One of the world's biggest container ships, MSC IRINA, on Tuesday reached the outer anchorage of Vizhinjam International Seaport, Trivandrum. Since there is a long queue of six ships at the port, MSC IRINA has shut off its engine and is drifting off Vizhinjam outer port limits.  

It will remain this way for a few more days until the congestion eases. The ship is expected to berth only on June 6 or 7. MSC IRINA's last port of call was Singapore, from where it sailed to Vizhinjam on May 28.

And while the ship drifts, its Malayali master-in-command, Captain Willy Antony, and his crew of 35 members, will have to remain inside. Vizhinjam port does not have a crew change facility that will allow a new team to take over, providing what in seafaring language is called "relief" to the existing master and crew. 

"Since the immigration clearance facility has also not been set up in Vizhinjam, there is no shore leave either," Captain Willy said over a WhatsApp chat with Onmanorama. Shore leave is a kind of break that allows seafarers to debark and roam the land around the port till the ship resumes sailing. "Saddest thing is we cannot even allow our family and friends to come onboard the ship," the Captain, who hails from Thrissur, said. 

If there was shore leave facility in Vizhinjam, he could have had his wife and kid with him in the ship till Vizhinjam. "I could also have got off the ship and visited some of my friends in Thiruvananthapuram," he said.

A drifting ship is an aimless one. The engine is shut and the ship stays afloat, but it will be at the mercy of the elements. "The ship will drift due to the current and the wind. It will not stay in one position," Captain Willy said. So, while drifting, the Captain and crew will go about their rigorous ship routine, like navigational watch and constant assessment of the risk of collision with other vessels.

There are two wings in the ship: deck side and engine side. Deck side looks after navigation and is headed by the 'master-in-command'. Then there is the chief officer, second officer and third officer. Under them will be trainee cadets. The engine side is lead by the 'chief engineer', followed by second, third and fourth engineers. They will be assisted by trainee engineers. 

The crew members have contracts with shipping companies ranging from three to six months. After the voyage, they get a "relief", and then after a few months they renew their contract. Captain Willy has been with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) for nearly 20 years. 

Captain Willy had begun his new contract in April from Singapore. From there, MSC IRINA sailed to China, Korea and then back to Singapore. "It was vacation for my son and my family was with me. They had to get off at Singapore and take a flight to Kerala," the Captain said. 

MSC IRINA, which is just 100 metres shy of half a kilometre in length, has the largest container capacity in the world at 24,346 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit). The ship's beam, shipping jargon for its maximum width, is 61.3 metres. One shipping cargo container is one TEU and this means that MSC IRINA can hold 24,346 containers. The containers are stacked up on the cargo hold. Filled to full capacity, the cargo pile on MSC IRINA will rise up to the height of nearly 25 storeys. It is this 25-storey high ship that is now drifting in the outer seas. 

The contents of the cargo would be documented in the Bill of Lading, which would be in the possession of the shipper (owner of the transported goods) and the carrier (the ship company).