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BICENTENARY OF HISTORIC WARSHIP JANUARY 2018 • Vol 53

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THE RUSSIAN NAVY TODAY

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ASHAW TALE OF TWO LINERS SAVILL’S SOUTHERN CROSS AND NORTHERN STAR CARGO On the St Lawrence

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STENA LINE Links to Ireland

ANNIVERSARY Pakistan Navy

07/11/2017 12:45

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WELCOME

P&O Ferries celebrate 180 years

D

uring 2017 P&O Ferries celebrated 180 years of service. Nowadays, the company is best known in the UK for ferry services, but it has a long history of liner and cargo services, starting in 1837 when it was awarded the government contract to carry the ‘mails’ from England to the Iberian Peninsula.

The current ferry fleet is an impressive one, and I have been fortunate enough to travel on some of the ferries during the course of 2017, having been on many others over the years. My crossing on European Highlander, the ship featured in this issue, from Cairnryan to Larne, was easy and smooth, and on a sunny day in August offered some great views of the Galloway coast, as we left Scotland, and

the beautiful Antrim coast of Northern Ireland, as we arrived.

The company’s other routes, from Liverpool to Dublin, Hull to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge, and out of Dover, provide convenient services to Europe and the Republic of Ireland and are served by comfortable modern ferries. As P&O Ferries celebrates 180 years, the company is looking forward to the future with confidence, with a fleet of vessels well suited to their current roles.

Nicholas Leach Editor sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk

Contributors this month Stephen Payne

Richard Clammer

Stephen Payne is a naval architect, best known for designing Queen Mary 2.

He is a past President of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects.

Richard Clammer is well known for his various books and articles on British paddle steamers and other aspects of maritime history.

Conrad Waters

George Holland

Conrad Waters has a long-standing interest in naval history and current affairs. He is currently editor of Seaforth World Naval Review.

George Holland is a teacher who, in his spare time, enjoys travelling by sea. He is a keen writer and photographer of ferries and cruise ships.

Ships Monthly on Facebook REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Andrew & Donna Cooke • Roy Cressey • Gary Davies • Roy Fenton • Nick Hall • William Mayes • Russell Plummer • Jim Shaw • Conrad Waters Data protection Kelsey Media uses a multi-layered privacy notice, giving you brief details about how we would like to use your personal information. For full details, visit www.kelsey.co.uk or call 01959 543524. If you have any questions, please ask as submitting your details indicates your consent, until you choose otherwise, that we and our partners may contact you about products and services that will be of relevance to you via direct mail, phone, email or SMS. You can opt out any time via data.controller@ kelseypb.co.uk or 01959 543524.

www.shipsmonthly.com • January 2018 •

3

07/11/2017 13:10

CONTENTS MV KYLES • CLYDE-BUILT CLASSIC PRESERVED P&O FERRIES www.shipsmonthly.com

£4.30

JANUARY 2018

CELEBRATE 180 YEARS

ITIME CRUISE & MAR PROFILE OF CMV AND

REGULARS

6 WATERFRONT World’s largest ro-ro Celine debuts, new icebreaker named, Condor Liberation goes into dry dock, and end of an era at St Helena.

15 PAGES REPORTS FROM THE WORLD OF SHIPPING

TRINCOMALEE

BICENTENARY OF HISTORIC WARSHIP

THE RUSSIAN NAVY TODAY

£4.30

China to build for Germans, more product tankers built for d’Amico, and new LNGpowered vehicle carriers. Jim Shaw

ASHAW TALE OF TWO LINERS SAVILL’S SOUTHERN CROSS AND NORTHERN STAR CARGO On the St Lawrence

STENA LINE Links to Ireland

ANNIVERSARY Pakistan Navy

COVER Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ classic cruise ship Marco Polo. FOTOFLITE

ALSO AVAILABLE DIGITALLY WWW.POCKETMAGS.COM

16 CARGO 18 NEWBUILD

JANUARY 2018 • Vol 53

PLUS

Australia’s missile shield, Bangladesh’s new patrol vessels, and RN flagship HMS Albion under threat. Gary Davies

Heavylift alliance, CMA CGM acquires SOFRANA, and Lundqvist dispose of tankers.

ITS CRUISE SHIPS

LATEST NEWSOF

14 NAVAL

10 FERRY New ferry honours poet, DFDS freight giant, Clyde veteran sold, and Jacobite Cruises order new catamaran. Russell Plummer

12 CRUISE Sea Diamond to be raised, all change for Thomson Cruises and TUI, and Tilbury cruise terminal upgraded. William Mayes

20 NEWS FEATURE Celebrating the bicentenary of the historic warship HMS Trincomalee, which has been on display in Hartlepool for 30 years.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY • See page 22 for more info

CONTENTS Jan 2018_NL.indd 4

07/11/2017 14:09

The 2001-built ro-pax ferry Stena Superfast VII arriving in Loch Ryan in August 2017. For more on Stena Line’s services to Northern Ireland, see pages 40-43.

WWW.SHIPSMONTHLY.COM 40 STENA SUPERFAST

FEATURES 24 CRUISE & MARITIME Profile of the cruise ships and UK operations of Cruise & Maritime Voyages. Richard Clammer

A comparison of Stena Superfast VII and Stena Mersey, Stena Line’s ferries running to Northern Ireland. George Holland

33 TALE 46 OF TWO LINERS

30 MARITIME MOSAIC

Recalling Shaw Savill’s Southern Cross and Northern Star.

Stephen Payne

Cargo and container shipping on the St Lawrence River, near Montréal. Marc Piché

33 SHIPS PICTORIAL Photos of ships around the world, including at Portland, Auckland and the Clyde.

36 HIGHLANDER Profile of P&O Ferries’ Larne-Cairnryan ship European Highlander. Nicholas Leach

44 CLYDE-BUILT CLASSIC Profile of the motor vessel Kyles, the oldest Clyde-built vessel still afloat in the UK, now preserved in Glasgow. James Hendrie

54 RUSSIAN NAVY An assessment of the capabilities of the Russian navy and its ships. Conrad Waters

58 PAKISTAN NAVY In August 2017 the Pakistan Navy celebrated its 70th anniversary. Patrick Boniface

CHARTROOM 62 SHIPS MAIL A selection of letters from readers.

64 PORTS OF CALL Cruise ship calls. Andrew and Donna Cooke

64 MYSTERY SHIP Can you identify this month’s mystery ship?

65 SHIPS LIBRARY Reviews and details of new shipping books.

JANUARY 2018 • Volume 53 • No.1

CONTENTS Jan 2018_NL.indd 5

07/11/2017 14:09

WATERFRONT RAMSGATE TRAINING SHIPS ACTIVATED TO HELP REVIVAL HURRICANE RELIEF ENGLISH CHANNEL

The US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration activated two National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels, Empire State VI (T-AP-1001) and Kennedy (T-AK5059), for use by the US Federal Emergency Management

Ferry services between Ramsgate and Ostend are set to resume early in 2018, with new company Seaborne Freight providing the Kent port’s first regular service since the collapse of TransEuropa Ferries in spring 2013. The Mayor of Ostend broke the news on 6 October 2017, and the start of sailings in late January or early February has been confirmed by Ostend port authorities.

UK-registered Seaborne plans to target driver-accompanied freight on up to six sailings a day, and have lined up three ferries with space for around 80 trailers.

If this element is successful, a passenger/car service could be offered during summer 2019.

Regular Ramsgate-Ostend services began in 1994, when Belgian operator Regie voor Maritiem Transport (RMT) joined forces with Ramsgate-based Sally Ferries running to Dunkirk. RP

The trimaran Condor Liberation (2010/6,307gt) was retired from Poole-Channel Islands sailings for dry-docking earlier than planned after damage was detected in the three jet propulsion buckets, which form part of the directional guidance systems, on 23 October 2017, following diver inspection at

York’s Maritime College, while Kennedy was completed in 1966 as Velma Lykes for Lykes Line and serves as the Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s training ship. Both vessels have been much modified over the years, and each can accommodate approximately 600 people plus their operating crews. JS

The twin-funnelled Kennedy was completed in 1966 as Lykes Line’s 10,723gt Velma Lykes, but has been heavily modified to act a training vessel for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. MMA

CHANNEL CHANGES FAST CRAFT

Agency to support relief efforts in the Caribbean following several destructive Hurricanes.

The ship, built for States Steamship Co in 1962 as the freighter Oregon, and later operated by Moore-McCormack Lines as Mormactide, normally serves as the cadet training ship of the State University of New

TRIPLE CELEBRATION

Poole. Sailings by the 102m HSC were cancelled until 6 November, when Condor Liberation was originally due to be dry-docked for planned maintenance at Falmouth.

High-speed sailings from the UK were covered by the 86m Condor Rapide (1997/5,007gt), which operated a St MaloChannel Islands-Poole service according to published plans. KM

 The new Llandudno lifeboat launches after her naming. NICHOLAS LEACH

NEW LIFEBOAT

 Condor Rapide, seen at Poole, covered for Condor Liberation, which suffered technical problems, in October 2017. KEVIN MITCHELL

On 21 October 2017 Llandudno RNLI volunteers celebrated the pinnacle of a busy year with the official opening of the new lifeboat house and the naming and dedication of the new 13m Shannon all-weather lifeboat William F. Yates and D class inflatable inshore lifeboat Dr Barbara Saunderson.

The £2.2 million William F. Yates was funded by a number of donors, but principally the Gladys Yates estate, in memory of William Frederick Marple Yates, and she was named by Peter Forster-Dean. The new lifeboat house, at the eastern end of the promenade at Craig-y-Don, was opened by Michael Vlasto, and provides the station with muchneeded new shore facilities.

6 • January 2018 • www.shipsmonthly.com

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07/11/2017 14:04

news BRIEF NEWS RAIL FREIGHT • A new rail freight service linking P&O Ferries’ Zeebrugge hub with Trieste started on 26 September 2017, with two trains a week to and from the Italian city’s EMT Terminal.

P&O now operate 98 sailings each week on the North Sea, with connections from Zeebrugge to Middlesbrough Teesport, Hull and London Tilbury. RP

MATT DAVIES

WORLD’S LARGEST RO-RO DEBUTS FREIGHT RO-RO The world’s largest capacity short sea ro-ro freighter, Celine, was on a delivery voyage from Japanese builders Hyundai Mipo to Europe in October 2017, when owners CLdN (Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Navigation), a subsidiary of the Belgian group Cobelfret, confirmed that the

6,700-lane-metre vessel will be used for a weekly round trips on the busy Rotterdam-ZeebruggeDublin route. She will also figure in North Sea service, with trips from Rotterdam to both Killingholme on the Humber and the Thames terminal at Purfleet.

Built in Korea by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard at Ulsan, the 235m by 38m 60,000gt Maltese-flagged

vessel is LNG ready, allowing for future adaptation to LNG fuel.

A sistership, Delphine, is due for delivery in February 2018 and will be deployed on the same rotation. In preparation for the new vessels, the ports of Dublin, Zeebrugge and Rotterdam have seen terminal redevelopment, with new ro-ro berths capable of handling the vessels. RP/MD

NEW ICEBREAKER NAMED BAY FERRIES ICEBREAKER On 12 October 2017 the 3,824dwt icebreaking standby vessel Fedor Ushakov was formally named by PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) after Russian naval commander Admiral Fedor Ushakov (17451817), who was said to have not suffered a single defeat during his career and was instrumental in the founding of the port of Sevastopol and the development of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

The new ship is the third in a series of four icebreaking supply and standby vessels commissioned by SCF Group, under a long-term agreement with Sakhalin Energy, the Sakhalin-2 project operator. Two of these vessels, Gennadiy Nevelskoy and Stepan Makarov, were delivered earlier in 2017. All four were contracted to United Shipbuilding Corp, with the actual construction carried out by subsidiary Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.

 The new icebreaker Fedor Ushakov has joined the SCF Group fleet, which consists of three oil tankers, two LNG carriers, and five icebreaking supply and standby vessels.

LOSE SAILINGS

FERRY Despite being forced to cancel more than 25 per cent of scheduled sailings between Portland, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia due to engine problems with 106.5m catamaran Alakai, Bay Ferries still managed to carry more passengers in 2017 than during their 2016 Bay of Fundy route debut season.

Built in 2007, the Austal craft, running on charter from the US Military Sealift Command as The Cat, handed 41,463 passengers between the end of May and 15 October, a 17 per cent increase from a 35,500 total in 2016. RP

FIRST LNG DREDGER • Belgium’s DEME Group has placed the world’s first LNGfuelled trailing suction hopper dredger, Minerva, in service following the 3,500m3 capacity vessel’s completion by Royal IHC of the Netherlands. The 83.5m by 18m vessel, which has been issued a Green Passport and a Clean Design notation, is to be followed by a second LNG-powered hopper dredger, the 115.9m by 25m Scheldt River, which will have a hopper capacity of 7,950m3. JS AHTS FOR CASPIAN SEA • The 6,600hp anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel Antarctic, designed by Offshore Ship Designers, has been delivered to Russian inland waterways operator Ark Shipping for work in the Caspian Sea. Besides being built to endure minimum temperatures of -25 to -30oC, the ice-class 1A vessel has a light operating draught of only 2.5m and can accommodate 100 survivors while functioning as a Standby Rescue Vessel. JS FERRY SUPPORT DOUBLES • Spending on ferry operations by Transport Scotland more than doubled during the past decade, causing Scottish Government watchdog Audit Scotland to call for a long-term strategy to ensure services continue within allocated budgets after ferries support climbed from £97.3 million in 200708 to £209.7 million in 2016-17, with subsidies doubling to £168.7 million in the same period. Almost half of more than 60 routes are subsidised, and Audit Scotland is critical of Transport Scotland’s handling of tendering for recent Clyde and Hebrides contracts. RP

www.shipsmonthly.com • January 2018 •

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WATERFRONT • www.shipsmonthly.com • Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG • t > 01959 541444 • e > sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk

Celine berthed at CLdN’s new Albert II dock terminal in Zeebrugge prior to entering commercial service and two days after arriving from Korean builders.

7

07/11/2017 14:04

WATERFRONT MEXICAN BULKER BREAKS UP

BULK CARRIER The Mexican-flagged bulk carrier Los Llanitos, which stranded at Barra de Navidad, Jalisco on the Mexican Pacific coast in October 2015 during the passage of Hurricane Patricia, is gradually

breaking up, near the tourist centre of Puerto Vallarta. Tsavliris Salvage and subcontractor Resolve Marine Group removed 11,400 litres of oil and 490m3 of diesel from the ship in late 2015, but salvage efforts have yet to get under way and may be doomed

The twisted and broken wreckage of the 71,665dwt bulk carrier Los Llanitos discloses the angled upper voids in each of the cargo holds, which made the ship self-trimming. PROFEPA

by the ship’s current condition.

The 223.64m by 32.19m self-trimming vessel, owned by Cyprus Sea Lines and managed by Executive Ship Management, was built in 1993 and previously sailed as Transgiant (1993-2010) and Panamax Giant (2010-2014). JS

news

A HYBRID POWER FIRST OFFSHORE SUPPLY

Wärtsilä has furthered battery technology development with the installation of a hybrid energy system on board Viking Princess (pictured). The Norwegian vessel became the first offshore supply vessel on which batteries reduce the number of generators on board.

The system will improve engine efficiency, save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Viking Princess completed sea trials and the system was handed over to Eidesvik Offshore on 9 October 2017. Viking Princess operates on a combination of a battery pack for energy storage and three LNG-fuelled Wärtsilä engines.

ORE CARRIERS ORDERED NEWBUILD

REALLY THE END OF AN ERA ST HELENA LINE St Helena Line’s St Helena, currently managed by Andrew Weir Shipping, was always going to be replaced at some stage, and is now almost 30 years old.

Now, one of the last true passenger and cargo liners is entering the final months of her service between Cape Town and St Helena. The recently opened airport on the little South Atlantic outpost of St Helena, although not operating

quite as envisaged, means that the passenger-carrying capacity of the ship is no longer required, and she will be retired in February 2018.

With the ending of the UnionCastle service in 1977, a new lifeline route from Avonmouth to Cape Town via St Helena was established and managed

by Cornish-based Curnow Shipping. The second St Helena entered service in 1990 and can carry 128 passengers and 3,000 tonnes of cargo. WM

South Korea’s Polaris Shipping has ordered a series of ten 325,000dwt Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs) from compatriot builder Hyundai Heavy Industries at an en bloc price of $800 million. To be delivered by 2021, the ships will measure 340m by 62m and be LNG-ready, although they will also be fitted with exhaust scrubbers.

Considered the world’s largest operator of VLOCs, Polaris was established in 2004, when it began having a number of singlehulled tankers converted into ore carriers. One of these, the 266,000dwt Stellar Daisy, sank earlier this year while carrying ore from Brazil to China, with the loss of 22 of her crew. The only two survivors reported that the ship cracked, quickly listed over, and sank during heavy weather. JS

Polaris Shipping, which lost its 266,000dwt Stellar Daisy earlier this year in the Atlantic, is having a new series of ore carriers built in South Korea. POLARIS

8 • January 2018 • www.shipsmonthly.com

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07/11/2017 14:04

ADVERTORIAL

The small ship with the big heart ‘Balmoral Needs Your Support’

B

almoral is now back at her berth in Bristol after a truly rollercoaster Summer. Her third season with White Funnel Ltd saw excellent advanced bookings, beautiful weather, an attentive ship's company and the support of the many volunteers. Highlights of the season were charters, filming contracts and sailings to the Clyde, Western Isles, Isle of Man, Anglesey, the Bristol Channel and River Severn. Whenever and wherever Balmoral sailed the support was there and bookings were up almost 40% on 2016.

Then the British weather took a hand causing a string of cancelled sailings, although these are allowed for in the budget. Sadly other factors were completely out of the operating company's control. A weeping rivet required a return to Sharpness dry-dock, collapse of the Gravesend landing pontoon scuppered the Thames programme, followed by a summer storm and mechanical issues. The Maritime Coastguard Agency made a last moment decision to refuse permission to carry passengers to the Isle of Man, although Balmoral would have been allowed to go to Belfast, almost twice the distance on open water, and this cost a huge amount of money with no possibility of making up the deficit.

Back on home waters with excellent advanced bookings, hopes were high until, on a full to capacity Bristol Channel sailing, a mishandled rope was dropped from the quayside, became entangled in a propeller, worked its way under the rope guard and damaged a shaft seal. That required divers, another trip to dry-dock and two weeks lost service.

After repairs the ship then performed perfectly, visited North Wales, Liverpool and Scotland, whereupon she met the worst late Summer weather for years, preventing the additional sailings planned to recover lost revenue.

Economic facts can't be avoided. In 2017 Balmoral managed only half of her 116 scheduled sailings. Despite much increased passenger numbers when she did operate, there is a very large deficit and serious doubts about continued operation without additional financial support.

The charity that owns Balmoral needs to raise £450,000 in the near future, otherwise it may be impossible to book harbours, connections, the 2018 annual survey and to maintain her in operational condition.

This seems a huge amount. It is, but the response to previous appeals has been superb and the owning charity is making economies and the best use of volunteers while the ship will be used as a venue and educational facility in Bristol Harbour to help with winter costs.

Balmoral is unique and the last of her type, please will you help this beautiful ship remain operational? Goodwill and affection is so obvious wherever she goes and keeping her sailing is the best way to preserve her and continue the coastal cruising experience she offers. Balmoral is reliable and comfortable, providing enjoyment and education for so many people. Various grant applications are in progress and there are firm enquiries about charters for 2018. An outline timetable is available at www.whitefunnel.co.uk. but if she is to continue operation your help is needed urgently.

Over 2 million passengers have travelled on Balmoral since her launch in 1949 and there is a saying on board "Everyone loves Balmoral". She is a small ship with a big heart that has been part of so many people's lives for nearly 70 years. Her Trustees are custodians for future generations and will do all they possibly can to keep Balmoral sailing, but can't do it without your help, and there is only a short time to raise the money. Please give what you can so that Balmoral can continue doing what she does best - keep sailing.

