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In a chapter of "Ninety Percent of Everything", the author rides a container ship through the Suez Canal and relates what it's like, if this has piqued your int

In a chapter of "Ninety Percent of Everything", the author rides a container ship through the Suez Canal and relates what it's like, if this has piqued your interest about the shipping industry. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16044961-ninety-percent-of-everything https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16044961-ninety-percent-...

dmux 6y ago
It definitely has. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll be checking it out!
u678u 6y ago
Aren't they just a dozen Filipinos or Russians keeping the boat clean while the auto pilot makes a slight adjustment every few hours? I'm not sure how exciting it would be.
- alisonatwork 6y ago
  I haven't read the book, but I have traveled on a container ship through the Suez Canal. It's not really what I would call exciting, but it is fairly interesting. It takes less than a day to transit, and the scenery is relatively varied - you get to see urban areas, some rural farmland, beaches, and full out desert. Both in front and behind are dozens of massive container ships, just as big as the one you're on. It's quite humbling. All this is in contrast to the rest of the time you are onboard. You are right that not very much happens. The ocean is very, very big. The vast majority of the time you can't see any land, or any other ships. If you don't have a satellite receiver of your own, there is no internet, no news, no nothing. Sometimes there is a storm. Sometimes there is a sunset. Most of the time there's nothing of note. I found it really relaxing, but it's definitely not for everyone. It's also a very expensive way to travel compared to commercial airlines or even long distance rail.
  - arduinomancer 6y ago
    How does one end up traveling on a container ship? Is that something you can pay to do?
    - alisonatwork 6y ago
      Most of the ships have unused cabins, and some shipping companies allow civilians to book them as a sort of quirky cruise experience. There is quite a lot of paperwork involved, and you need to book fairly far in advance, but it's totally doable if you have the cash and the time. When I went it cost around us$100 per night. Going from Europe to Asia takes 3-4 weeks, I think going around the world (both Suez and Panama) can take 6 weeks or more.
      - dopeboy 6y ago
        I had no clue - this is fascinating. Do you mind sharing who you booked with?
        alisonatwork 6y ago
        The company I travelled with was actually Evergreen, so I was on one of these "Ever Foo" ships people are talking about upthread. The photos on Twitter look very similar to ones I took at the time. I booked through a specialized travel agent in the EU that has since gone bust, but if you search the web for freighter cruise or cargo ship cruise you should be able to find some other companies that can help out.
        cycomanic 6y ago
        My parents traveled on container ships quite a few times (twice to NZ and OZ). Trips are typically booked through specialised travel agents (you can find them quite easily via Google). There is quite a community of people doing these trips, mainly pensioners, because you need to have time and can't be sure about timing. For those thinking about doing it, the Asia/Africa routes from Europe are much more interesting. Going across the Atlantic or Pacific is much less interesting. Also in the modern age of container freight you don't have much time at the ports, and often the captains are reluctant to let you get off, because they are on such tight schedule and delays would quickly cost 100s of 1000s of dollars per hour (that will give you an idea about the economic impact of this blockage). My mother actually travelled on a loose cargo freighter in the 90s. That was a completely different experience because you would often have several days or a week at port.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  > while the auto pilot makes a slight adjustment every few hours? Ah, that explains it. > I'm not sure how exciting it would be. Right now it would be pretty exciting.
- jq-r 6y ago
  I've never travelled through Suez, but did some other canals like Panama and Kiel. Autopilot won't be used there I'm sure. Canal Authority requires having a Pilot onboard and he gives commands to the Helmsman. Even on the open sea I've never seen that the autopilot actually steers the ship, it will only keep the heading, and sound an alert when there is time to change heading. So the watchkeeping Officer will set new heading and steer the ship in a new direction.
- spookthesunset 6y ago
  > I'm not sure how exciting it would be. I'm pretty sure that is a feature not a bug. Kinda like servers... if something is exciting it means something went wrong.

dmux 6y ago

It definitely has. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll be checking it out!

u678u 6y ago

Aren't they just a dozen Filipinos or Russians keeping the boat clean while the auto pilot makes a slight adjustment every few hours? I'm not sure how exciting it would be.

alisonatwork 6y ago
I haven't read the book, but I have traveled on a container ship through the Suez Canal. It's not really what I would call exciting, but it is fairly interesting. It takes less than a day to transit, and the scenery is relatively varied - you get to see urban areas, some rural farmland, beaches, and full out desert. Both in front and behind are dozens of massive container ships, just as big as the one you're on. It's quite humbling. All this is in contrast to the rest of the time you are onboard. You are right that not very much happens. The ocean is very, very big. The vast majority of the time you can't see any land, or any other ships. If you don't have a satellite receiver of your own, there is no internet, no news, no nothing. Sometimes there is a storm. Sometimes there is a sunset. Most of the time there's nothing of note. I found it really relaxing, but it's definitely not for everyone. It's also a very expensive way to travel compared to commercial airlines or even long distance rail.
- arduinomancer 6y ago
  How does one end up traveling on a container ship? Is that something you can pay to do?
  - alisonatwork 6y ago
    Most of the ships have unused cabins, and some shipping companies allow civilians to book them as a sort of quirky cruise experience. There is quite a lot of paperwork involved, and you need to book fairly far in advance, but it's totally doable if you have the cash and the time. When I went it cost around us$100 per night. Going from Europe to Asia takes 3-4 weeks, I think going around the world (both Suez and Panama) can take 6 weeks or more.
    - dopeboy 6y ago
      I had no clue - this is fascinating. Do you mind sharing who you booked with?
      - alisonatwork 6y ago
        The company I travelled with was actually Evergreen, so I was on one of these "Ever Foo" ships people are talking about upthread. The photos on Twitter look very similar to ones I took at the time. I booked through a specialized travel agent in the EU that has since gone bust, but if you search the web for freighter cruise or cargo ship cruise you should be able to find some other companies that can help out.
      - cycomanic 6y ago
        My parents traveled on container ships quite a few times (twice to NZ and OZ). Trips are typically booked through specialised travel agents (you can find them quite easily via Google). There is quite a community of people doing these trips, mainly pensioners, because you need to have time and can't be sure about timing. For those thinking about doing it, the Asia/Africa routes from Europe are much more interesting. Going across the Atlantic or Pacific is much less interesting. Also in the modern age of container freight you don't have much time at the ports, and often the captains are reluctant to let you get off, because they are on such tight schedule and delays would quickly cost 100s of 1000s of dollars per hour (that will give you an idea about the economic impact of this blockage). My mother actually travelled on a loose cargo freighter in the 90s. That was a completely different experience because you would often have several days or a week at port.
jacquesm 6y ago
> while the auto pilot makes a slight adjustment every few hours? Ah, that explains it. > I'm not sure how exciting it would be. Right now it would be pretty exciting.
jq-r 6y ago
I've never travelled through Suez, but did some other canals like Panama and Kiel. Autopilot won't be used there I'm sure. Canal Authority requires having a Pilot onboard and he gives commands to the Helmsman. Even on the open sea I've never seen that the autopilot actually steers the ship, it will only keep the heading, and sound an alert when there is time to change heading. So the watchkeeping Officer will set new heading and steer the ship in a new direction.
spookthesunset 6y ago
> I'm not sure how exciting it would be. I'm pretty sure that is a feature not a bug. Kinda like servers... if something is exciting it means something went wrong.