The Pirates are Coming!!!

We are on high alert for pirates!!! The first thing that I noticed when I woke this morning was that the ship was moving very quickly. According to the noon announcement, we have been going 24 knots. We have been warned for several weeks that during this crossing we would be traveling through pirate infested waters and would be taking certain precautions to make sure that our ship would not be attacked. We have no weapons aboard the ship, so when we are going through particularly dangerous areas, members of the crew man various points on the decks with fire hoses to knock down any possible intruders. A couple students also noticed last night that a crew member came out to the back of the boat with a spot light and swept the area behind the boat every ten minutes. This is not a joke (well not really)!!! We are currently traveling through the Malacca Strait, one of the most pirate infested stretches of water in the world!

This is the official SAS “Dean’s Memo” announcement regarding pirates:

The REAL DEAL: Pirates still do exist, although they probably do not look like the ones we see in Hollywood movies. There are reports of pirating on the seas throughout the world, oftentimes when a ship is traveling close to land like in the Malacca Strait, which we are about to enter. Although the risk is low the ship does take precautions, like increasing our speed through the area of risk. Pirates are much more interested in cargo ships, not passenger ships.

So, imagine my surprise when we opened the curtains in my 8 a.m. class around 9 a.m. to find a ship docked right next to us. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Pirates? Are we under attack? No, of course not. We docked off the coast of Singapore and a fuel ship has docked along side of us to fill us up with fuel. Apparently, in the shipping world this is called bunkering. It’s like a gas station in the middle of the ocean. According to SAS, we are docking so close to Singapore that immigrations will come aboard and stamp all of our passports. How cool is that!!!


Other shipboard news:

The Crew Talent Show – There was a crew talent show last night. I felt really tired and overwhelmed with work and almost didn’t go, however, I knew I would regret it if I didn’t. And, I was right. It was really great! Various members of the crew put on about ten different acts. I had two favorites. One was a group of four members of the wait staff who came from Islands and balanced trays with four colorful drinks with flowers and a candle on each, while dancing to Jamaicans music. It was really cool. My other favorite was when all the cabin stuarts came out in sailor outfits and did a dance to “In the Navy.” Randomly, there were a ton of people from my hall all sitting in the same area of the union and we all cheered our stuart, Dante, on. Anyways, there were lots of other great acts and it was a ton of fun. Anyways, the purpose of the show was not only to entertain us but to raise money for the crew entertainment fund. I’m sure that they raised a lot of money because tons of people were donating generous amounts. ISE started the night off with a $1,000 donation.

Ambassadors Ball – Now that I’m through with the Halloween committee, it’s coming down to crunch time for the Ambassador’s Ball. Tickets went on sale a couple of days ago and now we are doing table assignments. I worked the 7-8 shift last night and I’m doing that same shift tonight. I have a nice table of eight at the 8 p.m. sitting with six of my closest girl friends and one extra seat (yet to get determined). Some of the girls were initially talking about doing a date thing, but I think it will be so much more fun to just spend that time with our close girlfriends. Boooo to boys and shipboard “romance”, yuck!

Yellow Sea – We had a little celebratory ice cream social the other night to watch a video of the synchronized swimming routine in the actual pool and celebrate our fourth place win in the Sea Olympics. It was a good time!

Academics – I think that I have finally settled down enough on this trip to be able to really focus on school work. I have really noticed a difference this crossing. I have paid total attention in all my classes (including Geology), done all my homework thoroughly, and really learned a lot. Go me!!!

Time – In addition to losing a full hour so far this crossing, we also got rid of that nagging little half an hour difference that we had for India and Myanmar.

Global studies exam – Tomorrow. That means lots of studying today. Boo.

Vietnam – The day after tomorrow! This is the port that I’ve been looking forward to the most. I am not doing any big trips, just some day trips. However, I plan to do a ton of shopping. I am hoping to get a whole new wardrobe made (ok, maybe that’s a bit extreme!).

Best wishes,
Amber

P.S. Mom. When you read this, if you haven’t already done so, please check your e-mail. I sent you an important e-mail the other day and haven’t heard back from you yet. Love you.


Position Report

November 4, 2005
Latitude 05 degrees - 50 minutes North
Longitude 106 degrees - 06 minutes East

November 3, 2005
Latitude 01 degrees - 11 minutes North
Longitude 103 degrees - 42 minutes East

November 2, 2005
Latitude 05 degrees - 48 minutes North
Longitude 099 degrees - 00 minutes East

November 1, 2005
Latitude 10 degrees - 05 minutes North
Longitude 097 degrees - 30 minutes East