La via del petrolio (1967–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Il viaggio - full transcript
The oil arrives from the sea.
Silently and out of sight,
the pipes extend under the sand
of the beaches,
reaching the roots of the palm trees,
stretching towards the huge tanks
in Bargan Shar,
where the SIRIP oil hub is located,
the Italo-Iranian company.
The oil is condemned to blindness.
By the darkness
of the geological structures,
the huge shadows of the tanks,
the tankers,
the pipelines and the refineries.
The oil never sees the light of day.
A torch burns continuously,
eliminating the gases.
For the Emilian workers living here,
it's like their carnival,
when fires are lighted on the hills.
One fine morning, a ship appears in
the sleepy waters of the Persian Gulf.
THE OIL ROUTE
PART TWO
THE JOURNEY
- What's your name?
- Renato Dilli.
- What's your job?
- I'm a diver.
- Who do you work for?
- Right now, I'm working for SIRIP.
Where did you work before?
I trained with the Italian Royal Navy
then I worked in Italy,
in '40-'41 at Tana Lake
for the Italian government,
then I worked in Massaua,
Gibuti, Aden...
- So always overseas? I - I've
worked overseas for 30 years.
Where are you going?
To moor AGIP's Trieste tanker,
it weighs 50,000 tons.
On average five or six tankers
moor at Inmam Hassan every month.
Who are these men sitting
next to you?
This is Mr. Fanciulli,
he's on the Ligabue,
he's the one who does the cooking,
but no fancy stuff...
- And him?
- He's been with me for 20 months.
His name's Maruani,
he's a good lad.
- What are Iranians like at sea?
- They're good.
All of my men, I have seven,
are good.
And they're quite good workers.
Why did you choose this profession?
When I was 18, I wanted to travel
and see the world,
so the navy told me to be a diver.
Orvieto, my home town,
isn't by the sea,
but they make great wine.
So I decided to be a diver,
for fun, you could say.
- Are you happy with your job?
- Well...
I've worked hard,
I've earned a fair packet.
I was chief diver for 12 years.
I recovered 10 freighters in Massaua
and demolished 20 with explosives.
How does the loading work?
When the tanker arrives,
if it's moored
when there's a favourable current,
basically every twelve hours,
the boat is moored
with two anchors and 4 buoys.
Then we take the rubber sea line,
the rubber tube, and attach it
to the ship.
- What's your role?
- Basically, I'm a steersman.
I guide it to the mooring point,
help the commander,
if he wants my help,
or I do it all by myself,
because Russian, Greek, Norwegian
and Danish ship commanders
don't do anything.
What sort of tasks do you do
as a diver?
Recently a sea line
used to produce oil broke,
it was ruptured and I went down
to fix a plate
and then cement it
so that it worked properly.
Ready?
Let's have a look...
Starboard!
Number two,
move the mast there!
Get the anchor ready!
- Engine off.
- Okay.
Stop!
Come on!
This is Trieste. Over.
I'm mooring.
Let me speak to the engineer
if he's there,
if not, tell him
we'll be ready at 5
to begin pumping. Over.
Okay, I'll call the power station
from the Trieste. Over.
Power station from the Trieste.
Over.
Hello, Savioli.
Tell Mr Zazzera...
we'll be ready at 5
to start pumping. Over.
Okay, tell him we'll be ready
at 5 to start pumping. Over.
Bye.
Hoist up the chain!
Hoist up the chain!
What's the length?
Hoist up the chain!
Hoist it up more!
The headless sea serpent,
the rubber tube used for loading,
is tamed.
Now it's a race against time.
The tanks of the ship
are filled
at a speed of 2,000 tons per hour.
The journey is a long one.
This part of the Persian Gulf
is further away from any point
in Europe than Bombay.
There's the Gulf of Aden to cross,
then the Arabian Peninsula,
the long stretch of water
called the Red Sea,
and then Sinai.
The steersman has finished,
it's down to the pumps now.
Sinai.
The waters of the Red Sea parted.
The people of Israel came through.
God spoke to Moses.
Manna fell from the sky
for the starving.
Water appeared in the desert
for the thirsty.
Sinai.
Every day,
the shepherds' daughters
take the goats
to drink from a spring
called "the waters of Moses".
They've discovered a new game now,
running away so that we follow them.
Sinai...
Today, to meet the new needs of man,
this land provides oil.
In the base camp in Abu Rudeis,
under the crossed-shaped shadow
of the pumps,
resound the evening prayers
of the Muslim workers.
