Saga Ruby Captain's blog

The passage from Fremantle took us across the Great Australian Bight where the seawater is considerably cooler at about 19 deg C than the seawater temperatures we had recently experienced. With southerly Antarctic winds blowing the air temperature also was much cooler compared to the 37 deg C in Fremantle, with one day dropping as low as 17 deg C! Of course, if you’re reading this back home in the UK the level of sympathy for us onboard may not be too high with temperatures in double figures a distant memory!

Arrival into Adelaide was conducted in the cool morning breeze, with the assistance of a tug, compulsory by local regulations, to help us swing off of the berth against the wind. With a little adjustment back and forward in order to accommodate the overhead gangway, the Saga Ruby came to rest, portside alongside in the Port of Adelaide. Having demonstrated to the pilot the manoeuvrability of the ship with the turn already having been completed, I managed to negotiate with him that the use of a tug for departure would not be needed.

Meanwhile our passengers made ready to disembark on tours to the Barossa Valley, Cleland Wildlife Park and into the City itself. The City of Adelaide was a short train ride away, the station conveniently situated almost at the bottom of the gangway, with a regular service. There was also a shuttle bus arranged to take passengers into nearby Glenelg.

Glenelg was the first ever place I visited ashore for shore leave as a Cadet. The port that I called into back then was Port Stanvac, the now closed oil refinery just along the coast from Adelaide. It had changed significantly as you would expect after 18 years, but still retained much of its charm. The temperatures had risen back into the 30’s (Celsius) by lunchtime, so the beach at Glenelg would make for a popular destination for passengers and crew alike.

The overnight voyage from Geraldton was uneventful and in relatively calm waters. There was a strong morning breeze from the east as we picked up our pilot at Fremantle, and made our way towards the harbour entrance and passenger terminal beyond. The vessel was moored without fuss or problems after turning in the harbour before hand, so that we were pointing out to sea, ready for our departure the following evening.

With the added day in port passengers no longer had to choose whether to spend the day in Fremantle or in Perth as now they could have a day visiting each if they so wished.

Fremantle, city and principal port of Western Australia, is situated on the Indian Ocean at the mouth of the Swan River, which forms an inner harbour. Now part of the Perth metropolitan area, Fremantle is one of Australia’s largest ports and an initial landfall for ships from Europe. It was laid out in 1829 and named after Captain Sir Charles Fremantle, a British naval officer who took possession of the area around the river mouth in order to prevent French or U.S. incursions there.

Not subject to fog, storms, or strong tides, the port became a major whaling centre. It grew during the late 19th century by serving the Coolgardie Kalgoorlie goldfield about 320 miles inland, and, in 1901, with harbour improvements, it surpassed the port of Albany, 230 miles southeast, in importance. During World War II it served as the principal Allied submarine base in the Southern Hemisphere.

On the morning of our second day in Fremantle, the vessel was visited by AMSA, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority for our required Port State Inspection and emergency drill. The Saga Ruby’s Officers and Crew set about their emergency duties under drill conditions in their usual manner, all under the watchful eye of the local authorities. The Surveyors were both very complimentary at the end of the drill with nothing but praise for our crew’s efforts saying it was one of the best drills they’d seen.

The time to leave Fremantle soon came around, and with our inspection completed and all crew and passengers accounted for, the Saga Ruby set sail for sea with the Great Australian Bight waiting for us.

We departed Singapore as scheduled and dropped the pilot off at the Southern Boarding Ground and made ready to cross the traffic lanes once more in order to get into the eastbound traffic lane. This time however our timing was not fortuitous, as a large tanker and a container vessel in the west bound lane were impeding our passage. The vessel was stopped just outside the traffic lane, and much like waiting at a junction in your car, we waited for the two vessels to cross our bow safely before proceeding.

Saga Ruby continued to traverse the straight passing Horsburgh Light, which all but marks the end of the busy stretch of water, at around 3am. The vessel then continued towards Broome, Australia, routing through the Java Sea towards the Lombok Straights.

