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The Female Pioneers at Colombo Port (Part 2)

Tue, 26 Mar 2019 06:00:01 +1300

#^The Female Pioneers at Colombo Port (Part 2)

In the second instalment of a two-part feature, which began by introducing us to one of Asia’s youngest crane operators, guest author Nilantha Ilangamuwa further explores the lives and work of the extraordinary women working at the Port of Colombo.

Poojani, along with her colleagues Sewwandi, Harshani and Udeshikai (pictured above), represent the present stage of woman’s long journey for freedom. All of them have their own story and experiences to narrate.
Poojani said: “It was challenging at the beginning as many thought women were weak and would not be able to do what men were doing for decades.
“Especially in a place like a port: how could a woman handle skyscraping cranes, they questioned. But we must, first of all, thank the higher officials for making this revolutionary decision to recruit a group of females as crane operators in Colombo Port.”

Sri Lanka Ports Authority took the decision to ensure gender equality in the work place, allowing 25 females to join its training programme. In the end, 10 out of 25 remained. Subsequently, those female crane operators were deployed in the Jaya Container Terminal at the Port of Colombo.
“Our general target is to handle 25 to 30 containers per hour, so we are doing that,” Poojani commented, while levering a container.
As with any other field, the beginning for these women was a mixture of the excitement of winning and the fear of failing. Working as a gantry crane operator, while many others are looking at you, is indeed challenging.
“I can proudly say we are playing an active part in enriching our country. When we learn that the port has become one of the best ports on Earth, we feel delighted recalling our contribution.”

Viking Sky Cruise Ship Arrives in Port After Near Disaster at Sea

March 24, 2019 by Reuters

1680SHARES

Viking Sky cruise ship arrives, after problems the ship got in the storm outside of Hustadvika, at Molde, Norway March 24,2019. NTB Scanpix/Svein Ove Ekornesvag via REUTERS
Image/photo

By Terje Solsvik OSLO, March 24 (Reuters) – A luxury cruise ship that had set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard arrived at a port in Norway on Sunday after narrowly escaping disaster when its engines failed during a storm.
The Viking Sky sent out a mayday signal on Saturday as it drifted in rough waters in the Norwegian Sea to within 100 meters of land.
Rescue services airlifted 479 people, hoisting them one-by- one on to helicopters, before the weather subsided on Sunday and a tow could begin. Many of them were senior citizens.
A total of 1,373 people had started the voyage and about 900 people were still on board as the ship arrived at the port of Molde on Norway’s west coast.
“It was very nearly a disaster. The ship drifted to within 100 meters of running aground before they were able to restart one of the engines,” police chief Hans Vik, who heads the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway, told TV2.
“If they had run aground we would have faced a major disaster.”
Image/photo

A cruise ship Viking Sky drifts towards land after an engine failure, Hustadvika, Norway March 23, 2019. Frank Einar Vatne/NTB Scanpix/via REUTERS
Built in 2017, the Viking Sky is 227 meters long (745 feet) and 29 meters wide, the Viking Ocean Cruises website said.
Founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, Norwegian billionaire Torstein Hagen, met some of those who had been airlifted.

“They’ve had a bit of a shocking experience,” Hagen told TV2 and other media after meeting passengers who had been winched from the deck in the storm.
“Most of our passengers are senior citizens…imagine what it’s like to hang there on that wire. It must be a terrible experience but they seem to have handled it very well,” Hagen said.

AIS ship tracking data shows just how close the ship came to land:

Viking Sky AIS as of 1826 UTC 23 March 2019. Courtesy MarineTraffic.com
The 915 passengers were mainly from the United States and Britain, the rescue services said. There were also Canadians and Australians on board, among others, the cruise company said.
Some 20 injured passengers had been taken to hospital, Viking Cruises said, while others had only minor injuries.

One was taken to St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim and others were taken to local hospitals.
“Many have also been traumatized by the experience and need care when they arrive on shore,” the Norwegian Red Cross said.

BROKEN WINDOWS

Stormy weather conditions had improved by Sunday afternoon, with winds down to 12 meters per second from 24 meters per second, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute said.
Images and video posted by passengers on social media showed furniture sliding around and panels falling from the ceiling as the vessel drifted in waves of up to eight meters (26 feet), and passengers earlier described the ordeal.
“We were having lunch when it began to shake. Window panes were broken and water came in. It was just chaos. The trip on the helicopter, I would rather forget. It was not fun,” American passenger John Curry told public broadcaster NRK on Saturday.
British passenger Derek Brown told newspaper Romsdal Budstikke:

“I was a bit alarmed saying help, what’s going to happen to the boat? What’s going to happen to all of our possessions … is the boat liable to capsize, sink or what? We didn’t know so we were quite frightened.”
The stretch of water known as Hustadvika and surrounding areas are known for fierce weather and shallow waters dotted with reefs.
“We all want to know how this could have happened,” company chairman Hagen said. “I’m sure there will be plenty of time to point fingers at what could and should have been done, but that’s for later.”
“Something like this shouldn’t happen, but it has.” (Additional reporting by Gwladys Fouche Editing by Keith Weir and Angus MacSwan)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019.

Related Story: Cruise Ship with 1,300 People On Board in Distress Off Norway

https://gcaptain.com/viking-sky-cruise-ship-arrives-port/?

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