Send your donations via cheque to: The Treasurer, MV Balmoral Fund Ltd, 23 Adder Hill, Great Broughton, Chester CH3 5RA or go to the funds website at www.mvbalmoral.org.uk where you can download the donation form or just click on the MyDonate button where you may donate via Debit or Credit Card Thank you.

Ross Floyd, Paul Doubler, Richard Mills, Dave Bassett, Doug Naysmith, John Thomas & Andrew Jardine.

Trustees of the M.V. Balmoral Fund Ltd. REGISTERED CHARITY [1155339] [ENGLAND AND WALES]

FERRY NEWS IN BRIEF ISLANDS LINK • Another attempt is being made to establish a dedicated passenger and vehicle link between Jersey and Guernsey, funded by the two island governments. The St HelierSt Peter Port link was proposed earlier in 2017, with Condor Ferries as operator, but never started due to a lack of funding, notably from the Guernsey side. Now there is a new tender out for a service running daily between May and September, with Condor, Manch Iles Express and Bumblebee Ferries expressing interest.

FESTIVE TRIP • The Coastal Cruising Association and PSPS Scottish Branch have a Festive Cruise on Wednesday 27 December 2017, when the chartered Clyde Marine Services vessel Clyde Clipper departs Greenock’s Victoria Harbour at 1030 to sail through the Kyles of Bute, before turning off Kames and then making a call at Ormidale Pier, Loch Riddon, in the return direction. The fare is £29 or £39, including buffet lunch.

Full details from scottishbranch@ paddlesteamers.org.

LARNE GROWTH • P&O Ferries, running across the Irish Sea’s North Channel between Cairnryan and Larne, achieved the highest third quarter carryings for six years, with 53,305 lorries and trailers transported in July, August and September, 3.3 per cent ahead of figures for the same period of 2016.

Russell Plummer

CLYDE VETERAN SOLD TO AMERICAN

The Second Snark on the Clyde. NICHOLAS LEACH

TENDER ROLE The long-serving passenger motor vessel The Second Snark has been sold by Clyde Marine Services to an American company based in San Francisco, whose billionaire owner plans to use her as tender for a fleet of racing yachts in the South of France.

Built in 1938 by Wm Denny & Bros to serve as a tug and tender at their Dumbarton yard, The Second Snark replaced steampowered vessel The Snark of 1906.

After Dennys went out of business in 1963, the 120-passenger vessel cruised on the Forth for Brown Bros until returning to the Clyde in 1969 for trips from Greenock.

Listed as a National Historic Ship, The Second Snark has been used since 2011 for a service from Govan to Yorkhill Quay, serving the new Glasgow Riverside Museum. A longer trip in 2012 saw The Second Snark tender the paddle steamer Waverley at Ormidale, recreating an event that took place 40 years earlier.

JACOBITE CRUISES ORDER NEW CATAMARAN LOCH NESS A new 21m catamaran carrying 200 passengers is to join the Loch Ness fleet of Jacobite Cruises in time for 2018 summer sailings.

Designed by One2three Naval Architects, the craft is being built

by Wight Shipyard at Cowes and will be powered by twin Scania engines each delivering 275kW at 2,000rpm and giving a top speed of 15 knots. In service the vessel will cruise at 12 knots, which will be reduced to five knots while she is in the Caledonian Canal.

Based at Tomnahurich Bridge

near Inverness, Jacobite Cruises run trips on Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle, and short cruises using a fleet of three vessels.

Passengers will join and leave the

as-yet-unnamed catamaran using hinged ramps forward and aft, and there will be a large enclosed central area seating 100 and including a café and kiosk.

Jacobite Warrior (1988/250) is one of three vessels in the current Jacobite fleet.

FERRIES IN THE NEWS . . . FERRIES IN THE NEWS . . . FERRIES IN THE NEWS . . . FERRIES IN THE NEWS . . . FERRIES IN THE NE

MARIELLA • Following a major overhaul in 2015, Viking Line’s 1985-built 37,689gt Stockholm to Helsinki cruise ferry Mariella received a 12-day autumn drydocking for more refurbishment and technical upgrades at Finland’s Turku Repair Yard.

RHAPSODY • The GNV-owned vessel, originally SNCM’s Napoleon Bonaparte (1996/44,307gt), was one of three ferries chartered by the Spanish Government to accommodate police and security officers for the Catalan independence referendum in October 2017. Rhapsody and Moby Dada (1981/19,593gt), at one time DFDS’s Queen of Scandinavia, were berthed in Barcelona, while Tarragona hosted GNV Azzurra (1981/29,706gt), previously SNAV Toscana, under which name she served as a Petrofac accommodation ship at Lerwick.

ADELINE • CLdN increased the capacity on its daily freight service from Rotterdam Europoort to Purfleet on the Thames, bringing in the 2,415 lane-metre 17,276gt ro-ro, built in 2012, for extra crossings leaving Holland at midnight on Tuesdays and Thursdays and returning overnight on Wednesdays and Fridays.

RED EAGLE • The Red Funnel car ferry starts a £3 million refurbishment in January 2018, with completion due by the start of Southampton-East Cowes summer schedules on 29 March. The work will be similar to that carried out on sister vessels Red Falcon and Red Osprey at Gdansk, Poland, during 2014 and 2015. Red Eagle, built on the Clyde by Ferguson in 1996, stays closer to home, however, with the contract going to Southampton-based Trimline and work taking place at the Wight Shipyard in East Cowes and including a big increase in onboard seating.

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news

GENERAL NEWS  STENA LINE has increased

NEW FERRY HONOURS POET IRISH SEA The Irish Ferries tradition of giving vessels names from figures in Irish literature continues when the 55,000gt new building from the FSG yard at Flensburg in Germany makes a July debut as W. B. Yeats.

The name found widespread favour from the public in an online competition that attracted more

than 10,000 suggestions. The €144 million vessel is set to join a fleet already including Ulysses, commemorating the James Joyce novel; Oscar Wilde, carrying the name of the famed author; and high-speed catamaran Jonathan Swift, honouring the author of Gulliver’s Travels.

W. B. Yeats is set to sail opposite the 50,938gt Ulysses on the Dublin-

Holyhead route and will also make a weekend return trip from Dublin to Cherbourg, currently offered by ro-pax ferry Epsilon.

Recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature, W. B. Yeats helped found Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, and among poems for which he is remembered is The Lake Isle of Innisfree, a composition inspired by his many holiday visits to Sligo.

DFDS FREIGHT GIANT DEBUTS NORTH SEA After delivery from the yard of Flensburg, Germany-based FSG in late September, Tulipa Seaways became the latest addition to DFDS’s North Sea ro-ro fleet with an overnight maiden voyage from Vlaardingen, Rotterdam to Immingham on 2 October.

Offering a massive 4,076 lane metres of lorry and trailer space, Tulipa Seaways then stood in for sister vessel Gardenia Seaways (2017/32,336gt), which went to

Tulipa Seaways made a maiden sailing for DFDS on 2 October.

the Vlaardingen-Felixstowe route to deputise while Suecia Seaways (1999/24,196gt) was under military orders as part of the DFDS

ARK co-operation. From early November, when Suecia Seaways returned, Tulipa Seaways replaced Corona Seaways.

North Sea capacity from Rotterdam Europoort by 20 per cent, but there has been a change of plan over the deployment of Goodby Shipping’s 15,586gt/2007-built sisters Misida and Misana, which, instead of service to Harwich on charter, will now go on the EuropoortKillingholme run in January. A new ferry will be brought in for the Harwich service opposite Stena Scotia (1996/13,057gt) to replace Caroline Russ (1999/10,486gt), whose charter ends in January.  FINNLINES are lengthening four of their Breeze class ro-ro freighters built at the Jinling Yard in China, with each ship making a nineweek visit to the Remontowa Yard in Gdansk to gain an extra 1,000 metres of freight space. First to head for Poland in late September was Finntide, with Finnsun, Finnsky and Finnsea following as capacity is temporarily restricted on some Baltic routes.  CANARY ISLANDS ferry operator Fred. Olsen Express has placed a €126 million order with Austal for two 117m ro-pax catamarans for delivery in 29 and 36 months’ time, with one likely to be built in Western Australia and the other at Austal’s yard in the Philippines. The aluminium-hulled pair will be ten metres shorter than trimaran pioneer Benchigigua Express built by Austal in 2005 with capacity slightly reduced to 1,100 passengers and 276 cars.

ES IN THE NEWS . . . FERRIES IN THE NEWS . . . FERRIES IN THE NEWS . . . FERRIES IN THE NEWS . . . FERRIES IN THE NEWS . . .

SEATRUCK • The Irish Sea freight specialist added extra Tuesday sailings on the Liverpool-Dublin service from 17 October bringing the departures total to 40 each week. Four vessels are currently employed: Seatruck Progress (pictured), Seatruck Power, Seatruck Pace and Clipper Ranger.

MAJORCA LINK • Corsica Ferries are to launch a new seasonal service from the French port of Toulon to Alcudia in the north-east of Majorca, with twice weekly trips in each direction from 21 April to late September.

Four vessels, Mega Express (2001/26,400gt), Mega Express Two (2001/26,024gt), Mega Express Four (1995/25.710gt) and Mega Express Five (1993/11,578gt), will alternate on the route, each carrying around 2,000 passengers and up to 570 cars. Day crossings from Toulon will take nine hours, with longer overnight returns.

PETER PAN • Early in 2018 TT-Line is sending the Travemunde-Trelleborg route vessel to German Dry Docks, Bremerhaven to be lengthened by 30m. Peter Pan (2001) will be cut in two aft of the accommodation block to bring in a new section that will boost vehicle space to 3,000 lane metres.

FINNEAGLE • Finnlines has sold the 29,481gt vessel, dating from 1999, to its parent company, Italy’s Grimaldi Group, for Mediterranean service in 2018 under the new name of Euroferry Corfu. Finneagle returned to the Baltic after 2017 summer service with Grimaldi on the SavonaBarcelona-Tangier Med route, and in October went to Remontowa’s yard at Gdansk in Poland for a scrubber installation. Built in Spain by AESA, the former Finneagle had passenger accommodation increased from 452 to 835 beds in spring 2017.

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CAPACITY INCREASED

Ulysses already gives Irish Ferries a literary twist.

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CRUISE

William Mayes

BRIEF NEWS HAPAG LLOYD • The keel for the second of the pair of expedition cruise ships for Hapag Lloyd was laid at Vard’s Tulcea shipyard in Romania on 18 October 2017.

Hanseatic inspiration will enter service in October 2019 and will be the dual-language ship of the pair. Her older sister, Hanseatic nature, will be sold exclusively in the German speaking market. The new ship will operate Great Lakes itineraries and will be fitted with retractable bridge wings.

PRINCESS • Fincantieri started cutting steel for the next in the production line of the Royal Princess class of ships on 8 September 2017 at the Monfalcone yard.

VIKING • The fifth ship in the Viking Star series was floated out as Viking Orion, not Viking Spirit as originally announced, at Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard in September 2017. She is due for delivery in 2018, and will be named

by Astronaut Dr Anna Fisher. The next ship in the 940-passenger series of 48,000gt ships had her keel laid at the same yard on 18 October 2017. The as-yet unnamed ship will enter service in 2019, with further units due in 2021 and 2022. The company has also ordered seven more vessels for Viking River Cruises.

BLACK SEA CRUISES • The company’s Prince Vladimir will not operate a winter programme, but has now gone into lay-up for a winter refurbishment. She will be back on her weekly cruises from Sochi in May 2018.

PORT OF BERGEN • The latest port to cut back on the number of cruise passengers is Bergen, which will limit the daily number of ships to four and the number of passengers to 9,000.

VOYAGES TO ANTIQUITY • Citing poor bookings, Voyages to Antiquity has cancelled its 2017-18 Caribbean season, which would have included calls in Cuba. At this late stage it is unlikely that a substitute programme could be arranged, and so Aegean Odyssey seems doomed to spend the winter laid up.

After ten years, there is another proposal to raise Sea Diamond. RICK FRENDT

SEA DIAMOND TO BE RAISED LOUIS CRUISE LINE The Greek Government has recently ordered that Sea Diamond be raised. The ship, which has spent more than ten years 300ft under the water in Santorini’s caldera, is a hazard to shipping and the environment.

While the latter may be true, it is difficult to imagine the wreck, so far down and well marked in a fairly isolated bay, causing any nuisance to passing vessels.

On 5 April 2007 the ship struck an incorrectly charted

rock while approaching Santorini and began to sink. A major evacuation took place and all but two of the 1,195 passengers and almost 400 crew members were rescued. The bodies of the two missing passengers were never found. Although there was an attempt to beach the sinking vessel, the nature of the coastline made it impossible and she sank in the early hours of the following morning.

The 22,412gt Sea Diamond was built in 1985 and entered service the following April for

Birka Line as Birka Princess on the 24-hour cruise route between Stockholm and Mariehamn in the Åland Islands.

She underwent a rebuild in 1999, which streamlined her appearance. Louis bought her in 2006 and, after a comprehensive refit, she entered service on the company’s cruise services from Piraeus as the 1,537-berth Sea Diamond.

There have been calls in the past for the ship to be raised, so it will be interesting to see if this one is treated any differently.

MORE IN EUROPE IN 2019 TERMINAL UPGRADED CELEBRITY CRUISES The summer of 2019 will see five of Celebrity Cruises’ ships in Europe, including the new Celebrity Edge.

Celebrity Silhouette will be the Southampton-based ship, having replaced Celebrity Eclipse at the Hampshire port in 2018. Celebrity Reflection will be based in Dublin, while Constellation and Infinity will be with Celebrity Edge in the Mediterranean.

Celebrity Eclipse left Southampton in late October 2017 for the last time, having spent eight summers based there.

For a short season in 2018 she will be based in Dublin, before she moves to Amsterdam.

Between 2019 and 2023 Celebrity will spend about $400 million upgrading the existing nine ships, five Solstice class and four Millennium class, to the standard of the new ships.

 Celebrity Silhouette will be Southampton-based in 2018. WILLIAM MAYES

TILBURY London International Cruise Port at Tilbury is spending around £5 million on upgrading the Tilbury Landing Stage Terminal.

Already £1 million has been spent on the roof, and a further £2.5 million on the landing stage itself, which is now capable of accommodating ships of up to 350m in length. The final work in the current programme involves the upgrading of the baggage hall, at a cost of £1.5 million.

On 12 September 2017 the 293m 2,700-passenger Mein Schiff 3 became the largest ship ever to call at the stage. The terminal had 64 calls in 2017, and is expecting 71 in 2018. The most frequent visitors to Tilbury are the Cruise & Maritime Voyages ships, with Columbus and Magellan starting their cruises there.

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news

ISLAND CRUISES The UK’s Thomson Holidays, part of the German tour giant TUI, is gradually being rebranded as TUI Holidays, apart from the areas of the business where the company believe the change could lose it customers, such as First Choice and Crystal Holidays.

As part of this process Thomson Cruises was gradually becoming TUI Cruises, but in a surprising change of plan it has been decided that the TUI Cruises name is too confusing and might get muddled with the German TUI Cruises operation, so instead Thomson Cruises will shortly become Marella Cruises, another

WILLIAM MAYES

of the fairly meaningless names currently favoured by the cruise industry, and surely more likely to cause confusion than if the name had just been left as Thomson Cruises, a brand that has built up an impressive client base and cruise fleet in the past 20 years.

Thomson Cruises actually began trading in 1973 with the

charter of the 1956-built Ithaca and 1955-built Calypso from the Greek Ulysses Line. When the oil crisis broke out shortly afterwards, Thomson came to the conclusion that it could not make money, so in 1976 it pulled out of the cruise market. Around 20 years later Thomson came back to cruises with a variety of chartered ships, such as Island Breeze, Sapphire, Emerald and The Topaz.

The current fleet consists of Thomson Celebration (1984/33,933gt), Thomson Dream (1986/54,763gt), TUI Discovery (1996/69,472gt), TUI Discovery 2 (1995/69,472), Thomson Majesty (1992/41,662gt) and Thomson Spirit (1983/ 33,930gt). The first four will all get the Marella prefix, while Thomson Majesty will be returned to Celestyal Cruises in spring 2018 and Thomson Spirit will remain in the fleet until autumn 2018 as Spirit.

During the winter of 2018-19 Marella Discovery will be based in Malaysia, the first time that the company has based a ship in this region.

EXTENDED MED SEASON CELESTYAL CRUISES As the Mediterranean season drew to a close, Celestyal Cruises made an announcement about future strategy. The 2018 season will be extended by about a month, starting in February and finishing in November, as a prelude to year-round operation from the winter of 2019-20.

The itineraries will also be revised to include destinations such as Cyprus and Israel during the cooler months. Celestyal Cruises operates three ships:

Celestyal Crystal currently sails year-round from Cuba, but that operation will become seasonal from 2018, just sailing in the winter months. She will take the summer seven-night programme.

The chartered Celestyal Nefeli has been operating those cruises, with pick-ups in both Greece and Turkey, but went back to her owner in November 2017. Celestyal Olympia, the former Song of America, is the mainstay in the Aegean, catering largely for tour groups on three- and four- night port intensive itineraries.

After two summer seasons Celestyal Nefeli has completed her charter. WILLIAM MAYES

 Carnival Fascination has been chartered by FEMA until 9 January.

MORE HURRICANE HELP FEMA The US Federal Emergency Management Agency has chartered the 1987-built Grand Celebration (47,262gt, ex-Celebration) for three months from Bahama Paradise Cruise Line for use as an accommodation ship to house the National Guard at St Thomas.

The Agency has also taken a charter on Carnival Cruise Line’s

Carnival Fascination (70,367gt), which had been standing in for Carnival Elation while that ship was in for refit, as an accommodation ship at St Croix, and is believed to be actively seeking to charter other vessels after the devastation in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Several other islands remain closed to cruise traffic at the time of writing, including Dominica, which was particularly badly hit.

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ALL CHANGE AGAIN

Thomson Celebration will be renamed Marella Celebration.

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NAVAL

Gary Davies

AUSTRALIA SEEKS MISSILE SHIELD

Navantia’s F-100 design for the RAN’s Future Frigate with the Australian CEA Phased-Array Radar. NAVANTIA

RAN As regimes such as North Korea threaten regional stability with ballistic missiles, the Australian Prime Minister has announced that the RAN’s next generation of frigates are to be equipped with the US Aegis combat system. The

long-range detection system is to be integrated with a locally produced tactical interface developed by SAAB Australia. The Future Frigates, which have thus far been optimised for anti-submarine warfare, will also need to be equipped with missiles capable of engaging ICBMs if they are to

USS Monterey is to carry out a surge deployment under the USN’s Optimized Fleet Response Plan. MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

SURGE FORCE US NAVY The Ticonderoga class cruiser USS Monterey has departed Naval Station Norfolk for a surge deployment to the US 5th Fleet and 6th Fleet areas of operation in the Persian Gulf. The so-called surge force – not planned for – is to plug the gap in continuous ballistic missile defence (BMD) left by the loss of two destroyers following separate collisions with merchant ships.

Monterey’s unscheduled six-month deployment will

allow the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS O’Kane to leave for the Pacific, where she will escort the forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and provide additional BMD coverage in the region.

The badly damaged destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain will both be sidelined for more than a year, undergoing repairs. Fitzgerald will be repaired by Ingalls in the US, while the USN has opted to fix John S. McCain at the 7th Fleet’s base in Yokosuka, Japan.

provide a full BMD capability.

The A$35 billion Future Frigate Programme will see the existing eight Anzac class frigates replaced by nine new ships. Three designs are in contention from BAE Systems (Type 26), Fincantieri (FREMM) and Navantia (Modified F-100). The winner will be selected

in 2018. There are also plans to upgrade the RAN’s Hobart class air warfare destroyers to the latest Aegis Baseline 9 configuration, with extended range SM-6 missiles. The first of class, HMAS Hobart, was commissioned on 23 September with Baseline 8 and SM-2 Block IIIB missiles.

NEW PATROL VESSELS BANGLADESHI CG The Bangladesh Coast Guard has taken delivery of two more Offshore Patrol Vessels from Fincantieri. The former Italian Navy warships, renamed CGS Kamruzzaman (ex-ITS Urania) and CGS Mansoor Ali (ex-ITS Danaide), will join two other Minerva class corvettes, handed over in August 2016, to become the mainstay of the Bangladesh Coast Guard’s fleet.