This time of year there is always a chance of cyclones forming in the Timor Sea and the part of the Indian Ocean between Indonesia and Australia. With it being La Nina year, the chances of tropical revolving storms forming is also greatly enhanced. With the vessel still two days from Lombok, the weather forecast beyond was indicating two tropical depressions, one off of Darwin and one off of Dampier. This did not bode well, as with the sea water temperature warm enough and the latitudes right, all the ingredients were in the mix for cyclones to form. Advance notice of this probability was provided to us by Broome’s Harbour Master and Pilot, confirming my own suspicions.

With this information to hand and the narrow tidal window to make at Broome, it was clearly evident that the port would not be attainable in the sort of seas predicted. In order to ensure passenger safety and comfort the early decision was taken to abort Broome, albeit reluctantly. This left us with some time up our sleeves!

Unfortunately, Indonesian Authorities require a permit for passenger ships that takes about two weeks to obtain, so landing on one of these islands was not an option, with this out of our hands the ship was slowed down in order to provide longer time in the sheltered Java Sea. Tropical Cyclones Carlos and Diane had now formed from the Tropical Depressions and whilst Carlos was not going to bother us now that Broome was not our destination, and Diane was some distance to the south of our current position, she was in our way for our new destination of Geraldton in Western Australia.

It had been decided that Geraldton would be added to our itinerary and an extra day in the port of Fremantle was the best option to help go some way to mitigating the disappointment of missing Broome in the time we had available to us. And by spending another 24 hours in the calm waters of the Java Sea, Diane would have moved significantly, by the time we got there, to permit our safe passage south.

The plan worked well, and although a day or two of rough weather was experienced as we headed south, it was not nearly as bad as it would have been had we maintained speed as originally planed.

After a week at sea some of our passengers would have no doubt been ready to kiss the concrete jetty at Geraldton once we’d berthed. Geraldton’s harbour is more used to Bulk Carriers than Cruise Ship’s and it was fortuitous that a berth was available to accommodate us at such short notice.

Geraldton lies in Western Australia, in Champion Bay across the Geelvinck Channel from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands. Serving as the outlet for the Northern Wheat Belt and a hinterland producing barley, oats, lupines and fruits, Geraldton is now Western Australia’s second largest port. Evidence of the agricultural trade passing through the port is clearly evident by virtue of the large grain silo that dominates the port skyline, apparently Australia’s second largest.

Everyone I met in Geraldton was friendly and welcoming, from the Pilots, who came on with all the latest technological gizmo’s to monitor the vessels progress, to people in the streets of the small town. I even had reports of one of the town’s residents offering to provide some of our passengers a free tour around in his minibus.

The town itself was small, yet quite charming and offered our passengers a different view of Australian life, compared to all the cities we would be visiting over the next couple of weeks. With the weather now hot and sunny too, and white sandy beaches on offer, Geraldton certainly helped everyone forget all about Cyclone Diane.

By the time it came to set sail in the evening, the morning wind had abated and the sea looked relatively tranquil as the sun descended over its expanse. Saga Ruby waved goodbye fondly to Geraldton and set sail for Fremantle, a short hop down the coast.

The passage from Phuket to Singapore involves transiting one of the busiest stretches of water in the world, the Malacca and Singapore Straights. Traffic doesn’t start to converge until One Fathom Bank, which we arrived at on the 13th at 5:00pm, but from then on its just one large bottleneck, concentrating shipping of all sizes, shapes and types. Fortunately traffic separation lanes have been in operation here for many a year, which helps to segregate east and west bound traffic like an invisible white line on a road.

At around 4:00am the vessel had completed the transit through the Malacca Straight, not that this is readily apparent, only to enter the Philip Channel and Singapore Straights.

Heading from west to east involves use of the southern traffic lane, meaning that, in order to get to Singapore the northern traffic lane must be crossed. Once an adequate gap in the traffic was evident, we crossed over to the Southern Boarding Ground to pick up our pilot. Transit to the berth under pilotage was largely uneventful as we eased between the Western Anchorage and several small islands occupied by oil refineries and tank farms. Our berth at the Singapore Cruise Centre was situated right under the cable cars running to Sentosa Island, with its new Universal Studios theme park in full view.

Singapore is somewhere I’ve been to many times over the 18 years or so I’ve been at sea, and I remember first going ashore there in 1993. Since then it has changed a lot, in fact, even the last 2-3 years have seen so much change that this small country provides new places for me to visit and find.

