Ships Nostalgia banner

Smuggling and dark deeds

2K views 3 replies 0 participants last post by  Guest 
G
#1 ·
One of the great pleasures this site has brought me, has been the frequent jogging and re-emergence of forgotten memories.

Today was a case in point, and as I sat writing at my desk, I recalled an amusing incident from the past.

I'd paid off the Manaar on arrival at Tilbury, taken several weeks leave and rejoined her in Middlesbrough for a brief bit of coasting, before going deep sea again.

On arrival at Middlesbrough, I found our former 4th engineer visiting on board and in a very agitated state. He was having a go at Pete our 5th Engineer, who like myself had just returned from leave.

Things were very heated, but Pete just shrugged everything off, and after a while the 4th left the ship.

After he'd gone, I asked what it had all been about.

Pete had not left the ship at Tilbury, staying on until Liverpool. Before the 4th had left, he'd approached Pete and explained that he'd been up to a bit of smuggling. He'd bought lots of tins of cigarettes (the ones with 50 in) stuck them end to end and then lagged them like a pipe in some part of the engine room. His plan had been to return at Middlesbrough and collect them.

In those days you could walk off the ship, along the railway lines and up onto the platform in the railway station, thus avoiding any curiosity about what was in the bag as you walked out through the dock gate.

The Fourth's plan had gone adrift because in re-visiting the engine room he'd found his hoard of **** had been removed.

It turned out that Pete would have preferred not have been implicated in the arrangements, so when he left the ship in Liverpool he passed the information to the apprentices with a nod and a wink, and they had disposed of the lot.

Dave
 
See less See more
G
#2 ·
Smuggling

I remember I was on Maidan and after the fire in No 2 hold we reloaded and and headed for good old Calcutta .
After leaving there I went into the fan compartment and behind a motor I found a big parcel wrapped in an Indian newspaper tied with jute string The parcel was full of white powder . About 4lbs wieght. I chucked it over the side and never said a word to anyone . Arriving at Tilbury we had a rumage squad arrive . Again the same squad at Glasgow , Dundee , and Middlesburgh. They never found anything .That was in 1968/9.
After leaving Bt in 1992 I went and passed my PSV and had a job with National express going from Edinburgh etc to London.This was in about 1993 while driving down the M1 at 3am I was dreaming abit while talking to myself.
I thought hells bells!!! that parcel that's what they were looking for . Am I quick Or am I quick. I bet I never have as much value in my hands as I did that day .Funny the times things come back to you .I never thought I was that thick. never dawned on me it was drugs . Well you live and learn
LOL
Ron
 
G
#3 ·
DaveM said:
One of the great pleasures this site has brought me, has been the frequent jogging and re-emergence of forgotten memories.

Today was a case in point, and as I sat writing at my desk, I recalled an amusing incident from the past.

I'd paid off the Manaar on arrival at Tilbury, taken several weeks leave and rejoined her in Middlesbrough for a brief bit of coasting, before going deep sea again.

On arrival at Middlesbrough, I found our former 4th engineer visiting on board and in a very agitated state. He was having a go at Pete our 5th Engineer, who like myself had just returned from leave.

Things were very heated, but Pete just shrugged everything off, and after a while the 4th left the ship.

After he'd gone, I asked what it had all been about.

Pete had not left the ship at Tilbury, staying on until Liverpool. Before the 4th had left, he'd approached Pete and explained that he'd been up to a bit of smuggling. He'd bought lots of tins of cigarettes (the ones with 50 in) stuck them end to end and then lagged them like a pipe in some part of the engine room. His plan had been to return at Middlesbrough and collect them.

In those days you could walk off the ship, along the railway lines and up onto the platform in the railway station, thus avoiding any curiosity about what was in the bag as you walked out through the dock gate.

The Fourth's plan had gone adrift because in re-visiting the engine room he'd found his hoard of **** had been removed.

It turned out that Pete would have preferred not have been implicated in the arrangements, so when he left the ship in Liverpool he passed the information to the apprentices with a nod and a wink, and they had disposed of the lot.

Dave
On the Mahseer we had a crew man who was hurt in heavy weather .
He had falling against a pillar in the crew accom .I was down with Chief brush to sort the shoulder and had the funniest feeeling something was out of place there.I had already sailed two trips on the Matra .I knew that the matra was 3 ft longer for some reason But no pillair. Yes it was made up of tins of capstain ciggies. wrapped in canvas and painter year on year . It took some shifting .
 
G
#4 ·
And Dark Deeds too.

After we'd done our bit on the coast, as mentioned above, we went to London and among other things, took on some interesting deck cargo. Officially that was just a high speed off-shore patrol boat for the authorities at Jeddah. However, the crew had done a bit of wheeling and dealing and they'd loaded a couple of upright pianos onto the poop.

I was informed of this by the deck apprentices who had noted them and tried their hands at playing them. The pianos started off having a few non functioning keys, but after some wintery exposure to the elements on the run down to the warmer weather of the Eastern Med, they definitely needed some attention, if not interment at sea.

The piano deal appeared to have been a well organised affair, because when we arrived at Jeddah there were people on hand waiting to collect the pianos and hand over cash.

After we'd departed, the tale then emerged that the Serang had approached the Mate and asked him if a large wad of notes could be lodged securely in the ship's safe. The Mate had accepted them and taken them to the Old Man. Whilst standing holding the proceeds of this international trading deal, the Mate noticed that the ink was coming off the notes and turning his fingers green. The 'money' was promptly returned to the Serang. On balance it was probably fair enough, as the pianos must have been worth every penny.

Dave
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top