July 27th 2008 - Marianna Kosan

July 27th 2008

A couple of weeks hard work ..

Back again after having missed a week. Work has been a little hectic lately and I am sure Paula is glad to see things back to normal again. Yesterday our ship no. 6 left Ulsan and we now have almost a year before the next delivery. The yard was once again very pressed for time up to the delivery, and we were called for inspections during weekends and in the evening. The ship was full of workers running in and out of each others way but mostly in ... When we took over the ship on Friday 18th, there were still a number of things to be fixed, so the work went on during the gas trial. This is a major nuisance, especially when we start loading the gas, when no welding or grinding can take place on deck. Mobile phones and mag lights are also not allowed, but for some reason or another, the yard workers don't realize this. After all they only build the ship!! So we had to keep a close eye on everybody, because a Korean without his mobile phone is nothing !

Guess which company I work for ?!?

Our Ethylene carrier ..

It was my first full gas trial. I had not really been involved in any of the previous as my work area was different then, but now I am in charge of our supervision of the cargo plant, so I was very much part of this gas trial, even though I do not operate the plant - we have the crew and a gas engineer from Denmark to do this. It was very interesting for me and luckily everything went extremely well. Except for one thing which went extremely bad ... Kossmann, one of the design subcontractors, was hit by a loose cannon in the shape of a faulty valve. When he tried to close the valve, it flew out and hit him in his head, knocking loose all his front upper teeth. He was taken to the ER and flew back to Germany a few days later for dental treatment. Except for his loose teeth, he was OK. He was unlucky but then again it could have been much worse ...

Kossamnn in blue behind me .. he was very limited in his choice of food for the evening, being at a steakhouse with rocking teeth.

A mix of guys from the site team, the Copenhagen office, service engineers and the "flying squad"

The gas trial only took around 4-5 days, which is quick, but those were busy days. After a full day of running around on the ship and afterwards in the office, we would sometimes continue with a "meeting" at the Outback restaurant. Then back out the next day. Some days the ship would stay at the pier and other days we would have to take a tender out to the ship at anchorage. While we are handling the gas onboard we cannot be alongside but must be out at anchorage. This meant that Paula and I lost out on our lunches together, but luckily she could come join us when we were at the pier.

Peder in the Officers Mess room onboard Marinna Kosan

The crew mess room

Marilyn and Paula at the bridge

Paula HATES this gangway, although she puts up a good face here

Pauline and Stuart left Ulsan for good last week. Or so they think ... Paula and I are convinced that they will be back ! Here we are for dinner at Ballentines - the local expat hangout.

Saturday evening we went with Flemming, Marilyn and Carlos to dine with our agent and his wife and family. We got installed at a typical Korean restaurant with private cabins and seating on the floor. The food kept coming but little did it do to ease the discomfort I feel when sitting on the floor for hours on end. I had to take a few "smoking" breaks ! On one of these Paula joined me and we had a little walk around the block. I spotted a guy riding a beautiful black horse around a corral, so we went over there to have a closer look. I love horses ! Well - when he saw us he immediately offered me a ride. I wasn't slow to accept !!! Build an inner image of me in my party clothes and shoes trotting along on a beauty of a horse a few metres from the restaurant and apartment blocks .... unfortunately we didn't have our camera with us, so you will have to make do with your inner image. Not many of our friends believed us when we told them that I had been riding in my "smoking" break. It must also have been one of my most memorable restaurant visits ever !!

Does my discomfort show ... ??

Food galore ...

Sunday morning at 7:30 I met up with Ingo for a morning MTB ride. We are still in the rainy season and the trails are a bit wet. We still managed to get a safe and good ride out of it and my claim to fame was that I actually outrode Ingo today - I thought I would never see the day, but he has also had a very tough couple of weeks, as he also works with our ship (Kossman and him are colleagues).

I normally only see Ingo way ahead in the distance when it starts to go uphill, but today I managed to get to the top before him and take this photo. This is after a 2km climb average 15% !!

The mountain was busy today ! Below is a video from the ride.

Paula has started painting again. Here it's Susanna at the painting classes

Julie, the teacher, and Stephanie

Paula has started to paint landscapes. This one is from one of the books they use.

Ous ship doesn't look of much beside one of Hyundai's newbuildings. It helps a little when it gets in the water. It's Marianna Kosan to the left of the "flying dutchman".

After the MTB ride Paula and I went for lunch at Alaska - a seafood restaurant in the Lotte Department store near the airport. Very nice buffet !!

Tuna sashimi !

It's only late afternoon now, so we will finish off the weekend with a game of squash and then I will have to bake some bread, as I have run out ...!