Issue 10, March 10, 2004:

Friendly Visit in Troubled Times

Visits to Norwegian ships docking in U.S. ports have been an important part of the Norwegian Seamen’s Church’s mission. But, due to increased security and a decline of Norwegian sailors, the number of ship visits have dropped dramatically the last year.

By ESPEN TJERSLAND
Port Newark, NJ

Whenever a ship with Norwegian seamen onboard arrives in the New York area, the staff at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church has to spend hours on the phone to get a visiting permit from U.S. Port Authorities.

"This is getting harder and harder," Cultural Director at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church, Eirik Fluge, says. "It is really frustrating. Sometimes we are not allowed aboard," he says.

Two NorwegianShips
This week, Fluge manages to get his clearance. Minutes later, he jumps in the car and drives all the way to Port Newark, where two Norwegian ships are docking, side by side. "It’s very rare that two Norwegian ships dock at the same time," Fluge says, as he passes the security booth on the pier.

Stolt Aquamarine is a massive, yellow, 176 meter long chemical tanker. But, it looks small compared to Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s monster of a cargo ship – the famous Tampa. The ship made headlines worldwide after the Norwegian captain Arne Rinnan rescued 433 boat refugees off Christmas Island in Australia in 2002. Now it’s in New Jersey to load cars and trucks.

The chemical tanker is operated by Stolt Nielsen Transportation Group. Four Norwegian officers are currently employed on the ship, which sails around the world with stearine, caustic soda, glycerine and other highly explosive acids. But on the way from Rotterdam to New York, the ship was hit by a hurricane south of Newfoundland.

"It was really bad. I was kicked out of my bunk and had to sleep on the floor. My cabin looked like a bombshell," 3rd Officer Håkon Lunde, 24, says.

After battling 56-foot waves for two days, the tanker finally made it to New York, where the crew fired off an email to the Norwegian Seamen’s Church, asking for various newspapers, Donald Duck comics, the classic movie Flåklypa Grand Prix (on DVD), Maarud Potetgull, Toro rett-i-koppen, and Solbærtoddy.

"This is just great," 3rd Engineer Antonio Thunem, 22, says, who comes from Fiskåbygd, a small fishing village on the West Coast of Norway.

He sits at the lunch table in a yellow boiler suit, with a pair of ear defenders clenched around his neck. His hands are covered with oil stains, and as he flips through a bunch of newspapers, he makes sure to fill his pockets with chocolate before his next shift.

"We work long periods at a time, 3-4 months, so newspapers are hard currency. You can trade a lot of goods with a fresh newspaper," Senior Officer Runar Hauge, 25, says with a laugh.

Negative Trend
The Officers Mess Hall smells of freshly made egg and bacon, and the Norwegian officers are sipping coffee, after a long night. "We are only at port for a few hours, so it’s normally very hectic," Chief Engineer Atle Strømsvik, 46, says.

Strømsvik lives with his family in Veracruz, Mexico. He has had a long life at sea, 27 years in total, but now he fears that this will be one of his last trips at Stolt Aquamarine.
"Stolt Nielsen is currently replacing Norwegian officers with Russians," Strømsvik says.

"The situation is really frustrating. But it’s the same in all the Norwegian shipping lines," Rune Hauge says. He enjoys his job at Stolt Aquamarine, but he is not optimistic about his future within the Stolt Nilsen group.

The trend in the Norwegian shipping industry is troubling, especially among the Norwegian seamen who are being laid off en mass and replaced by cheaper labor from Russia, the Baltic and the Philippines.

The latest statistics from the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association show that 14,050 Norwegians were employed on Norwegian foreign-going ships in February last year, compared to 15,765 in 2000. That is a drop of 11 percent in a recent three-year period.

"We receive very little information, but I know this will be my last trip, and that is very sad," Hauge says, who hails from Ulsteinvik in Møre og Romsdal, Norway.

Stolt Aquamarine has a crew of 29, mostly Filipinos and a Danish captain. While the Filipinos are busy working the karaoke machine on the lower deck, the officers have their own bar to relax. And, when the sea is calm, the officers can rest by a swimming pool on the upper deck!

"It is very social and fun. We have a good time here," Runar Hauge says.

The bar is filled with sodas and beers, and on special occasions Atle Strømsvik emerges with a wooden box filled with hand made cigars from the Philippines – each labeled with Stolt Aquamarine’s logo.

"I like a good cigar, but I don’t like the challenging times," he sighs.

Maritime Security
The shipping industry is also facing tougher security standards. After 9/11 the security was beefed up in ports all around the world, especially in the U.S.

"The Americans seem to be a bit paranoid. The Filipino crew is not even allowed onto the pier to make a call from the local phone booth," Runar Hauge explains.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has worked out a new, comprehensive security regime for international shipping, which is set to enter into force in July 2004.

Officers and crewmembers are being drilled to tackle various terror threats, and in a few months ships will be required to have their own security officers. The flip side of the coin is that organizations like the Norwegian Seamen’s Church has difficulties getting access to the ships – even though they come for a friendly errand.

"We enjoy visiting Norwegian seamen, but the strict security makes it almost impossible for us to get access to some ships, and with the new security measurements it will be even harder for us," Senior Pastor Svein Helge Rødahl at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in New York says.

The Church registered a massive drop in the number of ships visit during the last year. 79 Norwegian ships docked in the New York area in 2003, and the church made 53 visits. That is a decline of nearly 50 percent from 2002, when the church made 100 visits.

Rødahl has already contacted the Norwegian Seamen’s Mission in Bergen to make them put some pressure on the U.S authorities, to improve on the visiting situation.

"We need to solve this matter, so we can continue to carry out our mission," Rødahl says. Without the refill from the church, Norwegians at sea may feel even further away from home in the future.

Previous Stories:

• Issue 9, March 3, 2004
New Film Explores the
Heroes of the North

• Issue 8, February 25, 2004
Kofi Annan Greets
Norwegian Artists

• Issue 7, February 18, 2004
Bølgen & Moi Open
Restaurant in Hudson

• Issue 6, February 11, 2004
Norwegian Diva With
Broadway Dreams

• Issue 5, February 4, 2004
Norway's New Princess Named

• Issue 4, January 28, 2004
Helga's Historic Walk
Across America

• Issue 3, January 21, 2004
Arne Næss Jr. Dies
Climbing in South Africa

• Issue 2, January 14, 2004
Norway's Kurt Ready
To Conquer the World

• Issue 1, January 7, 2004
Dragsten Honors Sons of
Norway's Founding Fathers

• Main Stories 2003