April 28, 2025
Impressed by the wonderful produce our sea colleagues have managed to grow onboard Teekay ships, particularly Rio Spirit in January 2023, we decided to put our green thumbs to the test in an exciting new competition, celebrating Sustainability.
For our ship teams who wish to showcase their produce, images of their hydroponic vertical gardens were shared with our global teams in October 2024.
Currently, vertical gardens onboard Dilong Spirit, Hovden Spirit, Leyte Spirit, Pinnacle Spirit, Sebarok Spirit, and Trysil Spirit are already covered in lush greenery. In contrast, Tianlong Spirit and Beijing Spirit’s gardens, are still in the seedling phase.
For the case of Cascade Spirit and Rio Spirit, they have just harvested their produce and are starting all over again. Similarly, Aspen Spirit is optimistically building from scratch right after drydocking operations.
Despite the difference in growth stages, the true test of their talents will be revealed during a 3-month growth and harvest period where produce quality, variety, and the ship team’s creativity will be revealed.
In Team Tianlong Spirit’s words “For all of you with grown gardens, sincere congratulations; however, the race has only just begun!”
Stay tuned for more harvest-at-sea updates!
Different phases and stages at the start of the competition
See the beautiful orchids growing on Leyte Spirit and the ripening tomato on Hovden Spirit.
A variety of plants have soon been harvested from the gardens of Trysil Spirit, Tianlong Spirit, Beijing Spirit, and Zenith Spirit
Beijing Spirit’s garden is just as lush as the Christmas tree beside it while Zenith Spirit’s holiday dishes were all garnished with freshly harvested greens
Three ships continued to wow us with their creative and unique dishes
Cascade Spirit
With an impressive-looking salad the ship team labelled as ‘Salado de Zen Green Harmony‘ by Messman Vinodkumar Solanki, a chicken and freshly harvested spinach dish called Zayka-e-Murg Hariyali by Chief Cook Dinda Rathin, and a cherished Filipino dish, Kare Kare using harvested bok choy by Third Officer Drake Makiling, Cascade Spirit took us to three different regions at once. They even included the recipe for each dish!
Pinnacle Spirit
Kale and beetroot smoothie? Kale pasta? Kale crisps? Kale paneer? Yes please! But Pinnacle Spirit did not just stop there. They managed to grow arugula, tomatoes, and chilis using hand pollination. Chief Engineer Ravinder Saimbhi, together with Messman Alvin Ponce adopted soft brush methods to transfer pollen from one flower to another.
Aspen Spirit
Starting from a bare garden to bountiful harvests a month later, Aspen Spirit kept the dishes coming. With burgers, wraps, noodles, and different kinds of salads, the ship team shared everything with us, every step of the way. Almost everyone had their own recipe contribution such as hot honey summer salad by Chief Officer Ashutosh Singh, rolled tuna salad by First Assistant Engineer Li Min, The Saltbox House Chapter by Third Officer Carl Ojil, Pepenito de Carito by AB James Untalan, Lettuce Burgeroo by OS Gil Gonzaga, Patra Ni Machi by Chief Cook Mantal Antonio Jr., Mughlai Gobhi Musallam by Messman Rhodel Mariano, and last but not least, Chinese noodles by Chief Engineer Guowen Yu.
Keep your eyes peeled for the winners and special mentions in our next updates!
Winners have been announced!
After seeing inspiring images of healthy produce and wholesome recipes, we finally have winners.
Beijing Spirit, Tianlong Spirit, Trysil Spirit, and Zenith Spirit all had great attempts and reasonable results which put all of them in a decent Runner Up spot.
However, Cascade Spirit’s around-the-world dishes earned them the title of Third Place while Pinnacle Spirit’s scientific methods put them in an admirable position at Second Place.
Last but not least, the ship that not only produced great results but also involved as many budding culinary enthusiasts from the ship team is Aspen Spirit. Starting from an absolutely bare garden, Aspen Spirit comes out lush and flourishing in First Place.
The true winners of this contest, however, are the extra ships that will be supplied with a vertical garden. This will spread our 52% vertical garden rate to 87% and counting across our fleet. This unprecedented contest will definitely change the way we view and live life at sea.
Clean and green vibes to everyone and thank you, all for supporting this initiative, 100% from Arugula to Zucchini.
