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The Colombo Bay
Describes the dangerous world of modern-day merchant shipping as it follows the Colombo Bay, a huge container cargo vessel, on a five-week voyage from Hong Kong to New York via the Suez canal, documenting the lives of its crew, the perils they face, and the growing menace of terrorism. 35,000 first printing.
- GenresNonfiction
272 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 14, 2008
I found this book to be riveting and informative. If you have any interest in the way things work or the impact of transportation on the global economy, this book is guaranteed to hold your interest. Pollak reminds me of the best of John McPhee, high praise, indeed.
July 24, 2007
If you'd asked me whether I'd be excited in regard to a book about cargo ships, I'd have looked at you funny. But, I'd have been making a hasty and ill-informed judgment.
Like the stranger at a party who captures your interest in a never considered before topic by both illuminating it in a way that opens it up fully to you, a neophyte, and by their obvious love of the story, and gift in the telling, Dick Pollak's “The Colombo Bay” becomes both an exploration of a vital part of our daily lives (whether we know it or not), a story of character and characters, and an invigorating tale, all in one book.
We do get pirates, trafficking in human being, containers being used to hold suspected terrorists, and the global conflict in the post 9/11 world; we do get the lingering disorientation, or perhaps more aptly, sudden focus on dread possibilities brought about by the September 11th attacks. But we also get beautifully rendered descriptions, such as when Dick gets to use a phone of a P & O Nedlloyd employees to phone his wife back in New York, and feeling like he's abusing the privilege, writes:
“We talk for forty minutes, the conversation crimped by the lack of privacy, a nagging sense that I am tying up Yap's phone, and the constant feeling that I should be by her side instead of playing jack-tar and trying to bounce my love off satellites…”
I'm not sure what a jack-tar is; but I know good writing, and can see evidence of the love of it in Dick Pollak's words, here and elsewhere.
We get a macro picture of the world of cargo ships, and endlessly fascinating tidbits of information--did you know that 85% of ocean petroleum pollution comes from dumping by airline pilots, emissions from boats and Jet Skis, and runoff from motor vehicles and other land-based sources? Not spills like the Exxon Valdez, or the Prestige, as devastating as they were?
He captures the danger and boredom of life at sea, in this very specific kind of vessel. With humor, much of it self-directed, and a keen observer's eye, he traces incisive and insightful character sketches, from the ship's captains to the lowest-ranking member of the crew, with all their individuality maintained. In doing all these things, he creates a book of non-fiction that reads like a great novel, and carries the reader effortlessly along on his journey.
Like the stranger at a party who captures your interest in a never considered before topic by both illuminating it in a way that opens it up fully to you, a neophyte, and by their obvious love of the story, and gift in the telling, Dick Pollak's “The Colombo Bay” becomes both an exploration of a vital part of our daily lives (whether we know it or not), a story of character and characters, and an invigorating tale, all in one book.
We do get pirates, trafficking in human being, containers being used to hold suspected terrorists, and the global conflict in the post 9/11 world; we do get the lingering disorientation, or perhaps more aptly, sudden focus on dread possibilities brought about by the September 11th attacks. But we also get beautifully rendered descriptions, such as when Dick gets to use a phone of a P & O Nedlloyd employees to phone his wife back in New York, and feeling like he's abusing the privilege, writes:
“We talk for forty minutes, the conversation crimped by the lack of privacy, a nagging sense that I am tying up Yap's phone, and the constant feeling that I should be by her side instead of playing jack-tar and trying to bounce my love off satellites…”
I'm not sure what a jack-tar is; but I know good writing, and can see evidence of the love of it in Dick Pollak's words, here and elsewhere.
We get a macro picture of the world of cargo ships, and endlessly fascinating tidbits of information--did you know that 85% of ocean petroleum pollution comes from dumping by airline pilots, emissions from boats and Jet Skis, and runoff from motor vehicles and other land-based sources? Not spills like the Exxon Valdez, or the Prestige, as devastating as they were?
He captures the danger and boredom of life at sea, in this very specific kind of vessel. With humor, much of it self-directed, and a keen observer's eye, he traces incisive and insightful character sketches, from the ship's captains to the lowest-ranking member of the crew, with all their individuality maintained. In doing all these things, he creates a book of non-fiction that reads like a great novel, and carries the reader effortlessly along on his journey.
February 8, 2018
Containers have been of interest to me since I realized their impact on world trade and then saw them used as shops (by the locals) and dwellings (by the US military) in Afghanistan a few years ago. (And, now I think of it, the roll-on/roll-off thousand-foot ship that took me from Hawaii to Texas, through the Panama Canal, in the mid-1990s on an Army exercise. I was free to roam the ship, from the engine room to the bridge, and found it -- and the sea -- fascinating.)
