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UK CRUISING RESTARTS New cruise ships lead the way as industryreopens

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www.shipsmonthly.com EDITORIAL Editor • Nicholas Leach sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk Art Editor • Mark Hyde ADVERTISEMENT SALES Hill View Media Ltd • 01366 728488 Ben Foster • ben@hillviewmedia.com or keith@hillviewmedia.com (for sales) Production • 01366 728488 jo@hillviewmedia.com MANAGEMENT Managing Director • Phil Weeden Chief Executive • Steve Wright Finance Director • Joyce Parker-Sarioglu Retail Distribution Manager • Eleanor Brown Audience Development Manager • Andy Cotton Print Production Manager • Georgina Harris Print Production Controller: • Kelly Orriss SUBSCRIPTIONS 12 issues of Ships Monthly are published a year UK annual subscription price • £55.20 Europe annual subscription price • £68 USA annual subscription price • £68 Rest of World annual subscription price • £74 CONTACT US UK subscriptions and back issue orderline 0333 043 9848 Overseas subscription orderline 00 44 (0) 1959 543 747 Toll free USA subscription orderline 1-888-777-0275 UK customer service team • 01959 543 747 Customer service email • subs@kelsey.co.uk Customer service and subscription address: Ships Monthly Customer Service Team Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL, United Kingdom WEBSITE Find current subscription offers and buy back issues at shop.kelsey.co.uk/smo ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? Manage your subscription online at shop.kelsey.co.uk/myaccount DISTRIBUTION Distribution in the UK • Marketforce (UK) Ltd, 3rd Floor, 161 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9AP Tel 020 3787 9001 Distribution in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland • Newspread Tel +353 23 886 3850 PRINTING Precision Colour Printing © Kelsey Media 2021. All rights reserved. Kelsey Media is a trading name of Kelsey Publishing Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden except with permission in writing from the publishers.

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WELCOME P&O’s new cruise ship Iona departs Southampton on 1 June. P&O Cruises will offer a series of round-Britain cruises for vaccinated passengers only, starting on June. MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

TENTATIVE RESTART FOR CRUISING he recent introduction of new ships far several new cruise ships points towards the gradual reopening of the industry after more than a year of inactivity caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic. The cruise ships anchored in various bays off the south coast of England had become a common sight, but P&O’s new Iona, along with Viking Venus and MSC Virtuosa, have restarted the cruise industry. The latter was the first cruise ship carrying passengers to leave Southampton in 14 months when she departed on 20 May. Despite this positive recent news, questions remain about how the rest of the year will pan out for the industry. Will longer cruises be possible? Will we need to show a vaccine passport? How will the

Lady, is due to be back to the UK to offer a series of round-Britain cruises in August, by when we will know more about what the future of cruising will look like.

Some sad news was received recently, regarding the passing of Captain Sandy Kinghorn (see page 64), well-known contributor to Ships Monthly, in May. His accounts of voyages round the world on cargo vessels were loved by readers, and many were published in the magazine over the course of many years.

Contributors this month Malcolm Cranfield

Malcolm Cranfield is a maritime historian and shipping photographer. His interest in ships started in 1960, when he was living at Portishead, near Bristol.

Mark Berry

Mark Berry lives in Devon and has been studying ocean liner items for many years.

His book A History of Ocean Liners in 50 Objects was published in 2020.

Peter Kohler

Peter C. Kohler has been contributing to Ships Monthly since 1984, including starting the Cruise Ship Review column and producing many features.

Conrad Waters

Now working in banking, Conrad Waters has a longstanding interest in naval history and current affairs.

He is editor of Seaforth World Naval Review.

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

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REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Krispen Atkinson • Gary Davies • Roy Fenton • William Mayes • Russell Plummer • Jim Shaw • Conrad Waters

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If at any point you have any queries regarding Kelsey’s data policy you can email our Data Protection Officer at dpo@kelsey.co.uk www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

3

HMS Queen Elizabeth made an unplanned return to Portsmouth on 19 May, providing the rare spectacle of an aircraft carrier in port with a full air group embarked. Prior to setting off on her CSG21 deployment, the ship was paid separate visits by HM The Queen and the Prime Minister. MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

CONTENTS ROYAL NAVY OPERATION FORTIS SETS SAIL JULY 2021 www.shipsmonthly.com

UK CRUISING RESTARTS New cruise ships lead the way as industryreopens

FAMOUS LINERS

REGULARS

14 NAVAL

CMA CGM orders 22 more ships, Stena’s next E-Flexer floated out in China, Global Mercy completes sea trials, and tug Buzz scrapped.

16 CARGO

6 WATERFRONT

NORMANDIE AND CAMERONIA

FERRIES AT 40 FROM THE MED TO THE BALTIC

New ore carrier fitted with rotors, container ships to get sail power, Suez Canal expansion, and ore carrier Berge Stahl to be broken up.

18 PRESERVATION

HMS Belfast reopens in London, passenger vessel Latis up for sale, tall ship Pelican goes on tour of UK, and Dunkirk tribute to Prince.

£4.80

NAVALTiger class cruisers

Operation Fortis sails for the Far East, Overseas Patrol Squadron gets new paintwork, and Type 31 frigate names announced. Gary Davies

CARGO Containers under sail EURO COASTERSSietas built

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COVER Viking Venus pictured making her global debut at Portsmouth on 10 May, ahead of being officially named by journalist and broadcaster Anne Diamond a week later. The latest addition to the Viking fleet is one of the first ships to offer postlockdown cruising. MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

AVAILABLE DIGITALLY WWW.POCKETMAGS.COM

10 FERRY

Start of full schedules delayed, Baltic superferry Mariella moves south, and call for Irish Sea Common travel area. Russell Plummer

12 CRUISE

The latest changes in the American Market, Boudicca reaches end of road, and UK restart gets under way. William Mayes

33 SHIPS PICTORIAL

Photos of ships around the world, including at Malta, Belfast, Glasgow and on the Thames.

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FEATURES

22 TIGER CLASS CRUISERS

WWW.SHIPSMONTHLY.COM CLASSIC LINERS

The Royal Navy’s three Tiger class light cruisers, conceived during World War II. Conrad Waters

28 MARITIME MOSAIC

Photos of modern ferries operating round the coasts of the British Isles. Andrew Wood

54 PORT OF RIVER PLATE

A brief overview of some famous liners which were converted for cruising. Jim Shaw

58 VETERAN FERRIES

30 LINERS TO CRUISING

46 TALE OF TWO VICTORS Two ships which served the Lithuanian Shipping Co from 1991. Malcolm Cranfield

50 SIETAS COASTERS

Small coasters built by well-known Hamburg shipbuilder J.J. Sietas. Bernard McCall

A look at the history of shipping on South America’s River Plate. Jim Shaw

Ferries which have completed four decades of service, with a focus on veterans from the Med fleet of Moby Lines. Russell Plummer

36 NORMANDIE Normandie, built for the French Line,

entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat and enjoyed a short but glorious career. Mark Berry

CHARTROOM

63 SHIPS LIBRARY Reviews of the latest ship and maritime books.

64 SHIPS MAIL Letters and questions from readers.

65 MYSTERY SHIP Can you identify this month’s mystery?

JULY 2021 • Volume 56 • No.7

41 CAMERONIA Recalling the long and varied career of the

Anchor liner Cameronia, the first British liner built after World War I. Peter C. Kohler

WATERFRONT RO-PAX FOR TIMOR-LESTE

Silja Europe berthed at Falmouth in early June.

MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

NEWBUILD

On 10 May Damen Yichang Shipyard launched a new RoPax 6716 vessel, which will be operated by the Port Authority of TimorLeste (APORTIL). She will run between Timor-Leste’s capital Dili, the Oecusse enclave and the island of Ataúro, carrying up to 308 passengers, as well as vehicles.

She was formally christened Berlin-Ramelau, after the capital of Germany and the highest mountain in Timor-Leste, by Ms Maria Albert Gonclave, third secretary of Timor-Leste in China. Following the completion of outfitting in June, the vessel sailed to Shanghai for sea trials, and is due to go to Dili in July.

 The new RoPax 6716 vessel on the ways prior to being launched.

SOMEWHERE TO STAY IN CORNWALL will provide approximately 20 per cent of the total accommodation needed for officers and staff SIlja Europa was chartered by working at the summit.

Devon and Cornwall Police in The 47th G7 summit took place June to provide accommodation at a seaside hotel in Carbis Bay, for the extra Police officers and security staff drafted into Cornwall near St Ives, between 11 and 13 to provide security for the world’s June. The G7 (group of seven) is leaders attending the G7 meeting. an intergovernmental organisation The Estonian cruise ferry arrived in comprising Canada, France,Germany, Falmouth on 5 June, the nearest port Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. The heads of government of the to Carbis Bay able to accommodate the 60,000-tonne vessel. The ferry member states, including the new

FERRY ON CHARTER

FOR PACIFIC SERVICE CARGO-PASSENGER

Russia’s Nevsky Shipyard, part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, has delivered the 3,061gt cargo-passenger vessel Pavel Leonov to state agency Sakhalinlizingflot, for operation between Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands in the western Pacific.

