MV New Joy

Today I had an interesting visit on board the MV New Joy with a Korean and Philippine crew. When I entered the ship's office I was greeted by one older Korean and three much younger officers. One of the  three was a woman.

I usually ask what a crew member's  rank is and most of the time I guess it  right ' who is who ' according to rank. This time I was wrong. The ' older ' man was not the captain but the chief engineer. (  a close guess ) I asked the young lady if she was a ' cadet ' ( apprentice ). Was I wrong! She was the chief officer. I seldom meet woman on board a ship and only the second time that I meet  a female chief officer.

Yesterday Jeremy Vaandrager from Abbotsford had dropped-off some beautiful  hand knit toques made by a senior lady. I asked them kindly to put on the toque so I can thank the lady who lives in Abbotsford. The young chief engineer, urged by her colleagues,   reluctantly agreed to be on the picture but we succeeded  having her smile.

I asked if they are worried about the tense situation between North and South Korea? " Not at all " was their  answer. This surprised me.  The chief engineer and I are of the same age and we mentioned  that when we were born the Korean war was raging. In fact, 1952 was a record year of European immigrants moving to  (mostly)  North America for fear of a Third World War! The chief engineer agreed of the great danger.

Later that day, when I was in the mission building the captain came to visit. He wanted to see me. He thanked me for the toques, bread and the ' Jesus DVD's '. ( The officers had already told me that he was a Christian ) He presented me with a small gift. A kind gesture of the captain.

One more interesting thing worth mentioning about the MV New Joy. She is called a ' designated ' ship. The crew has a 60/40 crew which means that the majority of the crew is Korean and the minority is of a different nationality. (  Philippines in this case ) . Other Korean owned ships I visit have most of the time a Korean captain and chief engineer, the rest of the crew is of a different nationality. The ' designation ' has to do with the fact that South Korea is still in a state of war with North Korea. Any time a political conflict should arise this and other ships that  are ' designated '  have to assist immediately where ever needed and that's why  the majority of the crew is Korean.  I know that the state of Israel has a similar policy. How timely in the present danger for these Koreans!

I wished them God's blessing and protection. They left this afternoon.

With the captain .

MV New Joy