ship support to all seafarers, especially during the challenges for crew affected by the COVID-19 situation around the globe. Be it slightly different than other years, KOTUG Canada and colleagues of KOTUG International joined the yearly Cycling for Seafarers event in Vancouver, to put their great cause in the spotlights and inspire others.

The  goal of the Mission to Seafarers in Vancouver is the same it was when it all began in England in the 1830’s; and that is to care for the spiritual, physical  and emotional needs of all seafarers and their families. Already before the world was captured by the COVID19 pandemic, seafarers were isolated from their families and the rest of society spending many months at sea. Due to the current restrictions many seafarers are stuck for even longer on their vessels. It are these same seafarers who bring us 90% of what we have. Needless to say that supporting them has become more important than ever.

This year we are riding together apart between the offices in Canada and the Netherlands, however still as One KOTUG, One Team. Because seafarers are keyworkers. Because quitting is not an option, and not in our dictionary.

Join the Mission to Seafarers at: https://www.flyingangel.ca/

KOTUG Canada is an international partnership of Horizon Maritime & KOTUG International.

RT Magic, Nacala, Mozambique, since March 2.

“I’d just returned from a skiing holiday when I came on board of the RT MAGIC, here in the harbor of Nacala, Mozambique. When I see pictures of people outside on the terraces now, having a drink in the sun, I realise how much time has passed. It was Winter when I left the Netherlands, and it’s already Summer now. It’s a weird feeling, as if the world here has been at a standstill.
I’d been on board for two weeks when it became clear that it would be hard for us to leave. A week later we had a crew change. It was a close call, the crew was very lucky they got home. I stayed on board, as I hadn’t come to my four weeks yet. But after that all options to leave were gone really.
At first it’s a matter of adjusting your mindset. We knew it was going to be a long stay, so we set our minds to two months, maximum three. After three months we’d be home, we thought. It’s been three and a half months now. We’re starting to long for home. It’s at the front of our minds, we take it with us to sleep and it’s right there when we wake up.

Workwise we’re doing fine. We’re still working, seven days a week. The only thing that has changed at work since Corona is that we’re not allowed to leave the ship anymore. We’re a crew of three, there is a ship next to us that has a crew of three too, so we’re six in total. Sometimes we have barbeques together, but mostly we keep ourselves to ourselves. It’s part of culture on board, I guess. In the evening when it’s quiet and we’re not called on duty, I often watch a movie on the sofa downstairs. My two colleagues watch their own movies in their cabins. I don’t want to force them to watch a movie together, if they like to be by themselves, then that’s fine. But it does add to the loneliness, I guess.

The weekends are the hardest. Life has pretty much been picked up at home, and on Saturdays and Sundays my friends and family go out and about to enjoy themselves. I am happy for them, but it makes me realize even more that we’re stuck here. Still though, I wouldn’t change my job in a million years.
In a few days I might be going home. I try not to hope too much as we have been disappointed before. Twice we got really close to organizing a flight home, but then they got cancelled. That’s hard. You start to hope and see that there is an opportunity to go home, and then it falls through. Kotug has organized a charter flight and it is now waiting for the landing rights in Mozambique.
I can’t wait to drive my car. I bought a new car before I came to Mozambique and I haven’t been able to drive it yet. When I come home, that’s the first thing I am going to do. After hugging my girlfriend of course. Then I am going to enjoy my brandnew kitchen, I haven’t seen that yet either.”

Seafarers are on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, playing an essential role in maintaining the flow of vital goods, such as food, medicines and medical supplies. The Day of the Seafarer 2020 pays tribute to seafarers, acknowledging their sacrifice and the issues they face. Many seafarers have been away from home for months and are unsure when they will be able to return home due to travel restrictions.  We want to contribute to the awareness by showing the world portraits of KOTUG seafarers, as a tribute to all seafarers that keep the Kotug operations running and for whom we have a deep respect. This is the story of Patrick van de Klooster, Captain on the RT Magic and since March 2nd in Nacala, Mozambique. We do everything we can to get crew changes arranged and therefore support initiatives like the campaign of the IMO to create awareness for this ongoing situation. Help spreading the word by using the hashtag #SeafarersAreKeyWorkers.

RT Raven, Darwin, Australia, from January – June, 2020

“It was early January and I was travelling to the vessel (RT Raven) in Darwin when I heard on the news that there was this Corona virus. I started reading a little bit and I found out that young people are not that much affected by the virus. Our crew are in their thirties and forties, so I knew that we, in case of infection, would most likely not develop serious symptoms.

When I joined the vessel however, I felt that the crew that was signing off were really focused and concentrating on the Corona virus. They were following the news and social media a lot. I could feel there was a little anxiety and people were afraid of us, the new crew joining.

Then, in the first couple of weeks on board, the news increased. It came from all around the world and it was 24 hours per day. Most of it was not very reliable. The news was increasing stress and anxiety among the crew. They were worried about their families. Perhaps not their children or wives, but surely their parents and grandparents, the people that were at risk.

I knew from the start that the worst thing for the crew would be to see the captain panicking, or being at stress, or losing his mind. To clarify and perhaps undermine the conspiracy theories on the internet, I decided to collect as much reliable information as possible. Explaining, informing, and clearing all the fake news was most important. I consulted reliable sources only. There was a lot of information on the webpage of WHO, including movies and nice pdf’s with graphics and statistics. Once I was convinced that we’d be okay, I knew I could then convince my crew that we would be fine. I agreed with the head of engineering department that in the coming months our most important job would be to keep the crew in a sound condition and in good mental health. He would take care of his engineers and I would do the same on deck.

