HS Turku Turku-based “sailor sailor” became a huge phenomenon – “My kind is starting to be like the seas too”

Turku resident seaman Tommy Björklund was launched on Finland ‘s newest tanker on the first day of the year.

He and his 13 co-workers had entered the king’s territorial waters without permission. It was, of course, a traditional sailor baptism, a ritual to which sailors enter when they first cross the equator.

The ritual is hundreds of years old. The first written mention of the baptism of the equator dates back to the 16th century.

The ritual involved the arrival of King Neptune and his wife on the spot.

“We were picked up from the tube one by one. Sometimes earlier in the ritual, the sailor’s eggs were tarred, but fortunately it has been abandoned. Now the pods were poured ice, ”Björklund said by telephone on Tuesday off the Bay of Biscay near Spain and France.

Finally, the sailors were thrown on the deck of the ship into a pool built of tarpaulins. After baptism, the men are members of the Order of Neptune.

When Björklund told of the baptism on his Twitter account, he received several messages from old sailors rejoicing at the continuation of the tradition.

“Finnish ships rarely cross the equator these days, so there are a lot of Finnish sailors who haven’t even come close to the equator,” says Björklund.

Equatorial baptism is one of the reasons why Björklund has been working continuously for three months now. Another reason for the long working hours was the opportunity to be involved in bringing a brand new tanker to Finland.

Neste’s new tanker m / t Jatuli was completed in South Korea at the end of last year. Björklund flew as early as November to prepare for the reception of the ship.

The 250-meter-long vessel, which cost more than 60 million euros, was handed over to the Finns on 2 December.

Jatuli and its 20-member crew set off on December 7th.

Björklund has reported regularly on the progress of the trip on Twitter, where he is already followed by more than 7,000 people.

The Jatul route did not pass through the Suez Canal, but the ship headed for a route around Africa. One reason for avoiding the Suez Canal was the threat of pirates.

“On this route, too, we have had to prepare for the threat of pirates twice.”

The first danger point was in the busiest strait in the world, the Strait of Malacca, between Indonesia and Malaysia. The preparedness included barbed wire barriers pulled on the ship’s deck.

In addition, the crew was on duty at the pirate guard.

“It sounds a lot more dramatic than it actually is. In practice, the watch monitors the radar screen and looks out, and of course drinks coffee, ”says Björklund.

Another location where pirates had to watch out was only in the west of Africa, off Nigeria.

“There we drove so far from the beach that the risk was very small.”

A few in addition to dramatic days like equatorial dew and pirate guards, Björklund has accurately portrayed a sailor’s daily life on Twitter.

In the regional elections, for example, the crew was unable to vote, as Jatuli was at sea from the time the candidate was confirmed until voting day. Election materials will normally be delivered to the ships and the crew will be able to vote on the day of advance voting.

Part of Jatul’s crew, i.e. mates and watchmen, drive the ship on four-hour shifts. Some crews like Björklund are normally on day jobs from eight to four.

Everyday life outside of working hours has been boring at times, as Jatuli is so new that its gym equipment such as treadmills await a ship in Finland.

“I’ve been running on deck. In a few days we were able to play badminton on the deck until the wind got too strong. ”

The badminton tournament was ambitiously named the Indian Ocean Badminton Championship.

The most exceptional part of the trip began in the case of the Comoros, east of Africa. From then on, the ship’s crew did not see the land for about three weeks.

“It was exceptional when you thought that the 20 men here are all alone,” Björklund said.

After three weeks and touring Africa, the crew saw land in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. There, part of the crew got off the ship as planned and traveled to Finland by plane.

Electronic In addition to reading books and watching Netflix series downloaded to your tablet, Björklund is actively updating Twitter. There, in addition to the sailor, there is a title for himself.

“I wrote it in a semi-provocative way to irritate the value-conservative wing of Persians. Someone Ano Turtiainen has blocked me for a long time. ”

Björklund positions himself politically as a value liberal, meaning he tolerates all kinds of people regardless of their political position, skin color, or sexual orientation.

“There’s starting to be something like me at sea, too,” Björklund laughs.

Interview by Monday night Björklund has been on a three-month business trip and about half at sea.

He is unlikely to have such a long way to go in his career, as normal work breaks are six weeks long.

On Wednesday, Jatuli arrives in England, where Björklund gets off the ship and travels to London. The man is probably already at home in Turku on Thursday afternoon.

“First I sit by the fireplace. I hope my son has remembered to fill the fridge. ”

After six weeks, he returns to Jatul. If the ship is elsewhere than in Finland, it will fly to the next port of call. The vessel will begin transporting crude oil to Neste’s refineries.

Before that, the Turku resident intends to head to the track as often as possible.

“You have to get to ski as much as you can. In addition, I will visit my six-year-old granddaughter in Kirkkonummi as soon as possible. I have now kept in touch with him through Whatsapp’s voice messages. ”