This time I went up to the New Asia Bar and Restaurant on the 71st flour of the “Swissötel The Stamford”, to take in the views of the city at sun set. The building is uninspiring from the outside given the plethora of modern skyscrapers in the city, but is one of the tallest Hotels in the world outside the US and offers fantastic 360 views. Situated next to Raffles you can look right down onto its courtyard far below, just to provide a contrast of old and new, or look out across and down onto the Singapore Flyer with hundreds of Ships at anchor providing a backdrop.

Of course China Town is always a good place to visit when in Singapore, no matter how many times you’ve been before, with its street vendors and colourfully painted buildings giving it a vibrant atmosphere. If Dim Sum is something you like, I can personally recommend the “Yum Cha Tea Rooms”, on Temple Street.

And there is always Orchard Road to keep the Shopaholics happy, despite its changing façade, it is still the place to shop.

11:00pm soon came around and it was time to leave and head down though Indonesian waters and onto Australia.

We arrived in the morning on schedule, with the pilot there to greet us onboard the small tug that doubles as the pilot vessel. The run up to the berth is quite interesting with 1½ knots of current on the beam pushing you towards shore until the lea of a small island diverts it more onto the bow.

The channel is well marked, indicating shallows to either side, but is only 150m wide, about 42m less than the length of the ship, and with only 1½m of water beneath the keel at best. The Saga Ruby proceeded along the channel in almost crab like fashion before being able to straighten and proceed towards the turning basin. The turning basin fortunately, is about 1½ ship lengths in diameter and with a combination of engines and bow thruster the Saga Ruby pirouetted in its centre, whilst the small tug helped to hold us against the current.

Once the turn had been completed, berthing was relatively easy and the vessel came to rest alongside the berth assisted by the 10-15 knots of wind blowing from the east.

The island of Phuket is located in the Andaman Sea, off the west coast of peninsular Thailand. Phuket city, located in the southeastern portion of the island, is a major port and commercial centre on the Andaman Sea. Its harbour exports include tin, rubber, charcoal, lumber, and fish products south to Malaysia and Singapore and north to Myanmar (Burma).

Rice and manufactures are imported. The island’s area of 210 square miles is mostly level land but is dotted with isolated hills that reach a height of 1,700 feet. It was settled as early as the 1st Century BC. In the 15th century, the island’s abundant resources attracted traders from around the world. When tin traders from France and Holland arrived in the 16th century the island became a melting pot for different cultures. After the 18th Century, large numbers of Chinese arrived and more than half the population is now Chinese.

Tours for our passengers included trips to Phi Phi Island, the scene of the film “The Beach”, which was devastated by the 2004 Tsunami, not that you would know it from visiting now.

Another tour took in Phang Nga Bay National Park, with its tropical scenery and dramatic limestone formations. This is home to “James Bond Island”, named so for its famed role in “The Man with the Golden Gun”, where it was home to the Bond villain played by Christopher Lee.

The evening’s sail away was straight forward having completed the awkward turn in the morning permitting us to head straight out down the channel, once again allowing for the current.

The crossing to Colombo was uneventful from a navigational perspective and the weather was pleasant with only moderate seasonal winds to deceptively cool the suns efforts at burning our passengers, as a point worthy of note.

By the time landfall was made however the moderate winds had become strong, evidently exaggerated by the La Nina year. Fortunately it had now stopped raining in Sri Lanka, permitting a little respite from the recent flooding that has affected parts of the country in recent weeks. Colombo however has largely been unaffected by the national disaster and similarly, the destinations for our tours were also spared.

One of the largest artificial harbours in the world and handling the majority of Sri Lanka’s foreign trade, Colombo is a busy port with large container vessels full of imports and exports making up most of the traffic. The approaches to the port differed somewhat from our charts, with news of new works to expand the sea defences and possibly the port itself yet to make it back to the Admiralty in time to promulgate a correction beyond that of a preliminary notice.

Arriving at the pilot station, just after sunrise, we boarded the pilot and proceeded towards our berth. Another vessel, who had to stay longer “due to unforeseen circumstances”, occupied the normal berth for passenger ships, leaving us to take refuge from the winds behind some grain silos in the commercial port. Getting through the tight entrance and turning short round the 150 degrees or so to port, was hampered by the 25 knots of wind and the short distance of about 4 ship lengths to complete it in.

