About the MV Jakarta....

MV Jakarta
This is a happy boat. Everybody smiles. The crew is a mixture of Romanian(Captain and Chief Officer as well as ship's carpenter), Sri Lankan(Cadets, training for eventual positions as ship's officers, who alternate between crew duties on deck and classroom training with the Chief Officer)and Filipinos, who serve as Mates and crew. The Filipinos, especially, are a happy lot. The have a great sense of humor and a sense of fun as well.They love to party and to sing. Parties on board the ship are usually on a Saturday, held in the Blue bar, and are open to everyone. Good food, beer,booze, music and singing are the order of the night.
The ship itself is one of nine, the Pearl String, owned by Rickmers LinieGmb & De KG that continuously circles the globe. It is 600 feet long (two football fields) and 86 feet wide. Equipped with four Superflex heavy duty cranes it is built to handle heavy, out-of-gauge cargo. The two middle cranes lift 320 metric tons each and, when combined, can lift more than the weight of a fully loaded 747. Cargo can be stored above or below deck, but the below deck area is ventilated and dehumidified. This allows us to carry extraordinary cargo not suited to container ships or roll on/roll offs.
As you might expect, maintenance is an ongoing chore for the crew. Saltwater + Metal = Rust. The noise of wire brushes and the smell of fresh paint are constant companions.
The aft section of the ship, known as the bridge house, has eight decks:main, poop, A,B,C and D decks (the living quarters), pilot deck (home of the Blue bar), and the bridge. The Blue bar is furnished as a bar but is really only used when there is a party. There is no elevator. We were well warned, prior to booking our passage, that we would need to be comfortable ascending and descending at least five flights of stairs regularly. We are housed in the owner's suite in the middle of D deck. The Officers Mess is on the A deck. At this point I can safely say that Mal and I are developing"buns of steel"!!
The food is excellent. Our chef worked on a large cruise ship prior to joining us. Breakfasts are cooked to order, anything from Eggs Benedict to cereal. Lunch and dinner consist of soup, salad, main course and dessert.The cuisine is best described as eclectic. It includes food from all nations, is always delicious and is beautifully presented. Dessert today was Crepes Suzettes.
The working bridge takes up the entire top story of the bridge house. It contains all the charts and instruments, a bathroom and a small kitchen.Bridge policy is left to the individual captain of each ship. Our captain allows us on the bridge at any time as long as we don't interfere with the operation of the ship. This is a wonderful privilege. The instruments are similar in concept to those on a small boat so Mal and I have no difficulty reading and understanding them. An exciting moment was watching the latitude drop to 00.00.
Our days pass quickly here, even when in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Our fellow passengers are interesting and entertaining and so far our adventure is proving to be very successful.