Prior to handover, each ship’s

weapons and sensor fit were removed and replaced with an Oerlikon KBA 25mm gun and systems more appropriate to coast guard roles, such as equipment to contain environmental pollution and assist in humanitarian emergencies. A helipad has also been added for a small SAR helicopter. The work was carried out at Fincantieri’s shipyards in Genova and La Spezia, and an ongoing in-service support contract will double the lifespan of all four ships.

Four Leader class OPVs are the largest ships in the Bangladesh Coast Guard fleet. FINCANTIERI

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news BRIEF NEWS

The under-threat HMS Albion is due to take over as Fleet Flagship from the already axed HMS Ocean.

MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

ROYAL NAVY The Royal Navy’s quest to regain its Carrier Strike capability could come at the cost of losing another strategically important role as the service battles with significant budget and manpower shortfalls.

One of the options under consideration to balance limited resources is the disposal of the assault ships HMS Albion and

HMS Bulwark, together with around 1,000 Royal Marines. With the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean already earmarked for disposal at the conclusion of her current deployment, this would effectively mean the end of the Royal Navy’s amphibious warfare capability.

The two ships are already being rotated in service, with one placed in reserve following the 2010 defence review. HMS Albion has

only recently returned to frontline service after a £90 million refit designed to extend her service life to 2033. The MoD has not denied the proposal, but has said such an outcome is pure speculation.

Other rumoured cuts are to the mine hunters HMS Atherstone and HMS Quorn. The Hunt class MCMVs are currently undergoing major overhauls, which could be curtailed to save money.

T31 TEAMS

PROJECT RESOLVE OILER

ROYAL NAVY

CANADIAN NAVY

The Merseyside-based shipyard Cammell Laird has formed a consortium with BAE Systems and the A&P Group to tender for the £1.25 billion contract to design and build five Type 31e frigates.

The partnership would see Cammell Laird act as the Prime Contractor, responsible for overseeing the building of the ships at fabrication facilities in Birkenhead, Glasgow, Newcastle and Falmouth. The two shipbuilders are proposing a modified version of BAE Systems’ ‘Khareef’ corvette design, cleverly named ‘Leander’, harking back to the successful Leander classes.

Babcock and BMT Defence Services have also mooted establishing a strategic partnership, with Babcock likely to take the lead. To date each has been promoting their own designs in the form of Babcock’s Arrowhead 120 and BMT’s Venator-110.

Davie Shipbuilding has unveiled the interim auxiliary replenishment ship it is providing for the Royal Canadian Navy.

Under the banner ‘Project Resolve’, the 2010-built vessel has been converted from a 1,700TEU container ship into an operational naval support vessel.

Aside from the fitting of a range of NATO-compliant military Replenishment-AtSea, navigational, tactical and

management systems, the modification work has also involved the fitting of a helicopter deck with twin hangars, a hospital for up to 60 patients, and galleys able to serve up to 1,000 people.

The purchase and conversion has been self-financed by the Quebec-based shipyard, with sister company, Federal Fleet Services, leasing the ship to the Canadian government on an initial five-year lease. It will operate as a civilian vessel with the RCN providing sailors for air and naval operations.

MV Asterix was due to begin sea trials on 16 November 2017.

DAVIE SHIPBUILDING

ROYAL NAVY • HMS Severn was decommissioned at Portsmouth on 27 October 2017 after only 14 years of service. The current River class Offshore Patrol Vessels are being replaced by five larger and more capable Batch 2 River class OPVs. The first of these, HMS Forth, is currently undergoing sea trials and will replace HMS Clyde as the permanent Falkland Islands guard ship. The second, HMS Medway, was formally named at BAE’s Scotstoun yard on the Clyde on 20 October.

GERMAN NAVY • None of Germany’s six state-of-the-art Type 212A submarines are fully operational after U 35 damaged one of her X-shaped rudder planes during deepwater trials. The remainder of the class are at various stages of repair and maintenance at the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems shipyard in Kiel. Budget restraints and a shortage of spare parts are blamed for their unavailability, although three are expected to return to service in 2018.

INDIAN NAVY • Another mishap has put an Akula class attack submarine on loan from Russia out of action. The nuclearpowered INS Chakra, which is being operated on a ten-year lease, is reported to have suffered damage to her sonar bow dome.

Details of the incident and the extent of the damage have not been revealed, but it was likely caused by grounding while the boat was transiting the narrow channel en route to the submarine base at Visakhapatnam.

PERUVIAN NAVY • Peru has a new fleet flagship following the decommissioning of BAP Almirante Grau. The 45-year-old gun cruiser is superseded by the Carvajal class frigate BAP Montero, which was renamed Almirante Grau at the same ceremony at Callao on 26 September. The new flagship is an indigenously built Italian design, based on the Lupo class, that entered service in 1984. Miguel Grau Seminario was a celebrated 19th-century naval hero.

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CAPABILITY CONUNDRUM

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CARGO BRIEF NEWS BP’S SIX LNG CARRIERS • BP Shipping, which launched a fleet rejuvenation program in 2016, with 32 new vessels set for delivery over the next three years, expects to take delivery of six new LNG tankers before the end of 2018 to service a 20-year contract with the Freeport LNG facility in Texas, as well as several other international LNG projects. BP said its finance partners, KMarin and ICBC Leasing, are investing over $1 billion in the new ships.

DREDGER FOR RUSSIA • Russia’s Onego Shipyard has been contracted to build a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger for state operator Rosmorport that will be completed to a TSHD 2000 design furnished by Holland’s Damen Group for delivery in 2019. The vessel, which will be equipped with a self-emptying system for bow discharge, will be used for maintenance operations in the northern regions of Russia.

TANKER DELIVERED • Pennsylvania’s Philly Shipyard has delivered the 50,000dwt product tanker American Liberty to American Petroleum Tankers as the third of four LNG-Ready 14.5 million gallon capacity ships it is building for the Kinder Morgan subsidiary’s US operations.

DREDGERS FOR SUEZ • The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has signed a contract with Netherlands-based Royal IHC for the design and construction of two 29,190kW heavy-duty rock cutter suction dredgers. The twin vessels will have an overall length of 147.4m and be able to work to a maximum dredging depth of 35m.

CRUDE CARRIERS • Japan’s ‘K’ Line has ordered three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and two Aframax tankers from two Japanese shipyards, with Kawasaki Heavy Industries to build two of the 311,360dwt VLCCs, while Namura Shipbuilding will complete one VLCC and the two 113,000dwt Aframax. JS

SM LINE CONTINUING TO EXPAND

One of 11 former Hanjin container ships acquired over the past year, the 102,518dwt SM New York now sails for South Korea’s SM Line. TREVOR JONES

BOXBOATS South Korea’s SM Line, launched in 2016 with the inauguration of sailings by the 1,100TEU container ship SM Tokyo, expects to have 30 vessels in operation by the start of 2018. It took delivery of three 6,500TEU ships in March, followed by three larger 8,600TEU vessels in April, extending services to China, India and the US West Coast.

Owned by South Korea’s Samra

MAIDEN CALLER

Midas (SM) Group, the new carrier joined forces with Gold Star Line, Regional Container Lines, TS Line and Korea Marine Transport Line last month to establish a new service to the Middle East and Pakistan. Woo Oh-hyun, chairman of SM Group, said the company now plans to expand the line’s fleet capacity to 200,000TEU by next year and extend its operations to the US east coast and South America using profits

from its Woobang Engineering & Construction company, a major builder of housing in South Korea, which is being merged into KS Line along with the previously acquired bulk carrier operator Korea Shipping Corporation.

KS Line currently owns a fleet of 18 ships which have a combined capacity of 99,800TEU, with another five vessels of 6,000TEU combined capacity on charter serving nine trade routes. JS

The 12,754dwt Sofana Surville is one of a number of container ships operated by SOFRANA Unilines in the South Pacific. SOFRANA

TANKERS On 24 August the double-hulled crude oil tanker Speedway made a first visit to the UK, when she arrived on the Tees from Rotterdam. Handed over to Skyview Marine Co SA of Greece in late January by Hyundai Samho of South Korea, the 158,594dwt vessel made an impressive sight as she arrived on the Tees to load a full cargo for San Vicente in Chile, a voyage that would take a month.

The 274.17m vessel has made voyages from the Mediterranean to South America. RC

 The 2017-built crude oil tanker Speedway, under the Greek flag, arrives on the Tees. STEPHEN LOWERY

CMA CGM ACQUIRES TAKEOVERS CMA CGM of France has acquired a majority stake in SOFRANA Unilines, which operates a fleet of ten cargo vessels servicing 21 ports in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific islands. The acquisition has been made through CMA CGM subsidiary ANL, which already operates in the South Pacific, as well as to North Asia, South East

Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and North America.

The acquisition follows CMA CGM’s purchase of Brazil’s Mercosul Line and its earlier absorption of MacAndrews in Europe. SOFRANA Unilines, which takes its name from SOciété FRAnçaise de NAvigation, was established in 1968 with a single vessel trading between the French Overseas Territories of New Caledonia and Wallis & Futuna. JS

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HEAVYLIFT ALLIANCE HEAVYLIFTERS Heavylift operators BBC Chartering GmbH of Leer, Germany and Jumbo Shipping of Schiedam, Netherlands have formed a ‘Global Project Alliance’ to combine their

expertise in project and heavylift cargo handling.

While both companies have agreed to an exclusive cooperation, they will continue to operate as separate, familyowned entities. BBC, established in 1997, currently operates a fleet

of more than 150 multipurpose vessels, ranging from 3,500dwt to 37,300dwt, with lift capacities up to 900 tonnes, while Jumbo, established in 1968, maintains a fleet of ten vessels with lift capacities ranging from 650 tonnes to 3,000 tonnes. JS

BLUETECH NEW BULKER The Bulgarian shipping company Navibulgar has contracted Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group Ltd to build four Bluetech 45 handymax bulk carriers. The Bluetech 45 design, based on the Bluetech 42, measures 190m, is of 45,000dwt, has a large hold and an ice class 1C classification.

Bluetech bulk carrier designs have the largest hold volume and lowest fuel consumption in their class, making them the most ecofriendly on the market. Bluetech Finland Ltd, based in Helsinki, is a Finnish naval architecture and ship design company. Navigation Maritime Bulgare (Navibulgar) is Bulgaria’s leading ship owner, with a fleet of over 30 vessels.

OCEAN SPIRIT BEATS BRIAN LUNDQVIST DISPOSAL TANKERS

 Ocean Spirit arrives at Sunderland, assisted by two tugs, from Mariupol.

She entered the port early in order to avoid Storm Brian. ROY CRESSEY

BULK CARGO On 21 October 2017, with Storm Brian forecast to hit the UK and with the wind increasing, it was decided to bring the 1996-built bulk carrier Ocean Spirit into the port of Sunderland ahead of schedule. The 168m by 26m bulker arrived off the port and anchored to await entry after her voyage from Mariupol in Ukraine.

With the help of the tugs Forth,

which went under the lee of the bow of the bulker to dodge the wind, and Svitzer Sun on the stern, Ocean Spirit entered port safely.

Regular shipments of steel arrive at the north-east port of Sunderland in bulk cargo vessels about every two weeks. The Chinese-built 26,411dwt Ocean Spirit was built as Pacross, but since 2013 has been Ocean Spirit.

These bulk carriers are the largest vessels to enter Sunderland. RC

Finnish tanker operator Lundqvist have taken advantage of high scrap prices and disposed of one of their older ships, the 1998-built Alfa Germania, to undisclosed ship breakers. Her owners since 5 October 2017 were shown as NKD Maritime Ltd of Chelmsford, with Lundqvist still her managers.

The Daewoo-built 99,230dwt Aframax crude oil tanker passed southbound through the Suez Canal on 13 October 2017, having

transferred to the flag of the Republic of Palau while off Malta a few days earlier and having her name shortened to Germania.

The same owners bought the tanker Catherine Knutsen (1992) earlier and renamed her Catherine; she is destined for India. Also on 6 October Alpha Britannia, sistership to Alpha Germania, left Milford Haven bound for Gibraltar and disposal, as Lundqvist have three new Aframax vessels on order from Sumitomo Heavy Industries during 2018 and 2019. RC

The Aframax oil tanker Alfa Germania (1998) has been sold for recycling. Her name was shortened to Germania for her delivery voyage. SIMON SMITH www.shipsmonthly.com • January 2018 •

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Built in 2012, the medium-sized project carrier BBC Citrine is one of a number of ships involved in a new alliance between BBC Chartering and Jumbo Shipping. BBC CHARTERING

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NEWBUILD WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL

Jim Shaw

MORE TANKERS FOR D’AMICO

The 39,000dwt Cielo di Ulsan is to be joined in the d’Amico fleet by six larger tankers.

D’AMICO

SUCTION DREDGER One of Europe’s major dredging contractors, Jan de Nul, expects to take delivery of the world’s most powerful self-propelled cutter suction dredger, Willem van Rubroeck, before the end of 2017 following the vessel’s launch by the Uljanik Shipyard in Croatia.

Measuring 151.3m by 36m, the new dredger will have an installed power of 40,975kW and will feature two retractable thrusters plus three dredging pumps, two located in the pump room and one in the cutter ladder. With a cutter power of 8,500kW, the new vessel will be able to dredge compact sand, clay and rocks up to a depth of 45m.

PRODUCT TANKERS The Hyundai Vinashin shipyard in Vietnam has delivered the LR1 product tankers Cielo Bianco and

Cielo Rosso to Italy’s d’Amico International Shipping with a sister, Cielo di Rotterdam, to be handed over shortly. All three 228m by 36m vessels are part of

a $755 million new construction programme for d’Amico that will eventually see 22 vessels built, including three more LR1 tankers to be delivered later this year.

OOCL GERMANY CALLS AT EUROGATE BOXBOATS

 Croatia’s Uljanik Shipyard has launched the cutter suction dredge Willem van Rubroeck for delivery later this year to Belgium’s Jan de Nul. ULJANIK SHIPYARD

Container cranes at the Eurogate Container Terminal in Wilhelmshaven were teamed to handle one of the world’s largest container ships in October 2017, when Orient Overseas Container Line’s 21,413TEU OOCL Germany arrived from Asia. Built by Samsung Heavy Industries and delivered in August 2017, the 210,000gt ship is the second of six similar-sized vessels completed by the yard, with the first, OOCL Hong Kong, having called at Wilhelmshaven in July.

 With a deadweight of 191,317, and measuring 400m by 59m, the recently delivered OOCL Germany is one of the world’s largest container ships. ECT

NEW LNG-POWERED CARRIERS TO MOVE VWs VEHICLE CARRIERS Royal Dutch Shell has signed a long-term agreement with Norway’s SIEM Car Carriers to supply LNG to fuel two new ships being built in China to transport Volkswagen vehicles from Europe to North America. The 200m by 36m vessels, to be delivered in 2019, will come with a 3,000m³ LNG tank installed below deck to fuel a 12,600 kW main engine provided by MAN Diesel & Turbo.

Shell plans to refuel the vessels, which will have a maximum speed of 19 knots and a service speed of 16.5 knots, in Northwest Europe

and at a second supply point to be developed in the United States where the twin ships will discharge their cargoes of VWs.

 Two new LNG-powered car carriers being built for transatlantic service will carry up to 4,500 vehicles on 12 decks. SIEM CAR CARRIERS

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FEEDER SHIPS China’s Fujian Mawei shipyard has been contracted to build six 1,160TEU container feeder ships for a group of German investors headed by MarLink Project Management GmbH, with a further six held on option. All of

the vessels have been designed by abh Ingenieur-Technik GmbH and will make use of Wärtsilä supplied equipment.

The equipment will include the main propulsion systems, which will make use of controllable pitch propellers and electricallydriven bow tunnel thrusters.

Wärtsilä will also supply hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems and ballast water management systems, along with sewage treatment plants. The first of the ships is expected to be completed by late next year with the remainder following before the beginning of 2020.

CONTAINER SHIP The Royal Arctic Line, owned by the Government of Greenland, has contracted China’s Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard Co and the China Shipbuilding Trading Co to build a 2,150TEU container vessel for employment along the coast of Greenland.

The 180m by 31m ship will be similar to two vessels to be built by the same two Chinese firms for Iceland’s Eimskip and will be ice classed and completed in accordance with the Polar Code.

Propulsion will be provided by Tier III diesel engines making use of scrubber technology to meet environmental regulations.

The Damen Group has developed a new vessel that could be used for emergency work and environmental protection tasks utilising containerised equipment packages. The Damen Responder 5413 measures 54m in length and would incorporate a rigid inflatable boat in a slipway at the stern for emergency work as well as space on deck for up to three 20ft containers.

SHALLOW DRAUGHT A new shallow draught, ice-strengthened multipurpose vessel has been developed by designer Deltamarin for inland and coastal use. DELTAMARIN

MULTIPURPOSE

 Minik Arctica, delivered in 2016, is to be followed into the Royal Arctic Line fleet by a 2,150TEU boxboat to be delivered next year. ROYAL ARCTIC LINE

RESPONDER

 Damen’s new First Line Assistance Vessel features a deck crane of ten tonnes, extra accommodation and the ability to operate in shallow water.

A series of six and possibly 12 container feeder ships are to be build by China’s Fujian Mawei yard for Germany’s MarLink Project Management. WÄRTSILÄ

CHINA BUILD POLAR BOX SHIPS

EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE

Naval architectural firm Deltamarin has developed a new ice-strengthened multipurpose vessel called ‘DeltaBreaker’ for use on inland and coastal waters.

The design combines the features of tug, icebreaker and push tug, while operating on LNG as a fuel. The hull shape has very low resistance and the ability to break ice

up to 0.6m thick. One of the specific characteristics of the DeltaBreaker is the possibility of installing a connection system forward that would give the vessel the capability of acting as a pusher tug in an Articulated Tug-Barge (ATB) combination.

In addition, there is room on the aft deck for two 20ft containers that could hold equipment and material for environmental cleanup work.

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CHINA TO BUILD FOR GERMANS

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NEWS FEATURE HMS70m Trincomalee is classed as a full-rigged measures 150ft The by 15m Yara Birkeland, which mayship bee and battery pack. YARA by 39ft 11in, with her depth of hold 12ft 9in; when in service she carried a complement of 315 officers and men.

4.5in (gundeck) INTERNATIONAL

TRINCOMALEE AT 200 Celebrating the bicentenary of the historic warship HMS Trincomalee, Britain’s oldest warship still afloat and one of the North-East’s major visitor attractions, is celebrating its 200th anniversary.

Trincomalee at Falmouth in 1906.

PRESERVED SHIP On 12 October 2017 the bicentenary of the completion of HMS Trincomalee, Britain’s oldest warship still afloat, was marked. It was also 30 years since Trincomalee docked at Jackson Dock, in Hartlepool. The museum in the north-east forms part of The National Museum of the Royal Navy’s historic fleet, alongside Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, the submarine HMS Alliance and Belfast’s World War I survivor, HMS Caroline HMS Trincomalee attracts in excess of 50,000 visitors annually, and more than £500,000 has been invested over the past year on the maintenance and conservation of the ship, which is the sole surviving link with the 19th century Bombay shipyards.

Further improvements and

required maintenance works have been scheduled, including an additional £250,000 investment.

Crowdfunding campaigns have helped to restore Trincomalee’s rediscovered head, and the launch of a new educational activity zone is among the measures that will be implemented at The National Museum of the RN Hartlepool.

Roslyn Adamson, General Manager at The National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool, said: ‘HMS Trincomalee is one of the region’s key landmarks and visitor attractions. She has contributed a great deal to the Tees Valley and Hartlepool’s economic wellbeing for the past 30 years, as she continues to welcome thousands of visitors each year.

‘It is important to recognise her bicentenary and historical standing as Britain’s oldest

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warship still afloat. We are always looking at ways to enhance visitors’ experience with further investments and initiatives.’

