Freight Boat a.k.a Cargo Ship hoppin (1 Viewer)

[WyldLyfe]

People hop freight trains but any of you got any stories bout hoppin cargo ships? what do you guys think about it?

 

[Dameon]

Not really practical. Just for a start, you'd have to sneak on board with enough food and water for a couple of weeks.

 

[Crazy Hobo Johnny]

It would be interesting!

 

[superphoenix]

Had a buddy who was on one for a couple of months. Don't know if I'd say he "hopped"per se. I think it was more like he took a job there. I'm sure someone's done it at some point in history!

 

[WyldLyfe]

Had a buddy who was on one for a couple of months. Don't know if I'd say he "hopped"per se. I think it was more like he took a job there. I'm sure someone's done it at some point in history!

People have. This site shows guidelines for crew people to use if they find someone on board.

IMO guidelines for the unwanted person onboard-Stowaway

Shipping has been one of the oldest modes of transporting passengers and cargo. Ships enter the boundaries of several international waters during its transoceanic voyages and visit posts of different countries. According to maritime law, no ship or ship’s crew member can enter authorised...

www.marineinsight.com

Stowaway: A Menace to the Shipping Industry

Ships because of their huge sizes are often used by people who wants to illegally move to another country or to want to get involved in some unlawful activities. Such kinds of people are known as stowaways. Find out more about stowaway inside the article.

www.marineinsight.com

 

[Dmac]

It’s not hopping, but many of the cargo ships do have staterooms that can be booked for passage. I recently watched a couple videos about it on YouTube.

 

[Dameon]

It’s not hopping, but many of the cargo ships do have staterooms that can be booked for passage. I recently watched a couple videos about it on YouTube.

This is true...unfortunately, it's about the same cost as going on a cruise, if not more expensive

 

[morphine]

If you could sneak on a (very big) cruise ship, wouldn't that be alot easier? Once you're inside yiu just have to find a place to sleep, food and drink are provided for free. Maybe even make a fake ticket so if someone on board wants to see it you have something to show? As long as they don't check with the passenger list that could work.

On a cargo ship you'd need food and water for many weeks unless you plan on stealing that on board and relying on that might be a bad idea. Unless you decide to hide in a food container ofcourse. Also getting on a cargo ship unseen probably isnt as easy as getting on a train. And if you're seen by someone there is no was to get away.

And if you had done this during the corona thing you'd be stuck on a ship now. They don't let the crew leave the cargo ships right now, so someone travelling on one of them probably couldn't get off either.

 

[ali]

I've traveled on a container ship before as a legal passenger and Dameon is right - it is very expensive for what you get (room and board). On the other hand, it's a pretty unique form of travel and well worth it if you have the cash.

One thing that i think would be extremely difficult to do is sneaking in and out of container ports. The ships float around in the harbor for ages, then go in to dock for the shortest amount of time possible. Container ports are massive, and heavily patrolled. The containers load and unload remarkably quickly. It'd be tough to get up the gangplank because it's guarded full-time, and riding a container - unless you're inside - would be virtually impossible to do without being seen. You may also land 6 containers up and then you're screwed.

I wonder if one way to do it would be to sail out in a dinghy to international waters and get "rescued" by a crew en route, but that would be so much effort and paperwork i imagine you'd be better off just sailing to your destination yourself.

If you did manage to make it on the ship undetected, i think you could probably sneak about okay. They are very large and there are a bunch of places to hide. The ship i was on had a half court for basketball out the back, which i never saw in use. The crew is always on patrol and cleaning, but i suppose you could figure out the roster if you had a good hiding spot and the time. Maybe hanging out in a life raft would be a good spot, as long as you got out during drills and inspections.