At 37, Jerry Lablache is probably the youngest captain of any large container vessel. In June this year, he qualified as master of the Safamarine Meru, which is part of Maersk Shipping Lines, which he joined as chief officer in 2004.
Jerry, who has sailed over the five oceans, has had the opportunity to visit over 100 ports worldwide.
For this achievement, he is thankful to his family, who, he said has always been supportive of him from day one. Most of all, he is grateful to his mum, Marie-Therese Lablache of La Misere, who has been a driving force behind his success."
His present ship has a gross tonnage of 51,000 tons a length overall of 292 metres with a carrying capacity of 4,000 containers.
One round voyage is 6 weeks, sailing from
He recently had some bad spells with the typhoon off Taiwan Straits. A crucial decision was of utmost importance to avoid possible disaster, he says.
Jerry went to sea in 1988 at the age of 18, serving on the MV Cinq Juin as cadet during school breaks. At the time he was doing his O-levels in Humanities and Science at the Seychelles Polytechnic. While most students were relaxing during the holidays, he was braving the south-east monsoon, sailing around the outer islands. This included frequent trips to Farquhar, Aldabra and Assomption. There were also several trips to Coetivy at the start of the prawn project on that island.
Jerry Lablache recalls that his first foreign going trip was during the August school holidays in 1989 to Diego Suarez in
After completing his A-Levels, it was clear that the chance of gaining a cadetship with one of the reputable shipping companies was very slim. The government then only offered scholarships to
He persevered nevertheless and sent many applications to shipping companies without any success. After spending a full year on the Cinq Juin, he realised that if he was to realise his childhood dream of becoming a captain one day, he had to try his luck overseas.
In June 1992, he left Mahe, stopped in
After several attempts, he finally got a break when the South African Unicorn Company took him in as cadet. His first ship as cadet was a coaster called “Border" which called at
On Unicorn Lines, he worked his way to the rank of chief officer. He left Unicorn in 2002 and was in fact the last chief officer to serve on the company's own container ship, before being sold off. Unicorn decided to go into the tanker business, but Jerry was not keen on making a permanent career on that type of vessel. After he left, he took contract jobs as chief officer with several companies, such as Delmas and some others which are UK-based.
In July 2003, he enrolled at Durban Technikon for 6 months and did the theory part of his Master Mariner's exam, which he passed with distinction. A year later, he passed the Master's oral exam and obtained his Master Mariner Foreign Going Certificate.
HIGHLIGHTS
Having called at over 100 ports in all 5 continents, Jerry Lablache claims that his most memorable sightings are:
Transiting the Mississippi River to
Piloting through the virgin forest of the
The approach to
The Far East, especially
“Still the best scene of all is seeing
His wife Wanida and daughter Seygelle (she was baptised in Mahe) often joins him on ship from
Last year, Jerry spent some time in
JOB SATISFACTION
Jerry Lablache says that being away from home and loved ones, he often misses out on special occasions. He is on call 24 hours a day for the duration of the contract. As master, there is a huge responsibility for the personnel aboard, millions of dollars in items, cargo and ship. The job can be stressful at times and there is a quick turn-around of vessel between ports.
He notes, however, that with internet facilities provided on board these days, one can keep in contact with family and friends on a daily basis. Considering years back at sea, the only contacts were through normal mails." sometimes the letter could take weeks to reach you."
On Maersk, there are satellite phones which can be used at any time and at any place in the world. There is an attractive, tax free salary and a leave ratio of 3 months aboard for 2 months paid vacation. He is able to visit different countries, meeting people of different background and culture all the time.
There is also the clean environment at sea- no pollution and frustration of peak hour traffic.
"There's the adrenalin rush while commanding one of the largest ships through the most demanding seas, such as the Straits of Malacca. Getting in and out of ports, you always need to consider the approach carefully as it requires precision and quick thinking."