LONG HISTORY HMS Trincomalee, a 46-gun, fifth-rate Leda-class frigate and the world’s oldest warship still afloat today, has, since 2014, been part of the heritage fleet of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, alongside HMS Victory in Portsmouth and HMS Caroline in Belfast. She is part of the Core Collection of the National Register of Historic Vessels.

The ship was built in Bombay in 1817 for the Royal Navy, at a cost of £23,000, and was launched on 12 October 1817.

She was 150ft 4.5in in length along her gundeck, and her keel measured 125ft 7in. Named after the 1782 Battle of Trincomalee, she was fitted with temporary masts and rigging, and arrived in Portsmouth Dockyard, under Captain Philip Henry, on 30 April 1819, having completed a journey costing £6,600.

During her first commission, the 1,447-ton ship, with a complement of 315 officers and men, provided hurricane relief in Bermuda in 1847, as well as preventing an invasion of Cuba, serving on the North American and West Indies station. She was to help quell riots in Haiti,

and serve on anti-slavery patrol.

After returning to Britain and being refitted, she headed for Vancouver in 1852 under the command of Captain Wallace Houstoun, and from there she patrolled the west coast of North America and the Pacific Ocean.

During the next few decades she served as a training vessel in various ports in Britain, including Sunderland, Hartlepool and Southampton. Then, in private hands as a sail training vessel, she was renamed TS Foudroyant in 1903 in honour of an earlier ship

 Trincomalee holds the distinction of being the oldest British warship still afloat, as HMS Victory, although 52 years her senior, is in dry dock.  The stern of Trincomalee.

 HMS Trincomalee at Hartlepool’s Historic Quay, where she has been a major tourist attraction for 30 years.

that was wrecked. She remained in sail training service until 1986, including a short period when she was recommissioned as a storage and training vessel during World War II, and reverted to her original name while undergoing restoration in 1992.

HMS Trincomalee spent much of the 20th century in Gosport, Hampshire before being brought to Hartlepool in 1987 on a heavylift barge. It took over a decade of painstaking work to restore the ship to her former glory.

Thousands of visitors now come to see her each year, and can discover her history, and see at first hand the hardship of those who served at sea in the 19th century. The gun deck is complete with cannons, while the mess desk is authentically fitted out, including grub-infested gruel-like meals. Hammocks line the mess desk, in contrast to the officers’ and captain’s more commodious quarters.

• For more information about HMS Trincomalee, nmrn.co.uk, tel 01429 223193 or email visit@ hms-trincomalee.co.uk.

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SPOTLIGHT ON CRUISE & MARITIME VOYAGES

‘Country house’ cruising Richard Clammer profiles cruise ships and the everexpanding UK operations of Cruise & Maritime Voyages.

C

ruise & Maritime Voyages is a company which is going from strength to strength. It is marketed as ‘the UK’s leading independent cruise line’, offering ‘a more traditional and leisurely style of cruising’, and operates a variety of somewhat eclectic small- to medium-sized classic cruise ships, sailing on no-fly adultonly cruises from British ports.

Formed in January 2010, CMV can trace its origins back to 1996, when Richard Bastow and Chris Coates set up a small company in Dartford called Cruise & Maritime Services (CMS) to represent cruise lines which did not have a presence in the UK, and to match

suitable vessels to the needs of UK and European tour operators. Within a few years CMS had persuaded a variety of companies to offer programmes of no-fly cruises from London’s under-used International Cruise Terminal at Tilbury, and later from a number from regional ports.

In 2006 discussions were held with German-owned Transocean Tours about the possible cooperative use of their chartered Arielle to reap maximum benefit from the different seasonal demands in the UK and German markets.

As a result, CMS subchartered Arielle for a series of cruises from Tilbury during May, June and September 2007, all of which quickly sold out. While negotiations were under way for a second Arielle

season, Transocean announced that they had instead agreed to charter the elegant Marco Polo from her new owners, the Global Maritime Group, from the spring of 2008.

It was agreed that CMS would sub-charter Marco Polo from April to August each year, and she would serve Transocean’s German market for the rest of the season, with both companies selling tickets for her autumn and winter cruises to the Caribbean, South America and Antarctica. The ship would sail in Transocean’s livery and be advertised under their well-established name. Although 2008 and 2009 were successful from CMS’s point of view, a combination of factors forced Transocean into receivership in September 2009.

 Marco Polo at anchor off Isafjordur, Iceland, June 2015.  The 1985-built Magellan making her maiden arrival on the Tyne, 28 March 2015. She began cruising out of Tilbury, Newcastle and Dundee in March 2015. DAVID FRASER

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CRUISE COMPANY

THE SHIPS MARCO POLO Alexandr Pushkin at sea, circa 1976.

Ocean Countess passing Ben Cruachan, June 2012. ASHLEY GILL

Faced with the loss of their trading partner, CMS agreed to take over Transocean’s charter from the Global Maritime Group until at least 2015 and operate the ship full-time on the UK market on their own account.

The Dartford office was expanded and urgent attention was given to devising an appealing cruise programme which would attract sufficient UK passengers to fill not only the Tilbury-based Marco Polo but also a second vessel, Ocean Countess, which was chartered from Majestic International Cruises to operate from Hull, Liverpool and Greenock. In 2011 CMS was restructured with expansion in mind, and the Global Maritime Group invested in the new venture, in addition to providing ship management services for Marco Polo and hotel management for Ocean Countess.

CMS was rebranded as Cruise & Maritime Voyages

(CMV), with the tag line ‘Britain’s newest cruise line’, and the now-familiar blue and silver sail logo was introduced.

On 2 January 2010 Marco Polo sailed on her maiden, 30-night CMV voyage to the West Indies, followed by a cruise up the Amazon.

CMV’s core programme of cruises to the Norwegian fjords, Iceland, the Baltic capitals and around Britain, supplemented by longer voyages to warmer climes, proved extremely popular and has formed the basis of the company’s activities ever since. The number of regional departure ports has steadily been increased, destinations have been added or deleted in the light of experience, line voyages to and from Australia have been introduced, offices opened in the USA and Australia and new vessels added to the fleet, but CMV’s basic philosophy has remained unchanged.

• Launched 26 April 1964 by V.E.B. Mathias Thesen Werft, Wismar.

• Formerly Alexandr Pushkin.

• 578.3ft x 77.25ft x 28.3fg • 22,080gt • 2 x 7-cyl Sulzer RD76 diesels • 15.5 knots • 800 passengers A constant presence during CMV’s seven-year history has been their iconic and much-loved Marco Polo.

Launched at the height of the Cold War in April 1964 in the Soviet Union as Alexandr Pushkin, she was the second of five elegant sisterships intended to be used on a summer liner service from Leningrad (St Petersburg) to North America, on cruises and as fast troop ships in time of conflict.

Alexandr Pushkin’s transatlantic voyages and cruises from Montreal continued until 1980, after which she was engaged in full-time cruising, marketed by the German company Transocean Tours and the Britishbased but Soviet-owned Cruise & Travel Club (CTC) on behalf of the

Baltic Steamship Company. In 1984 she was transferred to the ownership of the Far Eastern Shipping Co of Vladivostok and inaugurated a new programme of popular CTC cruises from Australia, together with a selection of longer voyages around the Pacific. By 1990, however, surveys revealed a number of technical problems, so she was withdrawn and laid up in Singapore.

But instead of following her sisters to the breaker’s yard, the ship was 

 Alexandr Pushkin’ s original bell is displayed in the Nansen Card Room.

 Marco Polo’s immaculate engine room which houses her two original sevencylinder 21,000bhp Sulzer diesel engines. www.shipsmonthly.com • January 2018 •

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Marco Polo, probably CMV’s best known ship, at anchor.

purchased by Gerry Herrod and taken to Greece for a major refit. She was gutted internally, modernised and completely remodelled, emerging in November 1993 as Orient Line’s Marco Polo. Fortunately she retained her classic, outward appearance, and for the next 14 years offered innovative itineraries to the premium ‘destination cruising’ market until June 2007, when she was sold to the Greek-owned Global Maritime Group who placed her on long-term charter to Transocean Tours.

When that charter ended prematurely in 2009, Marco Polo passed to CMV, who have operated her ever since. The ship has built up a large and loyal following of repeat passengers, who appreciate her classic good looks, intimate atmosphere and fascinating pedigree, as well as enjoying the itineraries that she offers.

OCEAN COUNTESS • Launched 20 September 1974 by Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen, and fitted out at La Spezia • Formerly Cunard Countess, Awani Dream II, Olympic Countess, Olympia Countess, Lili Marleen, Ocean Countess, and Ruby • 537ft x 75ft, 17,593gt • 4 x Burmeister & Wain 7U50HU diesels, 17 knots • 800 passengers The second vessel to join CMV’s fleet was launched in September 1974 as Cunard Countess and maintained Cunard’s Caribbean operations from San Juan, Puerto Rico for the next 22 years. In late 1992, after the conclusion of the Falklands War, she was chartered to the MoD to support troop movements between the Falklands

and Ascension Island and carry out a commemorative round voyage for family and friends of the fallen.

She was sold in 1996 and during the next four years sailed under seven different names for no fewer than eight operators, before coming to CMV in 2010. Ocean Countess enabled the company to develop sailings from regional ports such as Hull, Liverpool and Greenock, leaving Marco Polo to operate from Tilbury.

The strategy proved successful, demand grew steadily, and by 2012 she was replaced by a different ship.

Her farewell CMV cruise terminated at Barcelona and she was laid up at Chalkis, Greece, where she was badly damaged by fire in November 2013, subsequently being broken up in Aliaga.

DISCOVERY Discovery passes Portishead before berthing at Avonmouth, May 2014. CHRIS JONES, CHANNEL IMAGES

• Launched 3 March 1971 by Rheinstahl Nordseewerke, Emden, Germany • Formerly Island Venture, Island Princess, Hyundai Pungak, Platinum, Discovery, and subsequently Amen • 554ft x 81ft, 20,216gt • Three 10-cyliner plus one 8-cylinder GMT-Fiat diesel engines, 18 knots • 698 passengers In February 2013 CMV entered into a joint venture arrangement with the All Leisure Group, owners of Voyages of Discovery, to operate the latter’s popular Discovery as Ocean Countess’ replacement. Built for Flagship Cruises, she was best remembered for her 25-year career as P&O’s Princess Cruises’ Island Princess, during which time she

appeared occasionally in the popular TV series Love Boat, and was known for her wideranging ‘expedition voyages’ under Voyages of Discovery.

Her CMV career got off to a rocky start when her maiden voyage had to be cancelled after 24 hours due to ‘technical difficulties’, but she soon settled down and built a considerable fan base. It therefore came as a surprise when, claiming that the ship was operating at a loss, All Leisure terminated their arrangement with CMV two cruises early. She left Avonmouth for the last time on 9 October 2014 and sailed via the Mediterranean to Alang, India, where, in December, she was beached for scrapping.

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CRUISE COMPANY Astor at Denton Wharf on the Thames, October 2017. FRASER GREY

ASTOR • Launched 30 May 1986, by HDW Shipyard, Kiel, Germany • Formerly Astor, Fedor Dostoyevskiy • 579ft x 74ft, 20,704gt • 4 x Sulzer-Wärtsilä diesels, 16.5 knots • 600 passengers Astor was ordered by the South African company Safmarine in 1985 for dual use as a cruise ship and liner on their Southampton-Cape

Town service. However, they abandoned their passenger services before she could be launched, and she was sold on the stocks to Morgan Leisure and the Marlan Corporation of Mauritius, who operated her until 1988. She was under Soviet ownership until 1991, after which she passed through various hands, but spent much of her time on charter to Transocean Tours of Germany.

In 2013 her charter passed to CMV, and a year later she was purchased by the Global

Maritime Group along with the TransOcean brand name.

CMV aimed to revitalise the Australian market by reviving a successful formula used by the Soviet CTC line back in the 1980s. Every year since then, Astor has departed Tilbury in October on a 54-night southbound voyage, via the Panama Canal to Auckland, Sydney and Adelaide.

From December until March, she offers an attractive series of coastal and Pacific cruises from Fremantle and

 Looking forward along Astor’s upper deck.

Adelaide before setting off on her return voyage, northbound to the UK via the Indian Ocean and Cape Town.

FUNCHAL

Portuscale Cruises’ 1961-built Funchal carried out two cruises for CMV in late 2014. BURKHARD SCHUTT

• Launched 1961 by Elsinore Shipyard, Denmark • 501ft x 62.5ft, 9,563gt • Originally two Parsons geared steam turbines • Since 1972 two Werkspoor ninecylinder 5000bhp diesels, 16 knots • 524 passengers To honour the bookings on Discovery’s two final cruises, CMV chartered Portuscale Cruises’ pretty little Funchal.

Built to maintain Empresa Insulana’s liner service from Lisbon to Madeira and St Michael’s Island (later extended to Teneriffe), she served as the Portuguese Presidential Yacht on a number of occasions and also undertook regular cruises.

From 1985 until 2012 she was operated alongside other classic liners as part of the

Classic International Cruises fleet, and in 2013 passed to Portuscale Cruises, who spent a great deal of money refitting her to four-star standards.

During her second cruise for

CMV she was forced to shelter from a severe gale in the lee of the Isle of Man and land her passengers at Liverpool rather than Avonmouth. Sadly, the ship was just a little too small

to fit in with CMV’s business model and her charter was not extended, and she remains laid up in Portugal. One can only hope that this beautiful little vessel will cruise again.

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

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AZORES/ASTORIA

 Astoria in her original form as the 1946-built Stockholm. IAN BOYLE, SIMPLON POSTCARDS

• Launched 9 September 1946 by Gotaverken, Gothenburg, Sweden.

• Formerly Stockholm, Völkerfreundschaft, Volker, Fridjof Nansen, Italia I, Italia Prima, Valtur Prima, Caribe, Athena • 525 x 69ft, 12,165gt • Originally twin 8-cylinder Gotaverken diesels; since 1989 twin 8-cylinder Wärtsilä diesels, 15 knots • 550 passengers Discovery’s short-term replacement within the CMV fleet was Azores, another of Portuscale’s fleet of classic former liners. Built as the Swedish

transatlantic liner Stockholm, she is best remembered for her collision with the Italian Andrea Doria in July 1956, which resulted in the latter capsizing and sinking. From 1960 until 2013 she sailed under a variety of names, and in 1989 was heavily rebuilt to give her a totally new profile.

As Athena, she survived a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden in December 2008. Portuscale Cruises renamed her Azores in 2013 and she began her charter to CMV in January 2015 with a voyage to the Caribbean from Avonmouth, where she was based for most of the year.

During 2016 (when she was renamed Astoria to identify her more closely with CMV’s other small ship, Astor) and 2017, her sailings for CMV were limited to March and April, with the rest of the year being spent on charter to French tour operators Rivages du Monde. It was announced that she would leave the CMV fleet following her final cruise from Tilbury on 26 April 2017, but the decision was later reversed, and she will now offer a further season of cruises during 2018. She is believed to be the world’s oldest operational cruise ship.

MAGELLAN • Launched 1984, by Aalborg Shipyard, Aalborg, Denmark • Formerly Holiday, Grand Holiday • 726ft x 92ft, 46,052gt • 2 x Sulzer diesels, 16.5 knots • 1,250 passengers Built for the Carnival Cruise Line, Holiday spent the first 14 years of her life offering cruises in the western Caribbean, generally from Mobile, Alabama. In 2005 she was briefly used as an accommodation ship for victims of Hurricane Katrina, and in 2010 was transferred to the fleet of Carnival subsidiary Iberocruises and renamed Grand Holiday. She was used as a floating hotel for the Sochi Winter Olympics in February 2014, In the spring of 2015 she was acquired by the Global Maritime and, following a glittering renaming ceremony at Tilbury, began her first

sailing as CMV’s Magellan on 15 March, taking over as the fleet’s new flagship. At over twice the tonnage of Marco Polo and with 50 per cent more capacity, she offers a wider range of facilities, enabling CMV to sell more cabins across the fleet but still retain a greater feeling of intimacy and personal attention than that found on the modern mega-cruise ships. Magellan took over as the main Tilbury-based vessel, while Marco Polo served the regional ports.

Magellan in her original incarnation as Carnival Cruises’ Holiday. IAN BOYLE, SIMPLON POSTCARDS

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CRUISE COMPANY

2018 AND BEYOND FOR CRUISE AND MARITIME VOYAGES

T

he coming year will be an exciting and eventful one for the CMV fleet.

Columbus will begin 2018 with a 121-night Grand round-the-world cruise, returning in early May to take up her summer schedule of sailings from Tilbury. Astor will carry out her established Australasian voyages, while Magellan and Marco Polo will share sailings from an ever-increasing selection of regional ports including Bristol, Cardiff, Newport, Rosyth, Hull, Newcastle, Greenock, Dundee, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin.

Longer voyages will include cruises to the Amazon, South, West Indies, Canada and the White Sea, and an expedition voyage to Greenland. Even the little Astoria is breaking new ground by adding a new programme of sailings from Poole and Portsmouth in September and October 2018. This programme is to be extended further in the winter of 2018-19, with another round the world trip for Columbus, a 36-night Caribbean, Mexico and trans-Panama sailing by Magellan and an epic 70-night circumnavigation of South America by Marco Polo.

So what will the future bring? CMV is on an upward trajectory and the introduction of newer, larger ships has moved their operation into a new league.

With passenger figures increasing from 36,000 in 2010 to 130,000 in 2018, and 4,600 berths now on offer across the fleet, CMV claim to be ‘Britain’s largest independent cruise company’.

Trading has been so good that fleet development plans have been brought forward, and it has been announced that ‘more exciting news will follow soon’. Early indications

suggest that the company has been successful in maintaining its signature aim of low-key but friendly and attentive service on board the newer, larger ships, with repeat bookings being buoyant.

For those who prefer the intimate atmosphere of smaller, older ‘classic’ ships, Marco Polo has already been advertised until at least 2019.

Operating a mixed fleet of interesting, small- to mediumsized vessels, sailing from UK ports, provides a refreshing alternative to the huge ‘resort’ vessels on offer from many major cruise operators.

COLUMBUS • Launched 1988 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Saint Nazaire, France • Formerly Sitmar Fair Majesty, Star Princess, Arcadia, Ocean Village, Pacific Pearl • 811ft x 105ft • 63,786gt • 4 x diesels, 16.5 knots • 1,400 passengers As Magellan proved to be so successful, only a year later CMV announced that they had acquired an even

larger vessel, P&O’s Pacific Pearl. Although launched and named as a Sitmar ship, she was taken over by P&O’s Princess Cruises division and renamed Star Princess before entering service.

In 1997 she was transferred to P&O’s UK fleet and sailed as Arcadia until 2003, when she became Ocean Village to launch P&O’s new brand of that name. When the brand was closed in 2008, the

vessel was moved to P&O’s Australian fleet as Pacific Pearl.

Her transfer to CMV was announced on 7 March 2016, and on 27 March the ship began her farewell voyage from Auckland on to Singapore, where she was drydocked and refitted for her new role.

She was officially renamed Columbus at a gala event held alongside Tilbury International Cruise Terminal on 8 June 2017, and three days later set

off on a short inaugural cruise to Amsterdam and Antwerp.

She has become the principal Tilbury-based ship, mixing north European schedules with trips to the Canaries, Madeira and a 46-day crossing to Cuba, the Caribbean and America.

Her onboard facilities are the most extensive in the fleet.

Columbus departing Kirkwall, Orkney bound for Tilbury after her maiden call into Hatston Pier in July 2017. MAGNUS BUDGE

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MOSAIC

This selection of photos by Canadian photographer Marc Piché, from Verchères, Québec, shows cargo and container shipping traversing the St Lawrence River, 20 miles from Montréal. Ships of all types, from boxboats to tankers, use the busy waterway.  Em Kea, on charter to Maersk, inbound for Montréal on 16 July to unload her containers. Built in 2007 as Cap Norte for Cap Norte Schiffahrts, she became Cap Egmont in 2012, before being sold in 2015 to Kea Trading Ltd to become their Em Kea, as shown here.

 MSC Sandra outbound from Montréal to Antwerp on 17 May, carrying a heavier load than usual because of high water prevailing on the river during the spring.