US president Joe Biden, as well as the representatives of the European Union, meet at the annual G7 summit. The UK holds the presidency of the G7 in 2021, and also invited Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa as guest countries to this year’s summit.

The 1993-built Tallink vessel usually cruises in the Baltic between Helsinki and Tallinn, but has been laid-up during the Covid-19 pandemic. GD

HISTORIC TUG OFF TO SCRAP

Designed with icebreaking capability, the 75m by 15m ship can accommodate 146 passengers, as well as breakbulk and containerised cargo, and has space for up to six automobiles.

 The cargo-passenger ship Pavel Leonov has entered service in the western Pacific following completion by Russia’s Nevsky Shipyard. SAKHALINLIZINGFLOT  The vintage tug Buzz being towed by Christine and passing Tilbury on their way to Erith to be scrapped. FRASER GRAY

The 109gt Buzz was built in 1967 at the Damen Ship Repair Yard, Rotterdam, Netherlands After arriving at Chatham Pier in Kent under her own steam in the as Bartel Wilton and worked in summer of 2016 and having never the Wilton Feijenoord Ship Yard Rotterdam. In 1984 she became moved since being laid up, the vintage tug Buzz was towed away Smit Amerika, and in 1988 Thames on 27 May by Christine, a former & Medway Towage Co renamed Royal Fleet Auxiliary Girl class tug, her Aicirtron. The tug’s scrapping to begin her final voyage from the was considered unnecessary by River Medway to be scrapped at many, and has saddened heritage EMR Erith’s yard on the Thames. shipping enthusiasts. FG

TUG

6 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

news NEXT E-FLEXER FLOATED OUT IN CHINA CHINA SET The latest E-Flexer following her recent float-out in China. Her name and area of operation have yet to be announced.

NEW FERRY

Despite the pandemic, Stena Line achieved another important milestone in its major new fleet investment programme with the launching ceremony of the first new extended E-Flexer vessel in Weihai, China in late May. The vessel was ordered in 2018 and is expected to be delivered in

2022. The name of the new vessel and the route on which she will operate have not been disclosed.

The new vessel, which took to the water for the first time on 24 May, is the fourth of five new next-generation E-Flexer vessels being designed and built in collaboration with the sister company Stena RoRo at the CMI Jinling Weihai Shipyard in China.

CABLE LAYER DELIVERED NEWBUILD

Norwegian shipbuilder Ulstein delivered the 149.9m by 31m DP3 cable-laying ship Nexans Aurora to Paris-based Nexans (see SM, Jan) on 31 May following completion of sea trials.

Designed to install subsea cables connecting offshore wind farms to national grids, the ST297 CLV-type vessel, which can accommodate up to 90 people,

was developed in conjunction with Nexans, Skipsteknisk (ship design), Ulstein (engineering and fitting), and MAATS Tech, each specialists in their own fields.

Nexans Aurora is equipped with purpose-designed equipment for cable and umbilical transport and laying, protection and jointing.

Her first project is expected to be the 1,075MW Seagreen offshore wind farm, which is being developed off Scotland. JS

The fourth and the fifth vessels will be 240m in length with a load capacity of 3,600 lane metres, compared to the first three E-Flexers, already in service, which were 214m with a capacity of 3,100 lane metres. The larger vessels also have 50 per cent more cabins, 30 per cent greater passenger capacity and 15 per cent more cargo capacity.

TO BUILD 50 LNG BULKERS

Chinese state-owned GNG Ocean Shipping, a subsidiary of the Guangdong Navigation, plans to order 50 small LNG-powered bulk carriers for operation along the China coast. Under pressure from the Chinese government to adopt LNG as a fuel in order to reduce air pollution, GNG will construct 25 2,000dwt bulkers and another 25 larger 3,000dwt ships, all to use LNG propulsion rather than dual-fuel systems. The vessels are to be built by Chinese yards, with deliveries from 2022. JS

 The 13,764dwt Yue You 906 is one of a large number of coastwise ships in China’s GNG Ocean Shipping fleet that to be joined by 50 LNG-fuelled vessels from next year. H PALAKULANGARA

READY FOR PASSENGERS

 The 328-tonne trip boat Swift being made ready for service this summer.

LAKE DISTRICT

The cable-laying vessel Nexans Aurora has been delivered by Norway’s Ulstein Werft to Paris-based Nexans for the installation of subsea cables. ULSTEIN

ku.oc.yeslek@de.ms > e • 444145 95910 > t • LA6 81EM ,tneK ,gnidlaY ,lliH gnidlaY ,truoC snwoD ,yranarG ehT • moc.ylhtnomspihs.www • TNORFRETAW

The ro-ro ferry Seatruck Panorama

Windermere Lake Cruises has undertaken a complex operation to return its newest vessel, Swift, back to the water after routine checks to ensure she is shipshape for the coming visitor season. Swift became the largest boat to be launched onto England’s longest lake in 80 years when she made her maiden voyage on Windermere in October

2020, but she recently spent time on the slipway at Lakeside.

While Swift was ashore, her hull was painted and she was inspected by engineers and a ship surveyor from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to check the underwater equipment was functioning, and staff from shipbuilder Damen worked alongside the Windermere Lake Cruises team to co-ordinate the process. www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

7

WATERFRONT

news

BRIEF NEWS

SCRUBBER INVESTMENT • While Blue Star 1 (2000/29,415gt) left Greek waters for a long-term charter on Irish Ferries’ Pembroke Dock-Rosslare run, owners the Attica Group has invested heavily in Blue Star Myconos (2005/14,712gt). The vessel underwent a three-month refit at Perama, near Piraeus, which included the fitting of exhaust scrubbers. Work began on 13 March and was due to be completed on 16 June. Before the refit, Blue Star Myconos launched a new route from Piraeus to Thessaloniki. RP OPERATIONS BEGIN • The 1977-built/215-passenger motor vessel Forth Belle opened the Forth Boat Tours 2021 programme late in April. Although subject to Covid-19 regulations, the main sailings from Hawes Pier, South Queensferry, to land on Inchcolm Island are due to continue into October. For details call 0870 118 1866. RP COMBAT SUPPORT • On 2 June Damen Shipyards Galati performed the keel-laying ceremony for the Combat Support Ship (CSS) Den Helder, the new supply ship for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The keel-laying ceremony was performed by the Director Defence Material Organisation (DMO), Vice Admiral Arie Jan de Waard, and Vice Admiral Rob Kramer, Commander Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN).

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT • Balearia’s new 123m high-speed ro-pax catamaran Eleanor Roosevelt was handed over by builders Astilleros Armon from Gijon, Spain to enter service on 1 May, connecting the Spanish mainland port of Denia with Ibiza and Palma, Gran Canaria. Costing €90 Million, the 35-knot service speed vessel has dual-fuel engines driving four Wärtsilä water jets and can carry up to 1,200 passengers and 450 cars. RP

8 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

Already operating one of the world’s largest container ship fleets, CMA CGM of France has ordered 22 more. CMA CGM

CMA CGM ORDERS 22 MORE SHIPS with a capacity of 13,000TEU and six with a capacity of 15,000TEU, along with ten smaller 5,500TEU French container carrier CMA feeder vessels that will make CGM has ordered 22 new use of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil ships from the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, all for burning engines.

It is the largest single delivery between 2023 and 2024.

The order includes twelve LNG- container ship order the company has undertaken to date powered container vessels, six

COMPANY NEWS

and represents nearly a ten per cent increase over its current total capacity of 2.7 million TEUs. The Marseille-based line, which reported a net profit of $1.75 billion last year, operates a fleet of 566 owned and chartered vessels, 32 of which will be LNGpowered by the end of 2022. JS

TO SEA TRIALS COMPLETED RIVALS SHARE SPACE HOSPITAL SHIP CHANNEL FERRIES later this summer before going to Rotterdam to complete preparations for a first mission in The 37,000gt hospital ship West African waters.

Global Mercy has undergone Flying the Maltese flag, Global sea trials after being completed Mercy will offer facilities including at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard 200 hospital beds, six operating in Northern China. The project theatres, a laboratory, patient clinic for Mercy Ships has been led by and eye and dental clinics. The new Stena RoRo and Global Mercy, the world’s largest civilian hospital vessel is designed to double Mercy Ships’ annual medical capacity. RP ship, is due to arrive in Antwerp

The new 174m by 28.6m Global Mercy has accommodation for up to 641 people in addition to her hospital facilities. MERCY SHIPS

Facing a new threat from the arrival of Irish Ferries on the Dover-Calais route, P&O Ferries and DFDS announced on 1 June that they had entered into a mutual space charter agreement to shorten waiting times for freight customers. Drivers arriving in either port are now able to board the next available departing vessel regardless of which of the two companies is operating the sailing.

