I was serving as Second Officer on the Southampton Castle when the Good Hope Castle caught fire between Ascension Island and St Helena. We were the second vessel to arrive on the scene, but by then, a passing tanker had already rescued the entire crew. The ship was a heartbreaking sight.

As Second Officer on the Clan Robertson, I was involved in another incident when the Zulu crew walked off while we were docked in Gothenburg. We set sail for Antwerp without a crew but were “blacked” before our arrival. The crew eventually rejoined us in Antwerp.