MSC Sandra is one of two MSC sisterships built in 2000-01, the other being MSC Alyssa, which operates a monthly service from Montréal to Antwerp and back on the Montreal Express 1 route.

30 • January 2018 • www.shipsmonthly.com

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READERS’ ARCHIVE

 The bulker Tecumseh upbound in the Seaway for the first time on 9 April 2012, heading for Thunder Bay and a new career on the Great Lakes.

She was built by Lockheed SB&E Co and launched at Seattle on 22 August 1971.  Federal Columbia is one of a dozen handysized bulk carriers newly built (2015-16) by Oshima Shipbuilding Co Ltd for Fednav, which is Canada’s largest ocean-going dry-bulk shipping company.

 Radcliffe R. Latimer is a selfdischarging Great Lakes bulk carrier built in 1978 as Algobay for Algoma Central Corporation. In 1994 she was chartered by Canada Steamship Lines, who renamed her Atlantic Trader. She was rebuilt in 2008, coming back to Canada in 2010, and was renamed Radcliffe R. Latimer in 2012 to honour a former Algoma Central chairman.

www.shipsmonthly.com • January 201 •

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PICTORIAL

The Holland America Line (HAL) cruise ship Koningsdam departs Portland Port on the evening of 19 September 2017. Completed in 2016, the 99,836gt 2,650-passenger vessel is the first of HAL’s Pinnacle class ships, and is the largest ship ever constructed for HAL. STEVE BELASCO

SHIPS PICTORIAL Have you an outstanding photo that would grace our gallery? Send your image to Ships Monthly for inclusion in these pages, which showcase the best in ship photography around the world.

The cement carrier Golden Bay, arriving at Auckland in November 2016, departed New Zealand for the last time during 2017. Sold to German operators, she is returning to Europe after 38 years of service on the New Zealand coast and is set for further trading. She was built by the Dundee yard of Robb Caledon and has been well maintained by her former New Zealand owners, The Golden Bay Cement Company, hence her longevity. VICTOR H. YOUNG www.shipsmonthly.com • January 2018 •

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The 20,170TEU container ship MOL Tribute arriving at Southampton in August 2017 on her maiden voyage from the Far East. She operates on the Far East Loop 2 service. CHRIS BROOKS

HMS Argyll (F231) entering the Clyde with an MoD Police escort. She is one of the older frigates in service, having been launched from Yarrow on the Clyde in 1989. ALISTAIR GLENNY

The 115,639gt Maltese-flagged crude oil tanker Seastar (2008) approaching the Fawley Oil Terminal, assisted by the tugs Lomax and Apex, in September 2017. EDWARD FORD

Normandie Express (2000/6,581gt) undergoing sea trials off Cherbourg on 20 October 2017 having recently been overhauled, before going to Le Havre for winter lay up. KEVIN MITCHELL

34 • January 2018 • www.shipsmonthly.com

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PICTORIAL

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Irish Sea Highlander P&O CELEBRATES 180 YEARS European Highlander and nearsister European Causeway have been a mainstay of the Cairnryan to Larne route for almost 20 years.

Nicholas Leach went on board the Highlander to see her at first hand.

 European Highlander departing Larne, maintaining a schedule she has operated for more than 15 years. NICHOLAS LEACH

D

uring 2017 the 180th anniversary of the founding of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company has been celebrated by a now famous operation, justifiably proud of its long heritage.

P&O can trace its history back to 22 August 1837, when a first government contract was signed to deliver mail from Falmouth to Iberian ports. Since then the company has evolved and changed, expanded and divided, with P&O Ferries being the brand’s most visible operation in the UK and Ireland. Operations across the Irish Sea consist of a long crossing from Liverpool to Dublin and a shorter route from Cairnryan in Scotland to Larne in Northern Ireland, which is handled by two ships purpose-built for the route and ideal for the job.

The larger of the two ships is European Highlander, and she operates alongside European Causeway on the two-hour crossing, serving as the flagship of the P&O Irish Sea fleet. She is an enlarged version of European Causeway and measures 162.7m by 23.4m, making her six metres longer than the earlier ship.

Other differences include revisions to the passenger deck layout, additional passenger lifts and the use of larger lifeboats rather than marine evacuation systems.

She was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Shimonoseki, Japan and was completed two years later than European Causeway. As a result, the opportunity was taken to make some changes to the design, including extending the overall length.

She completed her delivery voyage from Japan on 26 June 2002, entering service out of

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FERRIES IN FOCUS EUROPEAN HIGHLANDER

EUROPEAN HIGHLANDER ON BOARD

 The reception area.

 The main restaurant.

 One of the passenger lounges.

 The Club Lounge.

 The main car deck.

 The forward passenger lounge.

 Chief Engineer Mark Robertson.

 The engine control room.

 Two of the four Wärtsilä engines.

Cairnryan on 1 July as part of an initial three-vessel lineup, which was completed by European Endeavour (1978).

European Highlander can carry up to 375 cars and 410 passengers. Vehicles are accommodated over three decks (decks 1, 2 and 3), two of which (2 and 3) are directly accessible from the doubledecked link spans at Larne and Cairnryan. All passenger facilities are situated on deck 4.

ROUTE

Cairnryan-Larne

BUILDER

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki, Japan; yard no.1069

ORDERED

August 2000

IN SERVICE

3 July 2002

TONNAGE

21,188gt

DIMENSIONS

162.7m (533.8ft) x 23.4m (76.8ft) x 5m (18ft)

ENGINES

4 x Wärtsilä 12V38 30,000kwh, two controllable pitch propellers, 22.5 knots

CAPACITY

6 decks, 410 passengers, 375 vehicles, 1,825 lane metres, 57 crew

Since her debut in July 2002 European Highlander has enjoyed an almost completely uninterrupted service, only leaving the route for routine maintenance and drydocking. Her entry into service came between 8 and 16 July 2002 while European Causeway went for drydocking and overhaul. She covered the schedule along with former Townsend Thoresen freight vessels European Endeavour and European Pathfinder (both 1976). When European Causeway returned, she and European Highlander took over. There are now seven departures a day, the one at 0400 being the earliest.

P&O developed passenger facilities on what was predominantly a freight route, and the introduction of the 22-knot pair was part of the modernisation of the fleet.

European Highlander and European Causeway together. DAVID FAIRCLOUGH

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European Highlander at her Cairnryan berth, ready to take the next load of freight and passenger traffic. She is operated by 59 crew, including a couple of cadets, while summer manning includes a few extra staff. She has six officers, six engineers, 16 deck crew, three engine crew and 25 catering and hotel staff.

The crossing is a popular one and is always busy with freight traffic. Fridays are usually the busiest for freight, and at weekends the ships often carry football traffic day trippers to Glasgow to see either Rangers or Celtic, whose fans are not carried on the same crossing.

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A decade after European Highlander’s introduction, in 2013 P&O spent £20 million on a makeover for both her and Causeway, with more comfortable seating areas, refurbished restaurants, a new menu and an all-new Club Lounge. In 2016 European Highlander completed a further refit, which saw a new forward lounge added, new shops and areas for children, as well as over 50 more seats. In Autumn 2016 the ship had additional seating areas in the reception room, and new ‘food courts’ were added.

European Highlander has made over 13,000 crossings since her introduction and will undoubtedly serve for many more years to come, proving an ideal ship for the crossing, and popular with passengers.

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38 • January 2018 • www.shipsmonthly.com

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m o fr w e i v A e g d i r B e th

FERRIES IN FOCUS

Kevin Doyle, who has worked for P&O Ferries for more than a quarter of a century, talked to Nicholas Leach about his career and European Highlander.

When did your career start?

At the age of 16, in Glasgow, I saw an advert for Denholm Ship Management, ‘Good Ships, Short Trips, Long Leave’, with a picture of a very smart attaché case-wielding Deck Officer. I was hooked and joined them as a cadet in 1975 for a brief induction in Plymouth before joining GTV Eurofreighter in Greenock for a four-month trip on the Europe-US East Coast container routes.

How did your career develop?

Denholms had a wide variety of tonnage and I spent my cadetship training on container ships, bulkers, reefers and tankers before gaining my 2nd Mate’s ticket in early 1979.

When did you achieve your first Officer rank?

I joined Scotstoun in 1979 as a fresh-faced Third Officer. We loaded bulk cement in Tarragona and sailed for Lagos. Two months were spent discharging on buoys between Lagos and Apapa. I think that was where I developed my weather eye – trying to

gauge when to start closing the hatches using the ships derricks and bull wires before the deluge arrived and ruined the cargo.

When did you first become a Captain, and on which ship?

I joined P&O as 2nd Officer In 1991 on Europic Ferry, a veteran of the Falklands Campaign, and first sailed as Relief Master on European Trader on the Cairnryan-Larne route in 1997. In 2007 I was promoted to Master, first on European Highlander.

On which other ships have you served?

During my career I have worked for Denholms, Orkney Ferries, Sealink/Stena and P&O Ferries.

I have worked on many vessel types, including Dynamic Positioning Diving vessels, anchor handlers, ferries and even a few stints on VIC 32, a Clyde Puffer, in my spare time.

Do you have a particular favourite ship, other than perhaps your current vessel?

Each ship and crew has her own unique flavour and I have fond memories of most. However, I have

On the bridge of European Highlander, heading to Larne.

a particular soft spot for SubSea Canopus and the two years spent in Brunei from 1984 to 1986. It was a happy time and coincided with getting married to Moira.

What are your day-to-day routines and tasks?

The day starts with some coffee and administration – catching up on emails, and making phone calls to the office, and then I will drop in on the Chief Engineer and Hotel Services Manager for their thoughts. Then, a handover from the Night Master, who has just completed his 12-hour shift and up to the bridge for the first of the pilotages in and out of Larne and Cairnryan. All this is interspersed with further admin and checks around the vessel.

What is the most useful innovation you have seen since you first went to sea?

Position-fixing equipment has made quantum leaps with the introduction of satnav, electronic charts and reliable radar. My first ship, on which I was Third Mate, had a radar which the Master advised me had ‘only to be used if necessary’, i.e. in the Dover Strait, as it was so unreliable.

Awareness in fog has been vastly improved and reliance on sextant navigation has all but ended.

Any other comments?

I have a keen interest in the welfare of all seafarers and have been a trustee of the Apostleship of the Sea, often known as Stella Maris, for many years.

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SUPERFAST TO BELFAST

George Holland compares Stena Line’s two passenger options to Northern Ireland.

S

tena Line has been operating its Cairnryan-Belfast and Liverpool (Birkenhead)Belfast routes for more than five years, and the service continues to prosper, with the company handling a record half a million freight units at Belfast in 2016. Indeed, the Irish Sea ferry market is booming, with operators enjoying continual increases in passenger and freight carried.

In late 2011, when the new port at Cairnryan was taking shape, Stena looked to the charter market to source ships for its Belfast service. They concluded a deal with Tallink for the ferries Superfast VII and Superfast VIII, taking them initially on a three-

year charter, which was later extended and has recently seen Stena purchase the ships. At over 30,000gt and more than 200m in length, they became the largest ferries serving Northern Ireland.

The ships were built in 2001 by HowaldtswerkeDeutsche Werft, in Kiel, for Superfast Ferries, who were branching out of their Greek sphere of operations and launching a new overnight Baltic service between Rostock, Germany and Hanko, Finland.

The enterprise was sold to Tallink, but the link between Finland and Germany proved to be loss-making, so the

ships were made available for charter. For their new role, Stena spent substantial sums to transform them from overnight to shortsea ferries, with the work being carried out by Remontowa at Gdansk.

The new interiors were designed by Figura Arkitekter of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Renamed Stena Superfast VII and Stena Superfast VIII, they opened the new Loch Ryan Port at Cairnryan on 21 November 2011, taking over

from the Stranraer operation, which had closed the previous day, seeing the withdrawal of the 1980s veterans Stena Caledonia (originally Sealink’s St David) and Stena Navigator (ex-SeaFrance Manet, Stena Parisien, Champs-Elysées), and the HSS Stena Voyager. Stena’s connection with Stranraer dated back to its acquisition of Sealink UK Limited in 1990, but now the ferry terminal there stands empty.

The refurbishment to

Stena Superfast VII approaching Loch Ryan in autumn sunshine, with the Ulster coast in the background.

40 • January 2018 • www.shipsmonthly.com

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FERRIES IN FOCUS convert Superfast VII and VIII from overnight ferries to shortsea service involved many changes. As part of the conversion, the free height of the upper vehicle deck was raised to 5.05m, allowing Stena to carry fullheight freight. Both ships also received an additional bow thruster to improve manoeuvrability, taking their complement to three bow thrusters and one stern thruster. As the new port in Scotland had an automated mooring system installed, the ships were adapted for this, with three steel bollards added

on the starboard side bow.

Internally, virtually no original fittings and fixtures remained unchanged. On Deck 7, the area amidships is occupied by Taste, a large self-service restaurant.

Further forward a Stena Shopping outlet is sandwiched between Guest Services and the Curious George play area to port, and the Teen Town video games arcade to starboard. At the forward end is the Met Bar lounge. This area had a subsequent upgrade during a 2015 refit.

On Deck 8, where passenger cabins were once

STENA’S NORTHERN IRISH SERVICE SHIPS

Stena Lagan, Stena Mersey

Stena Superfast VII, Stena Superfast VIII

ROUTE

Liverpool (Birkenhead)-Belfast

Cairnryan-Belfast

BUILDER

2005, Cantiere Navale di Visentini Francesco & C., Donada, Italy

2001, HowaldtswerkeDeutsche Werft AG, Kiel, Germany

DIMENSIONS

186.5m x 26m x 6.6m

203.8m x 25mx 6.58m

TONNAGE

27,510gt

30,285gt

ENGINES

2 x MAN B&W (10,800kW each)

4 x Wärtsilä-Sulzer NSD (11,500kW each)

SPEED (KNOTS)

20-22

20-22

CAPACITY

980 passengers, 492 berths

1,200 passengers, 12 berths

LANE METRES

2,240

1,891

FLAG

United Kingdom (Belfast)

United Kingdom (Belfast)

OWNER

Stena Line AB

Stena Line AB

 The starboard bridge wing aboard Stena Superfast VII.

 Looking up at the superstructure of Stena Superfast VII from the fo’c’sle.

 Second Officer, Ewan Howie, by Stena Superfast VII’s foremast. Note the signature Superfast aerofoils on the mast and funnel.

 Stena Superfast VIII in summer morning sunshine, docked at Belfast’s Victoria Terminal 4. She can be seen wearing Stena’s new eco-friendly slogan.

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located, are various themed lounges. Commercial drivers have a Truckers’ Lounge at the after end, while amidships is the entertainment area with a cinema, gaming area and Pod Lounge. The News Room is flanked by The Living Room, and the premium Stena Plus lounge occupies the forward end.

Crew accommodation can be found the entire length of Deck 9, while on Deck 10 the jacuzzi and sauna have been reinvented as the Nordic Spa, a facility unique to the Cairnryan-Belfast service.

Adjoining this area are Stena’s six luxurious Superfast Suites, which are in great demand, even on such a short crossing, enabling passengers to enjoy the comfort of a private cabin featuring double bed, settee, TV and en suite facilities.

Power comes from four Wärtsilä-Sulzer NSD ZA V40S main engines producing 11,500kW each, giving a total 46,000kW (62,000shp), coupled to two KaMeWa

propellers. The vessel’s original specified speed of 28 knots is no longer achievable, due to the fitting of new propellers to provide better fuel economy. Consequently, she typically operates between 20 and 22 knots. Stena Line currently offer up to six daily sailings between Cairnryan and Belfast.

Stena Superfast VII and VIII use Belfast’s impressive Victoria Terminal 4, which was built on reclaimed land in 2008 and was altered in 2011 in time for the inauguration of the Superfast ferries. The HSS berth has since been decommissioned. Stena’s North Channel services previously ran from the Albert Quay terminal, situated further inward along the River Lagan and now solely used by the Isle of Man Steam Packet.

At the quayside in Belfast, Stena Lagan berthed at Victoria Terminal 2 after an overnight sailing from Birkenhead, whilst Stena Performer at the berth at Victoria Terminal 1, operating the Heysham service.

BACK TO BIRKENHEAD

Returning from Belfast to Birkenhead involves an overnight sailing aboard Stena Mersey. Stena’s acquisition of

Stena Mersey sailing down Belfast Lough inward bound. Note the cars parked around her funnel on the open vehicle deck.

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FERRIES IN FOCUS

 The escalator and stairwell connecting the main vehicle deck on Stena Mersey to the passenger accommodation on Deck 5

 One of Stena Mersey’s twin Wärtsilä-Sulzer engines.

this route came about when DFDS was in the process of withdrawing from Irish Sea operations, and Stena effectively took over the services from Birkenhead and Heysham to Belfast, while also closing the unprofitable Fleetwood-Larne service, acquired from P&O in 2004.

Stena Mersey and her twin, Stena Lagan, belong to the prolific series of ro-pax vessels constructed by Cantiere Navale di Visentini of Donada, Italy. They were delivered in 2005 as Lagan Viking (II) and Mersey Viking (II) and were the lead vessels in Visentini’s flex-bow series, distinctive by their stiff, almost upright, stems. They replaced the original Lagan Viking and Mersey Viking dating from 1997, which were also products of Visentini.

The newer ships’ hull forms were more fuel-efficient and stable compared to their predecessors, and they also featured far more passenger accommodation, extending almost to the stern.

In 2012 Stena took full ownership of the two ships, and their accommodation was refurbished by Harland & Wolff in Belfast. The Visentini ships were, internally, somewhat spartan, with tiled and linoleum flooring throughout and no carpeting, and a mixture of steel, wood and faux leather furnishings.

The 26,500gt vessel can carry up to 980 passengers in her two lounges, and sleep up to 480 in cabins. She has four vehicle decks and space for around 200 lorries. She is powered by twin MAN B&W 9L 48/60B diesel engines, which give her a maximum speed of 24 knots.

Deck 3 is the main freight deck, and the catering facilities are located on Deck 5. At the forward end, the Met Grill & Bar can be found to port, with the commercial drivers’ restaurant to starboard. Further aft is the Stena Plus lounge and the ship’s galley. Amidships is the lobby area, with stairs leading to the passenger cabin

accommodation on Deck 6.

Further aft still is the Barista coffee bar and play area. A corridor on the starboard side leads to the games arcade, reception, shop and cinema.

The Birkenhead-Belfast route has had a succession of operators. P&O Ferries closed their LiverpoolBelfast operations in 1981, being succeeded by Belfast Car Ferries, which itself was wound up in 1990. Then came Norse Irish Ferries, who merged with Merchant Ferries in 1999, later to be absorbed

by Norfolkline in 2005, which in turn was acquired by DFDS in 2010, forerunner of Stena’s current operation. The service sails twice daily except Mondays, with departures from both ports at 1030 and 2230. The overnight sailing allows early boarding at 2100 to allow passengers the opportunity to have supper on board before going to bed.

With thanks to Diane Poole and Lawrence Duffy of Stena Line for their kind assistance.

 Mersey’s engine room boiler, with hand-painted customisation.

 Captain Neil Whittaker on the bridge of Stena Mersey, having brought her alongside the Birkenhead Twelve Quays terminal. He has been the senior master of this ship since 2013.

He joined Stena Line in 2004, when the company acquired P&O’s FleetwoodLarne operation. His previous commands were Stena Superfast VIII on Cairnryan-Belfast (2011-13), Stena Navigator on StranraerBelfast (2009-11), Stena Leader on Fleetwood-Larne (2004-09), European Leader and European Pioneer on Fleetwood-Larne (2001-04).

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Oldest ‘Clyde-built’ vessel still To mark the 20th anniversary of the start of her restoration, James Hendrie looks at the career of the motor vessel Kyles, the oldest Clyde-built vessel still afloat in the UK.

MV KYLES BUILT

John Fullerton & Co of Paisley

LAUNCHED

12 March 1872

DIMENSIONS

Deck length 83ft, moulded breadth 18ft, moulded depth 8ft 1in

TONNAGE

79.86 gross

MACHINERY

Coal-fired boiler with steam engine, 2 x 15in diameter cylinders and a 16in length of stroke

CARGO HOLD

38ft 6in entered by 25ft 10in wide hatch

Kyles takes pride of place at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine.