With sailings every 36 minutes, waiting time in the ports will be reduced and save freight customers up to 30 minutes on overall journey times. P&O have five vessels on the service while DFDS run three, with new 41,000gt E-Flexer Côte d’Opale, which began a delivery voyage from China in late June, due for a summer debut replacing Calais Seaways (1991/28,833gt).

The two companies carry around 2.5 million lorries across the Channel each year. RP

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Ocean Liner memorabilia for sale including White Star, Cunard, French Line, Royal Yachts and Royal Navy.

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LINCOLN MINI-SHIP SHOW 2021 (COVID permitting): Faldingworth Memorial Hall, High Street, Faldingworth, Lincoln LN8 3SE 25th July, 2021. 10.15am – 2.00pm.

Models, books, ephemera. Tim Hudson 01522 524672 www.photrek.co.uk

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” is a byword for accurate information.

DELIVERED AS A PDF BY E-MAIL EVERY MONTH: SHIPPING NEWS AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT MARINE NEWS amd its monthly digital Supplement provide the most comprehensive and convenient listings of merchant ship activity for enthusiasts, some 10,000 entries a year covering launches, name and ownership changes, details of casualties and demolitions, all available as a 64-page digital magazine. PUBLICATIONS Fifty excellent WSS fleet lists and specialist history books are available to members at greatly discounted prices with up to three new titles each year. BRANCHES The World Ship Society has over 50 local branches worldwide which hold monthly meetings. MEMBERSHIP annual membership of the World Ship Society (includes 12 digital copies of “Marine News” and digital Supplements per annum) costs £26 (£22 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)

WORLD SHIP SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP HAS NEVER BEEN BETTER VALUE www.worldshipsociety.org

FERRY

Russell Plummer

START OF FULL SCHEDULES DELAYED

NEWS IN BRIEF

ISLE OF MAN FAREWELLS • July brings the retirement of two key figures from the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company who, between them, have given 58 years of service. Mark Woodward joined in 1989 and succeeded the late Hamish Ross as chief executive in 2007, while commercial director John Watt arrived in 1995 and has been a member of the Steam Packet Board since 2003. The new managing director, Brian Thomson, arrives on 5 July, while Kane Taha becomes Operations Director later in the month.

 Pont-Aven could be one of the vessels used for Brittany Ferries’ trial service to Leixoes, Portugal.

six-week trial running to Leixoes, near Porto in northern Portugal, Plans to resume normal schedules from late May. The vessels expected to from 17 May were abandoned by Brittany Ferries following changes be used from Plymouth and Portsmouth, taking cars with to international travel rules and their passengers only, were the introduction of the British Government’s traffic light system. Pont-Aven (2004/41,748gt) and Cap Finistere (2001/32,728gt), But with Portugal one of a few ‘Green List’ countries with doors but the plan was quickly dropped after Spain reopened its borders open for visitors, the French to British visitors. operator looked into starting a

BRITTANY FERRIES

IRISH LINK • May saw the start of a service from the Grimaldi Group’s freight hub in Antwerp, Belgium to the Ringaskiddy Terminal at Cork in Ireland, using the 3,810-lane-metre South Koreanbuilt Hyundai Mipo class vessel Eurocargo Bari (2012/32,632gt).

Powered by a single MAN-B&W diesel engine delivering 29,070kW, the 199.8m vessel has a service speed of 22.3 knots.

Passenger services cancelled through May until a fresh review on 6 June included PlymouthRoscoff and Roscoff-Cork; Poole-Cherbourg; PortsmouthSt Malo; Portsmouth-Bilbao (by Cap Finistere); PortsmouthCaen (by Normandie, which ran with freight only); and PontAven sailings from Plymouth to Roscoff and Santander.

Also taking freight only were Armorique (Poole-St Malo), Pelican (Poole-Bilbao) and Cotentin (Portsmouth-Le Havre), while passengers with essential travel reasons were able to use Mont St Michel crossings from Portsmouth to Caen; Galicia from Portsmouth to Cherbourg or Santander; and Connemara connecting Rosslare, Ireland, with Bilbao and Cherbourg.

CALL FOR IRISH realSEA COMMON TRAVEL AREA The two operators say that a need to focus on solving some

ARAN COMEBACK • Aran Islands Ferries used the 400-passenger Saoirse Na Farraige (the name translates as Freedom of the Sea) to launch a new service from Galway City to Inishmore on 2 June, the first direct city-islands link since 2005, two days after holiday accommodation in Ireland was permitted to reopen. Carlingford Lough’s Irish cross-border car ferry service, owned by the Frazer Ferries Group, and linking Greenore with Greencastle, resumed on 15 May after being suspended since March.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Rival ferry operators Stena Line and Irish Ferries have joined forces to call for the Common Travel Area (CTA) between Britain and Ireland to be restored as the Covid-19 pandemic begins to ease, claiming that, with vaccinations progressing in both countries, government and industry stakeholders need to urgently look at restoring connectivity.

Paul Grant, Stena Line’s Irish Sea trade director, said: ‘There is a

of the economic impacts of the pandemic and obvious starting points are the hard-hit tourist, hospitality and travel markets.’

full resumption of international travel might take time and that clarity is needed in advance of full resumption of international travel.

 Irish Ferries’ Ulysses and Stena Adventurer, pictured together at Holyhead, both link the Welsh port with Dublin.

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

LOCH SEAFORTH • The largest vessel in the CalMac fleet left the Ullapool-Stornoway service in late May and went to the Clyde to go into the James Watt Dock at Greenock for major repairs to her twin Wärtsilä 8L33 diesel engines.

The 8,478gt vessel was delivered in 2014. COLIN J.SMITH

CONDOR RAPIDE • The 1997-built 86m Incat left Poole on 19 May for St Malo to begin services to Guernsey and Jersey, although the first day’s sailings were lost due to bad weather.

The 876-passenger craft is expected to leave the fleet when Condor Voyager, SILJA EUROPA • Tallink Group cruise previously Normandie Express, enters ferry Silja Europa (1993/59,912gt), service. KEVIN MITCHELL normally used in the Baltic, spent ten days in British waters moored off Falmouth during June, acting as an accommodation vessel for some of the 5,000 extra police officers brought in for the G7 meeting of world leaders.

10 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

CÔTE D’OPALE • Completed six weeks ahead of schedule by China Merchants at Weihai, the fifth Stena E-Flexer was handed over on 17 May, before starting a delivery journey to join DFDS’s Dover-Calais route, on which she will replace Calais Seaways (1992/28,333gt).

news CONTRASTING INDUSTRY NEWS

BALTIC SUPER-FERRY MOVES SOUTH VIKING LINE delivered to Viking partner Rederi AB Slite, while Olympia went to the Mariehamn-based SF Line.

The 37,799gt Mariella, widely The pair gained a huge following regarded, with sister vessel on the Stockholm-MariehamnOlympia (1986/37,583gt), as one Helsinki service. Their partnership of the world’s first super-ferries, has left the Baltic after 36 years of ended in 1993, when Olympia was service following a surprise sale to bought by the Irish Continental Corsica Ferries. She was expected Group but chartered to P&O Ferries to launch a service to to debut as Mega Regina Northern Spain as Pride of Bilbao. in late June following minor This ended when P&O closed modifications and refurbishment. the route in 2010, and the vessel Built at the Wärtsilä Yard went to St Peter Line as Princess in Turku, Finland, Mariella was

SECOND SHIP FOR LO-LO WORK P&O FERRIES

Although P&O Ferries closed their passenger and vehicle route between Hull and Zeebrugge last year due to the effects of Covid-19 and sold long-serving vessels Pride of York (1987) and Pride of Bruges (1987) for Mediterranean operations by Grandi Navi Veloci, a freight service continued on the route with a single ship until June saw a second vessel brought in.

Crane-loaded lift on-lift off vessel Elisabeth (2000/5,067gt),

built for Dutch owners Holwerda Shipmanagement at the J.J.Seitas yard in Germany, carries up to 648TEU of crane-loaded containers. She was introduced

by P&O to support the passenger twins in May 2017, making three round trips a week and locking into the King George V dock at Hull.

Despite the pandemic, demand from haulage companies has remained high and Elisabeth’s sister vessel Freya has been chartered to double the service to six sailings each way per week.

The 2000-built container ship Freya (5,067gt) has been chartered by P&O. ROY CRESSEY

Anastasia, continuing to link Stockholm, Helsinki and Tallinn with St Petersburg after the operation was acquired by Italian company Moby Lines in 2017.

