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| Employees’ Corner |
| Crossing the line: A ritual of the sea |  |
| Capt N J Nair | |
| Assistant Vice President-Operations, Sanmar Shipping |
| We have over the years published occasional contributions from employees. Beginning this issue, we have pleasure in opening the doors to regular contributions from members of the Sanmar family. Hopefully, they will become a regular feature and an interesting one too. |
| Just as every village and city has its own culture, festivities and ceremonies, so do sailors on ships. A ship is in some ways a little self-contained society by itself. The myths and ceremonies on the high seas are hardly documented and seldom talked about, but to the lonely sailor out there, it is a culture just as any other. One of the most colourful and mystic ceremonies of the seas is the Crossing the Line ceremony. |
| King Neptune, Lord of the Seas, who has his abode on the Equator, is known to get extremely annoyed when strangers attempt to cross his domain without due permission. Hence, it is fabled that Neptune and his consort, Queen Amphitrite visit every ship that crosses the equator to initiate all those on board who are not already his loyal subjects. All unauthorized trespassers must pay them homage and be initiated by the mystic rites according to the ancient usages of his kingdom. Only then will they be awarded his certificate, ordaining them to be his loyal subjects, and allowing them the right to freely roam around upon his kingdom of the deep for ever and evermore. |
| The origins of this ceremony are unclear, but it was well established on English ships by the turn of the eighteenth century. On board our ships, this ceremony serves as a pleasant diversion from the rigours of sea life. It often starts with a letter presumably received from King Neptune that reads: |
| Oh gallant Vessel, Captain and Crew, Our pleasures great at seeing you, Once more on Our Equator, Old friends We notice by the score, But some We’ve never seen before, We demand they surrender to the Ancient rite, Before Myself and Queen Amphitrite, And have them subjected in order of rank, To surgeon, barber and to the oil tank, Before they earn the right to wander, In My Kingdom, from now to yonder. |
| On the day the ship crosses the equator, the deck is adorned with flags and decorated thrones. After all the crew assemble, the first time crossers, known as “Polliwogs” are marched in, hands chained and guarded by the fierce guards of Neptune. Then arrives the procession of Lord Neptune and his Queen, led by the ministers and jesters, dressed in grand attire, and announced with the ringing of bells and the sound of bugles. The Minister then announces: |
| And now Our rule of Court decrees, The grant of Freedom of Our Seas, To all who’ve not yet got that rank, By ordeal of the suds and the tank, Let them get ready !! |
| The court jester then presents the polliwogs one by one to the King and reads out their misdeeds, ranging from sleeping whilst on duty to using un-seamanlike language. King Neptune then pronounces his sentence, which often includes a ritual shaving of the head by the court jester, painting of the face, dunking in drums of oily water, a hose-down with the fire hose and ending with drinking a glass of Oceanic Wine, which is usually a concoction brewed on board with raw eggs, wine, chilly powder, sea water and other nasty tasting ingredients. |
| After the polliwogs are thus initiated, King Neptune ordains them his subjects by blessing them with the end of his trident and presenting them his certificate. They are now deemed converted from polliwogs to “shellbacks”, the name used for old timers and seasoned sailors. |
| All these ceremonies are enjoyed by one and all on board including the ‘polliwogs’ in a true spirit of bonhomie and camaraderie help build a healthy and happy atmosphere on board the ship, breaking the ice between the young ‘polliwogs’ and the old ‘shellbacks’ and mould them into one big happy family. The day usually ends with music, dance and a grand barbecue dinner, where all the newly initiated ‘shellbacks’ proudly flaunt their shaven heads and carry with them a story of the deeps, which some day, they will tell their grandchildren with pride. |
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