Up at 3.30 am. Brush our teeth, slip into our oilskins. The watch change is at 4.00 am. For the next four hours, three crew members are in charge of the ship, whilst the rest of the crew are still asleep.

A thick layer of stratus cloud has settled over us; there’s dense fog. 98 per cent humidity – everything on deck is wet, and our clothes are getting damp too. On top of that, an icy north wind is blowing; the damp oilskins cool down quickly – it’s an uncomfortable, cold watch.

To make matters worse, the Atlantic has a fair bit of swell; the Dagmar Aaen glides up the crests of the waves, only to plunge straight back into the next trough. And the ship is rolling: first it leans far over to port, then tilts back over to starboard.

Icebergs are drifting into our course; they are clearly visible well in advance, even in the thick fog. It’s a different matter with the chunks of ice that have broken off these icebergs. These ‘growlers’ are difficult to spot, but large enough to cause serious damage to the ship. For the watch, this means keeping a constant eye on the sea so we can take evasive action in good time.

The wind is set to pick up

In between, we keep checking the latest weather data for the region we’re sailing through: the wind is set to pick up and there’ll probably be a fair bit of swell soon – with waves coming straight from the front. We decide to sail closer to the coast, partly so that we can retreat into a bay if things get really stormy later on.

We regularly report the weather conditions around the ship to the German Weather Service so that the meteorologists can incorporate this data into their weather models – water temperature 2.6 degrees, air temperature 2.8 degrees, low-level stratus clouds, etc.

After hours on deck, the cold has crept into our limbs. Even a cup of hot tea doesn’t help – the watch is frozen through and exhausted. After four hours, it’s time for the watch change. Out of the wet oilskins; the cook has made fresh coffee. Time to rest whilst the next watch continues to feel their way through the icy fog.

Uli Weih