When I board a ship and notice suitcases stacked close to the gangway I know what is happening; one or more crew members are going home! Another thing I notice is the difference between those who leave and those who stay behind. Those leaving have big smiles on their faces and are often shaking hands with their colleagues prior to disembaarking, while the ones who stay behind are putting on a brave face!
It was different when I boarded a ship with a crew from India the other day.. One of the officers invited me for lunch. We were served by the steward who had a sad look on his face. As we were talking about the ' issues of the day ' the officer suddenly mentioned that the steward was going home today after 15 months at sea. I said, " That's great but why isn't he smiling? To which the officer answered, " He is going home but his replacement ( another steward ) hasn't arrived yet and if he doesn't arrive today he cannot leave the ship and has to continue sailing to Chile " Now I could understand the steward's long face;.he was under a lot of stress because of the uncertainty.
When the ship left Delta Port that evening, the ' replacement ' hadn't shown up! The steward is now sailing to Chile along with the crew and from there they may sail to China or Japan and hopefully someone will be there to take over his job so he can go home to his family in India! (The steward is the fellow on the right, in the photo above.)
