The maritime sea lane from China to Europe is a golden route. Trade volume between countries along the belt is keeping vessels busy as the transport of goods and products continues. However, the job of seamen seems to be a mystery to many people.
On a cargo vessel carrying some 20,000 containers from China to Europe, engineers are working around the clock, checking on all of the machines to make sure the goods can be shipped on time.
Electrical engineer Wang Wei runs routine maintenance on the main generator which is the electric system and heart of the entire ship.
“If anything goes wrong with this generator, we're usually not sure which part is faulty until after some time investigating. That's a potential risk. To figure out the mistakes, we have to operate safely,” Wang said.
Crew members work on the vessel. /CGTN Photo
The manufacturing of giant vessels has become a lot more modern. Many functions of the vessel are now automated and no longer needs as many crew members to operate the ship manually.
Nevertheless, that doesn't mean the job is any easier. Instead, crew members have to be more knowledgeable and ready to deal with hundreds of alerts per day.
“On the land there's all kind of technical support, but on the ocean we have to completely rely on ourselves,” said Xu Yundong, chief engineer on the vessel.
Xu and Wang's working environment is noisy, and the temperature is high. It's 40 degrees Celsius down in the engine cabin. Workers have to wear gloves and thick uniforms, so that they won't get burned.
The manufacturing of giant vessels has now become more modern. /CGTN Photo
Over the past years, the vessels from Asia and Europe are getting larger. As the trade volume increases, shipping costs lower. But for sailors, their jobs are getting tougher. More work on ships needs to be done, but there are fewer people.
“We sailors seldom receive understanding from society. This job has no advantages compared with others, because we work apart from land, many people are not familiar with what we do. Fewer college graduates choose this industry,” Wang said.
The engineer asks for more social recognition, adding that more education should be done to improve the skills necessary to work in such conditions.
(Top image: Wang replacing electric facilities on the vessel. /CGTN Photo)