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Having captained merchant ships sailing the high seas for several years, I transferred ashore in 1981 to work for a shipping company in Mumbai (then Bombay).
In the summer of 1985, one of our ships was chartered by our government to transport the first export shipment of bulk wheat to North Korea. With no previous experience of trading to North Korean ports, the task of supervising smooth operations fell upon me. Being familiar with the history of the country and its brutal autocratic regime under their first dictator, Kim Il Sung, ( the grandfather of the current president, Kim Jong Un), it was with some trepidation that I undertook the assignment of ensuring that the cargo was delivered without any unforeseen impediments at the port of NAMPO.
I proceeded by air to the capital, Pyongyang, via Hong Kong & Beijing and was received at the destination by two smartly suited individuals; evidently operatives of their Intelligence Service, who introduced themselves as my escorts. They would chaperone me throughout my stay in the country and I discovered that I would be providing for their daily victuals as well.
My first impression of Pyongyang was that of a city with large grey monolithic buildings lined along wide boulevards, devoid of any significant vehicular traffic. All visually very grand albeit, soulless.
After a brief stay at one of their surprisingly comfortable “Friendship” hotels in Pyongyang, I proceeded to the port of Nampo by car, accompanied by my escorts. While sitting together for a meal, on asking them as to the need for two escorts, I was mirthfully explaining,“ I keep eye on you & he keeps eye on me”! I was relieved to note that despite their highly restrictive environment, the two gentlemen were endowed with a modicum of good humour.
At Nampo, I was accommodated at a fairly capacious and comfortable guest house within the port premises and on visiting the ship that had just docked alongside one of the cargo berths, the ship’s Captain informed me that the cargo discharge operations were proceeding apace. The bulk wheat was being discharged with crane grabs directly into the adjacent warehouse through sky ports located on the roof of the warehouse.
The next morning, on arriving at the dockside, I was astonished to find the ship missing! I turned to my escorts and frantically sought a meeting with the port manager which was arranged after much consultation and on condition that I would agree to provide beer and snacks to the manager’s team at my cost. During the meeting, sitting with a dour bunch of apparatchiks, I was assured that the ship was safe but due to unavoidable circumstances, it was necessary to suspend operations & shift the vessel to the port anchorage.
As tensions rise, the geopolitical landscape surrounding North Korea becomes increasingly complex, especially with the recent developments in military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
In the evening of the same day, as soon as the ship docked alongside the berth, I met the Captain who narrated the shocking events of the previous night.
He informed me that the huge pile of wheat cargo that was being dumped into the warehouse had caused the side walls to collapse, burying several workmen alive under the spillage. The ship’s crew saw motorised shovels & bulldozers promptly gathering all the spilt cargo together with the lifeless bodies of workmen and dumping them into mobile dumpsters and carrying them away in the dead of night, with the brutal efficiency characteristic of the communist state.
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Meanwhile, the port police boarded the ship along with the harbour pilot and peremptorily ordered the Captain to vacate the berth. A large ship’s engine requires at least one hour to be readied prior mobilization, but the Captain’s remonstrations were ignored and the ship promptly towed away ‘cold’ with the help of the port’s tugs to the anchorage area.
Needless to say, when I visited the dock after the events of the previous night, I found no evidence of any mishap. The broken walls of the warehouse had also been repaired.
The next morning, on attempting to inform my head office,the reasons for operational disruption, my escorts confidentially advised me to offer the inducement of a Nescafe bottle to the telex operator, purchased from the port’s “Dollar Store” for expeditious despatch of my communication.
Happily, the suggested inducement worked wonders. However, my queries regarding the fate of the victims of the dockside mishap were met with stony silence from all concerned.
Thereafter, the ship’s operations concluded uneventfully and I returned to my hotel in Pyongyang. Before departing for Bombay however, yet another surprise awaited me. My escorts arrived at my hotel and informed me that it was the Eternal Leader “Dongji’s” birthday. Hence I was escorted to lay a floral wreath at the feet of Kim Il Sung’s grand statue on Mansu Hill.
My return to my own country reassured me that we have much to be grateful for.
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