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“The postings on this site are my own and don't represent Maersk Group's position, strategies or opinions. All views are my own”
 > +++++++++++++++
Monday 1st of June 2026 and we are still anchored when I come on the bridge at 4 o'clock in the morning. We get news that we will come alongside around lunch time tomorrow. And before lunch we got news that we will come alongside in the afternoon.
So, I got started with the pre arrival tests and checks after a very quick lunch. I had time for a wee bit of rest before the pilot boarded us at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  Entering Port of El Dekhelia
Entering port of El Dekhelia, pretty much the same port as Alexandria. We had all fast at Midor Terminal jetty 91-B at 16:36. I am soon learning that we will not start loading until tomorrow morning. A long ice night, at least I thought so. But it was 11 o'clock before I was in bed. Another ship is loading and they are using the same pipeline we will use for the ULSD we are going to load. The ship expects to complete loading tomorrow morning +++++++++++++++
Tuesday 2nd of June 2026 and they call me at 6 o'clock and we started to load at 06:36 and we expect 30 hours loading.
Slower rate than the 1200m3/h than promised and they changed loading instructions from 30000 to 33000MT. So, it looks like tomorrow evening, and day light navigation only, so most likely departure on the morning of the 4th of June. +++++++++++++++
Wednesday 3rd of June 2026 and we complete loading at 18:24, 3 hours with cargo documents turned out to be almost 6 hours.
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Thursday 4th of June 2026 and they call me at 5 thirty, pilot will board us at 6 o'clock, of course, about 30 minutes late. But it was better than the 2 o'clock in the morning option.
 Discharging bulk in El Dekhelia
 Discharging bulk in El Dekhelia
m/v Cotswold is discharging on the jetty across the basin. And it is going quick, and they are only using two cranes with 2 buckets. It is a huge ship, at least 200 000 ton. And they have almost emptied the ship in 24 hours. We left El Dekhelia and I was in bed at 9 o'clock. when I woke up at 11, we were drifting, cargo off spec and we have to wait until this is sorted out. We started to move back to Alexandria Anchorage at 7 o'clock in the evening, we will deliver some samples for shore analysis. We dropped our anchor at 23:00, almost at the exact spot we used while waiting to load. +++++++++++++++
Friday 5th of June 2026 and the Surveyors came onboard just before 3 o'clock in the afternoon. They left at 8 o'clock in the evening after having pulling cargo samples from all of our tanks.
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Saturday 6th of June 2026 and we get the lab results in the afternoon, all samples passed and we heaved up anchor and left Alexandria behind bound for Barcelona.
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Sunday 7th of June 2026 and we are steaming towards Barcelona. We are about 81 km north of Ras-Alam-el-Rum when I have two Laughing Doves landing on the boat.
Finaly, a little something to report to eBird. +++++++++++++++
Monday 8th of June 2026 and we are leaving Libya behind. I was very disappointed as I had really been  hoping to have been able to report at least one bird from Libya.
+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 9th of June 2026 and we are about 100 km ENE of Malta, at 07:35 and one warbler is flying by outside the window. I am very lucky and I spot the bird again and I get a picture.
Birdforum helped me with the ID, it is an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. Lifer #2017 for me and a Rare Bird Alert.  Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
 Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
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Wednesday 10th of June 2026 and we are north of Tunisia when I come on the bridge at 4 o’clock in the morning. We are SSE of Sardinia, still in Tunisian water. So, Tunisia is my country #98 on my countries where I have reported birds from.
I spotted one Scopoli's Shearwater flying towards SW at 06:35 and there were soon two more flying by following the first towards SW.  Scopoli's Shearwater
 Scopoli's Shearwater
 Scopoli's Shearwater
 Scopoli's Shearwater
Spotting four more Scopoli's Shearwaters an hour later and it turned out to be a good morning, a new country to my list. Tunisia, a pleasant surprise, but I had been hoping for Libya. Pumpman started to measure gas in our cargo tanks and I got a couple of pictures of the action.  Measuring gas
 Measuring gas
 Measuring gas
 Measuring gas
The wind picked up in the afternoon, sea horses all over the Mediterranean, so not easy to see any birds with the sea in the back covered in white. +++++++++++++++
Thursday 11th of June 2026 and the wind is increasing during the night and it is a force 6 when I come on the bridge at 4 o'clock in the morning. An hour later and it was a force 7 blowing from north with rough sea and water spraying over the ship.