 Kyles was first registered in Glasgow in 1972.

 Kyles undergoing work at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine.

Kyles was converted from steam to diesel power in 1957.

 Looking forward over Kyles’ deck towards cargo hatch.

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CLYDE-BUILT

till afloat and attracting visitors

K

yles, which is the oldest Clydebuilt vessel still afloat in the UK, remains a floating exhibit at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine 145 years after her launch in 1872. Visitors are able to climb aboard the iron-built coaster and step back to a time when ships such as this played a vital role in moving goods by sea to the many remote island communities around Scotland and other coastal ports of Britain. Originally steam-powered, she was later converted to diesel power.

Launched on 12 March 1872, Kyles was built by John Fullerton & Co of Paisley for Stuart Manford of Glasgow.

The first of her many roles was as a tender for the Clyde fishing fleet, which saw her sailing out to meet the fishing boats and take their catches on board, returning these to the mainland.

A succession of owners followed, with Kyles carrying heavy and general cargoes on short coastal voyages in Scotland, Newcastle-uponTyne and the South Wales area. Her port of registry remained Glasgow until 1900, when she was registered at Hull, and the first major changes in her structure came in 1921, when she was converted to work as a sand dredger in the Bristol Channel, where she became a familiar sight to many in this

 The view from the wheelhouse looking forward.

area. She went on to be used as a general cargo coaster as well as a tanker. By the start of World War II, Kyles was out of service and laid up on the Glamorganshire canal.

When the West of Scotland Boat Museum Association, precursor to the Scottish Maritime Museum, was formed in the early 1980s, her then owner, Captain Peter M. Herbert of Bude, offered to sell Kyles to the group, and in 1984 the Scottish Maritime Museum became her 24th registered owner. Kyles was re-registered in Glasgow, 112 years after her name first appeared in the records.

 Kyles is heading for 150 years of age, and is a significant addition to the National Register of Historic Ships.  Visitors to the Scottish Maritime Museum can take part in a guided tour of motor vessel Kyles, which is now moored afloat at Irvine.

RESTORATION WORK

It took until 1996 to obtain funds sufficient for her renovation, and work began in 1997 to strip out the sludge tanks, reinstate the original hatch and hatch cover, and replicate the mast and derrick.

Her wheelhouse had been removed in the 1970s and this was replicated with help from old photographs of the vessel, thus reinstating her to her 1957 refit condition, when she was converted to diesel.

The restoration work was completed in 1999 and, for a period, Kyles returned to the Clyde, when she was put on display at ‘Clydebuilt’, the Scottish Maritime Museum at Braehead. In 2010 she returned to Irvine, where she can be found today on the Harbourside. Visitors to the

Scottish Maritime Museum have the opportunity to be taken on a guided tour to a 1920s Glasgow tenement flat as well as Kyles. The guided tour allows visitors to view the crew area in the bow, which is quite cramped compared to the quarters of the captain and engineer in the stern. Visitors can also view the engine room and step into the wheelhouse

to see charts similar to those used by the various masters of Kyles when she was in working service around the coast.

There they can learn about the role such ships as Kyles played in the UK’s maritime history. Kyles is one of the most important historic vessels in the United Kingdom, and a fine example of shipbuilding from the Clyde.

 The wheel inside the replicated wheelhouse.

 The crew facilities in the bow are quite cramped.

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A TALE OF TWO LINERS Shaw Savill’s Southern Cross and Northern Star Stephen Payne takes a look at two famous liners from the 1950s, and examines their design and career.

SOUTHERN CROSS

F

 Launch of Southern Cross in Belfast. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

ollowing their experience of operating the austerity emigrant ship New Australia on behalf of the British Ministry of Transport, Shaw Savill Line, under its Chairman and Managing Director Basil Sanderson, decided to capitalise on the apparent demand for low-cost round-the-world passenger voyages by building a specialist ship for the service that could circumnavigate the world four times a year on a

76-day routing.

The ship was ordered from Harland & Wolff on 16 July 1952 and was delivered three years later, on 23 February 1955, having been launched and named by HM The Queen as Southern Cross on 17 August 1954. The design of the ship broke with all traditions on several counts: she was an all-tourist class ship for 1,160 passengers without any provision for First class; she carried no cargo apart from her own stores

BUILT

1955, Harland & Wolff, Belfast

DIMENSIONS

604ft x 78ft x 45.3ft

TONNAGE

20,204gt, 10,327 net

ENGINES

Twin screw, two doublereduction turbines, 20,000bhp, 20 knots

PASSENGERS

1,160

LAUNCHED

17.8.1955

DELIVERED

Trials 23.2.1955, delivered 24.2.1955, maiden voyage 29.3.1955

LATER NAMES

1973-80: Calypso 1980-81: Calypso I 1981-92: Azure Seas 1992-2003: OceanBreeze

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LINERS IN PROFILE Launch of Southern Cross at Harland & Wolff. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

 Southern Cross running her sea trials on the Arran measured mile. NEWALLDUNN COLLECTION

 Southern Cross in her Shaw Savill days. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

requirement; and she adopted a novel engines-aft design.

Although the engines-aft concept was not entirely new, it had not been used before on such a large ship as a 20,204gt passenger liner. Harland & Wolff charged a premium of £156,000 for the enginesaft configuration compared to traditional midships, as this necessitated an increase in the beam of one foot to provide the requisite level of aft buoyancy to compound the natural tendency to trim by the stern, with the weight of the machinery far removed from the centre of buoyancy.

The elimination of cargo holds enabled the engines-aft arrangement to be seriously considered, and it was Basil Sanderson who championed the idea and drove it to successful implementation.

The main advantage of this arrangement was that the public rooms could be disposed in the forward part of the ship without being constrained by the position of the engine casing.

The elimination of cargo allowed Southern Cross to be operated on a strict timetabled schedule that would not be inconvenienced by cargo workings, making the ship more attractive to passengers.

As a result, scheduling allowed the ship to arrive in her ports of call early in the day and depart late, thus providing in-transit passengers with a convenient full day ashore.

For a Tourist class liner, the standard of accommodation was particularly high, although corridors and the cabins on the accommodation decks had open deckheads with exposed structure and piping.

Cabins were provided for single, double (some with additional Pullman beds), four and six persons. To awaken passengers, inside cabins featured a lighting system which came on dimly at 0700 and gradually brightened to simulate sunrise before switching off at 0800.

Although a majority of the 405 cabins lacked private facilities (only 32 were so

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provided), they were all air-conditioned, which was a significant advance for this class of ship. In fact, the liner boasted the most extensive airconditioning plant yet installed on a passenger ship and it covered all the passenger cabins, the two restaurants, cinema lounge, the shop, hair-dressing saloons, crew recreation room, some crew cabins and two small hospitals.

The design allowed a number of public spaces to span the full width of the ship, including the main lounge, the two restaurants and the Tavern pub. Wholesale use of plastic laminated Formica plywood was considered for the linings in the corridors and stairwells, but in the event the cost of this new material prevented this throughout.

Limited mainly to passenger areas, light blue or cream colours were employed for the laminate and this produced a light and airy aspect.

Public rooms made extensive use of wood veneers, which provided a modern yet warm interior, characterised by a high standard of outfit.

The main lounge was located at the forward end of the

 A fine study of Northern Star, showing her more refined bridge front compared with that of Southern Cross. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

superstructure on Lounge Deck and had windows on three sides. At the rear of the lounge, to port and starboard and screened off from it by curved partitions, were the library and writing room.

Aft of the lounge, past the forward stair lobby, was the smoking room, decorated with light grey elm wood veneers sourced from the piles of the 19th century Waterloo Bridge.

Moving further aft was a

two-deck-high cinema lounge with a wooden floor, which could be used for dances, with the furniture moved to the sides. The forward mezzanine section had tiered cinema-style seating, and a film screen could be deployed at the aft end.

The room was attractively outfitted in cherry wood and green leather, being furnished with a stage and raised dais sections for good sightlines on the lower level. At the aft Northern Star’s aft quarter showing the funnel near the stern.

NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

Northern Star during her sea trials. NEWALLDUNN COLLECTION

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LINERS IN PROFILE

 Southern Cross sailing from Cape Town on her Around the World itinerary.

 Fluorescent lighting featured in the dining-room on board Southern Cross. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

 Looking aft towards the stage in Southern Cross’s cinema lounge.

NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

end came the Tavern, which was a large bar lounge/pub, complete with an extensive bar and sectioned seating areas.

The passenger restaurants operated on a two-sitting basis and were situated at either end of the main galley; the forward restaurant seated

390 passengers and the aft one 192. Two playrooms were available for children according to age, and a large indoor swimming pool was placed low down in the forward part of the ship, complementing a smaller open-air pool.

Twin shafts driven by geared turbines rated at 20,000shp provided Southern Cross with a service speed of 20 knots, with 21.35 knots being achieved on trials. Steam was provided by three boilers, electrical distribution was by directcurrent, and a 300 tons-perday fresh water generation plant provided a degree of autonomy from shore supplies.

Southern Cross entered service on her first round-

the-world voyage on 29 March 1955 after a threeday shakedown cruise. The ship called at Trinidad, Panama Canal, Papeete, Suva, Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne, Fremantle, Durban, Cape Town and Las Palmas; this was not a traditional routing for such a ship, which would customarily sail out to the Antipodes one way and return on the same routing, rather than perform a complete circumnavigation.

 Main turbines on board Southern Cross. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

SECOND SHIP

Following the success of Southern Cross, a second ship was sought that could pair her on the round-the-world run, allowing one ship to sail clockwise while the other sailed counter-clockwise.

It was hoped that this arrangement would provide complete flexibility, allowing passengers to circumnavigate as if on a world cruise, or stop off at some point and catch the sister ship for the return.

 Northern Star’s rather austere main lounge. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

The second ship would also be a replacement for Dominion Monarch, which, although still quite youthful, was becoming increasingly outmoded in her all-First class passenger-cargo-liner configuration.

Shaw Savill determined that the new ship should

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be somewhat bigger than her earlier sister, 24,000grt as opposed to 20,000grt, through widening the hull by 4ft and lengthening by 50ft.

The layout of the ship was superficially similar to that of Southern Cross, but numerous improvements were made in the light of experience with the earlier ship and the advent of new materials.

The ship, named Northern Star, was contracted with Vickers Armstrong on the Tyne. The ship was predominantly of welded construction, fabricated largely from 30-ton blocks, small by today’s standards but quite novel at the time. The ship was laid down on 29 April 1960 and was launched by HM The Queen Mother on 27 June the following year.

She was handed over to her owners on 26 June 1962 after a short delay in completion.

Northern Star introduced two modern innovations into the shipping world: she was the first passenger ship to utilise multi-stage flash evaporators for fresh water production, and she had liferafts in lieu of lifeboats, albeit for crew use.

The adoption of two main cabin deck longitudinal corridors with transverse junctions servicing the inside cabins, instead of the Southern Cross arrangement of a single wide central corridor and auxiliary longitudinal and athwartships passageways, saved 1ft 6in on the beam.

A modest increase in depth allowed in effect an extra deck to be worked into the design compared to Southern Cross.

These measures accounted for a much larger passenger capacity, an additional 240 passengers compared to her older running mate, bringing the complement up to 1,400.

In fact, Northern Star was overall a much more efficient ship, having just two boilers, alternating current electrics and an additional 200 tons-per-day fresh water generating capacity.

However, these efficiency gains came at a cost, and that

was primarily in the cramped nature of her machinery arrangements, which significantly complicated maintenance and running repairs. Northern Star was not an easy ship for her engineers, and this fact had adverse consequences as her career advanced. Shaft power was increased by 2,000 to 22,000shp for 22 knots, and air-conditioning was extended throughout the passenger areas, except in the tavern, and also provided to the Officers’ accommodation.

The shape of the ship was also refined, with a much neater bridge superstructure block, funnel, mast and bow profile. The vertical support stanchions of the open promenades were replaced with forward slanting ones, while the increased ship length enabled a sheltered swimming pool and lido to be incorporated immediately forward of the funnel.

Plastic laminate was employed throughout the ship, and in consequence Northern Star’s accommodation did not quite have the warmth of her older fleetmate. She was very much a typical passenger ship of the 1960s.

Northern Star departed on her maiden voyage from Southampton on 10 July, 1962, sailing east around the world. Initially all went well, but in the late afternoon on 16 July the starboard shaft had to be stopped, as sparks were seen coming from the high-pressure turbine thrust plate, accompanied by a rapid increase in the lubricating oil temperature.

The pads of the thrust plate had been completely worn away and caused significant damage which would need specialist repairs. Temporary repairs were made, but the port shaft soon suffered the same problem and the whole maiden voyage was dogged by this unfortunate circumstance.

 Northern Star departs from Southampton on her troublesome maiden voyage. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

 Northern Star on sea trials. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

EMPRESS OF ENGLAND

In 1970 Shaw Savill acquired the Canadian Pacific liner

 Southern Cross sailing as Calypso for Ulysses Line. NEWALL-DUNN COLLECTION

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LINERS IN PROFILE

NORTHERN STAR BUILT

1962, VickersArmstrong, Newcastle

DIMENSIONS

650ft x 83.7ft x 26.1ft

TONNAGE

24,756gt, 12,890 net

ENGINES

Twin screw, 22,000bhp, 20 knots

PASSENGERS

1,412 tourist, 490 crew

LAUNCHED

27.6.1961

DELIVERED

Handed over 26.6.1962, maiden round-the-world service 10.7.1962

DISPOSAL

Arrived at Kaohsiung for breaking, 11.12.1974

Empress of England and, at Cammell Laird’s at Birkenhead, transformed the ship from a two-class transatlantic liner into a single-class modern cruise ship. The refit was a disaster, seriously over-running in both timetable and budget.

Worse still, the ship, renamed Ocean Monarch, was plagued with mechanical problems, which led to numerous breakdowns and delays, compounded by crew unrest. The increase in the price of fuel as a consequence of the 1970s oil crisis led to a severe strain on the economics of operating passenger ships, especially steamships, which were already heavily strained due to increased crew costs following the settlement of the 1966 Seamen’s Strike.

Inevitable resulting budgetary considerations led to standards of maintenance being drastically cut back.

In 1975 Shaw Savill decided to cut their losses and cancel Ocean Monarch’s UK summer cruise season, selling the ship for scrap in June that year.

Northern Star had continuing propulsion issues resulting from low levels of maintenance, with serious problems in May 1974 and January 1975 that caused cancellations and lost revenue. In March Shaw Savill announced that the ship would be withdrawn from

service at the end of her UK cruise season.

She arrived in Southampton for the last time from a Mediterranean cruise on 2 November for destoring, having been sold for scrap.

Shaw Savill’s parent, Company Furness Withy, was chaired

by Lord Beaching of railway fame, and he said at the firm’s annual Board Meeting: ‘Ships such as these inspire a strong sentimental attachment and I am sure that many of our shareholders will regret their passing, just as we do.

Nevertheless, from a purely financial point of view, their disposal gives rise to nothing but a sigh of relief. They have become a loss-making worry and there could be no surer way of improving the profitability of Shaw Savill than by withdrawing them.’

Northern Star’s final season had been relatively successful, but a single ship was not a viable proposition to cover overhead office costs and the like. Although she was only 13 years old, no buyer could be found for the ship, as reliability issues had seriously tarnished her reputation. The ship was sold to Li Chong Steel and Ironworks Taiwan, departing Southampton on 7 November and arriving at Kaohsiung on 11 December 1975 to join Oranje, Oronsay and Reina del Mar, also

awaiting demolition. After a few months, shipbreaking commenced in March 1976.

Meanwhile, the solidly built and mechanically reliable former Southern Cross sold in 1973 sailed on as the heavily internally altered Calypso, before a brief slight change of name to Calypso 1 in 1980, subsequently becoming Azure Seas (1981) and finally Ocean Breeze (1992), for a succession of owners.

She remained in service until 2003, when her owners, Imperial Majesty Cruises, decided to acquire a dieselpowered substitute ship (Regal Empress, ex-Olympia, 1952) that, although of similar vintage and less attractive from a passenger viewpoint, was more economical to operate on the two-day cruise circuit between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas. Despite calls for the ship to be preserved, she was scrapped in Chittagong, Bangladesh, being beached on 5 November 2003.

Southern Cross and Northern Star may not have been the largest or most glamorous of ships, but they were remarkable nonetheless.

Whereas Southern Cross was clearly deemed the more successful of the two, Northern Star was by far the more technically advanced, but her mechanical issues have sadly degraded her place and standing in maritime history.

OCEANBREEZE

 In her latter years sailing as Oceanbreeze, the former Southern Cross was a real anachronism. However, her wood-sheathed promenades, cosy lounges and sweeping lines made her a popular cruising choice, and many were deeply saddened when she sailed off to the breakers in 2003

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NAVAL PROFILE

THE RUSSIAN NAVY Conrad Waters assesses Russian fleet capabilities with reference to a series of recent photographs.

T

he renewal of tensions between Russia and its western neighbours following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 has resulted in an increased focus on the state of the Russian Navy, which is increasingly being used as the spearhead of the assertive foreign policy adopted under President Vladimir Putin’s leadership, and is frequently in the limelight as a

result. Once written off as being in terminal decline, Russia’s fleet is again catching the attention of both strategists and newspaper columnists alike.

The former Soviet fleet certainly fared badly in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War. The chaos that followed the Soviet Union’s dissolution resulted in the fragmentation of the industrial infrastructure that had supported the military. There

was also a catastrophic collapse in naval investment and the numbers of ships in service declined rapidly. Relatively few of those that remained were maintained in effective operational condition.

Today’s newspaper headlines suggest that the Russian Navy has left these dark days behind. Images of Russian warships transiting the English Channel to support the intervention in Syria are

reminiscent of the days of Soviet naval power, but the reality is more nuanced.

While significant investment has been made in modernising capabilities such as the strategic submarine flotillas, the ‘blue water’ fleet for international deployment remains heavily reliant on Soviet-era relics.

The accompanying photos aim to give a broad indication of the current capabilities of the Russian Navy’s fleet.

PYOTR VELIKIY • battlecruiser

Named after Peter the Great, Pyotr Velikiy is currently the Russian Navy’s largest surface combatant and reflects the fleet’s continued reliance on Soviet designs. She is pictured passing through the English Channel in January 2017 after a Mediterranean deployment.

The last of four Project 1144 Kirov class ‘heavy missile cruisers’ delivered from 1980 onwards, the 25,000-tonne Pyotr Velikiy was commissioned in 1998 and is flagship of Russia’s Northern Fleet.

She is equipped with nuclear propulsion and a

powerful, missile-based armament. She has been very active on international deployments but – after nearly 20 years of service – is badly in need of a comprehensive overhaul. It therefore seems likely that she will be taken out of service for refit in the

near future. Her replacement will be her modernised sister, Admiral Nakhimov. Laid up at the end of the 1990s after barely ten years in service, Nakhimov is currently being returned to operational service by the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia.

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FOREIGN NAVIES

KraSnoDar • Patrol Submarine

DMITRIY DONSKOY Strategic missile Submarine Dmitriy Donskoy, named after the founder of Moscow, was the first of six Project 941 Typhoon class strategic submarines commissioned by the Soviet Union from 1981 onwards. The 27,000-tonne boats are the largest submarines ever built, and Donskoy is the last one in service.

Russia’s nuclear-armed, strategic missile submarine force is a key part of its nuclear deterrent and, consequently, regarded as a vital national asset. The force

remained operational after the Soviet Union’s collapse. It is now being modernised with the new Project 955 ‘Borey’ class strategic submarines armed with the RSM-56 ‘Bulava’ intercontinental ballistic missile. Developing the new missile involved considerable work, and Dmitriy Donskoy was modified to act as a test bed for the new weapon. She carried out 13 test firings from 2005 onwards, not all of them successful. RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

aDmIral KUzneTSov • aircraft Carrier

Commissioned on 5 November 2015, Krasnodar is one of a new Project 636.6 variant of the Kilo class submarines ordered for service with Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The original Kilo class design dates from the late 1970s and utilises conventional dieselelectric propulsion. It was a highly successful submarine in its day and has been widely exported.

