Free Made on Earth by Wolfgang Korn Page A

list, the container is filled with animal furs heading to Spain. It appears the furs have been sent straight from the slaughterhouse without any further processing or preparation. The smell coming from the container is disgusting: they’re really starting to stink.
    While the cargo waits quietly, packed into colourful containers, the crew live in the high, white deckhouse at the ship’s stern. Right at the top of Deck A (the top deck) is the bridge and the control room – the brain of the ship. Deck B is the ship’s stomach, where the galley and the canteen are located. Deck C is reserved for communal spaces, such as a TV room and a gym. Decks D through to G are the private rooms of the captain and crew. Below them are the engine rooms, generators that produce the electricity to run the ship, and the ship’s motor, which is as tall as a six-storey house. It provides 93,000 horsepower – that’s the same amount of horse power as produced by 700 people carriers.
    This powerful motor allows the ship to run exactly according to schedule. The docking space at each port needs to be booked and paid for in advance, so the World Star must hit specific times and dates. The crew can use the powerful engine to make up lost time at sea, flying across the water at 26 knots (48 kilometres) per hour.
    Punctuality is especially important for the next leg of the journey: sailing through the Suez Canal. One hundred and fifty years ago, the canal was dug through the desert that separated the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. It is 195 kilometres long with an average width of 205 metres. These days, large container ships and tankers are so wide that the canal can only be sailed through in one direction at a time. The ships sail in convoy. If a ship misses its spot, it will have to wait for at least two days while ships from the opposite end of the canal make their way through. The World Star has managed to avoid this fate. It has made it across the Red Sea in good time to join the correct convoy.
     
    10 October 2005
    The World Star reaches the Spanish port of Algeciras, near Gibraltar. Five hours have been allocated to unload 300 containers. Only ten containers will be loaded back onto the ship. Even if more time was available, none of the crew would disembark here. The captain and his officers have to be there for the loading and unloading of the ship. It would be too expensive to hire a team to work overnight in Spain.
    If the rest of the crew did decide to grab a taxi and have a few beers in a local bar, it would burn a big hole in their pockets. The majority of the crew aren’t particularly well paid, and their families back at home receive the majority of their monthly wages of €1,000 to €1,200 euros (about £675 to £810 pounds). It’s worth noting that although the ship’s crew travel the world for a living, they don’t actually get to see much of it. All ports look exactly the same. One of the few upsides of the job is that the shipping company pays for them to fly home to see their families every six months. Twice a year they see their wives, children and parents. The captain and the officers get an even better deal; they get to go home every three months.
     
    12 October 2005
    After the World Star has sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar and along the Iberian Peninsula; it crosses the Bay of Biscay and heads towards the English Channel. Suddenly, bad news comes from the galley. Chef Juan has discovered that they only have two meals worth of cabbage left! Cabbage with bacon and pork sausages is the crew’s favourite meal. The captain considers good food and shared meals to be of the utmost importance in order to keep up morale on board and create a positive team atmosphere. After all, the 22 people on board have to work together to keep this steel giant of a ship under control. The journey has been smooth so far, but it has just been announced by the captain that the ship is heading into a severe storm.
    In the Bay of