Filipinos are known for their festive way of celebrating special occasions, may it be Christmas, Birthdays, New Year and more. In the spirit of keeping up with the tradition as well as providing the Filipino seafarers on board a homey feeling even though they’re away from home, occasional party is being held on board. Lechon or Roast Pork has always been the light of the party for every Filipino crew on board the vessel. The dish features a whole roasted HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig" \o "Pig" pig, cooked in HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcoal" \o "Charcoal" charcoal for 5 hours above the half-cut drum can is the "Star" of the table. The ears are served to the elder crew with due respect as a lucky charm. Seventeen (17) crew out of twenty-one (21) had attended the party, as four (4) crew are on duty for the day and the next day, but of course, they were treated after their off duty.

In compliance with International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulation, lifeboat must be launched in the water once every three months to ensure ships crew are confident to use in case of emergency and that life saving appliances are seaworthy. In the event of a disaster aboard the ship, life boat provides a means of emergency evacuation for a maximum capacity of 29 crew. Lifeboats are usually equipped with flares and/ or mirrors for signaling, several days' worth of food and water, basic first aid supplies. Some lifeboats are even more capably equipped to permit self-rescue; containing such supplies as a radio, an engine and/ or sail, heater, basic navigational equipment, solar water stills, rainwater catchments and HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing" \o "Fishing" fishing equipment. The orange color of lifeboat and its code indicators written in big letters shows up best against blue and grey water, therefore, it is easy to be identified by rescue aircraft.

The First Engineer is second in command of the engine department after the ship's Chief Engineer. The person holding this position is typically the busiest engineer aboard the ship, due to the supervisory role this engineer plays and the operations duties performed. For that reason, he is responsible to chair a daily meeting of engine department; a venue to discuss the things to be done on the day and as well the specific instruction on job distribution among the engine crew members. Usually the daily working plan is written on the white board. It makes good team work to know each other’s duty every day.

Unloading ships requires knowledge and proper technique for lifting and stowing HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo" \o "Cargo" cargo, including correct handling of HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazardous_material" \o "Hazardous material" hazardous materials. It is therefore required that when vessel is at berth at the port of discharging, the Chief Officer will have a meeting with Foreman to discuss the order of discharging and the safety at work. In Japan, there are not so many discharging ports, so most likely, the Chief Officer and Foreman knew each other. This is one factor that the meeting is in very amiable atmosphere despite that the Chief Officer and the Foreman is not seeing each other regularly.

The main engine is the heart of every ship. For Asahi Maru, its main engine is her heart of trust. The horse power is 11,610. The speed of 14.5 knots (at C. S. O. with 15% sea margin on fully loaded condition), is about 26 km/h. In speculation, the propeller turns 360 degree-roll, moves 5.28 m forward.

Periodically, vessel informs her position to Japan Coast Guard and etc., to notify that she is keeping safe voyage. On the other hand, when an emergency happens to the other vessel, she might go for rescue. The Second Officer is controlling NBDP to inform the position of the vessel as shown on the picture. In these days, other deck officers have additional post for radio operators instead of Chief Radio Officer.

The east quay of Kakogawa, Kobe Steel, Ltd. is as mother port of M. V. Asahi Maru. The coal that she brings is being carried to the factory using the unloader. She can carry about 70,000 tons of coal at once. Discharging of coal in Kakogawa takes 2 to 3 days. With this, crew are allowed to go shore by rotation so they can relax and be relieved of voyage’s fatigue.

Coal which is loaded into the vessel is carried from the yard by the use of conveyer belt and dropped down into the hold by the machine as shown on the picture. Though depends on the port, about 2,000 to 4,000 tons of coal is loaded into the vessel per hour. It takes almost one day to complete loading for M. V. Asahi Maru, after which, she will departs the port. Crews who come on shore would like to do **** in time???

In summer time, warm ocean flow (black current) and the cold air causes dense fog in the North Pacific Ocean. The dense fog sometimes can cover the head of the vessel of about 200m. Officers on duty must be vigilant and keep sailing carefully using the radar and fog alert signal (whistle) to avoid colliding with other vessels.

By far the most challenging part of any ship's voyage is the passage through the narrow waterways that lead to HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port" \o "Port" port and the final HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock" \o "Dock" docking of the ship. In this case, the pilot who is expert in handling vessels in confined waterways and have local knowledge of the port should be on board the vessel. Normally, the pilot joins the ship using a pilot boat, as shown on the picture, but in some ports, a helicopter is used as it is dangerous to embark and disembark when the swell is high.

Chief Officer is the person in charge to oversee the he loading, stowage, securing and unloading of cargoes. As shown on the picture, C/O calculates and checks the accuracy of the cargo using the computer as there are different types of coal.