Due to Covid-19 sailings being stopped in 2020, the vessel went to Russia to serve as a hotel ship at Belokamenka. Mariella, taken out of service in March 2020 when Stockholm-Helsinki sailings were suspended due to the pandemic, set off for the Mediterranean in late May for her new duties.

Despite turnover dropping from €173.9 million in 2019 to €124.3 million last year, Greek operator ANEK remained profitable.

ANEK saw a 52 per cent fall in passenger numbers, with 2020 figures of 497,000 considerably less than the 1.04 million in 2019.

Formed in 1967 by business communities in Western Crete and starting operations three years later using Kydon, ANEK remains a private sector company listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. Other figures for 2020 were 115,000 cars (down 43 per cent from 2020), while freight vehicle numbers fell to 121,000.

Meanwhile, Baltic operator Viking Line’s sales fell dramatically, from €75 million in the first quarter of 2020 to €24.6 in the current year, when operating revenue went down from €21.5 million to just €7.7 million. First quarter results for DFDS were down by 1.2 per cent, ending at DKK3.7 billion, although freight revenue increased.

Ben-my-Chree, pictured on the Mersey, has been out of service for several weeks following her annual dry-docking.

BEN-MY-CHREE STOPPED IOM STEAM PACKET

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s principal passenger and vehicle ferry, Ben-my-Chree (1998/12,747gt), was still off service at the end of May, six weeks after going to Birkenhead for annual dry-docking by Cammell Laird.

Work included replacement of stern tube bearings, but the operation by a third party contractor took longer than expected. As a result, a planned

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FERRY RESULTS

Viking Line has sold the 1985-built cruise-ferry Mariella. She has gone to Italy’s Corsica Ferries for service as Mega Regina. JOHN PAGNI

return to service on 17 May never happened, with the 635-passenger/275-car craft remaining at the Mersey yard.

During the absence of Benmy-Chree, built in Krimpen near Rotterdam by Van der Giesende Noord, Douglas-Heysham crossings were covered by two other vessels dating from 1998.

Fast catamaran Manannan (5,743gt) took passengers and cars, while there were overnight freight services operated by ro-ro freighter Arrow (7,606gt).

www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

11

CRUISE

William Mayes

BRIEF NEWS

Boudicca has been scrapped after 48 years of service. FRED. OLSEN CRUISE LINES

CRUISES • The latest ship for P&O Cruises, Iona, arrived in her home port of Southampton for the first time on 16 May, and was named by Dame Irene Hays later that day. Iona will not come into cruise service until 7 August and will then offer a series of sevennight UK cruises.

OCEANIA CRUISES • The first four ships are now scheduled to return to service: Marina will sail from Copenhagen from 29 August, Riviera from Istanbul in October, Insignia from Miami in December, and Sirena, also from Miami, in January 2022.

No restart dates have yet been announced for Nautica.

PORTUSCALE • With just Astoria and Funchal remaining from the defunct Portuscale fleet, there seems to be encouraging news for both.

Funchal was recently sold at auction, and may have changed hands again, with reports suggesting that, at the age of 60, she is bound for an extended dry-docking.

Astoria was also sold at auction, apparently for further trading.

CRYSTAL CRUISES • The MV Werften-built Crystal Endeavor completed her sea trials on 23 May and returned to the Stralsund shipyard in Germany for the completion of her outfitting. It has been reported that she exceeded her contracted maximum speed of 19 knots by almost a full knot.

She is due to enter service in September, with an initial cruise featuring Norway and Iceland.

SEA CLOUD • The long-awaited Sea Cloud Spirit was delivered by her Spanish shipbuilder in May. The 136-passenger ship will begin sailing in the Mediterranean in September, with a maiden voyage from Rome, before moving to the Canary Islands for the winter.

NCL • The first ship in the series of six being built for the company will be named Norwegian Prima and is set to enter service in the summer of 2022, initially in the Mediterranean, before moving to the Caribbean.

12 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

BOUDICCA REACHES END OF ROAD

FRED. OLSEN

Considering other much newer ships that have been sent for scrap recently, Fred. Olsen’s Boudicca has survived well.

Aged 48, she has now, perhaps unsurprisingly, been sold for scrap in Turkey, having been acquired from Olsen for use as an accommodation ship last year.

Boudicca was a significant ship from the early days of purposebuilt cruise ships, as she was

the second of a trio that Royal Viking Line had built by Wärtsilä at Helsinki, being delivered as Royal Viking Sky in 1973, of 21,891gt. Ten years later she was lengthened by 28m at Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven.

In 1984 Royal Viking Line was acquired by Norwegian Caribbean Line and in 1987 the ship was transferred to that fleet and renamed Sunward. Five years later she was sold to Birka Line, becoming Birka Queen.

Subsequently, she spent three years on charter to Princess Cruises as Golden Princess.

From 1996 she was owned

by Star Cruises and operated as Superstar Capricorn, and in 2004 was chartered by Iberojet as Grand Latino. Fred. Olsen acquired her in 2004 and, after an extensive refit, she entered service as Boudicca.

She is survived by two sisters: Black Watch, also an accommodation ship, and Albatros, now a floating hotel in Egypt.

The restriction on longer sailings that touch US ports still seems to be in force, but is expected to be reviewed as part of a wider relaxation of the restrictions.

Subsidiary company Celebrity Cruises will operate Celebrity Summit from Seattle. Carnival Corporation ships going back to Alaska this year include Princess Cruises’ Majestic Princess, Holland America Line’s Nieuw

Amsterdam and Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Miracle.

NCL’s Norwegian Bliss will join with her revised Alaska programme from 7 August. All operators will require passengers to have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. At the end of May, CDC restrictions were significantly modified, leading the way to a phased resumption of cruising from US ports.

ALASKA CRUISE SEASON BACK ON VARIOUS OPERATORS

Following the temporary suspension of the Passenger Vessel Services Act in respect of cruise ships sailing to Alaska, a number of lines that had previously abandoned plans for that area for 2021 have hastily reinstated their Alaska programmes, to run from July, subject to the Center for Disease Control restrictions being eased.

The suspension of the Act means that calls by foreignflagged ships in the Alaska cruise trade at Canadian ports are not required. That country has closed its waters to large cruise ships until February 2022. Royal Caribbean International will operate Serenade of the Seas from 19 July and Ovation of the Seas from 13 August on sevennight itineraries from Seattle.  Majestic Princess will be sailing to Alaska in August. WILLIAM MAYES

news

Freedom of the Seas was scheduled to perform a test cruise in late June. WILLIAM MAYES

she was repositioning to the USA, five crew members that had Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the tested positive for Covid-19 were Seas has had her season of cruises disembarked at Palma de Majorca.

Despite the likely easing of from Haifa cancelled following restrictions in the USA, Royal the recent outbreak of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians. Caribbean has cancelled its Instead, the ship will be relocated Bermuda season and will to Port Canaveral in Florida. While reposition Vision of the Seas to a

ROYAL CARIBBEAN

UK RESTART UNDER WAY

on her maiden voyage, VARIOUS OPERATORS sailed from Portsmouth. The sevennight cruise called at Liverpool, The official restart of the UK’s big ship cruising was on 20 May, Tresco (which was missed on the first cruise due to bad weather), when MSC Virtuosa sailed from Falmouth and Portland. She, Southampton on her maiden too, was sailing with a reduced voyage, with her capacity limited under current restrictions to 1,000 number of passengers: 465 as opposed to her capacity of 930. passengers; she would normally Her five UK cruises were initially carry up to 6,334 at full capacity. available to past passengers, but The initial four-night itineraries include a call at Portland and two later opened to others. At least sea days. During the summer she one vaccination was required. At will operate 23 short cruises in UK the end of this programme, she waters. By 20 June MSC had seven will operate a voyage to Malta, where she will join Viking Star and ships back in service in Europe.

Viking Sea for a full programme Just two days later, Viking based in Valletta.

Ocean Cruises’ Viking Venus

The brand new 181,541gt MSC Virtuosa was the first large ship to resume cruising from the UK. WILLIAM MAYES

US port. Spectrum of the Seas is expected to reposition to Hong Kong and operate short cruises to nowhere from 30 July, following the Government there sanctioning a restart of cruising.

The company was given approval by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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CHANGES IN THE AMERICAN MARKET

to perform a simulated voyage for unvaccinated passengers, from 2022 June, aboard Freedom of the Seas, from the port of Miami. This is part of the procedure required to restart cruises from the USA. Lines that will carry only vaccinated passengers will not need to perform these test sailings.

Ambience will cruise from Tilbury for the first time in April 2022. AMBASSADOR CRUISE LINE

NEW OPERATOR FOR UK

she will become Ambience, cruising for Ambassador.

