A life less glamorous (sometimes)

Now is probably a good time to elaborate on what life can be like skipping from country to country and navigating the individual laws that each adheres by.

There is an unfortunate reality to the existence of a seafarer. In the case of ships our size where maybe you have 1200 crew, it's inevitable that someone within a ships company may have their own agenda. Largely speaking we all work together to deliver the excellent product that millions of our guests enjoy but it only takes one to impact everone else.

The beautiful thing of working on vessels such as QM2 is that it attracts such a diverse range of people from a huge variety of backgrounds and personal situations. It would be impossible to understand each person's motives for being here. Money is perhaps a significant driver. I'd speculate that escape is another. Escaping a way of life that folk feel isn't for them and they see life at sea as a way to live a life on their own terms. For others the motivation may be that this job offers a window of opportunity. That opportunity may come in the form of skipping into a country illegally to start what they perceive as a new life.

We call this absconding or more informally, running. Leaving the vessel with little more than a local contact, maybe extended family or friends of that family who promise a new, better life. The ports we visit offer us as seafarers an opportunity to explore their cities, towns and regions based on a level of trust. The expectation is that we are granted shore leave on the guarantee that at a given time, we all return to our vessel. The absolute majority of us all agree that these are the terms we work to. We head ashore, we behave responsibly, we represent our employer, enjoy our host country and return before sailing on to our next port of call. It's a fair deal and we all respect that. 

On rare occasions though this agreement is not a mutual one. And some with other hidden agendas choose not to return. At this point I'd like to point out that this is rare. I can only speculate why some choose another path. One that in my opinion will give them a life of looking over their shoulder, likely earning less than that they were promised, little to no official identity, no social or medical care opportunities, no ability to find their way home should things not turn out how it was sold to them. A life on the run.

Despite the ever changing political landscape, the US remains an attractive destination for some to run. The sanction imposed upon those that choose to run remains to be seen and that's the beginning of their future. At some point reality will catch up with them. It will likely come in the form of a detention centre before being deported. They may enjoy some element of the dream they were promised perhaps. 

For those of us that chose to play by the rules there's the inevitable punishment. In my experience I use my memories of school and my military time where everyone gets punished in accordance to someone else's behaviour. In this case, the overwhelming majority suffer a shore leave ban. For clarity, this means being unable to leave the ship.

Day two of San Francisco meant no shore leave for anyone who were not US nationals. But it doesn't stop there, our next port of call will be two ports in Hawaii, a US state. No shore leave. 

It's a reality check. It's disappointing. But it is what it is. This leg of the world voyage will be one spent viewing our ports of call from a distance. Someone abused the trust given to us by our port of call, decided that their needs were greater than those they work alongside for whatever reason. A reason only known to them. There's little point in judging them, I strongly suspect that they'll come to regret that decision in due course.

It's an unfortunate event but an important part of the overall experience. It's fair to say there was a collective sigh of disappointment and resignation across the ship that someone had let us down. Onwards and upwards eh?