Rudeis Sidri,
Beta yn East,
Feiran,
Beta yn Sea.
Ekma.
Ras Garra Sea.
These are the names
of the six oil fields in Sinai,
discovered by a subsidiary of AGIP.
One well after another,
as far as the eye can see.
We counted 167.
Sinai means aridity,
desert and silence.
Maybe oil will end an order
that has been immobile for centuries
and bring, along with industries,
pipelines, asphalted roads,
the notion of improving
the standard of living.
Quite a few cities of the
modern world, from Caracas to Baku,
were depressed areas
before the oil era.
And the silence,
where until now
only the Bible echoed,
is broken by the songs
of the workers.
Two entire Sudanese towns
came here.
They sing to give rhythm
to their work.
The same words,
the same musical iteration
that accompanied the construction
of the pharaoh's pyramids,
today accompanies the creation
of the first desert power station.
Suez on the Red Sea.
One immediately thinks of
the chaos of an oriental port,
the multilingualism of the sailors,
of the sonority of the great bazaar,
of the ancient dynasties
of smugglers,
but the real rulers of Suez
are the sun and the silence.
Why has Suez resigned itself
to silence?
After all, this is the end of
the line for the East and West,
for the Mediterranean
and for the Indian Ocean.
This is one of the fixed routes
of the world.
Let's try to guess why.
Suez endures the passing of ships.
This is the actual time a ship takes
to pass the junction
at the end of the road.
It glides along silently,
with its engines idling
and no one on the deck.
A moment which seems to last
an eternity
then the ghost disappears.
This apparition repeats itself
every six minutes,
all day and all night.
Suez hasn't got used to it yet
and holds its breath each time.
On a mud wall, a boy has drawn
the story of the annual pilgrimage
to the Holy City.
And so we find out
that the camel era is over.
Rimbaud or Mélies?
"Le Bateau ivre" or models from
"Le Voyage a travers I'impossible"?
Yet the purest and most important
river of all
is not a river,
but an artificial canal designed
by an Italian, Negrelli
and built by a tenacious Frenchman,
Monsieur Lessepes.
It's not even 100 years old,
an instant in world history.
For 161 km, the boats glide forwards
like a procession
on the narrow strip connecting
the Red Sea to the Mediterranean,
sparing the sailors from having
to sail round the continent.
The column of funnels
travels slowly through the desert,
hemmed in by the dunes,
but never stopping,
proceeding without interruption,
day and night,
in a tunnel of light, air and sand.
Wednesday 13th, 11.00
We're no longer used to
the Mediterranean wind,
which brings vitality
and flusters us.
50,51, 52, 53...
65, 66, 67, 68...
80, 81, 82, 83, 84...
How many times today,
has Commander Camerini
measured the length
of his boat with his steps?
This is his last voyage at sea,
he's retiring next month
and spending Christmas at home,
but he doesn't want anyone
to remind him.
Oil is destined to be
a great traveller,
because the areas of production
are far from those of consumption.
Apart from the United States
and the Soviet Union,
crude oil mostly comes
from economically barren areas
or from countries
with little industrialization,
that cannot use it so export it.
Western Europe, for example,
has to import 90% of its oil.
I'm taking note of the technical data
of AGIP's Venezia..
Length: 227 metres.
Height of the upper deck sides:
15.35 metres.
Draught: 11.73 metres.
Carrying capacity: 49,300 tons.
Speed: 17.2 knots.
233,234, 235...
What's it like travelling
on top of 50,000 tons of oil?
Well, to be honest,
it's a bit strange,
but once you're used to it,
it's like second nature.
- Where are you from?
- Palermo.
It's been a very long voyage,
we've been to Japan...
First we went to Russia,
to Novorossijsk,
then we crossed the Indian Ocean
and went to Japan.
Then we returned to the Persian Gulf
and now we're going to Italy.
- Do you have a girlfriend at home?
- No.
- Do you?
- No, I've got two kids.
- Really? Where are you from?
- Bari.
- Have you been to Japan?
- Yes.
- How long did you stay there?
- Three days.
So you've seen Japan?
Did you like it?
It's great,
if you've got money...
What's it like travelling
with all this oil?
With all this oil?
There are 3,500 oil tankers
in the world,
a third of all mercantile tonnage,
transporting 500 millions tons
of oil a year.
Almost an ocean of oil.
Every day, at 16:00,
Commander Camerini has an appointment
on the ship's deck.