One of the pair of SitmarFollowing the untimely demise ordered ships, she retained of Cruise & Maritime Voyages almost a year ago, a number of her magnificent dome bar people involved in that company and lounge intact, unlike her have set up Ambassador Cruises, sister, which became the Indian a new cruise line for the British, cruise ship Karnika. Ambience (1991/70,285gt) entered service to be based at Purfleet, Essex. as Regal Princess after Princess Cruises will initially sail from Tilbury when the company begins Cruises acquired Sitmar.

Recently she was to become trading in April 2022, but it is planned to expand the homeport a floating technology hub off base by also using Newcastle and Panama, but that failed. She is Liverpool. The ship is the planned laid up in Bar, Montenegro while acquisition by CMV, the former plans for her refurbishment to Pacific Dawn, which would have accommodate 1,400 passengers are developed. become Amy Johnson. Now,

AMBASSADOR

www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

13

NAVAL

Gary Davies

OPERATION FORTIS SAILS FOR FAR EAST

 The QE class carriers pictured on 19 May, together at sea for the first time. ROYAL NAVY

ROYAL NAVY

The Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group has set off on the RN’s largest global deployment

for a generation. Comprising nine ships, one submarine, 32 aircraft, and 3,700 personnel, the CSG21 Task Force will make a sevenmonth return trip through the

Two Soviet-built Kashin II class destroyers remain in service with the Indian Navy. US NAVY

SOVIET PIONEER RETIRES INDIAN NAVY

The Indian Navy has decommissioned its first ever guided-missile destroyer.

INS Rajput (D51) was formally retired at a low-key ceremony at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam on 21 May. The lead ship of five Kashin-II class destroyers was acquired from the former USSR in the early 1980s. She was typical of Soviet-built warships of the time, being endowed with menacing looks due to her vast array of

14 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

weapons and sensors, which included surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns, torpedoes, and anti-submarine rocket launchers. Of the 20 ships built for the Soviet Navy, the last was decommissioned in 2002.

As a trial platform, Rajput was the first Indian ship to be equipped to fire the long-range supersonic BrahMos cruise missile.

During 41 years’ service as part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets, she sailed the equivalent of 36 times round the world.

Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region.

HMS Queen Elizabeth departed from Portsmouth, in company with her American

escort USS The Sullivans, shortly after sunset on 22 May. She sailed three weeks earlier for Exercise Strike Warrior, and the return to her homeport was unscheduled. The original plan had been for her to set off from anchor in the Solent, but gale force winds and a requirement to restock provisions which had been lost in a fire on board RFA Fort Victoria resulted in the rare spectacle of an aircraft carrier coming into port with a full air group on board.

During her journey down from Scotland, HMS Queen Elizabeth rendezvoused with her sistership for a much-anticipated joint photo opportunity. HMS Prince of Wales was back at sea for the first time in 13 months, having been sidelined by repairs to flood damage.

The Type 31 frigates are to be named Active, Bulldog, Campbeltown, Formidable and Venturer and known as the Inspiration class. In announcing the names, the First Sea Lord said the otherwise unrelated names have been chosen to evoke the values the RN and RM strives for – cutting-edge technology, audacity and global operations.

The names chosen reflect this ethos, with four of them renowned for their World War II

exploits. Active is named after the Type 21 frigate that took part in the Falklands War. HMS Bulldog is recognised for the bravery of her boarding party in recovering an Enigma coding machine and codebooks from a stricken U-Boat during the Battle of the Atlantic; Campbeltown for her part in the daring commando raid at St Nazaire; the aircraft carrier Formidable epitomised carrier strike operations; and the submarine Venturer, for sinking a German U-boat while both were submerged, in the first ever action of its kind.

NAMES TO INSPIRE ROYAL NAVY

The first steel is due to be cut this summer. All five Type 31 are due to be in service by 2028.

BRIEF NEWS

DAZZLING DUO ROYAL NAVY

The Overseas Patrol Squadron has applied disruptive paint schemes to HM Ships Tamar (P233) and Spey (P234). The Batch 2 River class OPVs received the new livery during maintenance at Falmouth ahead of their forward deployment to the Indo-Pacific region.

It is the first time that ‘dazzle

camouflage’ has been used by the Royal Navy since World War II. The paint pattern of various shades of black, white and grey in random shapes was first employed by the Royal Navy at the height of the first Battle of the Atlantic in 1917.

Invented by RN officer and artist Norman Wilkinson, it was intended to confuse U-Boat captains trying to calculate

ROYAL NAVY • The Gibraltar Squadron’s new fast patrol boats are to be named Dagger and Cutlass. Although the dagger is familiar as a Royal Marines Commando emblem, no RN vessel has previously been named Dagger. It was due to have been assigned to a wartime Weapon class anti-submarine escort, but the ship was cancelled after World War II ended. Only one other HMS Cutlass, a fast training craft during the 1970s, has served under the White Ensign.

HMS Tamar has maintained her pennant number and lion logo.

MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

speed and range when they were attempting torpedo attacks.

More than 2,000 ships had received the peculiar patterns by the end of the Great War. Although now less effective due to advances in optical and sensor technologies, it can still provide a degree of stealth if seen against a background of land when conducting constabulary patrols in littoral waters.

RESTARTS FORMIDABLE STALLED PROJECT companies to bid for the contract, FLEET AUX SHIELD 2021 TheROYAL but they will have to do so in partnership with a British shipyard.

Defence Secretary has NATO

HM Ships Argyll, Dragon and Lancaster have joined 12 ships and ten aircraft from nine other NATO navies to take part in the world’s largest test of naval air and missile defence systems. The latest Formidable Shield exercise took place off the Outer Hebrides and Norway’s Arctic coast in May for the bi-annual live firing exercise against aerial threats, including ballistic missiles.

Led by the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet and using Spanish frigate ESPS Cristóbal Colón as the flagship, the three-week-long exercise is a realistic test of the individual and collective capabilities of state-of-the-art equipment and their operators against supersonic high-diving target drones, homing in towards the task group at speeds in excess of 12,000mph.

relaunched the competition to design and build three Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. They will provide munitions, stores and provisions to support QEC Task Groups at sea.

Building on a government commitment to create a shipbuilding renaissance, there is a stipulation that a significant proportion of the build and assembly work is to be carried out in the UK. This allows foreign

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news

The requirement for a Heavy Replenishment at Sea rig (HRAS), enabling the transfer of fivetonne loads, also appears to have been dropped, removing a significant technical hurdle.

The RFA’s current solid supply ships, Fort Austin and Fort Rosalie, are incompatible with the QEC aircraft carriers and have remained idle for several years.

They were formally withdrawn from service on 31 March.

 An artist’s impression of the Fleet Solid Support Ship, the first of which is not likely to enter service before 2028. BMT

US NAVY • The US Navy has awarded a US$555 million contract to Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) for the construction of the future USS Congress (FFG 63), the second Constellation class frigate. FMM is currently working to complete the detailed design of the American version of the Italian FREMM, with construction slated to begin later this year. Constellation (FFG 62), the first of 20 Aegis-equipped surface combatants, is due for delivery in 2026.

RCN • The US State Department has approved the sale of the shipborne Aegis Combat System to Canada. The US$1.7 billion deal includes four sets of AN/ SPY-7 radars, four ship sets of Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) and three sets of the Mk.41 Vertical Launching System. They are intended to equip the Canadian Surface Combatant, Canada’s version of the Type 26 frigate. The RCN has plans for 15 ships.

ROYAL NAVY • The RN and RAF have combined forces to transport coronavirus vaccines to Tristan da Cunha, the world’s most remote inhabited island. In a six-day operation, a sufficient number of doses for the entire adult population of the British Overseas Territory were transported from the UK to the Falkland Islands via an RAF Voyager aircraft, with HMS Forth then sailing 2,161 nautical miles to deliver them to the isolated South Atlantic community. www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

15

CARGO BRIEF NEWS

FINAL ‘A’ SERIES SHIP • Holland’s Ferus Smit yard in Westerbroek has launched the 120m by 15m bulker Arklow Artist for Arklow Shipping as the final vessel in a series of six ordered by the Irish company. To be delivered later this year, the 8,543dwt vessel has a hold capacity of 350,000ft3 and will carry cargoes of wheat, corn and other bulk commodities within European waters. JS MORE BOX SHIPS • China’s Dalian Shipbuilding has been contracted by Minsheng Financial Leasing to build a pair of LNGready 16,000TEU container ships for charter to the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

Seven similar-sized vessels had previously been ordered from the yard in March and a further four are expected to be contracted for before the end of the year.

