MOZART. MALAYSIA TO SRI LANKA

17th - 22nd Nov 2011

I arrived at Port Tanjung Pelepas in good time, and was met at the port admin building by Captain Lalin De Silva, the shipping company’s agent. He is a star. Not only did he smooth the way for me boarding the ship, but because I was early ( the ship was not due to sail until that evening ), he most generously took me out to lunch at a fantastic traditional Malay seafood restaurant nearby; the enormous buttered fresh prawns being particularly memorable. Originally from Sri Lanka himself, he also gave me comprehensive advice on where to go and what to see in that country. I was very well looked after. If you ever end up in PTP, Captain De Silva is your man. By the way, his wife’s grandmother was Scottish, from Edinburgh.

Left: The redoubtable Captain Lalin De Silva. If you are ever passing PTP and need any assistance, his office is on the 4th floor of the Port Administrative Building Block B, and I am sure he would be delighted to help.

Right: I was taken out for lunch by Capt Lalin at this seaside restaurant. It was the start of what turned out to be a five day gastronomic extravaganza. Enjoyable, if somewhat debauched. 

He dropped me at the Seaman’s Centre, the place I had previously visited 12 days ago with the two Incas. Karsten, the affable Dane who runs the place, was again behind the bar. It really is a most ‘up-market’ seaman’s mission and from there I then got the port shuttle bus to the ship; CMA-CGM Mozart. CMA-CGM is a French company based in Marseille.

Left: Karsten the Dane at his Seaman's Centre at PTP. All mod cons and gallons of Carlsberg lager available. He is a bit overworked at the moment because of staff shortages. He is looking for a Philippino speaking Malay national to help him. If anybody knows one who is available...please advise ( Bernie? ).

The Mozart ( right ), another container ship, is somewhat larger in capacity than the others I have been on. It is 277 metres long with a beam of 40 metres and carries max 5782 TEU. Did I tell you, the Titanic was 268 metres long with a beam of 28 metres? I may also have explained; a ‘TEU’ is the space equivalent of a 20 ft long container. It also has a lift!

I arrived in time for dinner and it was soon apparent that procedure on this ship is a completely different kettle de poisson than the previous, Eastern European/Philippino manned, vessels. C’est chalk et fromage compared to the Carelia, Bahia and Cap Cleveland. For a start, all the ship’s officers wear neatly pressed uniform of white shirts and black trousers for all meals and when on duty, they shave properly, look smart and they all meet for pre-dinner drinks in a sort of ante-room/bar and, apart from the officers on watch, all eat together and don’t leave the table before the Captain. The French ( Breton ) chef wears whites and hat and there is a carefully prepared menu. The food is superb, and a full bottle of wine is provided with both lunch, 1230hrs, and dinner at the more respectable time of 1930hrs. It is all remarkably civilised. I’m surprised they don’t have a ‘palm-court orchestra’ to accompany the meals, a la Titanic.

Left: The table set just for me. I am the only passenger. I think this was the Sunday Lunch starting with smoked salmon and hot toast. 

Right: An example of a menu. Zut alors!

Left: Les Officiers ( or most of them ). Le Captaine, Jean Hasle, on the right. All most civilised.

Right: Encore un menu. Ceci de Dimanche. 

The steward, a Romanian called Adrian, again in uniform, is both charming and efficient. Unlike the idle and uncommunicative Philippino stewards ( or more likely just badly instructed ) on the ex-Soviet manned ships, this guy punctiliously makes the beds and cleans the cabins each day, as well as serving the food.

On the second afternoon the whole ship’s company, plus myself, assembled on the bridge to be given safety briefings, including procedures in the event of ‘piracy’, a demonstration of how to get into your immersion suit ( left ) and who was responsible for what. The fact that this briefing was given in French by the Captain, Ist Mate and Bosun, and consequently I didn’t really understand much of it, was immaterial. This sort of collective ‘briefing’ would never have occurred on the previous ships. The ship’s company numbers 27 ( I think I counted ) which is considerably more than on the other vessels. They are mainly French with some Romanians. This is peculiar to the ‘French’ half of the CMA-CGM shipping company; the other half of their 360 ships is crewed by ‘international’ crews i.e Eastern European, Indian and Philippinos.

The Captain, a smart and charming Frenchman, a Breton, called Jean Hasle ( pronounced, I was told, ‘Allez’ ) is quietly spoken and exudes calm efficiency and authority. The other officers include an amusing ( good line in jokes ) Romanian 3rd Mate, and an attractive French lady 2nd Engineer. As I said, a different ‘joue de ballon’ to what I had experienced before.

We rounded the north of Sumatra and set a westerly course across the Indian Ocean for Sri Lanka. The sea being calm so far ( as I write this on the night of the 19th ), it is very much a pleasure cruise.



 I am worried about putting on more weight so shun the lift, quel luxury unnecessaire, and use the stairs to my cabin ( right ) on E Deck ( 8 decks from main-deck to Bridge. The mess dining room is on B Deck ). This is my token gesture in the face of irresistible cuisine. Zut Alors! There is a g*m ( unspeakable ) and a ping-pong table, a special lounge on my deck with DVD player and an enormous library of ( many English ) books and DVDs , a bar in the ‘ante-room’, a laundry room, nice pictures on the walls and lots of home comforts. C’est manifique.



I visited the bridge after breakfast on Sunday, 20th, where the Romanian 3rd Mate, Catalin, and one of the three helmsman were on watch. Very peaceful up there with some pleasant 1960/70s music playing quietly in the background. There were a lot of large ships in the area either ahead of us, we overtook a couple, or coming in the opposite direction. It is obviously a very busy shipping lane. Apparently on Sundays the chef makes an even greater effort to provide ‘le repas memorable’. Dejeune was certainly a case in point. After this gargantuan feast I felt a little bit like that enormously fat man in the Monty Python film ‘The Meaning of Life’ who, when persuaded to eat a final ‘waffere-thin mint’, explodes. I must, I will, go on a serious diet when reaching shore.

Monday 21st, much of the same routine and later in the day we were in sight of Sri Lanka. I am told the pilot comes on board at 0100hrs and we should dock about an hour later.
Woke up on the morning of the 22nd to find that we had indeed arrived. Petit dejeune, said my 'au revoirs' and, together with the lady 2nd engineer ( she was on her way back to Paris ), disembarked. After much paper stamping by various Sri Lankan customs and immigration officials it was " Hello Colombooooooooo!!!!!"