It takes place halfway
across the bridge,
in the same place each time, with
the perfect synchronism of habit.
He is brought his coffee.
He drinks it on the deck,
come rain, wind or snow.
The wind has changed.
The boatswain says
it's a north-easterly wind.
Ever since I was a kid,
I was fascinated by the sea,
I can't blame my parents,
it's my fault,
"mea culpa, mea massima culpa”.
Why do you say that?
If I could turn back time,
I'd choose a different job.
Because it's a life of sacrifice
and hardship,
especially nowadays.
It's a very tough life.
Because the voyages are so long?
Yes, and it's hard work,
entailing hardship,
and a whole lot of other things.
It's becoming an impossible job.
If we carry on this way,
no one'll sail these seas anymore.
Thursday, 14th.
A force 6 sea.
The terrifying waves of Conrad,
Stevenson and Salgari
have become legendary.
The 49,000 tons of oil
sail through the storms.
AGIP's Venezia
carries on it's voyage steadily.
Friday 15th.
Dawn
is serene again,
with a light north-westerly breeze.
The first cargo of oil
was transported via sea in 1860
by the brigantine, Elisabeth Watts
along the route from Philadelphia
to Liverpool, in wooden barrels.
Could you please tell me
where we are?
Approximately...
- Right away.
- The distances...
And even today,
in the Anglo-Saxon world,
oil is measured using
the traditional method of barrels.
945 miles from the centre
of the island of Crete.
145 miles from Crete.
And 280 miles from Port Said.
Yes, 280 miles from Port Said.
But the very first oil tanker,
the ancestor of the 3,500 tankers
which navigate the world today,
was the Gluckauf which in 1866,
began transporting oil
from America to Germany.
This is AGIP Bari to AGIP Venezia.
Good morning. Over.
AGIP Venezia,
this is AGIP Bari,
Good morning. Over.
Roger. I have the commander
of the AGIP Venezia here,
he'd like to speak to
the commander of the AGIP Bari.
Roger, hold on.
Roger. The Commander's here,
go ahead.
This is Commander Cortiana, hello?
Good morning, Commander Camerini.
How are you?
Fine thanks.
I've seen your position,
I've located it on the map,
we've gained 3 or 4 miles,
we'll be catching up with you.
Over.
That's what you think, commander!
We may have a secret plan!
Over!
And so might we!
You'll see, we'll meet you
in the Tyrrhenian Sea!
But your maths is wrong!
It's wrong, commander!
You overtook me in the Red Sea,
I'll overtake you now!
The Bari is our sister ship.
The AGIP Bari.
Is this a race?
Not exactly,
but there is some competition.
We both set sail
from Milan Hammadi.
And he overtook us
and got to Suez first.
Now we have to get to Genoa
by 16.00 on the 16th.
So we're just getting
our own back on him
by over-taking him!
What's our position?
In relation to Crete, we're about
sixty miles further west than Crete,
And 360 miles
from the Strait of Messina.
What's our position?
That white building
on that hill over there
is Capo dell'Armi,
where the Strait of Messina starts,
whereas that's Capo
Spartivento Calabro,
so this is Calabria.
On the other side we have Sicily,
with Mount Etna,
already covered
with snow unfortunately.
Ten weeks ago,
when we set off for Japan,
it was still summer,
And now that we're back,
it's winter. That's it.
Saturday 16th, 07:00
It's autumn, and for the first time,
we can really see it and feel it.
The coast of Italy passes
before our eyes,
with its churches, and rivers,
the horizons within our reach,
the storms,
the rain along with the sun.
Then dark clouds with their
immortal space, the divided regions,
municipalities and hamlets of Italy.
The era of oil tankers
will soon come to an end.
New convoys of floating nylon tanks
are being experimented,
capable of holding 1,000 tons each,
which stay afloat
using the ratio of the weight
of the oil and of the water.
They are called “Dragons”.
Underwater pipelines have been built
using flexible plastic and steel.
And the maps of the land and seas,
will be rolled up,
like the maps of the world
seen in 18th century prints.
5:30pm
Commander Camerini's voyage
and that of the oil
end at the same time,
in the port of Genoa,
late one misty afternoon.
But for the oil,
the tanks of Genoa's deposit,
only represent a temporary pause.
Extracted from the ground,
imprisoned in the tanker's belly
the oil returns to the ground.
Poured into the pipeline,
it becomes an underground river.
Flowing under plains, lakes,
and mountains,
until it reaches
the ancient heart of Europe.