Dalian Shipbuilding is part of state conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corporation. JS LPG-BURNING LPG CARRIERS • South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering is building two 91,000m3 capacity LPG carriers for Norway’s Avance Gas Holding which will be capable of burning a portion of their own cargo as fuel. Both vessels are to be delivered by early 2022. JS SIX FEEDER SHIPS ORDERED • China’s Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has been contracted to build six 1,800TEU container feeder ships for Hong Kong-based SITC International Holding at an en bloc price of $126 million, with deliveries to start by the middle of next year. SITC currently operates a fleet of 88 vessels with a total capacity of 129,711TEUs, 69 of which are owned and the remainder leased. JS SM LINE BUYS BOXSHIP • South Korean container carrier SM Line has acquired the 2009-built 4,228TEU box ship Arguello from UK-based Borealis Maritime for approximately $37 million, which brings its fleet to 12 ships with a total capacity of approximately 60,000TEUs. JS

16 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

ORE CARRIER GETS ROTOR POWER The new ore carrier Sea Zhoushan has five 80-tonne Norsepower rotors installed along its centreline to help cut fuel costs and reduce toxic emissions. PAN OCEAN

ORE CARRIER

South Korea’s Pan Ocean expects to place the new ore carrier Sea Zhoushan in service between Brazil and Asia later this year following the 324,268dwt ship’s delivery by China’s New Times Shipbuilding. To operate under

charter to Brazilian mining company Vale, the 340m by 62m ship has been equipped with five 24m tall by 4m wide tiltable rotor sails supplied by Finland-based Norsepower to provide auxiliary wind propulsion.

When used in combination with weather routing, this is expected

POLAR CLASS BULKER BULK CARRIER III compliant main and auxiliary engines and is also compliant with the latest IMO nitrogen Canada’s Fednav Limited has taken delivery of the Polar Class oxide emission regulations, 4 bulk carrier Arvik I from Japan’s will serve the Glencore Raglan Mine on Deception Bay in the Marine United shipyard as a sistership to the earlier delivered Canadian Arctic. She will replace twins Nunavik (2014) and Umiak the 43-year-old bulk carrier Arctic, which has been sent to I (2006). The new 29,600dwt vessel, which makes use of Tier Turkey for demolition. JS

The 182m by 27m icebreaking bulker Arvik I will be employed by Canada’s Fednav to carry ore from the Canadian Arctic to St Lawrence River ports. FEDNAV

to provide an efficiency gain of up to eight per cent, which corresponds to a reduction of 3,400 tons of CO2 per year. An earlier test involving two rotors mounted on the 109,647dwt Maersk tanker Maersk Pelican, now Timberwolf, provided verified fuel savings of 8.2 per cent. JS

LENGTHENED IN UKRAINE DUTCH COASTERS

Dutch coaster operator Eems Werken BV, based in Werkendam, has sent six coasters to the Ukraine for lengthening. Smart Maritime Group, the largest shipbuilding company in Ukraine, was awarded the contract, worth £2.5 million, at the end of 2020.

The work involves stretching the 87.2m vessels by 12m, converting the vessels from single hold to twin hold, increasing capacity by 20 per cent. Each vessel will have 190 tonnes of steel added. KA

 Eems Solar was part of a 12-ship series built between 2007 and 2010.

CONTAINERS GO UNDER SAIL NEW TECHNOLOGY

Bureau Veritas has granted an Approval in Principle for the design of a 2,500TEU container ship that would make use of an LNG-electric propulsion system in conjunction with six retractable wing sails to reduce fuel

consumption and CO2 emissions.

Designed jointly by VPLP Design, Alwena Shipping and AYRO of France, and the China State Shipbuilding Co’s design institute (SDARI), the 197m by 32m vessel, of 32,500dwt, will utilise LNG-burning four-stroke generator sets to power podded propulsion drives.

The addition of six wing sails, to be supplied by Oceanwings, would decrease CO2 emissions by 35 per cent on a normal 4,000-nautical-mile crossing of the Atlantic compared to a conventional ship. The wing sails would be installed on a vertical sliding mechanism. JS

BUNKERING VESSELS

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An LNG-powered and sail-assisted container ship designed by French and Chinese firms would feature an open-hatch configuration to increase cargo capacity. VPLP DESIGN

news NEW DESIGN

Danish designer Knud E. Hansen is developing a new series of medium-capacity liquefied gas transporting and bunkering vessels that incorporate a lowprofile forward deckhouse along with twin midship-mounted Type C gas cargo tanks. The vessels would utilise a dieselelectric power and propulsion system consisting of a dual-fuel four-stroke engine integrated with an Energy Storage System (ESS) incorporating lithium-ion batteries. The lead design centres around a 126.5m-long vessel with a cargo capacity of 9,000m3. JS

 A new gas bunkering tanker being developed by Knud E. Hansen features a forward house, midshipmounted cargo tanks and Yokohamatype fenders. KNUD E. HANSEN)

GIANT GOES FOR SCRAP MORE CANAL EXPANSION SUEZ CANAL

 At one time the largest dry cargo ship afloat, Berge Stahl made ten round trips in a typical year, carrying iron ore. KRISPEN ATKINSON

BULKER

Once king of the bulk trades, the 35-year-old 364,767dwt ore carrier Berge Stahl has been sold for demolition. Built for Bergesen of Norway, and later passing to Bermuda-based Berge Bulk, the 342m vessel was floated out of the building dock at Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan on 5 September 1986. When she entered service on 5 December 1986, she became the largest dry cargo ship afloat, a mantle she held for almost two decades, until the entry into service of Vale Brasil in 2011.

Her early years saw her work between the Brazilian port of Ponta da Madeira, where she would load iron ore for the EECV terminal at Europoort, at the time the only two bulk terminals which could handle her laden draught of 23m.

In the 2010s she began deviating, calling at Chinese ports which had expanded to accommodate vessels of her size.

She made her 249th and final call to Europoort in December 2016. After a survey in March 2017, she started operations to Oman and Malaysia from Brazil, until being laid up off Labuan in April 2020. KA

Following the grounding of the 199,629dwt container ship Ever Given earlier this year (see SM, May) the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has announced plans to widen and deepen the southern section of the canal, where the massive vessel blocked traffic.

The project, which will be implemented over the next 24 months, will involve the SCA’s new 216.7m by 43m dredger

Mohab Mamish and will see the canal’s southern stretch widened by 40m and deepened to 72ft from the current depth of 66ft.

Along with a five-nautical-mile extension of a second traffic lane of the waterway that opened in 2015, the enlarged canal will have a double-lane stretch of 44 nautical miles following completion of the project. The canal transited 18,829 ships last year and generated over $5.6 billion in revenue. JS

 The southern section of the Suez Canal, where the container ship Ever Given got stuck in March, is to be widened and deepened. SCA www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

17

PRESERVATION REBUILD

John Megoran

KINGSWEAR CASTLE

The Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust has launched a fund-raising campaign for a major rebuild of Kingswear Castle, to be undertaken over the next three winters, with completion timed to coincide with her centenary in 2024. The cost of the rebuild is estimated to be over £1 million.

Built for service on the River Dart, Kingswear Castle was withdrawn in 1965 and returned to service operating trips on the Rivers Medway and Thames in 1985. She returned to her home waters in 2013, and has shown herself to be one of Britain’s most successful steamship preservation projects.

Pelican of London arriving at Poole at the start of her UK trip. Today she is certified as a sail training vessel. KEVIN MITCHELL

TALL SHIP GOES ON TOUR OF UK PELICAN OF LONDON

The tall ship Pelican of London left Folkestone in May as part of a 13-week scientific voyage of discovery around the UK. For the trip, which will be in three parts, 90 volunteers have been recruited, including young scientists, a science coordinator

and researchers undertaking studies of plastics in UK waters, including surveying for floating macro-plastics. In addition, they were set to record key information on whales, dolphins, bluefin tuna, sunfish and basking sharks.

This UK circumnavigation is a precursor to the wider Darwin200 voyage planned as a two-year

undertaking, which will see 200 top young conservationists, each from a different country, complete an around-the-globe adventure.

The hull of Pelican started life as a French Arctic fishing trawler in 1947. She was converted into a coaster called Kadett in 1968 and during the decade from 1995 was rebuilt at Portland.

CARBON NEUTRAL PLANS DUNKIRK TRIBUTE TO PRINCE SS GREAT BRITAIN

As part of a commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, a pioneering upgrade has been installed at Brunel’s Great Britain. Beneath the ship, the belt-driven fan installed as part of the ship’s dehumidifier under the glass sea has been replaced

with a fangrid wall of smaller direct drive fans, which keep the air dry and use up to 30 per cent less electricity.

The ship’s iron hull is extremely vulnerable to corrosion and is the most fragile part of the ship.

At the time of her rescue it was so corroded that it was feared she would not survive.

Designed by Brunel for the transatlantic passenger trade, Great Britain was launched in 1843 and is now on display in Bristol.

