November 2010 - Seatrade

16
in The picTure
Meet the Crew
We asked the crew following questions;
1. Where do you come from? Could you tell us a little bit
about this please?
2. When did you start sailing in general and when did you
start sailing on Seatrade managed vessels?
3. What is your favourite Seatrade/Triton vessel and why?
4. What do you like most about your job?
5. What is your favourite port and why?
6. Did you ever experience anything extraordinary? (for
example crazy weather, strange cargo etc.)
7. What is your advice to young seafarers?
Erwin A. Reiche, Captain
1) The Netherlands. Place of residence is Huizen, a little town
about 40 kms from Amsterdam, situated in between a lake
and a forest, a quiet but good place to live.
2) Started 1975 at the KNSM as ‘Leerling Stuurman’ (cadet).
First ship for Seatrade Groningen was the Adriatic (ex-Jofrigo)
in May 1979, as 2nd Mate.
3) Up to now the Baltic Klipper’s performance is as expected;
a strong and reliable ship, but we are still in a testing-phase
and learning every day. This voyage now, we will take
maximum cargo o/b and after completion St. Petersburg
will have probably a good impression of this vessel. So, my
favourite(s) from the present fleet are the Lombok Strait &
Luzon Strait, dynamic and multi-functional ships.
4) Well, feel still comfortable in this job, furthermore I like the
periods of leave, of course.
5) Port Vendres, France. Vessel is berthed in the middle of
the village, as soon as you are off the gangway, you can/
will enjoy a typical France village life: café and restaurants,
bakery at a couple of minutes’ walking distance, so drinking
a cup of coffee with apple pie on a terrace watching the ship
and be back o/b in no time if situation demands.
Simply Seatrade November 2010
In each Simply Seatrade we are introducing one of the
vessels managed by any of the pool members; the ship’s
particulars, the trade it is operating in at the time, and
the origin of the vessel’s name will be described, and of
course the present crew will be introduced. However,
as mv Baltic Klipper has been rather extensively
covered already, in this issue we will just introduce the
crew.
6) Yes, over the last 35 years have seen it all, many good, but
also some bad moments.
7) What ever you do, always try to think at least one step
ahead: anticipating = a part of good seamanship
René Duvalois, Chief Engineer
1) I was born in Rotterdam and lived there for 20 years. After
my wife was offered a job at the refinery of Total Flushing
we moved to Middelburg (Zeeland), stayed there for 13
years and moved on to a small village called Ovezande.
Ovezande is a nice quiet village (in the “Zak van Zuid
Beveland”) from around the year 1380 surrounded by
flowers, dikes and apple and pear orchards, small cattle
farms, and vineyards.
2) The first time I went to sea was at the age of 15, made a
trip from Holland to Ireland and back. Went to school and
started sailing for Seatrade in 1975 on the Atlantide as an
assistant engineer. Sailed on the old Santa Lucia as a 3rd
and 2nd engineer and started as a chief engineer on the old
Adriatic in 1981.
3) Although the Baltic Klipper is a new and challenging ship
you can’t compare it with a Lombok or Luzon Strait as those
vessels have a lot of interesting equipment on board. And
that is what counts for me: the more complex the systems,
the more I like it.
4) I see my job as independent and a free profession, I like if
things to go wrong to make them work again or improve
things / systems.
5) I do not have a favourite port; there are many nice ports
all around the world. It’s all about the people you meet.
Most ports where people are friendly like New Zeeland or
Australia and many other countries I feel at home.
6) Extraordinary? Hmm difficult to say, after 35 years you think
to have seen it all and that it’s part of the job or common in
this trade. Coffee from England to Brazil for example.
7) Don’t start sailing unless you feel at home at sea.