Subtitles by:
lasers. Film s.r.l. - Roma
Silently and out of sight,
the pipes extend under the sand
of the beaches,
reaching the roots of the palm trees,
stretching towards the huge tanks
in Bargan Shar,
where the SIRIP oil hub is located,
the Italo-Iranian company.
The oil is condemned to blindness.
By the darkness
of the geological structures,
the huge shadows of the tanks,
the tankers,
the pipelines and the refineries.
The oil never sees the light of day.
A torch burns continuously,
eliminating the gases.
For the Emilian workers living here,
it's like their carnival,
when fires are lighted on the hills.
One fine morning, a ship appears in
the sleepy waters of the Persian Gulf.
THE OIL ROUTE
PART TWO
THE JOURNEY
- What's your name?
- Renato Dilli.
- What's your job?
- I'm a diver.
- Who do you work for?
- Right now, I'm working for SIRIP.
Where did you work before?
I trained with the Italian Royal Navy
then I worked in Italy,
in '40-'41 at Tana Lake
for the Italian government,
then I worked in Massaua,
Gibuti, Aden...
- So always overseas? I - I've
worked overseas for 30 years.
Where are you going?
To moor AGIP's Trieste tanker,
it weighs 50,000 tons.
On average five or six tankers
moor at Inmam Hassan every month.
Who are these men sitting
next to you?
This is Mr. Fanciulli,
he's on the Ligabue,
he's the one who does the cooking,
but no fancy stuff...
- And him?
- He's been with me for 20 months.
His name's Maruani,
he's a good lad.
- What are Iranians like at sea?
- They're good.
All of my men, I have seven,
are good.
And they're quite good workers.
Why did you choose this profession?
When I was 18, I wanted to travel
and see the world,
so the navy told me to be a diver.
Orvieto, my home town,
isn't by the sea,
but they make great wine.
So I decided to be a diver,
for fun, you could say.
- Are you happy with your job?
- Well...
I've worked hard,
I've earned a fair packet.
I was chief diver for 12 years.
I recovered 10 freighters in Massaua
and demolished 20 with explosives.
How does the loading work?
When the tanker arrives,
if it's moored
when there's a favourable current,
basically every twelve hours,
the boat is moored
with two anchors and 4 buoys.
Then we take the rubber sea line,
the rubber tube, and attach it
to the ship.
- What's your role?
- Basically, I'm a steersman.
I guide it to the mooring point,
help the commander,
if he wants my help,
or I do it all by myself,
because Russian, Greek, Norwegian
and Danish ship commanders
don't do anything.
What sort of tasks do you do
as a diver?
Recently a sea line
used to produce oil broke,
it was ruptured and I went down
to fix a plate
and then cement it
so that it worked properly.
Ready?
Let's have a look...
Starboard!
Number two,
move the mast there!
Get the anchor ready!
- Engine off.
- Okay.
Stop!
Come on!
This is Trieste. Over.
I'm mooring.
Let me speak to the engineer
if he's there,
if not, tell him
we'll be ready at 5
to begin pumping. Over.
Okay, I'll call the power station
from the Trieste. Over.
Power station from the Trieste.
Over.
Hello, Savioli.
Tell Mr Zazzera...
we'll be ready at 5
to start pumping. Over.
Okay, tell him we'll be ready
at 5 to start pumping. Over.
Bye.
Hoist up the chain!
Hoist up the chain!
What's the length?
Hoist up the chain!
Hoist it up more!
The headless sea serpent,
the rubber tube used for loading,
is tamed.
Now it's a race against time.
The tanks of the ship
are filled
at a speed of 2,000 tons per hour.
The journey is a long one.
This part of the Persian Gulf
is further away from any point
in Europe than Bombay.
There's the Gulf of Aden to cross,
then the Arabian Peninsula,
the long stretch of water
called the Red Sea,
and then Sinai.
The steersman has finished,
it's down to the pumps now.
Sinai.
The waters of the Red Sea parted.
The people of Israel came through.
God spoke to Moses.
Manna fell from the sky
for the starving.
Water appeared in the desert
for the thirsty.
Sinai.
Every day,
the shepherds' daughters
take the goats
to drink from a spring
called "the waters of Moses".
They've discovered a new game now,
running away so that we follow them.
Sinai...
Today, to meet the new needs of man,
this land provides oil.
In the base camp in Abu Rudeis,
under the crossed-shaped shadow
of the pumps,
resound the evening prayers
of the Muslim workers.
