THE MARINER & THE MUSEUM
2025 | 14min 34sec | Color | HD Digital | Eng | Non-fiction
The Mariner & the Museum is a portrait film of Kamal Ahmed, a retired sea captain, who converted his basement into a tribute to maritime history, preserving the memories and stories of a life spent at sea.
CBC Montreal - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/antares-maritime-museum-brossard-quebec-1.7643541
A captain's passion for his work at sea inspired a maritime museum — in his basement
By Wojtek Jakubiec
Wearing a blue blazer and a cap emblazoned with the word "captain," Kamal Ahmed proudly hands over his museum log book.
Much like in a ship, all visitors need to register before entering — his basement in Brossard, Que., a suburb of Montreal.
The small space is divided into two large rooms and efficiently organized.
It's filled with wooden helms, maps, clocks, radio communication devices, uniforms, merchant navy rank badges, collectibles and even a collection of all the knots essential to seafarers. No empty space is visible.
Next to a large magnetic compass lies a collection of sextants from previous eras. Understandably, the former ship captain, now 66 years old, is drawn to navigational devices.
Prior to the arrival of the GPS in the 1980s, the sextant was the primary tool to determine the position of the vessel.
"It was challenging, but it was really satisfying to find your position," he says of the tool.
The museum contains objects from all around the world. In search of rare collectible objects, Ahmed even travelled to one of the biggest ship graveyards, located in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Ahmed's passion for navigation that triggered the idea of the museum.He wanted to preserve the old technology for the upcoming generations.
With the help of his wife, Rumana, they transformed their basement into The Antares Maritime Museum.
Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Ahmed debuted his seafarer career in the late 1970s. He worked on merchant ships — mainly bulk carriers and cargo vessels.
In those years, working on ships was a unique opportunity for him to travel and discover the world. From navigating dangerous storms to chasing pirates of the vessel, Ahmed has no shortage of stories from his life at sea.
Becoming a father made the long-term contracts at sea increasingly difficult. He wanted to be more present to his children and his wife. He then decided to immigrate to Canada and step away from his life as a seafarer.
Still, he remained involved in the seafarers community and continues to contribute to the maritime industry in his role as a port warden.
"My relationship with the sea is an integral part of my life," he says. "All the lessons I got are from the sea."
FILM CREDITS
Produced by
CBC Montreal, The Quebec Creator Network
Producer
Craig Desson
Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Sound Design
Wojtek Jakubiec
Participants
Capt. Kamal Ahmed
Capt. J.Arnel E. Lachica
Second Officer Gerald Ros
Chief Mate J.M. Mejorada
Ship’s Cook Paolo Porras
Special thanks
Capt. Kamal Ahmed
Rumana Ahmed
Mostafa Alimoradi
Arian Salarian
Stephanie Nairn