For Seafarers: It’s A Small World After All!

What is the probability that you will meet somebody you know like a Filipino former classmates/batchmates, friends, relatives or acquaintances in foreign places that your ship would visit?

In my previous ship, the third engineer met his kabaranggay which he hadn’t seen for a long time. The brand new vessel was still then in the shipyard in Imabari, Japan wherein his kababayan work as a welder.

My engine cadet was also very lucky. Our first trip then was going to California, USA. He met his distant relatives there when he went to go for shore leave. He even visited his relatives’ house.

I met my co-masteral student, Nelson Aplasca, in Veracruz, Mexico last April 2016. I visited his ship a few hours after berthing. Unluckily, their ship was damaged during the berthing operation. There was no rubber on the fender that ship’s hull hit. The tug instead of pulling, push it towards the fender. The damaged was repaired before it sailed to New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

I had a quick tour on the ship and met some of his crewmates. The Ordinary Seaman (OS) I met on the gangway was a Chinese. Then on the ship’s mess hall I met their electrician who was from Ghana. The Chinese chief officer was in the ship’s office doing his calculation while the Pinoy captain was then busy doing the damage report. 

The next day, it was his turn to visit my ship. I invited him for lunch. Sunday’s lunch was vegetable salad, mushroom soup and steak with corn. He also checked the ship to see the navigational equipment and the cargo operation onboard.

However, not all coincidence meetings are happy ones, there are cases of uncomfortable and sad serendipitous encounter. 

May isang naikwento sa akin, nagkita ang magbayaw sa isang bahay aliwan sa Santos, Brazil. Nagkahiyaan pa ng unang magkita pero pagkatapos ng ilang minuto nagtawanan din sila. Nasabi kong naikwento lang sa akin kasi hindi ito first-hand account, meaning wala ako sa lugar na ginaganapan ng mga pangyayari. 

Another story wherein the seafarer met his sister in Singapore. They met in the anchorage. Ang alam ng seaman, DW (Domestic Worker) ang trabaho ng kapatid nya doon. Pag day-off suma-sideline pala ang sister as an AB (Akyat Barko). Nagalit ang seaman at sa kakahiyan niya sa mga kasamahan sa barko, binigay nya ang ipong pera para may pamasahe pauwi ng Pilipinas ng kapatid.

Some folks say that nothing is accidental or just plain coincidence.  So if you unintentionally meet somebody you know while you are abroad, whether it is a happy unforgettable encounter or an embarrassing (if-memory-could-be-erased) one, it must be a sign. What sign? That it is a small world after all, especially for us seafarers!

P.S. – I believe someone higher up is watching over us. There must be a purpose for these kind of chance meetings.