However, the type’s continued production for the Russian Navy largely reflects problems with the follow-on, Project 677 ‘Lada’ class, which is rumoured to be equipped for future installation of air independent propulsion (AIP) for extended underwater endurance.

The lead boat of this new type

began an extended series of sea trials as long ago as 2005, but has never become fully operational. Two modified Project 677 submarines are under construction but will not enter service until the early 2020s.

The latest Project 636.6 Kilos are armed with long-range cruise missiles as well as torpedoes. The missile strike capability has been used operationally against antigovernment forces in Syria’s Civil War, and the Russian Navy appear to be largely happy with this new variant. Construction is now under way on another similar batch of Kilos at the Admiralty yard in St Petersburg. These are destined for service with Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

The Russian Navy’s sole Project 1143.5 class aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, was delivered in 1990, shortly before the Soviet Union was dissolved. The fact that she was built in Nikolayev in Ukraine illustrates something of the problem Russia has faced in reconstituting a shipbuilding base in the post-Soviet era. This may also account for reports that there have been significant problems maintaining her in

effective operational condition.

She currently deploys with a handful of SU-33 and MiG29K strike fighters embarked, both types being equipped for short take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) operation.

She is pictured transiting the English Channel at the same time as Pyotr Velikiy in early 2017. A sistership was sold

by Ukraine for completion in China, where she now serves as Liaoning. CROWN COPYRIGHT 2017

CROWN COPYRIGHT 2017

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NAVAL PROFILE DImITrovGraD • Corvette

Seen during the Russian Navy Day celebrations at Saint Petersburg in 2016, Dimitrovgrad is one of the numerous series of Project 1241 Tarantul-type missile corvettes commissioned into Russian naval service from the late 1970s

onwards. She is designed largely for surface combat in inshore waters, and her armament includes four P-270 ‘Moskit’ surface-to-surface missiles and a single 76mm gun.

A combined diesel or gas propulsion plant gives her an

impressive top speed of over 40 knots. Russia continues to develop a range of well-armed small surface combatants that provide a surprising range of capabilities. For example, the latest Project 21631 ‘Buyan-M’ class corvettes are

armed with up to eight longrange ‘Kalibr’ cruise missiles, in spite of displacing less than 1,000 tonnes. These have been fired from vessels in the Caspian Sea to strike targets in Syria at distances approaching 1,000 miles. CONRAD WATERS

ADMIRAL ESSEN • Frigate

Ivan Gren • amphibious Transport

The second Russian Project 11356 Admiral Grigorovich class frigate Admiral Essen, seen against the backdrop of the Admiralty and Hermitage buildings in St Petersburg in August 2016.

Continued delays in constructing new surface warship designs resulted in the navy adapting a design exported to India – the Talwar class – for its own use.

Seen departing on initial sea trials in 2016, Ivan Gren is the first of at least two Project 11711 large landing ships.

Work on the ship commenced as long ago as 2004, but lack of funding meant that her launch was delayed until 2012. It is expected she will be in commission by early 2018. The Russian Navy

The Grigorovich class frigates are the result. Six have been ordered from the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad, with three delivered by late 2017.

The 4,000-tonne ships are powerfully armed for their size, with vertical launch cells for a range of surface-to-air, surfaceto-surface and long-range cruise missiles. CONRAD WATERS

would like to commission more modern amphibious ship designs with greater capacity for helicopter operations.

However, the collapse of the deal to acquire Mistral type amphibious assault ships from France means that the Gren class is likely to be the most modern type available for the foreseeable future. YANTAR

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FOREIGN NAVIES

aDmIral PanTeleyev • Destroyer Seen entering Pearl Harbor during happier days in US-Russian relations in 2012, the Project 1155 Udaloy class destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, commissioned in May 1992, is typical of the Soviet-era ships that continue to be used to support the Russian Navy’s international deployments.

She is the last of 12 8,500-tonne large ‘anti-submarine ships’ completed from 1980 onwards, around eight of

SoobrazITelnyy • light Frigate

which remain in service. In spite of their anti-submarine description, these ships have a wide range of war-fighting capabilities, and have been the ‘work horses’ of the post-Soviet era fleet.

However, the basic reliability of the design may be compromised by its reliance on gas turbines manufactured in Ukraine, which are now no longer available for Russian use because of the conflict there. US NAVY

Soobrazitelnyy is the second of a series of Project 20380/1 light frigates.

The class was originally designed to protect the offshore littoral waters, where Russia’s strategic missile submarines operate, from foreign incursion and is being built in some numbers. Commissioned in 2011, she is one of the few truly modern major surface warships in Russian service and incorporates a number of

improvements over Steregushchy, the first vessel of the class.

Displacing a little over 2,000 tonnes, she is a little too small to be well suited for lengthy missions and currently operates in the Baltic.

However, a lack of alternative vessels means that she has travelled further afield; this 2017 image shows her returning from a Mediterranean deployment. CROWN COPYRIGHT 2017

warships, the Project 11356 design relies on gas turbines manufactured by Ukraine. The supply of these has been cut off since the Crimean annexation.

As a result, the last three Admiral

Grigorovich class frigates have had to be laid up incomplete, further exacerbating the Russian Navy’s shortage of modern ‘blue water’ surface combatants. Russian industry

is working on an indigenous marine gas turbine for new designs, but the suspended ships may be sold to join their ‘half-sisters’ serving in the Indian fleet. YANTAR

YANTAR SHIPYARD

Project 11356 frigates are pictured in various stages of completion at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg in East Prussia).

As with many older Soviet surface

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NAVAL PROFILE

Type 21 frigates have been the mainstay of the Pakistani fleet for almost 20 years; pictured are PNS Shah Jahan and PNS Tippu Sultan, operating alongside an American frigate.

PAKISTAN NAVY CELEBRATES 70 YEARS

P

akistan as a nation came into being on 14 August 1947, and the Royal Pakistani Navy was established the same day under the leadership of Rear Admiral James Wilfred Jefford, a British former Royal Navy officer. He had previously held a similar position within the Royal Indian Navy and it was from that fleet that the first few ships were transferred to Pakistani control.

The initial fleet was small, comprising just four sloops, four fleet minesweepers, eight motor minesweepers and a small number of harbour defence launches. While the ships allocated to the new navy were quickly identified, their transfer

In August 2017 the Pakistan Navy celebrated its 70th anniversary in style with a fleet review. Patrick Boniface looks at the history of the navy, which has been built on the acquisition of largely foreign-built warships. was a much slower affair, with all the ships, except for the minesweeper Malwa, leaving Bombay bound for Karachi on 17 January 1948. Six days later Governor General Quaid-eAzam Muhammad Ali Jinnah conducted the first inspection of the new naval units.

Over the next few months several shore establishments

were created, usually with assistance and guidance from Royal Navy personnel. The small vessels that had been transferred were sufficient for coastal protection duties, but what the Pakistani Navy required was larger and more capable vessels, and on 30 September 1949 the first of two former Royal Navy

destroyers, HMS Onslow, was commissioned into service as HMPS Tippu Sultan. She was later joined by another O class destroyer, HMS Offa, which was named HMPS Tariq.

Pakistan did not buy equipment and ships only from the British. In March 1953 a former US Navy minesweeper was commissioned in Seattle as HMPS Muhafiz. Following the proclamation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Royal prefix to the Pakistani Navy was dropped on 23 March 1956.

As a nation, Pakistan grew more influential throughout the 1960s, and this was reflected when the first submarine entered service on 1 June 1964. The former

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FOREIGN NAVIES diesel-electric USS Diablo took the name of PNS Ghazi. Pakistan was created by slicing off a large section of Indian territory, and this has led to much tension between the two nations.

Pakistan and India have on numerous occasions come to blows, with one of the most serious incidents occurring on 8 September 1965, when Pakistan launched Operation Dwarka. The navy bombarded the Indian city of Dwarka with guns fired by PN ships Alamgir, Jahangir, Khaibar, Babur, Badr, Shah Jahan and Tippu Sultan.

 The Pakistanis have long been expert exponents of submarine warfare. This was their first boat, the American-built PNS Ghazi.

MODERN SUBMARINES

The first modern diesel electric submarine to join the fleet that had not been based World War II technology was the French Daphne class PN Hangor. She was commissioned on 1 December 1969 and arrived in Pakistan 19 days later. Hangor was joined by a sister submarine, Shushuk, on 12 January 1970 and a third, Mangro, on 5 August the same year.

To met a growing demand for new officers for the expanding fleet, the Pakistani Government authorised the construction of the Pakistan Naval Academy in late 1970, located on Manora Island, the establishment being named

 The former British Type 21 frigate Avenger was one of the last to be transferred from Britain, and was renamed as PNS Tippu Sultan by Pakistan.

Substantially modernised, she is still in service.  One of the first units of the early fleet was the River class frigate PNS Shamsher, which was built by Smiths Dock Co, South Bank-on-Tees and commissioned in 1944. She was transferred to the Royal Indian Navy in 1945 and to Pakistan in 1947.

PNS Rahbar.

Tensions between India and Pakistan in 1971 reached a tipping point. On 4 December 1971 India launched a devastating attack, codenamed Operation Trident, against the facilities and ships in Karachi.

Three Soviet-built Osa class fast attack craft launched their SS-N-2-Styx missiles, sinking PNS Muhafiz and PNS Khyber and damaging PNS Shah Jahan beyond economic repair.

Four days later Pakistan struck back, when the submarine PNS Hangor sank the Indian Navy’s Type 14 frigate INS Khurki. The Indians had a clear idea that Hangor was operating close by, but the anti-submarine equipment in the Type 14 frigates was obsolete. Hangor was under the command of Commander Ahmed Tasnim, who had discovered the Indian squadron of frigates the previous evening.

At 1957 she fired two torpedoes, one at Kirpan and one at Khurki. The first missed, but the second found its target. The torpedo hit the frigate near her ammunition magazines. Khurki blew up and, within two minutes, the warship was gone, taking with her Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, 18 officers and 176 sailors. The captain elected to go down with his

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NAVAL PROFILE ship, and survivors said that he was saluting as she went under the waves. Khurki has the unwelcome distinction of being the first warship in the world to be lost to submarine attack after World War II. The fighting was far from over, however, as India retaliated with Operation Python, which resulted in the sinking of the Panamanian vessel Gulf Star and PNS Dacca, and the British ship Harmattan was damaged. In the ensuing panic, Pakistani Air Force aircraft misidentified the Pakistani navy ship PNS Zulfiqar and launched a devastating aerial attack that killed many of her crew.

Most damaging, however, was that the Pakistan Navy also lost their only long-range submarine, PNS Ghazi, in mysterious circumstances while she was laying a minefield. At the end of the war, Pakistan had lost seven gunboats, one minesweeper, two destroyers, three coastguard vessels and 18 cargo ships. Another three merchant vessels, Anwar Baksh, Pasni and Madhumathi, were captured by the Indians.

In comparison, India lost just a single frigate and another was damaged.

In 1972 the fast patrol boats Lahore, Quetta, Mardan, Sukkar, Gilgit and Pishin were added, while Tughril was commissioned as a cadet training ship. The following year, in an effort to improve dockyard facilities, a floating dry dock was built locally.

Four more fast patrol boats, Kalat, Larkana, Bannu and Sahiwal, joined the fleet in 1974. Two years later, in a change of purchasing policy by the Pakistani Government, a pair of submarine chasers was purchased from the People’s Republic of China, and these were named Sind and Balochistan.

The late 1970s saw further fleet expansion, with the addition of the Daphne class submarine Ghazi and a pair of Agosta class submarines, Hashmat and Hurmat. The latter two boats were built

in France by Dubegion. By the early 1980s the elderly World War II-era destroyers, which had been making up the majority of the major surface units, were in desperate need of replacement. Interestingly, the Pakistani Government chose to replace them with ships of a similar vintage, albeit substantially modernised. The newer ships were American Gearing class destroyers, which had undergone FRAM 1 refits.

In Pakistani service the six ships became Tariq, Taimur, Tippu Sultan, Tughral, Alamgir and Shah Jahan.

 PNS Babur operating in the Persian Gulf as part of the Coalition Maritime Plan (CMCP) in 2004.

ANTI-SHIP MISSILES

The Pakistani Navy was one of the first in Asia to embrace anti-ship missiles, having armed their Sea King helicopters with the system in 1979. Two years later the first missile armed fast attack craft built in China were acquired, and the four members of the Hegu class (Haibat, Jalalat, Jurrat and Shujaat) brought a new capability to the fleet.

 In the early 1980s Pakistan bought ships from the United States, including this pair of Brooke class frigates, USS Brooke and USS Callaghan

PNS Tippu Sultan about to take on fuel from the American Sealift Command tanker USNS Supply.

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FOREIGN NAVIES PAKISTAN NAVY • PrINcIPAl UNITS SHIP (quantity)

ORIGIN

IN SERVICE

SHIPS

F-22P Zulfiqar class (4)

Pakistan

2009

F-260 Alamgir (1)

USA

2010

Tariq class (5)

UK

1990s

Babur, Shah Jahan, Tariq, Khaibar, Tippu Sultan

1988–97

Munsif, Muhafiz, Mujahid

FRIGATES Shamsheer, Zulfiqar, Saif, Aslat

MINE HUNTER Munsif class (3)

Pakistan, France

FAST ATTACK CRAFT Jalalat II class (2)

Pakistan

Jurrat class (2)

Pakistan

2006

Azmat class (3)

Pakistan, China

2013

Larkana class (2)

Pakistan

MRTP-33 (2)

Turkey

2007–08

MRTP-15 (2)

Turkey

2006–08

 The modern, Chinese designed Type F22P frigate Zulfiguar alongside at Karachi.

Following the announcement in the British Houses of Parliament of the 1981 Defence Review and the subsequent withdrawal of a large number of Royal Navy warships, the Pakistani Navy successfully bid to purchase the County class guided missile destroyer HMS London. She was transferred to her new owners on 24 April 1982, becoming Babur. She was fitted with the then obsolete Seaslug anti-aircraft missile system, four 4.5-inch guns, and the Seacat missile system.

The Seaslug system was soon removed and she then became the fleet’s flagship.

During the early 1980s a survey vessel, two fleet tankers, four Huangfen class fast attack craft and five Futi class inshore minesweepers were added to the fleet; the last nine vessels were all built in China. The next purchases came from the USA when eight Brooke/Garcia class frigates were leased, between 1989 and 1994.

The Americans also provided the repair ship USS Hector, which was recommissioned as Moawin. Like the frigates, she was returned to the US Navy in 1994. Two years earlier, in an effort to improve the fleet’s mine warfare capabilities, three French-built Eridan class minesweepers were acquired.

In 1993 the first of six British Type 21 frigates were transferred to Pakistan to replace the American Brooke/ Garcia class. In Pakistani service the Type 21s became Babur, Badr, Khaibar, Tippu Sultan and Shah Jahan. The first, Tariq, was commissioned on 28 July 1993. The 1990s saw regular additions to the fleet, including the first of the advanced Agosta 90B submarines, Khalid, on 21 December 1999. The second, Saad, joined the fleet on 12 December 2003.

Pakistan’s integration into the world community continued during the early years of the 21st century, and in late April 2004 the Pakistani Navy participated

for the first time in the US-led Coalition Maritime Campaign Plan (CMCP), a counterterrorism operation.

In 2004 a major landmark for the local shipbuilding industry was reached, when the first indigenously built Agosta 90B class submarine Hamza was constructed at Karachi. By 2006 the Pakistan Navy had taken command of the Multinational Task Force 150 at Bahrain, and had established their own special forces.

With assistance from the Chinese, the PN Dockyard commissioned the locallybuilt F-22P Zulfiqar on 30 July 2009. This modern frigate was based on a Chinese design but was tailored for the Pakistan Navy, and is known locally as the Sword class. A second member of the class, Shamsheer, was commissioned on 19 December 2009, a third, Saif, on 15 September 2010, and a fourth, Aslat, in 2012.

At the same time Pakistan returned to the United States to try and replace their ageing Type 21 frigates with Oliver Hazard Perry class ships. Originally, the plan was to purchase six vessels, but in 2010 only one, the former USS McInerney, was transferred in a deal worth $65 million. Two years later US Congress placed ‘impossible’ conditions on further transfers. In Pakistani service, the frigate was renamed Alamgir.

In 2010 the former Prince William tall ship was acquired from the Tall Ships Youth Trust for £4 million for service as a cadet training ship and was renamed Rah Naward.

Locally built ships continue to be produced, and on 29 December 2016 construction of the first Azmat class fast attack craft commenced.

The 70th anniversary was celebrated with parades and flags at a special ceremony held at the mausoleum of Quaid-eAzam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, when officers and men from the Pakistani Navy paraded to mark the country’s Independence Day.

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CHARTROOM SHIPS MAIL

Peace Boat

I was pleased to see the ‘Peace Boat’ Ocean Dream entering Leith on 3 October 2017, aided by the tugs Strathdon (stern) and Fidra (bow).

Built in 1981 as Carnival Cruise Line’s first custom-built newbuild Tropicale (35,265 gt), she was transferred to the Costa fleet as Costa Tropicale in 2000 before operating for P&O Cruises Australia as Pacific Star in 2005. 2008 saw her sold to Pullmantur Cruises and renamed Ocean Dream, being chartered as the current Peace Boat in 2012.

The 95th Global Voyage by Peace Boat saw the the ship leave Japan on 13 August, with a return on 25 November. The latest voyage

Another patrol boat

The former US Riverine Patrol Boat P22 (SM, Oct) you featured is not the last existing example in Europe, although, looking at the picture, it looks to be the last one in its original condition. But the Bundesmarine also used six of these boats, from 1956 until the early 1990s. They were first used by the US Navy Weser Patrol, then by the Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS, Border Protection Service), and then transferred from the BGS to the new Bundesmarine in 1956.

The construction of these boats started in 1952 at the Abeking and Rasmussen shipyard. After decommissioning, four boats have been sold or donated to the armed forces of Kazakhstan, but two are still in Germany. KW 19 is ashore as a ‘home

involves 23 port visits in 19 countries during the three-and-a-half-month cruise. Among the ports were five new ones: Yangon in Myanmar; the island of Crete; Bordeaux; Edinburgh; and Hilo in Hawaii. On leaving Leith, the ship headed to Iceland to view the Aurora Borealis, before crossing the Atlantic to visit

base’ for the section of the Deutscher Marinebund in Horumersiel (not far from Wilhelmshaven), and KW 18 went to the DMB section in Borken and is still afloat, albeit not sailing any more.

Thomas Rückert Wilhelmshaven, Germany

Anchor Line delight

It was like reaching the Holy Grail when a friend and I came upon the Anchor Line restaurant in the centre of Glasgow one morning last spring.

I had long held a keen interest in the Anchor Line, the renowned but nowdefunct shipping company that called the Scottish city its home. And there, to my delight, was this three-year-old restaurant occupying what had been the company’s elegant, Edwardianera head office and containing

The patrol boat KW 19 in Horumersiel.

New York and Havana.

The Peace Boat is a global non-government organisation, headquartered in Japan, and established for the purpose of raising awareness and building connections internationally among groups that work for peace, human rights, environmental protection and

posters, photographs and other memorabilia devoted to Anchor Line ships, focussing mainly on the quintet of handsome passenger liners Anchor operated in the 1920s and 1930s between Glasgow and New York.

So, while awaiting a breakfast of poached eggs with Scottish smoked salmon, I roamed the spacious restaurant, whose finest room was once Anchor Line’s magnificent first-class booking hall, and inspected charming photographs and posters depicting the five liners Cameronia, California, Tuscania, Caledonia and Transylvania, all built in the 1920s, naturally on the nearby River Clyde.

The pictures were all the more poignant because Anchor Line’s transatlantic passenger service never resumed after World War II, during which the company lost California, Caledonia and Transylvania to enemy action. I especially liked two atmospheric black and white photographs, one a stern shot of either California or Tuscania on the Clyde passing Renfrew, and the other of Cameronia and either Caledonia or Transylvania berthed at Glasgow’s Yorkhill Quay.