Rudeis Sidri,
Beta yn East,
Feiran,
Beta yn Sea.
Ekma.
Ras Garra Sea.
These are the names
of the six oil fields in Sinai,
discovered by a subsidiary of AGIP.
One well after another,
as far as the eye can see.
We counted 167.
Sinai means aridity,
desert and silence.
Maybe oil will end an order
that has been immobile for centuries
and bring, along with industries,
pipelines, asphalted roads,
the notion of improving
the standard of living.
Quite a few cities of the
modern world, from Caracas to Baku,
were depressed areas
before the oil era.
And the silence,
where until now
only the Bible echoed,
is broken by the songs
of the workers.
Two entire Sudanese towns
came here.
They sing to give rhythm
to their work.
The same words,
the same musical iteration
that accompanied the construction
of the pharaoh's pyramids,
today accompanies the creation
of the first desert power station.
Suez on the Red Sea.
One immediately thinks of
the chaos of an oriental port,
the multilingualism of the sailors,
of the sonority of the great bazaar,
of the ancient dynasties
of smugglers,
but the real rulers of Suez
are the sun and the silence.
Why has Suez resigned itself
to silence?
After all, this is the end of
the line for the East and West,
for the Mediterranean
and for the Indian Ocean.
This is one of the fixed routes
of the world.
Let's try to guess why.
Suez endures the passing of ships.
This is the actual time a ship takes
to pass the junction
at the end of the road.
It glides along silently,
with its engines idling
and no one on the deck.
A moment which seems to last
an eternity
then the ghost disappears.
This apparition repeats itself
every six minutes,
all day and all night.
Suez hasn't got used to it yet
and holds its breath each time.
On a mud wall, a boy has drawn
the story of the annual pilgrimage
to the Holy City.
And so we find out
that the camel era is over.
Rimbaud or Mélies?
"Le Bateau ivre" or models from
"Le Voyage a travers I'impossible"?
Yet the purest and most important
river of all
is not a river,
but an artificial canal designed
by an Italian, Negrelli
and built by a tenacious Frenchman,
Monsieur Lessepes.
It's not even 100 years old,
an instant in world history.
For 161 km, the boats glide forwards
like a procession
on the narrow strip connecting
the Red Sea to the Mediterranean,
sparing the sailors from having
to sail round the continent.
The column of funnels
travels slowly through the desert,
hemmed in by the dunes,
but never stopping,
proceeding without interruption,
day and night,
in a tunnel of light, air and sand.
Wednesday 13th, 11.00
We're no longer used to
the Mediterranean wind,
which brings vitality
and flusters us.
50,51, 52, 53...
65, 66, 67, 68...
80, 81, 82, 83, 84...
How many times today,
has Commander Camerini
measured the length
of his boat with his steps?
This is his last voyage at sea,
he's retiring next month
and spending Christmas at home,
but he doesn't want anyone
to remind him.
Oil is destined to be
a great traveller,
because the areas of production
are far from those of consumption.
Apart from the United States
and the Soviet Union,
crude oil mostly comes
from economically barren areas
or from countries
with little industrialization,
that cannot use it so export it.
Western Europe, for example,
has to import 90% of its oil.
I'm taking note of the technical data
of AGIP's Venezia..
Length: 227 metres.
Height of the upper deck sides:
15.35 metres.
Draught: 11.73 metres.
Carrying capacity: 49,300 tons.
Speed: 17.2 knots.
233,234, 235...
What's it like travelling
on top of 50,000 tons of oil?
Well, to be honest,
it's a bit strange,
but once you're used to it,
it's like second nature.
- Where are you from?
- Palermo.
It's been a very long voyage,
we've been to Japan...
First we went to Russia,
to Novorossijsk,
then we crossed the Indian Ocean
and went to Japan.
Then we returned to the Persian Gulf
and now we're going to Italy.
- Do you have a girlfriend at home?
- No.
- Do you?
- No, I've got two kids.
- Really? Where are you from?
- Bari.
- Have you been to Japan?
- Yes.
- How long did you stay there?
- Three days.
So you've seen Japan?
Did you like it?
It's great,
if you've got money...
What's it like travelling
with all this oil?
With all this oil?
There are 3,500 oil tankers
in the world,
a third of all mercantile tonnage,
transporting 500 millions tons
of oil a year.
Almost an ocean of oil.
Every day, at 16:00,
Commander Camerini has an appointment
on the ship's deck.
It takes place halfway
across the bridge,
in the same place each time, with
the perfect synchronism of habit.
