Atlantica - 01.02.2006, Qupperneq 24

22 AT L A N T I CA
on the fly
By Katherine Sharpe
Not so many decades ago, in a
world that seems far, far away,
people who needed to cross the ocean
did it by ship.
More transportation-oriented than
today’s cruise ships, the ocean liners
of bygone days offered fine food and
cosmopolitan company for passengers
on their glamorous upper decks, while
less-fortunate travelers piled into
cramped quarters below.
Owing to advances in air travel,
ocean liner service was retired in the
1960s. Nowadays, people who want
to traverse the sea in a ship don’t have
many choices. It’s possible to get from
A to B on a decked-out cruise ship, but
prices can be astronomical; cruises are
sold as a means of opulent recreation,
not practicality.
But all is not lost. Passengers
seeking an authentic, no-frills maritime
experience can still sail aboard a
working cargo ship.
Though no central ized body
keeps statistics, several travel agents
estimate that about 10,000 people
travel by freighter each year worldwide
– as opposed to the approximately ten
million who will travel on traditional
cruise ships. Freighter travel is more
affordable than a traditional cruise,
with per-diem costs ranging from USD
275 for a 7-day transatlantic trip, to as
low as USD 115 for a longer voyage
around the world.
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
Ursula Mattern, a 57-year-old secretary
from Düsseldorf, Germany, says her
doctor recommended sea travel in
1980 as the best cure for her broken
heart.
“He was thinking of one of those
fancy cruise ships,” Mattern says, “but I
called my travel agent and asked, ‘Can
you get me on a banana steamer to
anywhere?’”
Freighter travel, it turns out, suited
her fine. Mattern has taken a cargo
ship twice since then and swears by
its restorative effects, from the calm
of what she calls “‘Oceanic Days,’ when
there is nothing but water and sky,” to
the ship’s engine noise that becomes
“part of your heartbeat.” To this day, she
has never been on a “fancy cruise ship,”
and never wants to be.
If you key “passenger freighters” into
your search engine, chances are good
that you’ll end up in Fred Cherney’s
capable hands. Though he works for a
company called The Cruise People Ltd.,
Cherney is not the man to see if you’re
hoping to bob around the Caribbean
in a five-star luxury liner.
Freighter travel is “a totally different
thing from cruising,” says Cherney.
There are no regularly scheduled
activities, no gambling, no restaurant
dining, no fancy spectacles staged for
entertainment.
Agencies that arrange freighter trips
make up a small, insular community
within the travel industr y. The
Cruise People, their affiliate office in
London, and other companies like
Freighter World Cruises and Maris
Freighter Cruises, act as liaisons
between passengers and freight-liner
companies.
Richard Ahern, a retiree in Los Angeles
and a self-styled freighter-travel expert
(he runs the popular ‘Internet Guide
to Freighter Travel’) recommends that
prospective passengers “shop around
the websites of the different agents in
order to get the best deal.”
Passengers don’t need to choose
an agency close to their home, as
agents can book passages originating
anywhere.
Agents are, however, likely to
specialize in certain routes or services.
The Cruise People, for example,
offers regular services from Montreal
to Europe – Antwerp, Hamburg, or
Thamesport, near London – on ships
operated by Canmar. The crossing
generally takes 9-10 days. These
transatlantic crossings are its most
popular freight service.
The more dedicated passenger
might take on the “Round-Trip Mystery
Voyage,” a 60-day odyssey departing
from the Great Lakes and visiting an
ever-changing variety of destinations
in Europe before its return. Or, if that’s
too tame, there’s a four-month, round-
the-world voyage, departing from
Houston and stopping at both pre-
scheduled and mystery ports. Cherney
points out that at less than $17,000
Canadian (USD 14,800) the trip is
affordable compared to a luxury cruise
of comparable length.
Specialty Travel Agents Sell a Glimpse into Maritime Life.
“If seafaring is something that you’ve always wondered about, this is the way to go.”
SAIL AWAY
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009 airmail Atlantica 206.indd 22 21.2.2006 11:53:42