It seems an age since I last wrote. We are berthed in Phuket, Thailand, so more posts to follow, after this one.
Leaving Singapore and on our way towards Port Klang, I took some photos for you. It was only when I downloaded them for the blog, that I realised I had 2 pesky spots on each shot, (they turned out to be on one of the mirrors), however a spotty photo is better than none 😉
Singapore skyline
Westbound from Singapore, past Raffles lighthouse. Ships on radar and the Traffic Lanes.
Passing a rig, the “Floatel Endurance”, so named because it provides accommodation for rig workers.
A massive, new-generation Container ship, the “OOCL Berlin”
Port Klang lies to the north of Singapore and, once again, we had supplemented Bridge teams to assist in the heavy shipping traffic. It comes in ‘spurts’; as soon as one passes a port, it eases off, until one nears the next and then it starts again. Port Klang is the largest port in Malaysia and lies on not so much a river, but a channel between outlying islands. It is strange insomuch one can enter via one channel and then continue north and out of another; this is what we will do.
It is 1½ hours drive away from the city of Kuala Lumpur and many guests have gone off for the day, a blazingly hot and humid one too. Needless to say Ms Karen has gone too, although I don’t believe the ‘mob’ are accompanying her on this particular foray. Besides, Irvana is no longer here, she and her husband are now at home, enjoying some well-earned rest.
Overview of the approach to Port Klang
Smaller scale, the inward and outward tracks for Port Klang
In the channel
On the berth
Passing the Container berths
The Cruise terminal
A look ahead, more container cranes, we will pass these on the outward journey
When the compulsory pilot boarded, he asked if I wanted him to take ‘con’, or let my officers continue; no contest- my officers will do it and so Ineke, one of our 2nd officers, found herself taking the Amsterdam up the buoyed channel. We were 4 or 5 minutes from the berth when I took the con, bringing her alongside using ‘Joystick’ with a strong current against us; it was difficult to judge just how much power to give her, to overcome the current without flying past the berth itself.
Unfortunately, with Kuala Lumpur so far away, no photos of the city for you today.
