December 2011, Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Then West towards the North Sea, North North East towards Kiel Canal, then turning East. After the Kiel Canal change of Direction Up North, strait into the Baltic Sea, via Stockholm, Sweden towards Harbour of Sundsvall, with heavily decreasing hours of daily sunlight. Nearly four days on board of the Ms Flintercape with David Kater as its Captain, a couple of Officers (mostly Russian) and Crew Members or “Able Seamen” from Indonesia and the Philippines.
Life on board has a Rhythm that never changes, goes on 24 / 7 and consists of port visits, maintenance, keeping course, loading / unloading containers and on to another port, couple of hundred miles or more away. In between three meals and one beer only a day, plus a couple of hours personal time. Officers spend up to three months on board, Crew Members up to nine months. Only change of daily routine are Pilots, when approaching another port, and occasional photojournalists on a mission to produce visual stories.
Life on board can be mentally challenging, since loneliness and depressions occurs a lot. On Board it’s a ‘men’s only’ environment with a strict hierarchy. On both Imago Images and Alamy Images this Feature is now (again) available for publication of single images and series. Imago Images is a Berlin, Germany based photo-agency which represents my visual work. Alamy Images works from London, UK, and has additional images available.
I thought to bring this Visual Story again into light, since recent, global developments in Eastern Europe and the Baltic Sea, are stirring up regular, maritime operations that provide for our goods and services. Not only a conventional war, but also a trade war, many covert attacks on Baltic Sea Infrastructure and a “Challenging US President” are changing the world we thought we knew. This Visual Story is also a Tribute to People who spend most of their Lives at Sea, far away from their Friends & Families, just to make our economy work!
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Single Images & More now available for Publication on Imago & Alamy. Choose your Agency here to Purchase your License. |  |