My recent reading started with "The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger," by Marc Levinson. Too much detail for me, but it gives us a good understanding of how we got from there (no containers) to here (almost nothing but containers) in just a few decades.
I then read "Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate," by Rose George. More pieces to the puzzle. Can't put my finger on why (too long since I read it), but I found the book neither riveting nor informative.
That's in contrast to "Colombo Bay," by Richard Pollak. Badly titled, but a superb book.
Like Rose George but ten years earlier, Pollak hitches a ride on a container ship for a voyage half way around the world. Like George, he knows nothing about the sea or container ships. Unlike George, he is a masterful writer (she'll get there; he's twice her age), and we both learn from and enjoy his travelogue aboard the Colombo Bay.
We gain a sense of what life aboard these huge ships is like. Boring and routine, mostly, until a hurricane is near. Also that officers and their crew work under very different conditions. Officers, for example, can have their wives travel with them; crew can't, and can't possibly afford to have their wives meet them in port.
Were I the editor, I would have:
-- Added some photos. The only photo is on the cover, of the front of the ship.
-- Told us more about the engine room, the heart of the ship, and the bridge, its brains.
-- Told us more about the docks and their equipment. Four thousand large, heavy containers are routinely removed from these ships in a single day. How is that even possible?
-- Excised the author's political comments. Not many, and forgivable, with his New York liberal background, but unnecessary to the story, and offensive to some. (Or maybe just me.)
But I'm not the editor, and I'm not expecting a second edition. Read "Colombo Bay" for nothing but its masterful writing. The increased understanding of life at sea in these gigantic vessels will be icing on the cake.
It's been a while since I've enjoyed a book so much.
My recent reading started with "The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger," by Marc Levinson. Too much detail for me, but it gives us a good understanding of how we got from there (no containers) to here (almost nothing but containers) in just a few decades.
I then read "Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate," by Rose George. More pieces to the puzzle. Can't put my finger on why (too long since I read it), but I found the book neither riveting nor informative.
That's in contrast to "Colombo Bay," by Richard Pollak. Badly titled, but a superb book.
Like Rose George but ten years earlier, Pollak hitches a ride on a container ship for a voyage half way around the world. Like George, he knows nothing about the sea or container ships. Unlike George, he is a masterful writer (she'll get there; he's twice her age), and we both learn from and enjoy his travelogue aboard the Colombo Bay.
We gain a sense of what life aboard these huge ships is like. Boring and routine, mostly, until a hurricane is near. Also that officers and their crew work under very different conditions. Officers, for example, can have their wives travel with them; crew can't, and can't possibly afford to have their wives meet them in port.
Were I the editor, I would have:
-- Added some photos. The only photo is on the cover, of the front of the ship.
-- Told us more about the engine room, the heart of the ship, and the bridge, its brains.
-- Told us more about the docks and their equipment. Four thousand large, heavy containers are routinely removed from these ships in a single day. How is that even possible?
-- Excised the author's political comments. Not many, and forgivable, with his New York liberal background, but unnecessary to the story, and offensive to some. (Or maybe just me.)
But I'm not the editor, and I'm not expecting a second edition. Read "Colombo Bay" for nothing but its masterful writing. The increased understanding of life at sea in these gigantic vessels will be icing on the cake.
It's been a while since I've enjoyed a book so much.
June 23, 2020
An interesting, although a bit uneven, book about the global shipping industry. Pollak hitched a ride with The Colombo Bay, a container ship that circles the world, delivering the goods that makes our globalized economy go. His plan was to meet the ship in Hong Kong, and then accompany it as it sailed West along the Indian Ocean, then into the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, on to and across the Atlantic to New York. However, he arrives in Hong Kong just before the September 11 attacks and almost calls off the trip.
He goes anyway. The book ends up being both a profile of the current global delivery system for goods and a reflection of the moment in time that he happened to take his journey. The confusion and uncertainty that immediately followed 9/11 hangs over the story unexpectedly, which makes it seem considerably less timely reading the book almost 20 years after the fact.
He goes anyway. The book ends up being both a profile of the current global delivery system for goods and a reflection of the moment in time that he happened to take his journey. The confusion and uncertainty that immediately followed 9/11 hangs over the story unexpectedly, which makes it seem considerably less timely reading the book almost 20 years after the fact.
June 26, 2015
What it is like to ride a container ship from Hong Kong to NYC. A long, slow trip!
