National Geographic steps on board the Elly Maersk

The Elly Maersk, the world's largest container vessel, recently took on three new crew members, as representatives from the National Geographic television channel joined the vessel on its voyage from Port Suez in Egypt to Rotterdam, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to Maersk.

Culture, history and tradition
The unusual visit is all part of new documentary series that National Geographic is shooting about people who work in exotic locations.

Entitled "Way of Life", the series takes producer and presenter Jim Brasher around the world, working alongside people who work everywhere from rice paddies in the Philippines and salt mines in Mali to - well - virtually anywhere in the world aboard the Elly Maersk.

Life on a container ship
Seeking to convey the culture, traditions and history behind the people he films, Brasher steps into their shoes, helping them carry out the work they do every day.

Onboard the Elly Maersk, he cleaned and painted, worked in the galley, got inside the engine, and helped out on the Bridge - all under the supervision of Captain Jørgen Thau and his senior officers.

"Container shipping is such an important enterprise for the world," Brasher says, "It really keeps the world running, yet nobody really knows what it's like - the life onboard a ship."

After a week aboard the Elly Maersk, he now has a much better idea, and the programme's viewers on National Geographic soon will too!

The documentary "Way of Life" will be broadcast on National Geographic Channel in 2010