MV Greenpeace / PC 8023
Position: At anchor in Manila harbour.
June 6th, 1996
Day 21

On anchor watch and it is Thursday morning. Yesterday was pretty confused and hectic. We never got to throw the heaving lines ashore, as our berth had been taken by the time we arrived.

At 0900 hrs as we steamed into Manila harbour, preparing the mooring lines, anchor etc... the bow wave coming off the ship was a greenish, yellow colour.(no kidding!) The harbour a foggy haze of pollution, plastic and crap floating everywhere, the air smells bad. There are many ships at anchor, dark eiree hulks in the haze.

Once the anchor was dropped we were swamped with officials customs, immigration and quarantine. I met four quarintine guys in one of the alley ways, asking for the chief cook and food.(I presumed to check it) Explained we had no cook then realised they wanted me to prepare them a meal. I pointed to the fruit bowls.

Meanwhile our captain, Bob, was signing reams of paper work. In an hour we managed to clear the ship and catch our breath.

During the day, ferrying people from shore to ship, the spray from the toxic cesspool (called a harbour) tasted foul and stung my eyes while I drove an inflatable.

The VHF radio is a constant chatter, many people speaking at once nearly impossible to make contact with port authorities. Everything seems so crazy it is hard to believe it is real.

Tanya Popp.