18 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

Aquabelle was one of the vessels involved in a Dunkirk Little Ship tribute to HRH Prince Philip.

LITTLE SHIPS

On 24 April 18 Dunkirk Little Ships took part in a sail-past on the Thames at Windsor in tribute to the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the presence of Prince Michael of Kent. The flotilla was led by the 1937-built motor yacht Lady Lou and included Hilfranor,

Janthea, Breda, Elvin, Tom Tit, Gay Venture and Aquabelle.

A keen yachtsman who had a hand in designing his favourite Bloodhound, the Duke was a key player in supporting maritime heritage throughout his long life.

He was a trustee of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich from 1948 until 2000.

HMS BELFAST REOPENS

Over the last year, exhibition spaces within the ship have been reinterpreted, including After an extended and enforced the Quarter Deck, 2 Deck, the closure since March 2020, HMS Belfast is scheduled to reopen in Forward Steering Position and early July with an enhanced visitor one of the main gun turrets, with the new interpretation focusing experience. Entry will now be allowed to new areas of the ship, on three narrative periods, which where visitors can learn about the are World War II, End of Empire and Cold War. lives of the crew who served on It is now 50 years since Belfast board and also engage in multisensory and interactive experiences opened to the public in London, and this recent extended closure which bring the history of the has also enabled essential Royal Navy warship to life.

WARSHIP

STUCK ON SEAWALL ZEBU

On the afternoon of 15 May the tall ship Zebu dragged her anchor in Holyhead, where she was sheltering while on passage south to Bristol.

Her master and bosun were the only two aboard, but by the time they noticed that she was moving it was too late to stop her hitting the seawall, where she became stuck.

An unsuccessful attempt was made to tow her off and, as conditions worsened, the ship

was abandoned at 1800. Further attempts were made to refloat her, and her masts, yardarms, rigging and sails were removed by dockside cranes. However, a further deterioration in the weather led to more damage, and by 21 May she was beyond hope of salvage.

Since the early 1980s she has gone round the world as part of Operation Raleigh, launched

by Prince Charles in 1984. She was refurbished from 2017 with Heritage Lottery funding.

Zebu, built in 1938 as a ketchrigged Baltic Trader, is now beyond salvaging.

conservation work to be carried out, including anti-corrosion measures, deck repairs, repainting of the hull and carrying out maintenance on the four-inch guns.

The most extensive changes have been made to 2 Deck, where visitors will be introduced to the lives of key members of the ship’s crew from over the years, including people like Surgeon Lieut Robert Anthony Rowan, who saved many lives aboard HMS Belfast during the Korean War.

HISTORIC DOCKYARD

Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, with its three main preserved ships, Cavalier, Gannet and Ocelot, as well as much else, has received a grant of £384,144 from the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help reopen to visitors and support its recovery from the pandemic.

In December 2019 the dockyard stood on the cusp of financial sustainability, but Covid-19 created a crisis, with seven of its nine income streams ceasing completely. Although the Trust was able to restart its museum and visitor activities briefly in summer 2020, the combination of increased costs, reduced capacity and activity constraints, with a delayed reopening for 2021, have all worsened the financial position.

The much-needed Cultural Recovery Fund award will help the Historic Dockyard achieve its reopening plans, supporting dayto-day visitor services, as well as other enhanced programmes.

LATIS UP FOR SALE RIVER ESCAPES

The former passenger vessel River Escapes Latis faces an uncertain future. She has been put up for sale on the Tyne after a period of inactivity, during which she has been used as a store.

She was built in 1960 as Catherine by J.S. White, of Cowes, for the Gravesend/ Tilbury ferry, along with two sisters Edith and Rose. They were revolutionary ships for that service, replacing their coal-fired predecessors and

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HMS Belfast is a well-known fixture on the River Thames, near Tower Bridge.

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being propelled by a single Voith Schneider unit. They were also fitted with vast hydraulic gangways to expedite loading.

Catherine first came to run trips and undertake party work on the Tyne in 1989 as Catherine Wheel, with a fake paddle wheel attached to her stern, which was subsequently removed. She passed to her current owner in 2007. Renamed Keppel, her sister Rose moved to the Clyde in 1967 and is still in service today carrying passengers in Malta. Edith became a houseboat in Essex.

www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

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Last of a distinguished line

TIGER CLASS CRUISERS Conrad Waters recounts the history of the Royal Navy’s three Tiger class light cruisers, which were first conceivedduring World War II.

O

n 8 March 1961 a short ceremony held at Fairfield’s shipyard at Govan on the River Clyde saw the new Royal Navy cruiser HMS Blake commissioned

into the fleet. The third of three Tiger class light cruisers, she had first been laid down nearly two decades previously during the height of World War II. The Tigers were the last Royal Navy cruisers, while Blake was

 An official image released showing the revised Tiger class design. The class was based on modernising war-built hulls with a new superstructure and equipment. ADMIRALTY

22 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

the final all-gun-armed cruiser completed anywhere in the world.

The Tiger class traced its origin to a series of ships ordered under the Royal Navy’s wartime construction programmes in 1941 and 1942. The new cruisers were initially intended to be modified variants of the existing Fiji or Colony class, slightly updated to take account of the lessons of the conflict. Three of these ships, Swiftsure, Superb and the Canadian Ontario, were completed on the basis of the original design between 1944 and 1945. Another ship, Hawke, was scrapped at the end of hostilities, before she had been launched, while others were cancelled before work had even begun.

This left three ships which had all been launched by the end of 1945, but which were still some way from completion. None were immediately needed now that the war was over, and funds for the work necessary for their completion were lacking as Britain tried to rebuild its shattered economy. Equally importantly, there was a growing recognition that the existing design had been rendered obsolete by wartime advances in armament and other technology.

Between 1946 and 1948 work on the remaining ships effectively ground to a halt as it became apparent that neither the money nor the equipment required to complete the new

NAVAL HISTORY Blake early in her career. The third and final member of the Tiger class, she was the last RN cruiser to be built. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

cruisers would be available in the foreseeable future.

Although serious consideration was given to terminating the entire programme, a compromise was reached.

All three ships would be laid up in an incomplete state with a view to resuming construction with the most advanced armament as was practical as soon as economic conditions permitted.

The delay proved to be lengthy. Competing priorities, particularly for new anti-submarine vessels, and difficulties in agreeing and designing the armament served to postpone the resumption of building activity for many years. It was not until 1954 that it was finally agreed to complete the ships

to a radically new design.

As eventually completed, the Tiger class cruisers were compared with putting ‘new wine into an old bottle’. The

use of the existing hull, rather than that of the cramped Fiji class vessesl, and the retention of the existing main machinery represented major limitations.

 Lion in the course of completion at Swan Hunter’s shipyard on the River Tyne in early 1960. She had first been laid down by the Scotts yard on the Clyde nearly 18 years previously. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

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Otherwise, the modernisation was very extensive. It involved stripping out all the superstructure, bridge and gun supports and replacing most of the existing internal fittings.

The most significant changes were the installation of new weapons and associated fire control systems.

The highly automated main armament comprised four 6-inch QF Mk N5 guns mounted in two twin Mk.26 dual purpose turrets capable of 360 degrees rotation. Each of the new guns could fire up to 20 rounds per minute.

This provided the Tigers with broadly similar firepower to their wartime predecessors equipped with nine of the older 6-inch Mk XXIII guns.

Secondary armament also comprised a new weapons system, encompassing six 3-inch QF Mk N1 guns mounted in three twin Mk.6 mountings. Primarily intended for anti-aircraft use, each gun had an impressive rate of fire in the order of 100 rounds per minute. Both main and secondary weapons were directed by the radar-equipped MRS 3 fire control system,

 The Tiger class’s main armament of four 6-inch QF Mk N5 guns mounted in two twin Mk 26 dual-purpose turrets gave the ship a total maximum rate of fire of up to 80 rounds every minute. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

24 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

which was based on technology used in the US Navy’s equivalent, Mk.56. Each gun mounting had its own radarequipped director, meaning that it was possible to engage up to five targets at the same time.

Internally, the ships benefitted from modern command and control facilities and a limited degree of protection against nuclear, biological and chemical contamination. Crew facilities were upgraded from traditional ‘broadside messing’ to the latest cafeteria style arrangements. It was claimed that, on completion,

the new cruisers would be superior in habitability to any other ships in the fleet, but this seems to have been a little disingenuous. Squeezing so much new equipment into what was always a ‘tight’ design meant that the Tigers were regarded as rather cramped ships.

