Kunuussuaq
2018
Paalu Pars
Kunuussuaq
I was a fisherman for 3 years on a fishing ship.
I worked for 3-4 months at a time.
The shore was a rare sight for me,
but so was the sky.
Most of our work took place
inside of the ship's fish factory,
where we packed the fish in boxes.
But I spent much of my time
freezing beneath my colleagues.
In the matter of 4 months,
I lifted more than 2000 tonnes of frozen fish
in a -38 C storage freezer.
In spite of spending much time inside,
I got to watch sunsets from our dining area.
The vibrant horizon was highly appreciated -
considering that we lived on floating steel,
surrounded by oil odors and noisy machinery.
I worked with a fisherman
crowned 'Kunuussuaq' (Big Knut).
He had been there for 16 years.
We shared no interests and
couldn't have been
more different
from each other.
But our differences meant nothing to our friendship -
Working day and night shook us together.
We went on to create many priceless memories,
filled with fish, hard work, and laughter.
And luckily, he wasn't my only new friend.