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M/ S "Emma Jebsen"

China Trader

At work - part 3

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- hauling containers for Oyama Line - under way from Singapore to Port Kelang -
Photographed in the Malacca Strait from sister ship "Heinrich Jessen" , - March 8th. 1975 -
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- in Japan, - 1974 -
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- the bow, - showing the "Three Mackerels" logo -
In Japan, - 1974.
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- another one of the impressive bow -
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- in Hong Kong, photographed from sister ship "Heinrich Jessen", - early 1975 -
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- in Hong Kong, photographed from the mast top of sister ship "Heinrich Jessen", - early 1975 -
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- in the magnificent harbour La Valetta in Malta, - end of January 1976 -
(Very far away from her "home" waters in the Far East.)
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
In the Mediterranean on the way from Ravenna , - Italy -, to Bandar Abbas, - Iran -, in February 1976.
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

Take note of the starboard list! This is not because of swell or big waves, but because the charterer apparently had given far too low figures of the weight of the containers. What is much worse was, that the too high weight of some containers had deformed the tank top at the bottom of the cargo hold, which was not designed for such extra load.

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
NOT a life boat drill, - but a real emergency water supply operation!
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

The story behind this series of pictures is, that at Bandar Abbas we had to stay for about a month at anchor outside with very little water onboard. To put it mildly, - the charterer was not very happy about this delay since he had to pay for the ship until his cargo was discharged! We first went into port for discharge when the charterer finally found out, that in this part of the world, it would speed things up considerably if the Harbour Master was presented with a not-so-small "gift"!
When this "small gift" was handed over to the right authority, the "miracle" happened, and suddenly we could discharge the cargo without any further delay!

But during the long waiting time, the "Emma Jebsen" ran out of water - - - - -
Luckily enough, a British ship, - the "Mount Cameron" -, was moored not so far from us, and they had lots of water in their tanks.
Therefore their big problem was not lack of fresh water, - but they faced the even bigger problem of having run out of beer, which on a British ship is a major disaster!
On the "Emma Jebsen" we had lots of beer in our stores.
So, - we decided to swab beer for water, - although not in a 1 to 1 ratio!
It was easy enough to load some beer boxes into the lifeboat , and then cross the water to the suffering sailors on the "Mount Cameron"!
But how to get the fresh water from their tanks to "Emma Jebsen's" tanks???

We did it like you can see in this series of pictures!
We emptied and cleaned the other lifeboat completely, and towed it over to "Mount Cameron" where it was filled with precious fresh water!
Then we towed the water filled life boat back to the "Emma Jebsen" and with a couple of pumps and some hoses, we pumped the water from the life boat into the fresh water tank - - - -
Then back to "Mount Cameron" again for a new load, - and so on - - -
This operation took an awful long time, - but eventual we got enough fresh water for survival - - -

Operation "Water for Beer" , - involving "Emma Jebsen" and "Mount Cameron" -, took place on April 06th. and 10th. 1976.

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- first trip in operation "Water for Beer" -
The empty life boat is towed over to "Mount Cameron" to be filled with fresh water.
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
- the first life boat full of precious fresh water from "Mount Cameon" arrives -, April 10th. 1976 -
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

M/T "Emma Jebsen"
- thirsty sailors wait for a life boat full of cool, clean water -
(Photography by Karsten Petersen ©)

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The following pictures are not taken by me, but kindly submitted by Karl Jensen, Australia.
They are from May 1977 during drydocking in Hong Kong - - - -

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
The underwater hull, - covered by barnacles -, desperately needs cleaning - - -
(Submitted By Karl Jensen, Australia)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
The propeller, - desperately needs polishing -
(Submitted By Karl Jensen, Australia)

When seing this propeller, I am reminded about a case of real internation co-operation - - - -
It was also in dry dock in Hong Kong, - and about two o'clock in the night, - I -, a Danish 1st. Engineer, was translating a German instruction book into English, - to a Chinese foreman, - who in turn directed the workers in Cantonese language on how to take off this propeller - - - -
It worked, - surprisinly enough -, and the propeller came off, - and on again after the inspection - - - :-)

M/S "Emma Jebsen"
Masts being painted, - in the South China Sea between Hong Kong and Manila, May 1977
(Submitted By Karl Jensen, Australia)

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Page initiated: October 7th. 2003
Page updated: Nov. 09th. 2004, - April 17.2007, - April 21.2007, - April 22. 2007, - July 18.2007