The Colombo Bay

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  • 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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