Piraeus, Monday 20-02-2023

Dear Captain and Crew of M/V STRIMON

We are very happy that we have received your second letter and we were amazed at what you sent us. First of all, let us express our thanks to you once again and to mention that we feel very lucky that from the program we happened to adopt your ship and we receive from the beginning of our communication your letters so immediately even though we know your difficult daily schedule, as well as with so much information and images that you send us. Congratulations to all of you on your work.

In particular, your reference to the weather conditions in the USA during your anchorage and the photo you sent us, as well as the amazing photos from the bridge of your ship, surprised us.

We do not need to mention that the photo from above of your ship during berthing made us unable to believe it and of course the first question that came to our mind was how the photo was taken and if there is a drone on your ship.

Furthermore, regarding our school life, we would like to inform you that the first semester of our studies has been completed, all of us have completed our exams in all our subjects and we expect to receive our progress checks with our grades.

Also, last week the cutting of the Greek New Year’s cake (vasilopita) took place in our school. Regarding our lessons, in the Navigation II course we were taught the use of Nautical Almanac to find elements e.g., GHA, d, as well as we learned to find Meridian Latitude. One of the next chapters of our course will be finding the Latitude with the polar star, as well as basic elements of great circle and tides.

Additionally, in our course “ECDIS-ARPA” that contains theory and use of ECDIS, the photos you sent us, helped us a lot as our school does not have a simulator ECDIS and it was a first acquaintance through true images beyond the text and images of our textbook. We saw the data and analyzed them, as we also saw the area of the anchorage area, as well as the areas of the ports you visit, through an internet site with free use of electronic chart viewer (NAVIONICS).

We inform you again that we monitor your ship every week through the Marine Traffic website, and we know that your next port of call is JIANGYIN-CHINA. Did you pass through the Panama Canal? Did you change your voyage area, since you were in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico in the previous months, or a charterer?

So, we are preparing our new questions for you, in order to learn new things about you and our “M/V STRIMON” and its voyages.

➢ Your referred us that your vessel is equipped with 2 ECDIS and she is paperless. In this case and in accordance with the regulations that apply to your specific ship and your flag, do you not have any printed chart on your ship, or should there be e.g., a printed general chart of each area you are sailing in case of emergency?

➢ Regarding the communications on your ship, the communication with your company or with other recipients is mainly conducted through INMARSAT C or via e-mail?

➢ What is your gyro compass error?

➢ Is there a magnetic compass deviation card or diagram Napier?

➢ Do you prefer the NORTH UP setting on your RADAR-ARPA?

➢ The ship is a small society with laws, social relations, duties and rights as it is done within the society we live on land. The highest authority of the ship is the Master who must set a good example. What are the personality traits that should have?

➢ Like the society outside, maybe, there are cases of crew on board with delinquent behaviors. Have you been in this position to deal with a behavior like that during your career? And if so, what was it?

➢ Has s serious illness occurred on a crew member on a ship you were serving so that you can use your medical knowledge or call for help from the shore?

➢ Logically, as we have understood as students who want to work at sea, the work at ship and at sea differs for many reasons from that of the land. Do seamen get a form of bonding with each other? A sense that they form a different whole but so common to them. And if so, what is it that creates this bond? Perhaps the common experiences, the origin of sea places such as islands, the family tradition of working at sea, the common dangers, the fact that they have the opportunity to know different cultures, habits, the amount of earning money?

➢ If you have a desire that has not happened to be fulfilled as a seaman after so many years of experience?

Also, we send you an attached painting with our wishes for the New Year, as well as a painting with a lighthouse of our inspiration.

Finally, in order to know more information about your ship, we would like to ask, if possible, to send us the main particulars of your ship, such as dimensions, DWT, deadweight scale, draught-loading lines, displacement, TPC or TPI, type of engine, HP, etc. Also, if possible, a voyage plan of your ship, either rhumb line or great circle so that in our turn we can study it and plot it on our charts.

We are looking forward to hearing from you soon!!
Safe voyages!!
Your sincerely
The Students and Teachers

From 2nd Evening EPAL Piraeus - To Strimon, Pleiades