Brian Ingpen aboard the Holland-Afrika Lijn’s Jagersfontein 50-years ago
COLUMNIST Brian Ingpen, 70, was just 14 when he was roped in by then shipping editor George Young to work for the Cape Times.
Over Christmas the person responsible for compiling the harbour log usually took leave, and thanks to his father, Rob Ingpen, who introduced him to Young, Ingpen seized the opportunity to get to know the industry.
Ingpen did this every December for the next four years – spending many hours at the Cape Town harbour.
At 20, Ingpen was aboard the Holland-Afrika Lijn’s Jagersfontein off the southern coast.
He explained in his column last week that the “radio officer came down to lunch, bringing copies of the latest news sheet that he had taken from the international Morse broadcast.”
The news sheet contained reference to the outbreak of the Six-Day War in the Middle East, and closure of the Suez Canal.
The Suez Canal connected the Mediterranean and Red seas, and was opened on November 17, 1869, with a lavish ceremony at Egypt’s Port Said.
The 164km-long waterway took more than 15 years to plan and build as labour shortages, political disputes, and a deadly cholera outbreak hindered construction.
Ingpen, then working for Safmarine – an international container carrier – boarded the ship and headed to Durban.
A previous Port Pourri column also reminisced about this.
Since then, Ingpen has written for the Cape Times on an ad hoc basis, and since 2005 his column has appeared weekly.
“George would pick me up on Sundays. I learnt so much from him, he was a mine of information,” Inpgpen said.
As a young boy, he would spend weekends at the harbour, riding tugboats, or simply watching ships as they came in and sailed out.
“Everyone was very friendly, I can’t remember ever being chased away.
“I would peddle from Mow- bray on my bike to the Cape Town harbour”
When he was 18, Ingpen joined the Navy for nine months and then started working for Safmarine.
After that he went into teaching, which he has done ever since.
Ingpen has worked as a maritime historian, school principal, author, and over the past 20 years he has dedicated this time to the advancement of the specialist maritime education programme at the Lawhill Maritime Centre, attached to Simon’s Town school.
The school has helped hundreds of young people, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds, pursue careers in maritime and related industries.
Last year Ingpen was recognised as a Maritime Maestro at the South African Maritime Industry Awards.
In 1995, he chaired a board of interested parties that made submissions to the education department for formal approval of two maritime subjects: maritime economics and nautical science, which are taught today.
George would pick me up on Sundays. I learnt so much from him, he was a mine of information