But with a compulsory tug assisting the bow thruster, and the engines turning astern to arrest the ships headway the turn was completed allowing the Saga Ruby to make her way towards another 90 degree turn, this time to starboard, and the berth intended for us.

Once alongside and duly pinned in place by the wind in the northern part of the port, our passengers made ready to head ashore with tours to tea plantations and elephant sanctuaries capturing the imagination of many in addition to the usual sightseeing destinations.

The oldest districts of the city, which are nearest to the harbour, are known as the Fort and the Pettah. The Pettah has become a district of small shops, markets, and sidewalk stalls, with all the characteristic features of an Oriental bazaar, providing a great place for the opportunist souvenir hunter.

The evening departure was made a little easier than the arrival by exiting via the Northern Entrance. The winds were still blowing strong, up to 35 knots at one point, but the day had remained dry at least.

The 3.5 nautical mile passage from Male to Kuda Bandos could hardly be described as an epic voyage, however it was a pleasant one with little wind and in glorious sunshine. We have a film crew onboard at the moment making a promotional video, so this permitted the Staff Captain to take them out in the PC boat and film the vessel underway. Even some dolphins tried to get in on the act, with a small pod playfully passing, more than matching the Saga Ruby’s speed with the engines at manoeuvring revs.

With no pilot, I was left to choose a suitable spot to let go the anchor and provide a suitable platform to launch our amphibious assault on the small uninhabited island. The island had been rented for the day for our exclusive use and once “brought up to anchor”, the ships tenders were launched and an advance party from the Hotel Department undertook the process of setting up ashore.

With the Food & Beverage Manager supervising the logistics of setting up for a barbeque ashore and the Staff Captain ensuring that our tenders were not sunk by the vast quantities of provisions being loaded into them, the operation was swiftly completed in military like fashion. This left only for our passengers to be ferried ashore on the tenders and the Cruise Director to perform a quick recognisance of the beach in order to assess where best to set up for a game of cricket, amongst other activities organised for the passengers entertainment.

The day at the island was enjoyed, not only by our passengers, but also by the ships crew, who after the BBQ joined in with the games. Some Officers and Crew took to hiring out a jet ski whilst many of our passengers took advantage of the complimentary glass bottom boat trips to view the coral and fish.

The local “Wodoo Band” joined the Starlight Trio and the Saga Ruby Orchestra in providing a continuous musical entertainment for those who just wished to bask in the sun or sit in the shade and enjoy a glass of champagne.

By the time the sunset, all were onboard and the vessel was made ready to sail. No doubt many of our guests, and crew, would be getting an early night as all this relaxing on the beach can sometimes be exhausting!

Once again permission to sail without a pilot was granted, so the Saga Ruby sailed around Kuda Bandos and headed between two Islands, out into the Indian Ocean where the Atoll’s seabed abruptly fell away to the ocean’s abyssal plane, several thousand metres beneath the surface.

After leaving Mumbai the Saga Ruby headed down towards Kochi (Cochin), which was to be our next port of call. However on the eve of our arrival the vessel was informed that the dockworkers of nine trade unions had gone on a unilateral strike in protest of a proposed closure of the container terminal there. This gave us little option but to miss the port and instead head towards the Maldives for an extra day.

The first of the two-day visit to the Maldives was a call to Malé, the capital and administrative centre of the archipelago of nearly 2000 islands. The pilot boarded at Gaadhoo Koa, a narrow channel that separates Malé from Hulule Island where the airport is situated.

Strong currents of up to 6 knots affect the mouth of Gaadhoo Koa at this time of year so a minimum speed of 10 kts was needed with a 20 degree offset applied to the heading in order to counter it. Once through the channel the speed was taken off with only a little over a mile to run to our intended anchor position on the other side of the cheerfully named island, Funadhoo.

With the vessel safely anchored and clearance obtained from the local authorities, the tender service to Malé began allowing the passengers to go and explore or embark in souvenir hunting.  Malé is only 1 mile long and just over half a mile wide, so is small enough to cover on foot in an hour or two.

