Beirut

Having arrived in Beirut things seemed pretty quiet, except that we were warned not to go into the city alone and not to show a camera too often. Far offshore outside the three mile zone, Israeli jet fighters streaked back and forth to their targets in Syria. After discharging in Beirut we had to steam all the way out again, then a bit to the north and back in towards Latakia, Syria. We arrived there early in the morning. The pilot came on board, the tugs made fast and we slowly crept into the harbour, commencing a turn before berthing.

Latakia

Something funny was going on ashore: a crowd was streaming down onto the quay, and a chap climbed on a box, haranguing the crowd and shaking his fist at us. The crowd took on a threatening attitude, the pilot began to scold the tug skippers over the VHF radio, who had suddenly thrown off the hawsers. So we were floating aimlessly around the harbour, driftng down to a Russian warship tied up alongside the quay. They suddenly started a gas turbine and the crew came running on deck to man the moorings and try to get away before being flattened between us and the quay. The Old Man looked around, told the pilot to keep out of his way, and coolly manoeuvred us out of harbour without needing the tugs, following which he dropped the hook and waited. The agent of Nedlloyd Lines came out with the pilot boat and after consultation with head office in Rotterdam we left for Tripoli (north Lebanon).

Tripoli and beyond

In Tripoli, after a night at anchor looking at the sunrise above the Lebanese mountains, we waited for a day as in an empty cabin a Lebanese security officer sat chain-smoking with a loaded gun on the table. Eventually the mv Oostkerk proved to have been declared 'contaminated' in the entire Arab world. We did not even go to Libya, but tried to get rid of our cargo in Valletta (Malta). Even the Maltese authorities (who under the leadership of the radical PM Dom Mintoff had Soviet sympathies at the time and joined the Arab camp) did not want to burn their fingers. Eventually we returned to Rotterdam and the cargo went to its destination in a Greek ship. The story even reached the press.

To my surprise I returned home in time for Christmas, after over five months afloat.

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