I organized a meeting with the crew. I collected all the possible information and then I explained what I had learned from all the trustworthy sources. Thankfully most of the crew were rest assured. What we did additionally during that meeting was to ask for suggestions from the crew. I told them straight up: ‘Listen guys, all the countries around us will close up. We will be stranded on board for many, many weeks to go. Please tell me what you need to keep you in good spirit, so that we can withstand this period.’ And there were many suggestions, such as extra games and some Playstations. And the crew asked to work a bit less. Fatigue is disastrous, if you can’t sleep and you get all this fake news it is only increasing anxiety. This was something we wanted to avoid. So, we reduced working hours to a minimum necessary to keep the operations and to keep maintenance. Of course, I tried to keep the crew busy, so they were not thinking and worrying too much. They were working less, but we also needed to keep the vessel in good shape. Even if it would take a few months more, we should still remember that we are seafarers. This is what we do. We keep the vessels running.

I returned the end of May, after nearly five months on the vessel. I was the first to leave, the rest of the crew was released yesterday (June 22nd). It was really nice to come home. Every time it is nice, but after five months you really want to get home. You want to see your kids, your family, the trees, the grass, the flowers. You really miss that at sea. You start missing things that are obvious in daily life. Like, to see other people, or to see something green, or brown. Or to see something that is not water.

After such a long period you really feel lonely, detached and isolated at open sea. I am worried about people, and there are thousands of them, who now spend more than twelve or fifteen months even on board. And who are still stranded. We were lucky, we spend nearly five months on board. There are a lot of people that are in much worse condition than we were. Even without the pandemic.”

Seafarers are on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, playing an essential role in maintaining the flow of vital goods, such as food, medicines and medical supplies. The Day of the Seafarer 2020 pays tribute to seafarers, acknowledging their sacrifice and the issues they face. Many seafarers have been away from home for months and are unsure when they will be able to return home due to travel restrictions.  We want to contribute to the awareness by showing the world portraits of KOTUG seafarers, as a tribute to all seafarers that keep the Kotug operations running and for whom we have a deep respect. Above is the story of Tomas Blaszczyk, captain on the RT Raven in the Timor Sea. He was onboard the RT Raven during five months due to the COVID-19 restictions. We do everything we can to get crew changes arranged and therefore support initiatives like the campaign of the IMO to create awareness for this ongoing situation. Help spreading the word by using the hashtag #SeafarersAreKeyWorkers.

RT Leader, Brunei, since January 22.

“We are a team, not just during, but also after work. We eat together, exercise together, and watch movies together. We try to keep things light in this period of time with the pandemic, so we joke a lot. Sometimes we even sing together. We have a karaoke set on board. My favorite song is The Wind of Change by the Scorpions.

Our vessel, the RT LEADER is stationed in Brunei. Usually we’d change crews every two or three months. Due to Covid-19, I, together with one other colleague, have been on board for five months now. We are a crew of six, half of us are national, the other half international. The national crew is still allowed to change every three months. Before the new crew arrives, they are tested on Covid19. So we do still have different crews, at least half of us.

The international half of the crew is stuck here. The office has been communicating intensely with us about the situation and trying hard to find a solution, but there are no flights yet. There aren’t any operating flight companies that can take us.

It’s difficult, but we accept the situation. There is nothing we can do really and we try and make the most of it together here on the ship. We keep working. In shifts of six hours, we do around two operations a day averagely. The rest of the day we are on stand-by and do maintenance together. Sometimes it does get tough though. I have three children of eight, five and three years old. I am grateful that the communications are good, and that we can call each other on the Watsapp every day, but it’s hard to hear when there are even the smallest problems at home. At such times I really want to be there and help them, as from such a distance there is only so much I can do.

There is no escape at the moment from the ship. Normally our ship can go to port once a month. We do our maintenance, get our food supplies and change our crew. It’s something we look forward to, as we can go to shore. Even though it’s only for 24 hours, it gives us time to do some personal shopping and relax a bit. But now, due to Covid19 we are not allowed to go to shore without permission from the office. We have to stay on board. That is also a bit difficult. I miss going to shore.

But overall, I am doing fine. I love my job and even though we have never had a situation like this, it is part of our job to deal with unexpected situations like this too. The company has been trying really hard to release us. That helps too. I am hopeful there might be a solution in one or two weeks.”

Seafarers are on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, playing an essential role in maintaining the flow of vital goods, such as food, medicines and medical supplies. The Day of the Seafarer 2020 pays tribute to seafarers, acknowledging their sacrifice and the issues they face. Many seafarers have been away from home for months and are unsure when they will be able to return home due to travel restrictions.  We want to contribute to the awareness by showing the world portraits of KOTUG seafarers, as a tribute to all seafarers that keep the Kotug operations running and for whom we have a deep respect. The above is the story of Agus Supriyanto, on the RT Leader in Brunei since January 22. We do everything we can to get crew changes arranged and therefore support initiatives like the campaign of the IMO to create awareness for this ongoing situation. Help spreading the word by using the hashtag #SeafarersAreKeyWorkers.