The Ship’s Third Name

In 1977, a fifteen-year-old boy leaves Athens to join a Greek cargo ship. He wants to help support his family. He also wants to see the world. The ERMIS is waiting in Rotterdam. So are long working days, unfamiliar rules and men who can tell at a glance how little he knows. From serving meals to working on deck and taking the helm on night watches, he learns his trade one task at a time. Beyond the ship lie the ports of northern Europe, Brazil, Ceylon and China: strange streets, chance encounters and the heady freedom of shore leave. Between them lie a storm in the Bay of Biscay, a typhoon off Formosa and long stretches of ocean that make home feel impossibly far away. The Ship’s Third Name is Thanos Aposperitis’s memoir of his first voyage in the merchant navy. Through hard work, friendship, fear and wonder, a boy begins to find his place among seamen, aboard a ship whose name changes before his eyes. Includes 25 voyage maps.