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I went to sea as a Cadet with the national carrrier
Ceylon Shipping Corporation
No other company as CSC took more interest and made committments to
training Cadets and making sure they ended up as Masters finally; paying all
costs including our study leave, exam fees and subsistence right up to Masters.
CSC perhaps made 90% of the Masters between 1974 to 1992 before they scaled down
their fleet to the presently 2 'owned' vessels.
At the time in the '70s there was no pre-sea training - we went from Year 11 at
school straight onto the training ship
Lanka Kalyani
What was so unique about Lanka Kalyani was that it made it's own profit for CSC
sailing the Far-East while the deck complement consisted only of Cadets, save
for the Bosun & the Carpenter.
It was also an academy on board with the revered Staff Captain
Cmdr. M G S Perera
(RCeyNR) conducting classes on
all subjects required for our initial 2nd Mates' Certification.
The 1977 Kalyani batch of 10 was Priyantha Dias, Sanath Mahiepala, Nadaraja
Ganesan (Royal); Mohan Thurairatnam (St. Thomas'); Ajantha Abeysinghe (Ananda);
Hasitha Jayasuriya & Kapila Perera (Nalanda); Alric Pietersz (de Mazanod); Anura
Herath (Science College) & Ranjith Weerasinghe (Mahinda).
We passed-out from the Kalyani in November 1978. I won the trophy for the 'Best
All-round Cadet as well as the trophy for 'The Best in Seamanship' while
Mahiepala won the trophy for 'Best in Navigation'. I also had an Extra First
Class Certificate.
Being the 'Best Cadet' gave me the privilege of selecting my next ship. Instead
of opting for the glamorous life on the Colombo-Europe ships, I selected the
largest and the only tanker we owned at the time; the 33,000 tonne 'Tammanna'.
Ajantha joined me on the Tammanna as my fellow Cadet.
The Tammanna was the ship that converted me from an over-confident Cadet to an
officer, mainly because we had an exceptionally experienced Indian Chief
Officer, Mr. Dabeer.
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Since we all lost touch with Mr. Dabeer after the Tammanna was sold I need
to include this here:
I have never known another tanker mate who knew everything that was happening on
deck, be it with the cargo, pumps, servicing & repairs, tank washing; but mainly
he knew us and he knew what it was to be in love...
I could in the middle of a screw-up and consequent punishment ask him if I could
go now as my girlfriend was waiting for me at a bus-stop.. he would first say no
and then return a few minutes later and tell me 'Aray Dias, you go, I am here
no...'
He was such a wonderful man; probably dead by the time I write this as he was in his
50s when he was my mate... God bless him...
Ajantha and I were both promoted to 4th officers soon after joining Tammanna.
Ajja left for the Europe run and after some 13 months I too left to join the
Lanka Ratna under the command of the mercurial Capt Nelson Nanayakkara.
Lanka Ratna was one big party afloat! We had a party for anything and
everything. There was no bar on a cargo ship to compete with the Ratna Bar; in
terms of style and vareity on offer.
We sailed Europe, long stays in Hull, Liverpool, Rotterdam. Bremen, Hamburg,
Rouen and back through Port said to Colombo; Partying all the way!
I was up for my 2nd mates by this time; so were the others in the batch. So we
adjourned to Bombay to face the first critical examinations with the attendent
aprrehension and elation and soon found ourselves enjoing the fruits of Bombay
to the fullest...
The initial shock of Bombay was terrifying! I still remember the Royal Bakery on
the Clare Road, Byculla, on top of which me, Hasitha and Anura baked for the
first two weeks until we found a decent flat in the fashionable suburb of
Bandra. The Royal Bakery is still there!
To complete this part it must be mentioned that the '77 batch of Kalyani was one
of the most enterprising and loved batches of the CSC. We had all types of
talent among us... musicians (me & Alric), Actors (Hasitha, Anura, Ranjith &
Mahie), Dramatists (Ranjith & Thurai)... we even could forge the Master Key to
all the Yale locks onboard!
After 2nd Mates...
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