Grain For Africa

Well this trip will be a little different than the last, because we will be hauling sacks of grain instead of ammo and we will be going to Africa instead of Kuwait. We are loading 19000 tons of about five different kinds of grain and mixtures. Wheat, lentils, and peas I know are some of them. This is all being donated by the U.S. Aid (our taxes) and it sounds like we send hundreds of ships full of grain each year to different parts of africa. We will be unloading this shipment in Togo, between Nigeria and Ghana.

The bags are plastic but rain can still be detrimental to a shipment. So no loading is done while it is raining and the hatches are sealed up very well. When all is loaded, they will fumigate the cargo holds and we may have to stay in a hotel a couple nights as a precaution of us getting exposed to the poisonous gasses.

This is one of the booms on the dock, there are four of them total but the most they have used on here is two at a time. The grain is sent on the conveyor belt and spirals down to the cargo hold and is spit into place by moving the bottom tray of the boom.

And here is me typing a letter to my dear wife. We have only been out to see for five days so far this trip, so I have been able to use the internet, but when out, I use the ships email and thankfully I am allowed to do it on watch in the control room when on break.