The authenticity of the collection, drawn from University of Glasgow archives, with donations by former Anchor Line employees, does great credit to the restaurant. So, too, does the hearty, well-prepared fare we sampled there at breakfast, lunch and

sustainable development.

The ship has been described as a ‘floating university’, offering educational opportunities aboard, with conferences related to global events. Humanitarian aid is also provided at the various stops.

Besides the international voyages, Peace Boat carries out a number of other projects seeking justice in various international realms, such as a campaign for the abolition of land mines, the Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War or Global Hibakusha Forums. The organisation was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2008.

Previous ‘Peace Boats’ have included two well-loved Clyde-built liners: the 1955-built Topaz – better known as the transatlantic liner Empress of Britain and the 1966-built Mona Lisa (ex-Kungsholm).

Iain McGeachy Leith Write to Ships Mail, Ships Monthly, Kelsey Publishing, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berrys Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG, or email sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk.

Please note that letters via email must enclose sender’s full postal address.

Contributions to Ships Monthly must be exclusive and must not be sent to other publications. The editor reserves the right to edit material. Kelsey Publishing reserves the right to reuse any submission sent in any format.

FERRIES ALONGSIDE • David Worth, of Paignton, supplied this photo from his collection, and asks: is this possibly Holyhead with an LNWR ferry?

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READERS’ PAGES

Matson’s Mariposa I was interested to read the article about the Matson line Mariposa (SM, Aug). Looking through our family archives, I found a page about a journey we made in June 1941. As a young lad of four, I travelled with my family in Mariposa from Sydney to Auckland. This was part of a longer journey, which had started in Singapore in June 1941, when we flew to Sydney in another flying boat, (taking four days with three overnight stops) then boarded the Mariposa.

In September we flew back from Auckland to Sydney in another flying boat, the Awarua.

The picture shows Mariposa with two funnels, so the major refit in the 1950s must have replaced those two with one; no doubt there were many other alterations as well. Unfortunately, I cannot remember much about the sea voyage, although I do remember a little of the flying boats.

John Noble Queensland, Australia

close by to starboard. She was gleaming in the midday sun but, as my camera had stopped working when in Spain, only the memory remains.

I shared a cabin with a Portuguese man, who kindly offered me a lift from Southampton to London, by when my pockets were very light. After a night in London, I went from Paddington to Swansea where the newly-built Innisfallen awaited to take me home.

On board her, I was conscious of being much closer to the surface of the sea then I had been on that much larger Hispania. In the late 1960s those Swedish boats were regarded as ‘big’ ferries. Different ships for different times, but I wonder how many of the current monster ferries will last as long as Hispanic and her two companies.

Robert O’Brien Greystones, Co Wicklow

HMS Ajax information

I have a friend in Australia whose father served on HMS Ajax before the start of World War II. She has been trying to get some general information about the ship, but has not had too much success. Can any reader supply information about HMS Ajax? Apparently her father was transferred from Ajax before the River Plate event, so did not have any involvement with those welldocumented circumstances. I would be very grateful for any information.

David Banks-Broome Crawley

Preserved discoveries

I was delighted to discover two preserved vessels during the summer, neither of which had been previously known to me. The first was during a

Royal Iris on the Thames

I thought you might be interested in the attached photos of the former Mersey ferry Royal Iris, which has been moored near the Thames Barrier at Woolwich since 2002. Her general decline has accelerated considerably into a sight of sadness, since on every high tide she sinks, visit to Bideford, where I came across Freshspring moored at the Quay.

She was built in 1946 by Lytham Shipbuilding and Engineering as one of a class of 14 freshwater carriers for government service, replenishing Royal Navy ships in various dockyards.

She also acted as a fire tender when required. She was allocated to Malta dockyard, where she remained until returning to the Clyde and working from Greenock until 1979. She was then sold out of service and went to Bristol for preservation, and was steamed from time to time.

She is now based at Bideford under the auspices of the Steamship Freshspring Society, whose objective

and further damage is evident with the lack of any care and attention to fix the problems. It is surprising that the PLA have not issued any removal notice for this old Mersey ferry dating from the 1950s.

David Walter Tunbridge Wells is to return her to operation. She is currently static, but is regularly accessible. Contact details are SS Freshspring Society, 4 New Street, Appledore, Devon, EX39 1QJ, 01237 479730, info@ssfreshspring.co.uk.

The second find was at the Southampton Boat Show, where, among the high-value plastic yachts, was P22, a former US Navy river gunship from the Cold War. Beautifully restored by Barry Field, she was proudly displayed by her crew. She is now based at Sandwich (see Waterfront, Oct 2017), and played a starring role in the film Dunkirk.

Tony Thompson Fareham, Hampshire

dinner. The Anchor Line, at 12-16 St Vincent Place, opens daily. For more details see www.theanchorline.co.uk or call 0141 248 1434.

John Henry, New York

Swedish sisters

I enjoyed the article on the former Swedish ferries (SM, Apr), as it revived many memories from nearly half a century ago. In October 1969 I boarded Hispania in Bilbao for a voyage to Southampton, having spent a number of weeks backpacking in Spain. Hispania was a comfortable ship, with the notorious Bay of Biscay on its best behaviour, and a highlight was passing the southbound Patricia

Queen Elizabeths together off Scotland Regarding the recent coverage on HMS Queen Elizabeth in your magazine, I would like to share the attached photograph with you.

While on holiday in Nairn in the summer, we went to the Black Isle on 7 July to follow Queen Elizabeth

(the Cunard cruise ship) from Invergordon to Cromarty.

Realising that HMS Queen Elizabeth was somewhere ‘round the corner’, we drove up the Sutor of Cromarty and managed to take some photographs of the

rendezvous of the Queens. I really like your magazine, which always provides an interesting read.

My main interests are the ferries to and from the UK. Carsten Wolpert Sehnde, Germany www.shipsmonthly.com • January 2018 •

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CHARTROOM Ports of call • JaNUarY

Date

Arr/dep

Ship

Operator

Saga Pearl II

Saga Cruises

Aurora Oceana Queen Victoria Ventura Black Watch Balmoral Oriana Queen Victoria

P&O Cruises P&O Cruises Cunard Line P&O Cruises Fred. Olsen Cruises Fred. Olsen Cruises P&O Cruises Cunard Line

GT

PORTSMOUTH 28

0800/1700

18,627

SOUTHAMPTON 3 3 3 4 5 6 6 7

0500/1700 0700/2000 0630/1630 0700/1630 0800/2000 0530/1630 0630/1630 0630/1630

76,152 77,499 90,746 116,017 28,613 43,537 69,840 90,746

Compiled by Donna and Andrew Cooke

7 7 9 10 20 22 23

0630/1630 0600/1630 0700/1630 0630/1630 0530/1630 0600/1630 0530/1630

Queen Elizabeth Saga Sapphire Arcadia Queen Mary 2 Balmoral Saga Sapphire Balmoral

Cunard Line Saga Cruises P&O Cruises Cunard Line Fred. Olsen Cruises Saga Cruises Fred. Olsen Cruises

90,901 37,049 83,781 149,215 43,537 37,049 43,537

TILBURY 5 1100/2000 Columbus Cruise & Maritime Voyages 63,786 7 0800/1600 Magellan Cruise & Maritime Voyages 46,052 NOTES This information is given in good faith, and neither the authors nor Ships Monthly can be held responsible for any changes to ship arrivals or departures.

MYSTERY SHIP

 Oliver Natås sent a photo of the ship taken in August 2017, and added that the ship can be chartered round the Oslofjord area.

NOVEMBER’S MYSTERY SHIP This mystery ship is the steamer Børøysund, and she is shown lying at the base of Akershus castle in Oslo.

Most pleasingly, she is still very much in service today and preserved as part of Norway’s rich maritime heritage.

She is shown wearing the funnel colours of black with broad blue band separated by two thin white bands belonging to A/S Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab (VDS and also known as Vesteraalske), the colours (and houseflag) she still wears.

The 157grt vessel measures 108.8m by 18.3m, and she is powered by triple expansion engines which were designed to give a service speed of nine knots driving a single screw.

She was delivered in July 1908 by Trondhjems mek. Verksted (yard no.133) as Odin for A/S Trondhjems Lågterkompagni and was built for towage and passenger duties on the Trondheimsfjord. Between 1914 and 1918 she was requisitioned as a guardship by the Norwegian government, keen to protect their

neutrality during the conflict, after which she was returned to her owners.

In 1923 she was sold to A/S Hjelme & Herlø Dampskibsselskab of Bergen and renamed Skjårgar, but only remained with them until October 1925, when she was bought

by VDS of Stokmarknes and renamed Børøysund. Although VDS were one of the companies involved in the famous

Hurtigruten service between Bergen and Kirkenes, she was designated a ‘local line ship’ and operated routes in the Lofoten and Vesterålen districts.

In 1936 she was rebuilt by VDS and her gross tonnage changed to 190grt. Her war years were relatively uneventful and she remained with VDS until 1961, when she was renamed Hyma upon being sold for use as a static school ship. But in 1969 she was sold to Norsk Veteranskipsklubb

(Norwegian Veteran Ship Club) and was again renamed Børøysund for preservation as a working vessel.

At today’s exchange rate, the price of her being put in the safe and caring hands of a preservation society is £942, which seems a small amount to pay for saving such a beautiful little ship from the past so that it can be enjoyed in the future. Ship lovers worldwide should take note.

Phil Chappell, Worcestershire

This month’s mystery photo shows a large warship of some kind, but one with no markings. So what was her name? When was she built and with which navy did she serve? Did she see any active service, and if so when and where? Where was the photo taken?

What was her ultimate fate?

Send your answers, including a postal address, by email to sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk, or by post to Mystery Ship, Ships Monthly, Kelsey Media, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berrys Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG. Emails preferred.

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READERS’ PAGES

SHIPS LIBRARY

bookof themonth Ferries 2018

Classic British Cargo Liners Malcolm Cranfield The latest World of Ships title contains over 200 outstanding photographs of classic British cargo liners, and covers an era of shipping when British shipping companies sailed the world.

It covers all the well-known British Lines and looks at companies whose ships, when not engaged in tramping, were often employed on charter to them. Many of the photographs were taken in Australian and, while cargo liners predominate, tankers, colliers, bulk sugar and iron ore carriers also feature. The book is divided into three sections, and the photographs are accompanied by detailed captions, as well as short company histories. JM • Published by Kelsey Media Ltd, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berrys Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG; tel 01959 541444, kelsey.co.uk, paperback, 100 pages, price £7.95.

British Isles & Northern Europe Nick Widdows Published by Ferry Publications, PO Box 33, Ramsey, Isle of Man IM99 4LP; tel 01624 898445, info@lilypublications.co.uk, 172 pages; price £18.50 plus postage

The latest version of this book, which provides a complete guide to the ferries of the British Isles and Northern Europe, is the 13th edition. The first appeared in 1983 as a 24-page volume covering just Britain and Ireland, and since then it

has been expanded considerably. The book aims to list every passenger/ vehicle ferry in Great Britain and Ireland and to nearby continental destinations, as well as major passenger/vehicle ferries to other parts of Northern Europe.

It is divided into ten sections, covering major and minor UK operators, ro-ro operators, small ferries such as chain and cable craft, and northern European ferries, and is very thorough in its coverage.

The main sections are divided up into operators, listed alphabetically, and provide company overviews, routes operated, listings of ships and brief histories of the vessels, all accompanied by numerous photos.

Sir Lancelot and then Cunard cruise ship Cunard Princess. Great nostalgia, highly recommended. NL

books cover it, the first looking at UK tugs and this one covering tugs in other parts of the world. NL

• Published by Snowbow Productions (2000) Ltd, 145, The Promenade, Peacehaven, East Sussex, BN10 7HN www.snowbow.co.uk, tel 01273 585391/584470; length 65 mins (each); price £18.95 inc UK p&p and insurance; £2 extra for elsewhere in the world.

• Published by Coastal Shipping Publications, Bernard McCall, 400 Nore Road, Portishead, Bristol BS20 8EZ, bernard@coastalshipping.co.uk, tel 01275 846178, 112 pages, £10.95 plus £1 UK postage.

The Great Liners DVD

Part 41: The Great Ports of Hull, Immingham, Grimsby, Goole and Selby Part 42: The Golden Days of Shipping

Snowbow Two more DVDs from Snowbow capture the bygone days of shipping with the help of more rare archive film unique to Snowbow. These two new offerings start with coverage of some of the great north-east ports in the mid-20th century, starting in Hull in the 1940s and going through to the 1960s. Part 42 looks at ports of South Wales, including Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, and goes on board RFA

Svitzer Tugs (Worldwide) Bernard McCall This photographic book by Bernard McCall covers Svitzer tugs round the world, and, produced in landscape format, contains one photo of a tug per page. The details with each photo cover the tug’s builder, tonnage, propulsion, former and later names, and current location. A short introduction looks at the history of Svitzer, a company established in Denmark in 1833, and how it has expanded subsequently. Because of the huge size of the Svitzer fleet, two

British Warship Recognition

The Perkins Identification Albums – Vol.IV: Cruisers 1865-1939, Part 2 Richard Perkins Richard Perkins was an acknowledged expert on identifying and dating warship photos. To further this work, he began to produce drawings of individual ships that incorporated as much visual detail as possible, and which could be amended as he acquired more information.

As well as the listings and company information, there is an overview of the modern ferry scene and an examination of some of the latest trends in the industry. This is followed by feature articles, one of which examines 60 years of Silja Line, and the other the TallinnHelsinki route and the development of the service to Finland. NL His main concentration was on the external features differentiating ships of the same class and, wherever possible, precisely dating alterations to their appearance, all portrayed in exquisite multi-coloured, annotated line drawings. The project grew into an enormous resource covering virtually every Royal Navy ship from 1860 to 1939, when wartime security restrictions forced him to cease further research.

This unique hand-drawn manuscript was donated to, and is now being published in association with, the National Maritime Museum in a multi-volume edition that captures all the qualities of the original. This second part of Volume IV includes most of the smaller cruisers from about 1916 back to the Amazon class corvettes of 1865.

Every page is reproduced at full size – the book is in portrait format and measures 40.3cm x 31cm – making the extensive hand-written annotation readable, while the fine-line drawings retain all the colours that Perkins used to denote differences in appearance and alterations. NH • Published by Seaforth Publishing, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church St, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS, 01226 734555, seaforthpublishing. com, hardback, price £60 plus p&p.

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ON SALE DEC 15

NEXT ISSUE THE BIGGEST CRUISE SHIPS

How big can cruise ships become? Byron Clayton looks back at the history of cruise ships, and how and why they have got bigger and bigger.

PLUS A DECADE OF QUEEN VICTORIA • Christian Reay marks ten years of Queen Victoria’s service in the Cunard fleet.

OCEANS APART • John Martin looks at two ferry companies which operate in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, BC Ferries in Canada and Caledonian MacBrayne in Scotland.

MIKASA • Profile of the British-built Mikasa, a historic warship now on display at Yokosuka, in Japan.

WORLD SHIP SOCIETY Founded in 1947, the World Ship Society has some 2,000 members worldwide who are interested in ships, past and present. Its monthly journal “Marine News” and its naval companion ”Warships” are bywords for accurate information.

MARINE NEWS - comprehensive listings of merchant ship activity for enthusiasts – some 10,000 entries a year covering launches, name and ownership changes, casualties and demolitions, in a 64-page digital magazine delivered to members’ computers around the first of each month. There are feature articles, topical warship coverage, photographs and Society news.

MARINE NEWS SUPPLEMENT - The monthly digital supplement to ‘Marine News’ contains supplementary photographs Fleet Lists and long feature articles covering modern and historical subjects.

NEW PUBLICATION – Everard of Greenhithe: 2nd Edition Completely Updated by K.S. Garrett.

Hardback, 288 A4 pages dealing with 479 vessels the majority illustrated in colour or black and white. Tells the complete story of one of the UK’s best-known and much-missed coaster fleets from inception to final demise in 2006. Available from WSS, 274 Seven Sisters Road, Willingdon, Eastbourne, BN22 0QW United Kingdom, price £30 to members (quoting membership number) or £36 to non-members plus P & P £3 (UK), £13 (Europe) & £20 (RoW). Payment may be made by GBP cheque or credit card. For the latter please state whether Visa or Mastercard and quote card number, exact name on card, card expiry date, card validation number and address of cardholder.

BRANCHES - The World Ship Society has over 50 local branches worldwide which hold monthly meetings involving slide shows, Powerpoint presentations and illustrated talks given by invited speakers and Branch members.

MEMBERSHIP - annual membership of the World Ship Society (includes 12 digital copies of “Marine News” and digital Supplements per annum) costs £24 (£20 outside UK and EU). Get a trial digital copy of ‘Marine News’ by e-mailing your name and address to: membershipsecretary@worldshipsociety.org or write to the Membership Secretary, World Ship Society, 17 Birchdale Road, Appleton, Warrington, Cheshire WA4 5AR (UK) www.worldshipsociety.org

www.worldshipsociety.org

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C E L E B R AT I N G

YEARS (1917-2017)

Supporting seafarers in need and their families since 1917 To ďŹ nd out about our work or to make a donation visit www.seafarers.uk phone 020 7932 0000 or email seafarers@seafarers.uk Seafarers UK (King Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fund for Sailors) is a Registered Charityy, no. 226446 in Eng gland and Wales,, incorporate ed under Royal Charter. Registered in Scotland, no. SC038191

A Merry Christmas from Snowbow

Wouldn’t it be nice if over the Christmas holiday we could switch on the TV and watch a programme all about our favourite ships, but that’s never going to happen, because to start with the film is so rare and secondly, few people in the TV broadcasting industry neither care or even know of our great maritime history. Well thanks to Snowbow you can watch not just one programme but choose between 42 of them, all made using rare archive film exclusive to us. Now that’s what we call a great Christmas present!

Professionally made by people who have worked both in shipping and in TV/Film production, this Award Winning series takes you magically back in time to when we could boast of having the biggest and best Merchant Navy and ship industries in the world. An age when ports like Southampton were full of great ocean liners, but we don’t just show you all those wonderful old ships, we also take you aboard to sail with them on their voyages across the world. Imagine experiencing sailing on the complete Maiden voyage of the Queen Mary, or the Elizabeth and all the other great Cunarders as well as all the other lines such as White Star, Orient Line, Union-Castle, Canadian Pacific, British India, Shaw Savill, NZSCo, Elder Dempster, Ellerman Lines, Matson Line, United States Lines, Furness Withy, Holland America, Federal Steam, Blue Funnel, Blue Star, Port Line, Ben Line, Glen Line… the list is almost endless and as you sail aboard those ships you get to see them from bridge to engine room… it’s as if you are there for real. We even have rare film of nearly all the ports in the world when they were crammed full of ships: London, Southampton, Liverpool, Manchester, Dover, Newcastle, Hull, Bristol, Newport, Swansea, Cardiff, plus all those great overseas ports such as New York. You find yourselves transiting the Suez and Panama Canals and sailing through some of the worst storms ever captured on film. We also show rare film of Naval vessels in action including WW2 Arctic Convoys and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary! Yes, this could be a very happy Christmas for you, so order now to make sure you get what you want in time. Go to our website where you will find all 42 DVDs currently available, and if you have a problem trying to find what you’re looking for: Passenger liners, conventional cargo ships, naval ships, tankers, bulk carriers, ferries, coasters, paddle steamers, ports and hundreds of tugs, just call us on: 00 44 (0) 1273 585391 or 584470 and we’ll advise you. So please, do turn this into a very happy Christmas, pour yourselves a little drink (or two) and sit back and watch programmes you can really enjoy so much more than all those same old TV repeats!

For full details of all 42 DVDs and to order, go to our website at: www.snowbow.co.uk. To order by phone or to request a free brochure, call us on: 00 44 (0) 1273 585391/584470. Price per DVD incl UK postage and packing is £18. 95p. Please allow £2 extra for elsewhere in the world. Oh, and we still have our special offer of 3 DVDs for the price of 2, which is a massive saving.

And may 2018 bring us back a world that we can all enjoy once again. Best wishes, Des and Ulla Cox