Travel in the Merchant Navy & See The World

‘For the last few years now,I have been looking back on my travel days when in the merchant navy I remember clearly when I fist joined my brand new ship in Avonmouth near Bristol,UK.I was to join and travel on a  LPG(Liquid Petroleum Gas Tanker).We waited on the jetty for some hours expecting the arrival of our ship.Suddenly the mist cleared and a large red hull and pea green superstructure came in to sight.It was a foul day,weather wise.This was my introduction to the Merchant Navy

Search my Ship To Travel

For the last few years I have been searching the where abouts of this ship,named”The Lord Kelvin”Through persistent searches and forums I eventually found her.I feel my travel has gone full circle!

MS Lord Kelvin

From Avonmouth we set sail for Hamburg and then up the Kiel Canal which led us in to the Baltic Sea.There were several ports of entry,one of which was Ventspils in Latvia.At this time in 1980 Latvia was for all and purposes,The Soviet Union.To travel and get to see the Soviet Union was every young mans dreams

Maricaibo basilica

After that short leg of the journey we re-entered the North Sea and steamed due West,destination Halifax Nova Scotia.A long travel but beautiful city where I first met a lady from across the pod or Atlantic.From there we sailed down the East Coast of America,stopping at New York,Baltimore,Norfolk,Tampere,Galveston,New Orleans and on to Coatzacoalcos in Mexico.A great region to travel to as I found the Mexican peoples to be friendly and merry in spirit.In hindsight this may have been to the amount and freely available Gold Tequila(The Tequila with the maggot in the bottle)The maggot actually lives in the cactus leafs,so chomping its way through the mescaline within the cactus.I must say I had many a strange looking day when visiting Mexico.Frome Mexico we would sail to Maracaibo in Venezuela.Though we were advised not to go ashore as seamen were notoriously mugged for their cash by local stevedores or villains knowing to well Merchant Navy seamen had plenty of cash after being at sea for some weeks or months

Each port of call lasted about three days,so me and the other seamen would swap shifts and run two back to back so enabling us to spend a decent amount of time ashore and travel locally.I must say that when at sea drink and alcohol all to easily was consumed.As we has a chef,who was first class by the way,we ate well,worked hard and played equally hard.One other good point about serving in the merchant navy,was that the health insurance was free.

For any one looking to travel the world and actually get paid for it,the Merchant Navy is a worthy option to consider.I still to this day stare out at ships sailing out to sea and wondering what destinations lie before them Regarding the seasickness aspect,I can only say that I have never suffered from it and for those who did at first,it does pass in time

The return leg found me in much the same European ports though on the last  visit we entered Kemi on the North Western Coast of Finland.The weather was bitter cold and the snow seemed to be several meters deep.As my travel time was up,I was driven to a small remote airstrip and flown in a six seater private jet to Helsinki Vantaa airport for an onward connecting flight to England.This was to be my first encounter with Finland(Suomi)

Travel on the MS Lord Kelvin

Lord Kelvin shown above admittedly looks a little worse for wear now,however she has to be 40 years old and no doubt served her owners and seamen well.She was made of stainless steel as she carried very toxic and erosive cargo.We carried Ammonia at the time of sailing along with Poly Vinyl Chloride,both lethal substances when in close contact.Ammonia attacks water so is constantly in your eyes.Poly Vinyl Chloride will kill you if inhaled,so breathing apparatus was worn at most times

I feel a sense of closure seeing the Lord Kelvin for the last time.She transported me to Finland some 30 years ago and took me on many travels.Ironically,some 8 years later I was to meet a Finnish Woman and settle down in Finland as a British Expatriate.Though it could equally have been anyone of the countries I visited whilst serving in the merchant navy.If you are looking to travel and see the world outside of the borders you currently live in,take a moment and think of the Merchant Navythe progfession is well paid,good free health care and a chance to see and travel the world