With this in mind it is hard to fathom the genuine need for vehicular transport, other than transporting heavy or bulky goods, yet it appears that there are more mopeds on the Island than there are people to ride them. Walking around is considerably hampered by the amount of this form of traffic, as you are required to dodge these motorbikes almost continuously. Ironically I didn’t see many bicycles, which in my view would have been a far more sensible and quieter mode of transport.

During our visit it was evident that some sort of election was imminent with the posters and coloured bunting evident all over the main streets. Each street seemed to have a different colour prominent to represent a certain candidate or party that acted to crudely colour code the island.

The tenders ran to and from the Inner Atoll Harbour, which was a hive of activity with small launches transferring passengers to the various islands and the Dhoni fishing boats unloading to the fish market. With the setting sun the tender service stopped and everyone was back aboard for a quiet night at anchor.

Arrival into the port of Mumbai is always interesting! The cloistering smoke filled air fills your lungs at 12 nautical miles or so from the port entrance and marks the first signs of your approach to India’s most populous city.

Formally known as Bombay, Mumbai is home to 16 ½ million people according to official census but the actual figure is unknown and can only be guessed at. The fishing vessels are numerous, and differ drastically in size and seaworthiness, as does the competence of the fishermen’s seamanship skills. Fortunately the majority of fishing vessels keep out of the way with knowledge of the Collision Regulations being largely replaced with a more primitive concept that “might is right” working in our favour.

The port and its approaches were enshrouded in a thick haze on the morning of our arrival and visibility was reduced to less than 2 nautical miles. The pilot boarded a little late having put the vessel through the “hurry up and wait” routine and seemed more interested in obtaining a bottle of whiskey than safely navigating the vessel to the berth. At one point the pilot seamed to lose his bearings after telling me how only last week a naval vessel had collided with a cargo ship.

In his eagerness to tell me the story the pilot appeared to be attempting to re-enact the situation with a cargo ship at anchor. After the Pilot failed to adequately respond to the Chief Officer’s warnings I promptly took over and completed the pilotage to the berth leaving the Pilot to the VHF communications with the VTS.

With the vessel securely alongside our designated berth, having had to be very cautious with the landing due to the fendering being almost nonexistent, the gangway was run out and the officials embarked in typical mob-handed fashion. Before passengers were permitted to go ashore, a face-to-face inspection of all persons onboard had to be completed to fulfil the immigration regulations.

For passengers taking a tour, several options were available, including a visit to the Victoria School for the Blind or St. Jude’s Childcare Centre, a Mumbai City or a Mumbai Highlights tour as well as a tour to the Elephanta Caves by boat.

I had been to Mumbai on several occasions before but I’d never been ashore properly so I thought it was time to do something about it. Luckily there was space on the tour to the Elephanta Caves so I tagged along with the group of 28 passengers and before long found myself having to give a lifejacket demonstration prior to boarding the boat at the Gateway to India. 

The cruise to Elephanta Island was to take an hour on the rather sluggish, yet sturdy two-tiered passenger ferry. The haze had thinned significantly by now, and although still present allowed our passengers to see items of interest along the cruise, including ships designed for a variety of purposes and of various sizes anchored and alongside, inside the harbour limits of Mumbai.

Having arrived at Elephanta Island the next step in the pilgrimage involved a short train ride of a about 5 minutes on small train. After disembarking the little train there was the small matter of 120 steps or so to negotiate. The stepped path was lined on either side by an avenue of stalls, displaying various souvenirs and artefacts to tempt weary tourists that happen to stop to catch a breath on the way up.

Once at the top there are a number of native monkeys on hand to provide entertainment along the short walk to the caves. The monkeys were well behaved compared to most groups that I’d encountered on my travels before and were not aggressive in nature.

The Elephanta Caves are a series of man-made caverns hewn out of the rock between the 5th and 8th centuries. Originally known as Gharapuri or “the Fortress City”, it was the Portuguese who named it Elephanta after a large stone elephant sculpture they found nearby. Unfortunately it was the devout Catholic Portuguese who also set about vandalising a number of the Hindu sculptures and used them as target practice.

The day soon went by, and time to cast off and set to sea came with it. The pilot for the passage out was not the same fellow we had on the way in, but I still kept the navigational control of the vessel, with the pilot advising me of shipping movements. To be fair the evening’s pilot was quite professional and declined my offer of a “gift” when it was time for him to depart, which helped to restore a little of my faith back in the service.