I did a few years working on container ships as a permanent, but I never night-mated out of the hall. Assuming you’re on a larger box boat, you’ll have multiple cranes working, and because of that, it’s impossible to keep up with every container moving on and off the ship. The only exception would be if you were on a small container ship or heavy-lift vessel with only one or two cranes working at a time.
For the bulk of the time, you’re mainly concerned with which bays are being worked, not necessarily how many boxes are left to load or discharge. For each bay, you have above deck and below deck. On the load plan, I would leave a bay blank if they haven’t touched it yet. If they start discharging a bay, put a slash through the entire bay. When they finish discharging it, put an X across the entire bay. Repeat the same system when they start loading.
Get a rough count of how many containers are going on and off in the port. I wouldn’t start counting boxes until I knew we were getting into the last few hours, and even then, I wouldn’t keep a super-accurate count until the last 30 minutes or so. It’s pretty easy to get a general finish time in your head. Say you have 300 boxes left to load with five cranes working, and each crane is moving roughly one box a minute, you have about an hour until the operation is complete. Obviously, some cranes will move faster or slower than others, and some bays will have more containers than others.
The only containers you really have to pay close attention to are reefers and out-of-gauge (OOG) cargo, at least that was what my company required.
There are two types of reefers: regular and high-value. Regular reefers can usually be unplugged when they start unloading the bay or slightly before. They don’t need to be plugged in or unplugged immediately. High-value reefers need to be plugged in as soon as they land or unplugged right before they go off. Normally, you’ll have an electrician onboard who takes care of this. Just call them and let them know when you’ll need them.
Policy can change from company to company, but if I found they were falling behind, or if a bay only had one box coming or going, I would usually unplug or plug some of them in myself.
Out-of-gauge (OOG) cargo just means they’re loading something that doesn’t fit inside the normal dimensions of a container. Usually, it’s a flat rack with some type of machinery or equipment on top. They’ll be secured to the flat rack with straps. Companies and ports have different requirements for these. I’ve been in places overseas where I had to get off the vessel and physically inspect each piece to make sure it was strapped down before they loaded it. Other times, they just load them, and you should keep an eye on them and make sure nothing looks messed up when you can.
At the end of the day, your job is just to make sure things are progressing smoothly. If something gets damaged or isn’t working right, report it to the CM and/or terminal. If a reefer comes on and won’t turn on, call the shoreside reefer technician and they’ll come look at it.
Make sure the lashing is done correctly and well. At the end of the watch, make sure they’ve cleaned up the lashing bridges and haven’t left any lashing rods laying around. Make sure all the containers are seated on top of each other correctly and that the twist locks are closed.
Make sure you get all your gear boxes back and that the ship doesn’t rip away from the dock during your watch.
Most ships have auto-heel systems, so periodically check that the tanks are keeping up with each other and that you aren’t running out of water in one of your tanks. If you are, you can usually call the shoreside planner and have them start putting more cargo on one side so your tanks can catch back up.
It’ll feel a little overwhelming at first, but after a few watches, you’ll be able to handle 95% of things without much issue. Working in U.S. ports is pretty easy because everyone speaks English, which is where 90% of the confusion takes place overseas.
If you’re ever in doubt about a finish time, talk to the hatch boss or the shore planner. They’re usually pretty good about giving you an estimated completion time. C/Ms are usually called out about two hours before cargo completion, so don’t be afraid to call them out a little early if you’re unsure. It’s better to have them show up a little early than to be running late.
Most mates will be happy to help you out, too. Show up a little early, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. It will go a long way.