The only thing seen was a few small fishing boats and a sailing yacht. And one swallow that I could not ID. But I could report one swallow sp. to eBird. Originally, we were supposed to berth tomorrow evening. Now it is berthing on arrival and then we have to drop anchor to take cargo samples on the anchorage. Surveyors boarded us at the afternoon, just after dropping the anchor and sampling was completed 20 past 9 o'clock in the evening. There are a lot of traffic in the port of Barcelona, so there is no pilot for us. +++++++++++++++
Friday 12th of June 2026 and they called me 20 minutes or so before 2 o'clock in the morning and we had just passed the breakwater to Barcelona port.
 Arriving to Barcelona
I was in bed at 8 thirty and they called me an hour later to start discharging. Our CDI Inspector had come onboard during my power nap. My part of the CDI Inspection was ready at lunch and I completed some other work and I was in bed at 1 o'clock. We had the closing meeting after the CDI Inspection around 4 thirty in the afternoon. And the Inspector left us at 5 o'clock and I think he was happy to had visited us. He is Norwegian, but he lives in Sweden and he spoke more Swedish than Norwegian. He had not been on a ship where he had been able to speak any Scandinavian language on any ships in a very long time. Arriving to Barcelona and I can make my eBird trip report and I will start a new trip report again.
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Saturday 13th of June 2026 and we completed discharging just before 6 o'clock in the evening. Paper work completed around 9 o'clock in the evening. I hope that I can get a full night sleep.
We will take bunker and discharge sludge before we can leave Barcelona. +++++++++++++++
Sunday 14th of June 2026 and we leave Barcelona at 10 thirty and I can report 3 Yellow-legged Gulls to eBird, flying around the ship, and one sitting on top of the cargo arm on the jetty in front of us.
Leaving for the anchorage and I can report 12 Feral Pigeons sitting on the hatches on a bulk carrier discharging, most likely grain.  Barcelona
 The church everyone is visiting in Barcelona
We drop anchor at 11 thirty and we can see the church everyone is going ashore to visit. There are 5 cruise ships in the port and they are all leaving in the evening. +++++++++++++++
Monday 15th of June 2026 and it is dark when I come on the bridge at 4 o'clock in the morning. I count to 11 Yellow-legged Gulls hunting around the boat using our deck light. Day light is breaking and the cruise ships start to arrive.
They are obviously starting their cruise in Barcelona, changing passengers and then they are of for a week or two before coming back again to change the passengers.  early morning and cruise ship arrives to Barcelona
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Tuesday 16th of June 2026 and we are still anchored when I come on the bridge at 4 o'clock in the morning. No news so we will have the chance to launch our MOB boat to get pictures of the hull. We need pictures to upload before the next vetting inspection.
We launched the MOB boat after the coffee break and we got some pictures of the boat.  Early morning at Barcelona Eastern Anchorage
 m/t Maersk Cancun
 m/t Maersk Cancun
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Wednesday 17th of June 2026 and we started to heavy up our anchor at 9 o'clock in the morning. We have stayed for three days and after 3 days they start charging money for the anchorage. So, it will be drifting off Barcelona until any voyage orders.
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Thursday 18th of June 2026 and we are still drifting when I come on the bridge at 8 o'clock in the morning. I have not seen one single bird since we left the anchorage, a wee bit boring.
We held our drills at 10 thirty so now we are ready for this month. But there will be more next  month. We kicked off the drill session with a fire drill.
Fire on the port cargo manifold. We were soon having two firefighting team ready to attack the fire. First team extinguished the fire. But unluck stroke, we were securing everything when the manifold caught fire again. I had to send in the 2nd firefighting team. +++++++++++++++
Friday 19th of June 2026 and our voyage from Barcelona is confirmed. We will go back and drop the anchor at Barcelona anchorage tonight. We started to move at 6 o'clock in the evening and we dropped anchor at 21:36. Latest news, expect to come alongside on the 23rd of June.
