Captain Albert Schoonderbeek
I have never been to Piraeus without something happening, something happening that made our schedule not work out as planned. This time it was no different. It seems that with whatever they organize, the Greeks need to create it from chaos (which is a Greek word to start with) first and then take it from there. I have now been coming with the ships to Piraeus since 1987 and every time something occurred that livened up the day. The good news was that it was a beautiful day; hardly any wind, temperatures in the mid seventies and we were docking at the pier location 3 West which is the official passenger terminal. That is the easiest one to get outside the dock area from. If you are at one of the other docks then there is bus shuttle to take you to and from the ship. That works well, but it takes time.
I had planned to arrive at the Piraeus pilot station at 07.00 for a 08.00 docking. However the agent advised that 06.00 was a better time. So I adjusted my ETA accordingly. Then 2 hours before we arrived there, we were advised by Traffic Control that that was not a good time at all. We had to be there at 05.40 according to the pilots as the ferries were coming in and the 06.10 ferry was early. Ferries in Piraeus have preference over all. They do not wait for anybody and Traffic Control just stops all traffic to let them go first. So we kept the speed up to the very last minute, got the pilot on board at 05.45 and slipped quickly through the breakwater towards the berth. Observing a Piraeus pilot in action is quite a sight. Lets say “creating a lively atmosphere on the bridge” is an under statement.
Docking took a while as the dock was shorter than the length of the Prinsendam; the bollards for the ropes were few and far in between and so we had to find a balance between going as much forward as possible; making sure the forward spring line was not blocking the gangway; ensuring that the bulb of the ship did not crush the speed boats docked in the forward corner of the dock; and to make certain that the aft mooring station could put out breast lines to keep the ship alongside. That all took a bit of time and while this was going on the pilot was hopping up and down next to me and finally ran down to the gangway to continue his hopping up and down over there. 07.00 hrs. is pilot change over in Piraeus and I assume he wanted to be off by that time to go home.
We were supposed to bunker in Piraeus and it had been arranged for the fuel barge to arrive timely. However the boat only showed up after lunch time and only after a lot of confusion and discussion docked eventually alongside the Prinsendam. Then the pumping was so slow that we could not make our 16.45 departure time slot. Because at 17.00 hrs. those ferries were starting to go again. It took the bunker barge until 18.00 hrs to get away from the ship, as he needed his little tugboat to pull his bow off and the little tugboat was delayed in arriving. Then we had to wait for the pilot, who was now taking the Celebrity Solstice out first. Only by 18.40 we were finally sailing out of the port.
The next excitement came outside the breakwater when the pilot had to be disembarked. A tanker destined for the outer harbour was scheduled to pass behind the Prinsendam but changed his mind and decided to pass ahead of me. To avoid a bump, I stopped the ship, which upset the pilot again as that was not what he had planned. So the 3rd officer overseeing the pilot transfer had to endure a lot of Greek commotion. However the pilot was disembarked safely, the tanker passed safely and then we could then sail safely to the south away from the port. Because of the delay I now had to put the pedal to the metal to get to Naples on time. Not good for my fuel consumption. By speeding up quickly, I solved another problem, namely a Greek submarine, being right on our course track. With speeding up fast I could out run the submarine and leave it well behind before it came too close. Navy ships often do not communicate with non navy ships so arranging for a safe passing distance is not always possible. Either because they are maneuvering, or are under orders of silence or simply because they do not listen out on VHF 16 but are on a navy operational channel. I did not know what this one was doing but he was certainly not talking to the Vessel Traffic Control. He just cut through the anchorage and Pilotage area to wherever he was going.
I enjoy a challenge and do not mind a bit of excitement but to have a dull day in Piraeus is high on my list of Christmas presents. This evening we are going through Steno (= Greek for Strait) Elafonisou which is the short cut for all East-West traffic and located between south point of the Peloponnisos and Nisos Kithira and that might be fun as well…
To access Captain Albert’s historical writings on Holland America Line as well as photos and additional information about Prinsendam and his sailing schedule, click here.
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