andi, the song is listed as "Greenland Fisheries" in The Collected Reprints From Sing Out, Volumes 1-6, 1959-1964. Here is what the introduction to the song says:

"Reuben Ranzo was no sailor, so he shipped aboard a whaler" says a well known shanty. Regular seamen wouldn't ship on whalers, because conditions were so bad. Crews were impressed from waterfront malcontents, who hated everything and everybody. This hearty shanty should be sung with a strong rolling rhythm paying careful attention to the ups and downs of the story."