A couple of days at the anchorage will be nice, we have plenty things to do. The only birds I spotted at the anchorage was the normal Yello-legged Gulls and a couple of Audouin's Gulls.  Yellow-legged Gull
 Pressure testing our FRAMO emergency cargo hoses
 Pressure testing our FRAMO emergency cargo hoses
 Pressure testing our FRAMO emergency cargo hoses
 Pressure testing our FRAMO emergency cargo hoses
We also had time to pressure test our emergency cargo hoses for the FRAMO emergency pump. So now we do not have to think about this for another year. And it will be completed before the upcoming vetting inspection. +++++++++++++++
Tuesday 23rd of June 2026 and we expect the pilot around lunch time, two hours before it was cancelled with no updates. The ship we are waiting for is still occupying the jetty.
So, it was a day going to waste. The crew did a little greasing on deck during the day. But we had expecting to load, and most important of all, I had expected the crew to come ashore to arrange for Diet Pepsi. +++++++++++++++
Wednesday 24th of June 2026 and there are no berthing updates for us. But finally, at 13 thirty they ask us to prepare and heave up our anchor.
 Early morning on Barcelona Anchorage
Pilot onboard at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and we enter port of Barcelona. I spot one young Grey Heron flying across in front of us and I can report a new bird for me from Spain to eBird. We start loading just before 9 o'clock in the evening, Pumpman still not back onboard. We stop for line displacement and when we resume there is still no sign of the crew and my Pepsi. +++++++++++++++
Saturday 27th of June 2026 and we complete loading 12 minutes after 9 o'clock in the morning. I was happy to leave Barcelona, 5 cases of diet drinks in the CCR. It was 9 o'clock in the evening before we could leave.
Waiting for the Loading Master for hours, and then all the pilots was busy and it was 9 o'clock before we could leave Barcelona. All crew had have the oppertunity to come ashore, and well, I got my diet drinks. +++++++++++++++
Sunday 28th of June 2026 and we are steaming towards Genoa, Italy when I come on the bridge at 4 o'clock in the morning. I had not seen one single bird by the time I left at 8 o'clock. But there were two Collared Doves on deck when I came out with Pump Man at 11 o'clock.
Steering towards NE south of France and Monaco in the evening and I spotted a couple of Scopoli's Shearwaters. So, I was happy. And on top of that I had one Yellow-legged Gull landing on the hose handling crane before I left the bridge.  Early morning on Barcelona Anchorage
 Yellow-legged Gull
 Yellow-legged Gull
And on top of the birds, there were whales and dolphins swimming around. The whales, most likely humpbacks were way too far away for any pictures. +++++++++++++++
Monday 29th of June 2026 and we are waiting for the pilot when I come on the bridge 15 minutes after 5 o'clock in the morning. We have been drifting outside Genoa for a couple of hours, day light navigation only and pilot will come onboard at 5 thirty.
We expect to stay here for 4 days, discharge rate around 450m3/h. The shore tank is 12 km from the jetty, they will use a booster pump ashore, but there will be a high back pressure in the pipe line. The Vetting Inspector coming onboard around 12 o'clock and it is late evening before he leave us. +++++++++++++++
Tuesday 30th of June 2026 and we are boarded by the port state control around 11 o'clock. Full day vetting inspection yesterday. And today, almost a full day port state control. ZERO remarks when he left us in the late afternoon.
