Keeping Spirits High on a Listing Ship

KOMPAS/DAHONO FITRIANTO

Cadets walk on the main deck of tall-sail ship KRI Bima Suci, which is tilted while sailing on the Sea of Japan, Wednesday (5/9/2018). The extreme angle is caused by strong winds blowing on the sails.

Never underestimate the power of the wind. In this modern era, where almost everything runs on motorized engines, the KRI Bima Suci ship proves that you can still rely on wind for seafaring voyages.

By merely relying on wind power on its 26 sails, the tall-sail ship can comfortably sail at an average speed of 9 to 10 knots (around 17 to 18 kilometers per hour), despite weighing more than 2,000 tons. “At full-shipload like right now, the ship can weigh up to 2,500 tons,” said KRI Bima Suci officer Lt. Col. M Sati Lubis.

According to its official specifications, the ship, which was built at the Freire Shipyard in Vigo, Spain, can sail at up to 15 knots using its sails. This is faster than its maximum speed using engines, which is 12 knots.

However, consequently, when strong winds blow the ship’s tall sails, the ship can list to one side. The stronger the wind is, the faster the ship will go and the steeper its tilting angle will be. This is common on all sailing vessels, including yachts and tall-sail ships like KRI Bima Suci.

As a Barque ship, Bima Suci has a safe tilt limit of 17 to 25 degrees. Other types of ships, such as Russia’s STS Nadezhda, which competed against Bima Suci in the 2018 SCF Far East Tall Ships Regatta, can list up to 30 degrees.

At first, a tilting angle of 17 to 25 degrees may not seem like much. However, in the real world, especially when one is on deck on ships as big as Bima Suci, such tilting angles can be extreme. Things that had been neatly arranged on the floor can suddenly become scattered all over the room. “Beyond 17 degrees, the cook won’t be able to cook as water will spill over. At those times, we’ll just open sardine cans,” said KRI Bima Suci commander Lt. Col. Widiyatmoko Baruno Aji.

Spending hours in a tilted, enclosed space is a unique challenge, especially when waves are rocking you around incessantly. A Kompas reporter who slept in a room on the lower deck on a recent voyage on KRI Bima Suci slept on a tilting bed for several nights.

This is much harder to do than to write about. The triple bunk beds are less than 1 meter wide, and the Kompas reporter got the top bunk. Under such conditions, you have to hold on to the bed at all times or have your feet firmly against the side of the bed to prevent yourself from falling.

Even some of the ship’s senior and experienced sailors were not used to the ship tilting all the time. “If the ship is rocked by waves, I can take it. However, this is my first time on a tilting ship. On regular ships, a tilt like this may indicate that something’s wrong. However, here, we just have to get used to it as a regular thing,” said Lt. Col. Joko Purwanto, a 2018 Kartika Jala Krida training officer and a former commander of KRI Kujang.

KOMPAS/DAHONO FITRIANTO

KRI Dewa Ruci in Yeosu, South Selatan, Thursday (30/8/2018).

Not a hurdle

None of these were hurdles for the ship’s crew and Naval Academy (AAL) cadets in keeping their spirits high in the regatta, despite the extra effort involved.

The helmsman at the huge steering wheel in the bridge, for instance, needs to maintain an upright posture on the tilting deck in order to control the ship. Each helmsman steers the ship for four hours.

It is similar with the cooks, who are required to work in a tilting kitchen. The water and cooking oil are all tilted. Nevertheless, meals have to be provided regularly for all crew members.

KRI Bima Suci weaponry and nauticals head Maj. Sugeng Hariyanto said this was the first time KRI Bima Suci participated in a regatta, and it sailed at full mast to effectively use the wind. “Everything is done with limitations, as only 15 of the ship’s 89 original crew members are sailing experts. We need to divide the tasks,” he said.

With all its limitations, KRI Bima Suci finished second in the regatta on Saturday (8/9/2018) morning. It lagged around 70 nautical miles behind Russia’s STS Nadezhda.

Winning the competition was never KRI Bima Suci’s main mission. Apart from serving as a training vessel for the AAL cadets, KRI Bima Suci is Indonesia’s maritime ambassador, which promotes the nation’s maritime identity and cultural wealth.

The mission has been a success thus far. Wherever KRI Bima Suci is harbored and the AAL cadets perform as a marching band and at various Indonesian cultural shows, locals stand in awe. “You must be so proud of having such a beautiful and elegant ambassador,” said Anna Wardley, a United Kingdom citizen in Vladivostok, Russia.