There were some surprising things I learned from this book:
a) Profits: A container ship does not generate a huge return on investment. These are very expensive to operate, the shipping companies have to bid on jobs, and competition is fierce. Not a lot of money to be made in this business.
b) Pirates: Why not hire armed guards when sailing through pirate-infested waters? Reason = Cost. The shipping industry can afford the losses more than they can afford the cost of protection.
c) Flags: Vessels can operate under flags of many nations, the Flag of Choice (FOC) costs much less from some countries vs. others, and the laws vary, too. On a US flagged vessel, the rules are more stringent, and the crews must be treated according to US regulations. On a FOC from some obscure place, the crews can (and often are) treated horribly. On ships that are far from safe.
d) Rescues at Sea: Customs are that you stop to rescue survivors if you are in the area of an incident. If you do, it turns out that you are then responsible for the people you have taken on board. Meaning, until you can deliver them to a port that will accept them. Which may be a big problem for you, the rescuer, if the port refuses. As often happens if you have rescued refugees, and your next or nearest port wants nothing to do with them. A case of, "YOU brought them, they are on YOUR ship, and it is YOUR problem, not ours." This can tie up a ship for weeks at a time, something that the container ship cannot afford to be doing. Besides having many people on board, with few provisions for them (only accommodations may be in an empty container, and food supplies are not planned for large groups.) It would be very unethical for the container ship to ignore persons who are in distress, but probably more than one captain has ignored rescue calls.
There were some surprising things I learned from this book:
a) Profits: A container ship does not generate a huge return on investment. These are very expensive to operate, the shipping companies have to bid on jobs, and competition is fierce. Not a lot of money to be made in this business.
b) Pirates: Why not hire armed guards when sailing through pirate-infested waters? Reason = Cost. The shipping industry can afford the losses more than they can afford the cost of protection.
c) Flags: Vessels can operate under flags of many nations, the Flag of Choice (FOC) costs much less from some countries vs. others, and the laws vary, too. On a US flagged vessel, the rules are more stringent, and the crews must be treated according to US regulations. On a FOC from some obscure place, the crews can (and often are) treated horribly. On ships that are far from safe.
d) Rescues at Sea: Customs are that you stop to rescue survivors if you are in the area of an incident. If you do, it turns out that you are then responsible for the people you have taken on board. Meaning, until you can deliver them to a port that will accept them. Which may be a big problem for you, the rescuer, if the port refuses. As often happens if you have rescued refugees, and your next or nearest port wants nothing to do with them. A case of, "YOU brought them, they are on YOUR ship, and it is YOUR problem, not ours." This can tie up a ship for weeks at a time, something that the container ship cannot afford to be doing. Besides having many people on board, with few provisions for them (only accommodations may be in an empty container, and food supplies are not planned for large groups.) It would be very unethical for the container ship to ignore persons who are in distress, but probably more than one captain has ignored rescue calls.
February 9, 2014
Pollak, a journalist interested in covering the unseen work of container ships, takes a trip on one. That would be interesting enough, but Pollak starts his trip (planned for several months) two days after 9/11. The result is a paean to the sailors and port workers who handle commercial business as well as a sobering look at the security issues involved in modern container shipping.
This book hit two of my big appeal factors: travelogues about extreme trips and a focus on big engineering feats. Pollak mixes in descriptions of his trip with merchant marine history, excerpts from Melville and Joseph Conrad, and thorough discussions of the political and economic realities that affect container ships. At the same time, he delves into the personal lives of the sailors and crew to better understand their stresses and sacrifices. A very satisfying read.
This book hit two of my big appeal factors: travelogues about extreme trips and a focus on big engineering feats. Pollak mixes in descriptions of his trip with merchant marine history, excerpts from Melville and Joseph Conrad, and thorough discussions of the political and economic realities that affect container ships. At the same time, he delves into the personal lives of the sailors and crew to better understand their stresses and sacrifices. A very satisfying read.
August 28, 2008
Like The Box, I was inspired to read this book by reading William Gibson's Spook Country. Pollak's book is compulsively readable, a travelogue of his journey from Hong Kong to New York on the containership Colombo Bay. The book is balanced evenly between Pollak's equally skillful descriptions of sailing on the behemoth ship (and getting to know its crew) and his fascinating excursions into related topics, from piracy and the primacy of the Strait of Malacca to the terrible conditions under which most merchant mariners work. His bit on how to describe the use of an anchor is especially wonderful (pp. 159-160). I can't remcommend this book enough.
November 10, 2013
Book is great,Author Goes along On a Container Ship(Colombo Bay)With P&O NEDLLOYD(NO LONGER EXISTS AS OF 2008 MERGED INTO MAERSK LINE,Travels Around the World, From New York To SRI LANKA, To the Suez Canal, And Back and much more, Wonderful Hardcover I picked up a while Back, Great non Fiction, A Must for Shipping Fans.
July 21, 2013
If you have no interest in ships of any sort, I still recommend this fascinating look into the life of a cargo ship crew. Riddled with history, shocking facts, and personal stories of those aboard the huge Colombo Bay container ship.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews