When I was working for Union-Castle in Cape Town, before I went to sea as an R/O, the Southampton Castle was the first ship I berthed for passengers on the South African coast. She carried 12 pax (so no doctor) and it was far more difficult to arrange the pax berths than on the bigger ships, as there was no room for mistakes.
Passengers often wanted to travel from Cape Town to Durban on one ship and return on the next one. If the next one was the Southampton or Good Hope Castle, not only could they mostly not be accommodated, they didn't like it as there was no entertainment. Between Cape Town and Southampton, the berthing was in the hands of the St Helena Government, and between St Helena and Ascension, deck passengers were carried on what was normally a sundeck/sports area.
More letters
Is my maritime pension performing as well as it should?
Nautilus answers a member's query about the now-closed MNOPF pension scheme.
Could Nautilus have done more for members' injured knees?
The Union has done great work over the years, and I was a liaison officer for a long time, but I feel that one big failure has not getting seafarers compensation for damage to their knees.
Are you being managed well? Please share your experiences in my study
I'm writing to ask fellow Nautilus members to give a few minutes of their time to help with my research.