Mohamed brings a reminder of home to seafares

Mohamed Salah Osman, who is a welfare consultant at SEA HEALTH & WELFARE in Port Said in Egypt, provides daily news and reading material from the seafarers’ home countries to ships sailing under Danish flag. When the opportunity arises, he likes to do a little extra for the crew.

45-year-old Mohamed Salah Osman almost grew up in Port Said. He lives just 15 minutes’ walk from the port on the Suez Canal, where about 50 ships pass through the important junction between Europe and Asia every day. Ever since he was a boy, he Mohamed Brings a Piece of Homeland On Boardhas been used to jumping on board some of the ships that pass through the canal every day to deliver newspapers, books, films and sometimes special greetings to the crew on board.

Every day, Mohamed receives a list from the port authorities of which Danish vessels, are either passong trough or berthing.

”Ships sailing under Danish flag arrive every day. Some days 4-5 ships, other days 1-3 ships – and when some of them berth, I have the opportunity to go on board and stay and talk for a while.” 60-70% of the ships pass the canal without stopping, but others berth in the container terminal for 6-7 hours at a time, and then there is enough time for Mohamed to embark and have a slightly longer chat with the crew. To get to embark the ships that do not berth, Mohamed uses a taxi boat, and the delivery of newspapers and books takes place while the ship is sailing.

Mohammed runs SEA HEALTH & WELFARE’s welfare office, which is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The office is equipped with a special printer that can print fresh newspapers from the crew’s home countries.

”We give them a little bit of their home countries when we embark with fresh newspapers. It is something special to have a newspaper in your hand rather than reading news on the internet, and many ships do not always have a particularly good internet connection,” explains Mohamed and continues:”I think the newspapers help to stir their feelings and make them think about their home countries in a good way. Flipping through a newspaper is something very special for them. It is the same with books, it is something special to have a real book in your hand rather than reading on a screen.”

Mohamed runs SEA HEALTH & WELFARE’s office in Port Said which is open every day of the year.

The office has a nice little library, which is supplied with books from Denmark, and Mohamed occasionally receives book requests from the ships approaching the canal.

”There was a captain the other day who sent me an e-mail and asked for a certain book – I think it was a crime novel. I had it ready for him when they sailed through. He was very happy,” says the welfare consultant and says with laughter in his voice that he has gradually become well versed in Danish literature and Danish newspapers, and also speaks a little Danish.

FROM FATHER TO SON

Mohamed has been visiting ships in the port of Port Said ever since he was a child. Before him, it was his father who took good care of the seafarers:

”My father started the office in 1976 and worked here for more than 40 years. At that time, he took care of ships from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. I started helping when I was about 14 years old, and in 2014 I took over the job from him.”

He especially remembers an experience he had with his father when they boarded a Norwegian ship with a newspaper for the captain. The Norwegian captain flipped through the newspaper and found an article and pictures of his son, who had won a major sports competition back home in Norway.

Mohamed and his father pictured in a Scandinavian newspaper.

”I still remember how moved he was to get that newspaper. We need to keep in mind that seafarers are away from home for weeks or months, far away from their home and family. That makes it special to get a newspaper from your home country in your hands.”

Occasionally Mohamed gets help from his eldest son, who is about the same age as he was when he started helping his father in port.

A LITTLE EXTRA

Like everywhere else, Covid-19 has made the welfare consultant’s work challenging.

”There are a lot of restrictions and rules we have to follow. Thankfully, it has become easier, especially now that we are vaccinated. But we have had long periods where we could not go on board.”

And it has frustrated the energetic Egyptian, because he likes to do a little extra for those on board when the opportunity arises.

”Even small gifts make the crew very happy. One year, the Christmas greeting from SHW was various games like backgammon and playing cards. They were very happy about that, I remember.”

In his own words, Mohamed always tries to do a little extra when given the chance.

”Once I was told that the captain of MUMBAI MAERSK had a birthday. I was told well in advance, so I could bring a cake on board. That brought a lot of joy,” he says and emphasises: ”I love my job, and I always try to do my best, and then just a little more than that. I try to put myself in the seafarers place. Theirs is a hard job, far from their families. That is why I always do my best, and it is nice to see the joy on their faces when they get a book, newspaper, a greeting or a little surprise.”