No photographs on this post, there isn’t a great deal to see from an anchorage except fishing boats and cargo ships. 🙄
We are still here, waiting for permission to disembark our Indonesian crew, approximately 170 of them The wheels grind slowly here, officialdom to the fore and added to the mix is that it is, of course, Ramadan, which affects the speed of that officialdom. Thank you all so much for your birthday wishes, they brightened my days in this complicated world I live in.
Yesterday, we briefly left our anchorage and steamed north, 20 miles north of Jakarta and conducted some ‘Marine Operations’ which were necessary because of extended stay in Jakarta. All being well, we will receive permission to enter Port limits tomorrow and begin our disembarkation the next day, (Tuesday). I write with my fingers crossed, as this is by no means certain.
Should we be successful, we will then move on towards Manila, 5-days steaming away and join the 15 or so cruise ships, (more coming), which are disembarking their Filipino crew. This involves a quarantine period on board, in isolation, (14-days at the moment), 2 covid-19 tests, conducted by the Philippine Red Cross and Coast Guard and, if all is well, they can disembark. More about that at a later date.
The HAL fleet is heading everywhere; The Zaandam is on her way to Rotterdam for lay-up, The Zuiderdam heading for Cape Town, thence Asia, Westerdam to Asia, Volendam to Cape Town, (fuel), thence to Asia, Veendam towards Gibraltar where she will take crew from 2 Seabourn ships and ferry them to Asia, Rotterdam heading towards Cape Town, thence to Asia, Noordam is heading towards Manila, Nieuw Statendam towards Rotterdam with Europeans , Maasdam heading towards Midway (fuel), thence Asia, Koningsdam is off the West coast, a hotel ship for non-Asian crew, Nieuw Amsterdam towards Cape town, thence to Asia, the Volendam is heading for Cape Town and thence Asia. A veritable convoy…….
As well as these, Princess, has 11 vessels either at Manila or on their way and Carnival vessels, (unknown number) heading this way too, you can only imagine the complications of such an enterprise; more akin to a game of chess. Some ships will be used later to take other nationalities to their respective countries, India for example.
Some of the the vessels will return to the U.S., others will lay-up in Malaysia, Port Dickson or Labuan Bay until circumstances improve. As for Karen and I, we take each day as it comes, the priority being our Crew first, complete these operations and we will see what the future brings.
I hope I may be able to send some photos of our crew embarking tenders to take them ashore soon, for we are not allowed dock.
Later then and stay well!
So good to hear about the next “jag” of your journey, Captain. HOPE that all goes well for the crew to get off and that sometime sooner than later you , too, (two) can get off and go home.
Thanks a million for all the posts–we get really excited when we see another “Captain who’s driving ” come up.
And happy belated birthday too–one you will talk about and remember for ever.
Hi Captain,
Thank you for the details on the whereabouts and details regarding other HAL ships. I look forward to hearing from you and reports on a healthy and happy crew with plans to get all from HAL home.
May the Force be with you all! Best, Rosie
Happy belated birthday and thank you for this blog — we have been trying get information on the Amsterdam to see how she is doing — a fellow traveler told us about your blog and we will now be checking it out — what you are doing is incredible— keeping your ship, staff and crew safe and healthy — we pray for you everyday that you all make it home safe and healthy— if all goes well, we will be back aboard the Amsterdam in December for a 14-day Cruise before she leaves for the 2021 World Cruise — keep safe and healthy
’tis a very fine thing you do and, hey, the rest of us aren’t doing anything even that interesting. My big project is my taxes, so you see what I mean. Godspeed. Helen
Captain Jonathan
We are glad you and the crew are well and safe.
We are happy to hear that you will be letting off your hotel crew if all goes well in Jakarta and Manila.
There are a lot of cruise ships off the USA coasts with about 80,000 crew aboard. We hope all of these crew get home safe.
None of them have been allowed to disembark.
Thanks, Jonathan, for your blog and your updates here!!! We look forward to each post!!! Hope for you and the crew that you can let them off soon in Jakarta and then on to Manila!!! We wish you the best of everything for now and coming days!! We miss you all!!! Stay safe and healthy!! Jan and Dick
Captain,
I look forward to each of your posts. Thank you for your efforts to prepare these.
Captain, Thanks ever so much for your blogs with updates on all of the Holland ships trying to get your crew back to there homes and hopefully you and the ones that will still be with you after Manila will be able to get to your homes. I have been on all of the Holland ships with Captains and all of the crew being outstanding in doing their jobs. Hopefully, we will all be able to cruise again in the future.I was on the Zuiderdam when I had to get off March 18 due to the shutdown and was lucky enough to get home before it became so difficult to get off ships and get an air flight home. Thanks again for blogs and best wishes in your retirement and Happy Belated Birthday! May all of your crew and all crews on Holland be getting home safely.
question: if the crew are taking tenders ‘home’ to shore, what happens to their luggage? Can they schlep their luggage to the tenders or will their luggage be shipped as well. Always thinking of the well being of the crew. A belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Captain
Thanks for the update. Taking the crew home is time consuming. The Phillipines has a good routine. Where to after Manilla?
Be safe.
Wow! We knew about some of the ships leaving to take crew home but who could ever have dreamed….Well more like a nightmare…..We would ever see all this! Continued prayers for health, safety, and success! Thank you and all the Captains, staff, crews who are essentially held captive through no fault of your own. Our hope is slipping for Grand Africa this Fall but we are not abandoning HAL or all of you!
Tallulah and OK
We (husband and I) want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your informative blog. During this time of insanity we worry about our crew families and you ease our minds.
We haven’t been on your vessel in a while but sailed into Fort Lauderdale on the 20th of March on the Volendam (Captain Friso Kramer) so our worry is top of mind for everyone, even though we wished we never got off!
Hopefully soon things will get back to normal (???) and you will be able to sit back during your retirement and have some amazing seaworthy tales to tell.
Be well and healthy, we look forward to the next installment.
Definitely not, I’m sure, what you were expecting for your last sea voyage before retirement Captain! Probably an understatement! You are, without a doubt, the best man for the job to see this through successfully, as you were/and did with infamous “Tender 9” in Rarotonga back in January 2016. Continued well wishes to you and to your always hard working crew, all the best, and stay safe!
Wow & wow… what a great post with all the interesting info on the ‘where & when’ the fleet is. Fantastic.
I bet the phones are running hot in the bay with Indonesian crew Being able to take advantage of their local communications off shore.
In one way it is so good that K is with you all this time but of course missing the family as you would be.
We look forward to new pics soon.
Keep safe & well Captain & crew.
Captain (and all of your crew, family and friends), just like you, we wait to see the next “installment” of this unbelievable saga. Good luck to everyone in the coming days and months. May everyone get home safely.