Our voyage towards this beautiful city paralleled the South African coast and as we made our way south-west we passed some of the ports I used to call at during the days of my early career. I used to visit South Africa regularly, when I was a junior officer with the Union-Castle line and grew… read more of “Captain’s…”
Richard’s Bay, South Africa When I left you, we were heading south towards this port on the Natal coast of South Africa. I had last been here on a bulk-carrier, loading 100,000 tonnes of coal for Europe, now I was appearing on a luxury cruise liner, how times change. The good news is that we… read more of “Captain’s…”
Maputo, Mozambique Maputo lies on the East African coast and I last visited there during my ‘general cargo ship’ days of the 1970’s; then it was called Lourenco Marques and was under Portuguese administration. As a cadet, one could use bars of soap as currency, this came in handy because I only earned $15 or… read more of “Captain’s…”
I recently presented Veendam Staff Captain Paul Spaas with his 25-Year Service Award. This special occasion was celebrated in style with a surprise dinner in the Pinnacle Grill restaurant. Bas van Dreumel is Veendam’s captain.
30th March, Madagascar Landfall, after leaving the Seychelles and crossing 10⁰South latitude, the demarcation line for ‘pirate’ country we sight the northern tip of Madagascar in the early morning light. Our destination, Adoanay, formerly known by its French name Hell Ville, lies on the island of Nosy Be, on the north-west coast of Madagascar. It’s… read more of “Captain’s…”
28th March, Victoria, Seychelles We had perfect weather across the Indian Ocean and although we arrived off Victoria on time, we had to wait 45 minutes, our berth was occupied by a Danish frigate, one of the naval contingent that patrol the Somali pirate waters in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. Who am… read more of “Captain’s…”
Having put the vents of Phuket behind me, we made our way across the Indian Ocean towards a landfall off the southern tip of Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was once known. Our guests and crew enjoyed the sea-days after our somewhat hectic prior days and ports. We were, once again, blessed with calm… read more of “Captain’s…”
18th to 21st March Having departed Singapore, we set courses through the Malacca Straits once more and dealt with all that it entails. The lanes are still busy and one has to have one’s wits about you as we negotiate them. We needed 14 kts to make Port Malai, on the island of Langkawi, which… read more of “Captain’s…”
The Volendam was docked at Shanghai on March 14 and 15. Enjoy the pictures of Shanghai by day and by night taken from the ship. Jeroen Baijens is Volendam’s captain.
15th-17th March – Nha Trang, Vietnam and Singapore, Malaysia Having departed Hong Kong, we set sail across the South China Sea towards Nha Trang. The haze/fog had cleared from the Chinese mainland, however the preponderance of fishing boats had to be negotiated again, not only off Hong Kong but Vietnam also, their coastal waters are… read more of “Captain’s…”
