This reminds me of my first trip to sea in the Merchant Navy in 1972. It was on a ship called Westminster Bridge 75000 tons bulk carrier. We took on a load of iron ore in West Africa and were taking it to Yokohama in Japan. We arrived in the dark and were instructed to tie up temporarily alongside a long concrete jetty with a bunkering oil rig attached to the end. Needless to say it didn't go to plan and we ended up sinking the oil rig and smashing into the jetty leaving rather large holes in the bow. Within minutes there were helicopters and police launches around us and the Captain taken ashore for questioning. Thank god I was in the Engineering Department.
On the Plus side we spent the next three weeks in dry dock in Kobe wonderful city and country. Great for a 21 year old to experience what life has to offer