He is brought his coffee.
He drinks it on the deck,
come rain, wind or snow.
The wind has changed.
The boatswain says
it's a north-easterly wind.
Ever since I was a kid,
I was fascinated by the sea,
I can't blame my parents,
it's my fault,
"mea culpa, mea massima culpa”.
Why do you say that?
If I could turn back time,
I'd choose a different job.
Because it's a life of sacrifice
and hardship,
especially nowadays.
It's a very tough life.
Because the voyages are so long?
Yes, and it's hard work,
entailing hardship,
and a whole lot of other things.
It's becoming an impossible job.
If we carry on this way,
no one'll sail these seas anymore.
Thursday, 14th.
A force 6 sea.
The terrifying waves of Conrad,
Stevenson and Salgari
have become legendary.
The 49,000 tons of oil
sail through the storms.
AGIP's Venezia
carries on it's voyage steadily.
Friday 15th.
Dawn
is serene again,
with a light north-westerly breeze.
The first cargo of oil
was transported via sea in 1860
by the brigantine, Elisabeth Watts
along the route from Philadelphia
to Liverpool, in wooden barrels.
Could you please tell me
where we are?
Approximately...
- Right away.
- The distances...
And even today,
in the Anglo-Saxon world,
oil is measured using
the traditional method of barrels.
945 miles from the centre
of the island of Crete.
145 miles from Crete.
And 280 miles from Port Said.
Yes, 280 miles from Port Said.
But the very first oil tanker,
the ancestor of the 3,500 tankers
which navigate the world today,
was the Gluckauf which in 1866,
began transporting oil
from America to Germany.
This is AGIP Bari to AGIP Venezia.
Good morning. Over.
AGIP Venezia,
this is AGIP Bari,
Good morning. Over.
Roger. I have the commander
of the AGIP Venezia here,
he'd like to speak to
the commander of the AGIP Bari.
Roger, hold on.
Roger. The Commander's here,
go ahead.
This is Commander Cortiana, hello?
Good morning, Commander Camerini.
How are you?
Fine thanks.
I've seen your position,
I've located it on the map,
we've gained 3 or 4 miles,
we'll be catching up with you.
Over.
That's what you think, commander!
We may have a secret plan!
Over!
And so might we!
You'll see, we'll meet you
in the Tyrrhenian Sea!
But your maths is wrong!
It's wrong, commander!
You overtook me in the Red Sea,
I'll overtake you now!
The Bari is our sister ship.
The AGIP Bari.
Is this a race?
Not exactly,
but there is some competition.
We both set sail
from Milan Hammadi.
And he overtook us
and got to Suez first.
Now we have to get to Genoa
by 16.00 on the 16th.
So we're just getting
our own back on him
by over-taking him!
What's our position?
In relation to Crete, we're about
sixty miles further west than Crete,
And 360 miles
from the Strait of Messina.
What's our position?
That white building
on that hill over there
is Capo dell'Armi,
where the Strait of Messina starts,
whereas that's Capo
Spartivento Calabro,
so this is Calabria.
On the other side we have Sicily,
with Mount Etna,
already covered
with snow unfortunately.
Ten weeks ago,
when we set off for Japan,
it was still summer,
And now that we're back,
it's winter. That's it.
Saturday 16th, 07:00
It's autumn, and for the first time,
we can really see it and feel it.
The coast of Italy passes
before our eyes,
with its churches, and rivers,
the horizons within our reach,
the storms,
the rain along with the sun.
Then dark clouds with their
immortal space, the divided regions,
municipalities and hamlets of Italy.
The era of oil tankers
will soon come to an end.
New convoys of floating nylon tanks
are being experimented,
capable of holding 1,000 tons each,
which stay afloat
using the ratio of the weight
of the oil and of the water.
They are called “Dragons”.
Underwater pipelines have been built
using flexible plastic and steel.
And the maps of the land and seas,
will be rolled up,
like the maps of the world
seen in 18th century prints.
5:30pm
Commander Camerini's voyage
and that of the oil
end at the same time,
in the port of Genoa,
late one misty afternoon.
But for the oil,
the tanks of Genoa's deposit,
only represent a temporary pause.
Extracted from the ground,
imprisoned in the tanker's belly
the oil returns to the ground.
Poured into the pipeline,
it becomes an underground river.
Flowing under plains, lakes,
and mountains,
until it reaches
the ancient heart of Europe.
Subtitles by:
lasers. Film s.r.l. - Roma