" Turn a corner near King Harry ferry just south of Truro and through the trees you suddenly glimpse the giant ships - car carriers, bulk carriers, banana boats. There are 10 ships here, looked after by skeleton crews of three or four to each vessel. As well as the Filipinos, there are Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian sailors with too much time to kill, often not enough work to do and little access to the outside world. Sailors on one of the laid-up ships spend time cycling round the vast empty decks, trying to keep fit. Some organise games of football on board and many are becoming excellent darts players. On one vessel they seem to have given up the ghost and are padding around unshaven and in flip-flops, asking anyone who passes if they have any spare DVDs - they have watched all theirs dozens of times."
(Guardian, 31 January) RD
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