No, there is no evidence that the computer screens in the office flicker, nor our telephone system emit strange sounds but I do get genuinely excited when a Russian Registered Ship comes into sight in the waters of the mighty Humber Estuary on whose bank our workplace stands.
They pass by, either upstream or on the return journey out to the ocean with surprising regularity making their way to the Port of Goole or even down the Trent to the Wharfside Industry sites.
Just the other morning I startled my work colleagues by jumping up and exclaiming "SHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIII.......PPPPPPP!!"
Their initial reaction at my outburst was one of shock or at least until I had reached that fourth letter and even then amongst the buzz of PC's, copier and and unruly fluorescent strip light they could have easily been mistaken in hearing that word as a very rude one.
My mobile phone is always to hand when a vessel comes into line of sight in our large window opening onto the river.
It is a glorious outlook with the Humber Suspension Bridge in the background and the expanse of rather murky water in and around it.
Accessing one or more of the Ship Finding Apps gives an instant feedback on the identity, type, destination and recent destination history of any craft.
Our visitor this time was the Mekhanik Kottsov.
It is amongst the larger types of shipping using the deep water navigation channels of the Humber, a right proper and classic ship shape and profile. Prominent bows, a sweeping line of superstructure in matt black and ox blood red, two deck cranes and a large four storey upper bedecked with a multitude of antennae and satellite arrays.
It is one of those vessels with a concertina folding deck over deep storage holds suitable for many types of general and bulk cargo.
I felt a bit of an impulse to wave but at a distance of a couple of hundred metres and at an offset angle to its plotted course it will have been as futile as that time I saluted the orbiting International Space Station from my back garden.
I did have a flashback to that movie "Empire of The Sun" when the schoolboy character played by Christian Bale uses his torch upon seeing a signalling Japanese Warship in Shanghai Bay. Although of course nothing of his doing the Cruiser opens fire as part of the invasion of that part of the eastern theatre of World War 2.
The exciting thing about spotting a ship is finding out where it is headed.
The Mekhanik Kottsov was en route to Arkhangelsk, way up in the Arctic which would take about a week from its current position.
A busy schedule also showed previous ports of call in Honfleur and Rochefort, France and Frei in Denmark.
As of this very moment it is at coordinates 61.49989 North and 4.35741 East and making 11 knots which is skirting the rocky islands just to the west of Floro in Norway.
The volume of shipping does reduce significantly on the indicative mapping as the Arctic Waters are approached. The run will be very well known to those who served in the Royal Navy Convoys and Merchant Navy ships taking vital supplies to that part of the far North of Russia in wartime.
As I returned to my desk and comfortable office chair in the somewhat overheated but cosy office I shivered slightly at the thought of the Kottsov Crew and their voyage in that icy and hostile environment. I hope they have a good kettle and ample supply of tea bags.
(evidently the homeward journey was a safe one as Mekhanik Kottsov has just passed by my office window again- monday 23rd March en-route for ports up the Humber. I waved but ..........................
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