The Colombo Bay
Richard Pollak
- In
- the
- face
- of
- killer
- storms,
- fires,
- piracy,
- and
- terrorism,
- container
- ships
- the
- length
- of
- city
- blocks
- and
- more
- than
- a
- dozen
- stories
- high
- carry
- 90
- percent
- of
- the
- worlds
- trade.
- This
- is
- an
- account
- of
- one
- ship's
- voyage
- and
- of
- the
- sailors
- who
- daily
- risk
- their
- lives
- to
- deliver
- six
- million
- containers
- a
- year
- to
- United
- States
- ports
- alone.
- Inside
- these
- twenty-foot
- and
- forty-foot
- steel
- boxes
- are
- the
- thousands
- of
- imports
- --
- from
- chinos
- and
- Game
- Boys
- to
- garlic
- and
- frozen
- shrimp
- --
- without
- which
- North
- America's
- consumer
- society
- would
- collapse.To
- explore
- this
- little-known
- and
- dangerous
- universe
- of
- modern
- seafaring,
- Richard
- Pollak
- joined
- the
- Colombo
- Bay
- in
- Hong
- Kong
- and
- over
- the
- next
- five
- weeks
- sailed
- with
- her
- and
- her
- 3,500
- containers
- across
- the
- South
- China
- Sea,
- the
- Indian
- Ocean,
- the
- Mediterranean,
- and
- the
- Atlantic.
- En
- route,
- this
- mammoth
- vessel
- called
- at
- Singapore
- and
- Colombo,
- passed
- through
- the
- Suez
- Canal
- (toll:
- $250,000),
- then
- put
- in
- at
- Malta
- and
- Halifax
- before
- tangling
- with
- Hurricane
- Karen
- on
- the
- two-day
- run
- to
- New
- York.
- Here
- is
- the
- story
- of
- the
- ship's
- unheralded
- twenty-four-man
- company;
- of
- the
- unflappable
- British
- captain,
- Peter
- Davies,
- a
- veteran
- of
- four
- decades
- at
- sea;
- of
- Federico
- Castrojas,
- who
- like
- the
- rest
- of
- the
- hard-working
- Filipino
- crew
- must
- daily
- confront
- the
- loneliness
- of
- being
- away
- from
- his
- family
- for
- nine
- months
- at
- a
- stretch;
- of
- Simon
- Westall,
- the
- twenty-one-year-old
- third
- mate,
- who
- reveals
- what
- it
- is
- like
- to
- be
- gay
- in
- the
- broad-shouldered
- world
- of
- the
- merchant
- service.It
- is
- a
- world
- where
- pirates
- in
- the
- Malacca
- Strait
- sneak
- up
- behind
- ships
- at
- night
- in
- fast
- power
- boats,
- then
- clamber
- aboard
- and
- either
- rob
- the
- unarmed
- sailors
- at
- gunpoint
- and
- escape
- into
- the
- dark
- or
- throw
- the
- crew
- into
- the
- sea
- and
- hijack
- the
- ship,
- plundering
- her
- cargo
- and
- sometimes
- repainting
- her
- and
- setting
- out
- to
- do
- business
- under
- another
- name
- and
- flag.
- It
- is
- a
- world
- where
- families
- desperate
- to
- get
- to
- the
- United
- States
- or
- Europe
- pay
- thousands
- of
- dollars
- to
- the
- Chinese
- Snakeheads
- and
- other
- criminal
- gangs,
- who
- secrete
- these
- wretched
- migrants
- in
- stifling
- containers;
- after
- a
- week
- or
- more
- at
- sea
- these
- stowaways
- arrive
- in
- the
- Promised
- Land
- either
- starving
- or
- dead.Pollak
- sailed
- on
- September
- 13,
- 2001,
- into
- a
- changed
- world,
- on
- one
- of
- 7,000
- container
- ships
- whose
- millions
- of
- uninspected
- boxes
- suddenly
- had
- become
- potential
- Trojan
- horses
- in
- which
- terrorists
- could
- transport
- weapons
- of
- mass
- destruction
- into
- the
- heart
- of
- the
- United
- States.Throughout
- his
- riveting
- narrative,
- Pollak
- interweaves
- the
- insights
- of
- Herman
- Melville
- and
- Joseph
- Conrad,
- whose
- masterful
- portrayals
- of
- seafaring
- make
- the
- voyage
- of
- the
- Colombo
- Bay
- a
- dramatic
- reminder
- of
- what
- a
- hard
- and
- rarely
- reported
- life
- merchant
- seamen
- have
- always
- led
- out
- on
- the
- "unhooped
- oceans
- of
- this planet."
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