Monday Aladdin Gym (มันเดย์ อะลาดินยิม) have been fighting yesterday night at Max Muay Thai Stadium in Pattaya. The Red Devil (ปีศาจแดง ก.กุมานนท์) sent me some pictures and a video of the referee lifting Monday Aladdin Gym (มันเดย์ อะลาดินยิม) hand as the winner.  Tonights fights
 Tonights fights
 Tonights fights
We have a Safety Officer onboard, they change every 12 hours and I joined our Safety Officer when he left the ship at 6 o'clock. I will go to the beach next to the port, it turns out that the small stream at the beach is an eBird hotspot: Foce del Varenna e Spiaggia di Multedo. The terminal have a shuttle bus from the jetty to the gate and is a few minutes’ walk from the gate to the beach.  Maersk Cancun in Porto Petroli
Leaving the gate behind and the first bird I see is a Feral Pigeon sitting in the top of a lamp post. The second bird is an Italian Sparrow, a new “LIFER” for me. Italian Sparrow, bird # 2018 for me. I had really not expected any “LIFER” today, so this was a bonus. The beach looks like shit looking at it from the port, grey and only rocks and blackish sand. So, I was surprised to discover plenty people enjoying the afternoon on the beach. There are not many birds to be seen on the beach, some gulls and plenty Feral Pigeons.  Italian Sparrow
 Maersk Cancun in Porto Petroli
 Spiaggia di Multedo
 Feral Pigeon
 Feral Pigeon
 Grey Heron
Walking along the beach towards the stream and there is really no birds to report. But there is one Grey Heron in the stream. And there are Barn Swallows flying around and I tried to get a sound recording of them. The sound recording turned out to be nothing to keep. Getting hungry and there is something looking like a restaurant, but it was a bar or something. I look for restaurant online and there is one open, the rest do not open until 7 o'clock. I book one UBER car and I try to get pictures of the Italian Sparrows flying around. No pictures, but I managed to get a sound recording of the birds. Listen to the Italian Sparrow
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
 My UBER car is arriving after almost 20 minutes and we are soon off to Oltremare Pizzeria, a couple of minutes away. Just cross the bridge over the creek and a right turn. 29 € so it is not cheap to get in to a taxi in Italy, 5-6€ per minute. I get out of the car to get in to the restaurant. I ask if they have pasta, but it is pizza only. No Pepsi and I aksed for a bottle of water with my pizza. The pizza was OK and I asked for a second pizza, I don't think I will eat pizza again in a very long time. And I missed the dinner onboard, so a second pizza it was.  Oltremare Pizzeria
 Oltremare Pizzeria
 Oltremare Pizzeria
 Oltremare Pizzeria
Booing an UBER to get back to Maersk Cancun, and I went back in to Oltremare Pizzeria to ask them to call a taxi after 20 minutes. There was a long wait for the taxi operator and UBER found me a car. I cancelled the taxi and UBER cancelled by the time I was back out on the street. I realized that I had to walk back to Porto Petroli and I will save a wee bit of money. And I will walk across the bridge going back so I might see some birds in the stream. And there is one White / Pied wagtail in the stream that I get on picture. One Grey Heron is standing in the stream, but it is soon taking off.  Waiting for taxi
 I have to walk back to Maersk Cancun
 White / Pied wagtail
 White / Pied wagtail
 Genoa
 I am back at the gate
It take me 10 to 15 minutes to walk back to the gate and there is a shuttle bus arriving at the same time and I am back onboard quarter past 8 o'clock. Writing my night orders before going to my room to have a look at the pictures. I will finish my eBird trip report so I can start a new one tomorrow. We do not know where we will go after completion here in Genoa. The month of June 2026 has come to an end and by clicking HERE we are swinging right over to the adventure of July 2026.
    
  You are visitor no.
To www.aladdin.st since December 2005
Visitors from different countries since 26th of September 2011
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Species lifer: First time that someone observes a species in their life
Photo lifer: First time that someone photographs a species in their life
Audio lifer: First time that someone audio records a species in their life
Naturalized: Exotic population is self-sustaining, breeding in the wild, persisting for many years, and not maintained through ongoing releases (including vagrants from Naturalized populations). These count in official eBird totals and, where applicable, have been accepted by regional bird records committee(s).
Provisional: Either: 1) member of exotic population that is breeding in the wild, self-propagating, and has persisted for multiple years, but not yet Naturalized; 2) rarity of uncertain provenance, with natural vagrancy or captive provenance both considered plausible.
Escapee: Exotic species known or suspected to be escaped or released, including those that have
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