This morning, through haze, first land in nine days - Morocco and distant minarets.
The Strait of Gibraltar is busy - tankers, bulkers, ferries, fishing boats, super yachts and big, lumbering container ships similar to Amber.
Below an Arabic inscription on a scrubby hillside, we wait for a ship to leave before entering the Tanger Med container terminal.
Within sight of the European Union, Tanger Med is on major (and historic) east-west and north-south shipping routes and planned to become Africa’s biggest port. We are 3251 nautical miles from Newark.
Hardly do we tie up when unloading begins. The shot below, taken from the bridge, shows one of Amber's giant hatch covers being lifted off.
Meanwhile, other ships continue to arrive and depart.
Tanger Med is a good (or depressing) example of the modern port. Far from Tangiers and its pleasures, I had never expected to get off as there's little to do in the immediate area. Besides we're only here a few hours. More than that, the crew's too busy to get a break and, if they could, no convenient shop or internet cafe.
John McPhee in Looking for a Ship (1990) put it well:
“Join the merchant navy and glimpse the world.”
I may not touch land until Dubai, three-and-a-half weeks from New York. For me, it's a pleasure trip, but this is the lot of the seafarer who transports the products we take for granted.
In Morocco, I watch from the officers' mess as six crew disembark and six board - all Filipinos. Most will spend nine months on Amber.
For entertainment, we tune in local TV. Without cable, it's snowy, but not lacking in drama.
Later, through a static storm, I manage to get the BBC. Quality is awful, but an Egyptian mob has apparently ransacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo. Just as we're heading in that direction.
