This documentary is about the commercial Port of Barcelona, more precisely about the activity related with the mooring of ships. The project shows the working life of those people who are involved in this unexpectedly complex activity. Mooring operations start when the lookout (i.e. Marine Controller) alerts the mooring services via radio. Upon receiving the call, they organise the personnel and the resources required for the operation. The tonnage or deadweight of the ship (basically its size) determinates what degree of on-shore resources is called for. In fact, the number of mooring units to call out is variable and the service must be constantly prompt. During a routine operation with a normal-sized ship, two vehicles will be provided to handle de manoeuvre, with two mooring men per vehicle and up to two mooring boats, in addition to the presence of a skipper and a sailor.
Shipping transport accounts for the 80% of the global goods transport and Barcelona has one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean Sea, with a very intense daily commercial traffic, which contributes to the prosperous economy of the area. ‘Mooring for living’, however, takes a step back from the business aspect of this activity, directing the attention to workers: humans basically, with their jobs and their lives.
Mooring operations consist of securing and reeving the incoming ships to the docks by tying the lines to the bollards[1]; but also unmooring the ship when it is about to cast off. Large numbers of people are required to run such big infrastructure and many different jobs run around a dock.
This multimedia project will provide the observer with an idea of the magnitude of these operations by following the mooring men in their daily activities. These men are workers in a first instance, living and moving around big structures, cargo ships and containers. But it is within this aseptic space that their human side emerges and it shapes into social gatherings and strong interpersonal relationships. These are the aspects that interested me the most and here is the reason why I decided to mix interviews, photos and sounds in order to build a strong connection with these workers. I wanted the observer to hear the sound of their voices, to see how they spend their time while they are in the base and discovering a new world through their descriptions. This multimedia approach will give a voice to the pictures and will help creating identities of people that otherwise would be only remain subjects.
This documentary aims to show in a close and personal way that there is human life within those gigantic structures and massive ships (container ships, car carriers, tankers or bulk carriers). There are lives, experiences, and personal problems but above all, there are personal stories of exceptional people who have to moor for live.