ENTRY INTO SERVICE

The final decision to complete the Tigers was followed by a period of intensive activity as the three cruisers were first partly dismantled and then rebuilt. Accordingly, it was not until early 1959 that the

 Tiger in the Far East in 1962. Along with her sister Lion, she was to play an important role in stabilising the region during Britain’s transfer of its former colonies to independence. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

NAVAL HISTORY This profile view of Tiger shows the class’s overall layout, including the two twin turrets forward and aft for the main armament and the three smaller mountings for 3-inch guns. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

lead ship, Tiger herself, was ready for delivery from the famous yard of John Brown & Company. Her sister, Lion, followed her into service from Swan Hunter on the Tyne in mid-1960, with Blake completing the class the following year.

Intended to provide closerange cover and anti-aircraft support for carrier task groups and convoys, the Tiger class entered service just as the traditional cruiser was beginning to lose its relevance to modern naval operations. New missilearmed ships in the form of the County class destroyers were already on the horizon, and these were regarded as being more effective in the role for which the Tigers were designated.

The first of these, Devonshire, commissioned only a year after Blake had been delivered. By 1963 the Tigers were the only remaining operational cruisers in the Royal Navy fleet.

The result was that the new Tigers quickly became ships searching for a meaningful purpose. Their complex main armament suffered from a significant number of initial

Tiger during builder’s trials on the River Clyde early in 1959. She commissioned on 18 March 1959. ADMIRALTY

TIGER CLASS CRUISERS

HMS TIGER (1959) HMS TIGER (1972) DISPLACEMENT circa 11,700 tons deep circa 12,100 tons deep DIMENSIONS 555ft 6in x 64ft x 21ft mean 565ft x 64ft x 22ft mean ARMAMENT 2 x 6in twin, 3 x 3in twin 1 x 6in twin, 1 x 3 in twin, 2 x Seacat SAM quad, 4 x helicopters ARMOUR 3in belt, 2in deck 3in belt, 2in deck PROPULSION Steam turbine, 80,000shp, four shafts, 1959: circa 31 knots max; 1972: circa 28 knots max CLASS Tiger (C20), Lion (C34), Blake (C99); only Tiger and Blake were modernised as helicopter cruisers www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

25

 An impressive view of Lion at speed in the early 1960s. She represented Britain at a number of independence ceremonies during this period. ADMIRALTY

teething troubles and – given that the missile was seen as the way forward – there was only limited incentive to achieve a comprehensive solution. The cruisers also required large and technically proficient complements at a time when Royal Navy crewing levels were under pressure.

As a consequence, Tiger and her sisters had only relatively short careers as conventional cruisers. Notably, Blake spent only one commission in her original configuration before being transferred to reserve in 1963. The other two ships spent much time away from home waters, playing an important role in covering

26 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

Britain’s final withdrawal from empire. Both cruisers were particularly active during the confrontation with Indonesia over the future status of Malaysia. Lion was also present at the celebrations marking the independence of several former colonies. Tiger earned her moment in the spotlight late in 1966, when she hosted high-profile talks between Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Ian Smith, leader of what was then known as Rhodesia.

The African country had unilaterally declared  Blake, in helicopter cruiser configuration, entering Portsmouth Harbour for the last time in December 1979. The first Hunt class MCMV, Brecon, can be seen in the background. ADMIRALTY  Tiger soon after completion.

The Royal Navy will not see her type again. ADMIRALTY

independence in an attempt to maintain white minority rule, but many years were to pass before a resolution was achieved. On conclusion of the meeting, Tiger returned to Devonport to pay off, leaving the Royal Navy without a cruiser in commission.

AN EVOLVING MISSION

Questions over the Tiger class’s longer term relevance were being asked even as they were being completed.

However, the need to deploy a new generation

of large anti-submarine helicopters across the fleet resulted in the emergence of a potential new mission.

Early in 1964 it was decided that all three ships would be converted to specialist helicopter cruisers. Blake was to the first to enter dockyard hands for the reconstruction work to begin.

The conversion involved extensive changes to the ships aft of the funnels, with the 6-inch turret in ‘X’ position being replaced to make space for a helicopter

NAVAL HISTORY A Sea King helicopter coming in to land on Tiger in 1973. The ship’s reconstruction allowed her to operate up to four helicopters of the type. ADMIRALTY

flight deck and hangar. It was originally intended to retain all three 3-inch gun mountings.

However, a need to extend the hangar forward to house the new larger Sea King helicopter in place of the originallyintended Wessex saw two of these being replaced by more compact Seacat surface-to-air missile launchers.

The new arrangements allowed a flight of four antisubmarine helicopters to be embarked. The reconstruction also included enhancements to the suite of radar equipment

and a new combat management centre. The enhanced command facilities this provided proved particularly useful when the subsequent decision to phase out the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers resulted in a shortage of ships suitable for leading task force operations.

All this came at a price, with Blake’s modernisation taking far longer and costing much more than initially envisaged.

Completion of the work was further delayed by two fires.

Entering dockyard hands in April 1965, it was only in

brought the prospect of a return to service. However, it was ultimately determined that the war would be over before the elderly cruisers could be refitted. Blake was sold for demolition later the same year but it was not until September 1986 that Tiger departed on her final voyage to the breaker’s yard in Spain.

All in all, it is difficult to see the Tigers as being more than a qualified success. The long delay in their initial completion meant that the concept of the gun-armed cruiser was already obsolete by the time they commissioned.

The subsequent reconstructions of Blake and Tiger proved to be long and expensive, albeit ensuring CONCLUSION they had longer careers than The two remaining Tigers might otherwise have been served through much of the the case. However, they 1970s, leading a number of provided useful service during ‘out of area’ global deployments the years of imperial retreat that followed the Royal Navy’s and, in their helicopter cruiser retreat to a largely NATOconfiguration, helped pave the focused role. Both were way for the Invincible class present at the 1977 Silver light carriers. Their passing Jubilee Fleet Review, although marked the end of a type that Tiger was decommissioned the will not be seen again. following year. Blake followed Note • The author is writing a at the end of 1979, largely due technical history of the Fiji class to the difficulty of finding the cruisers and their successors, large crew needed to keep her including the Tigers. He would welcome contact from anybody in commission. wishing to share information or The crisis that followed photographs at: conrad.waters@ Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands in April 1982 btopenworld.com.

1969 that Blake returned to the operational fleet. One of her first duties was to carry out landing trials of the Harrier jump jet on board her helicopter deck, demonstrating the inherent potential of the revised design.

Tiger followed Blake into dockyard hands, being recommissioned in 1972. The cost of the work was over £13 million, more than she had originally cost to complete.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lion’s proposed modernisation was cancelled and she was ultimately sold for scrap in 1975. She had been in operational service for only five and a half years, less than a third of the time she had spent under construction.

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Maritime

MOSAIC

Ferries of the UK

Many impressive ferries operate round the coasts of the British Isles, as Andrew Wood’s photos show. They maintain several routes across the Irish Sea and cross the English Channel between Dover and Calais and Dunkirk, as well as operating various services to Europe, while there is also a range of domestic vessels, such as those running to the Isle of Wight and the Western Isles of Scotland.  The 21,188gt European Highlander heading down Loch Ryan. Entering service in July 2002, she is an important part of the P&O Ferries operation in the Northern Corridor linking Scotland and Northern Ireland.

28 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

 The 41,671gt ro-pax Stena Estrid in Loch Ryan in September 2020.

Built in China, she was the first of the new E-Flexer ferries and was intended for the crossing between Holyhead and Dublin. She has capacity for 1,000 passengers, up to 3,100 lane metres of freight and 120 passenger cars. Stena Line’s other two E-Flexers are Stena Edda and Stena Embla.

READERS’ ARCHIVE

The new Brittany Ferries’ E-Flexer Galicia departing Portsmouth. She operates to Santander, Spain and Cherbourg, France. Built for Stena, she has been long-term chartered by Brittany Ferries.

 The 13,456gt Commodore Clipper departing Portsmouth. She entered service in 1999 and runs to the Channel Islands.  The 5,221gt Caledonian Isles departing Ardrossan, operating on the busy route to the Isle of Arran. Launched in 1993 and named by HRH The Princess Royal, she crosses from Ardrossan to Brodick up to five times a day.  Red Funnel’s 1,070gt freight ferry Red Kestrel heading across the Solent, outbound from Southampton to Cowes.

She was launched on 19 February 2019 by Cammell Laird and entered service in May 2019 after completing her sea trials. She increased freight capacity on the busy route between Southampton and East Cowes, IOW. www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

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Liners to cruise sh SHIPS WORLD OF

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OF SHIPS MONTHLY

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Jim Shaw provides an overview of the cruise industry, and how it developed during the post-war era when traditional liners were converted into cruise ships after their original services were no longer necessary.

 Dressed in blue hull for her final employment with Premier Cruise Line, the 40-year-old SeaWind Crown at Barcelona following the end of a charter with Pullmantur Cruises because of Premier’s financial problems. T. JONES

30 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

T

he development of the modern cruise industry came about partly with the ending of the liner trades, and the consequent availability of old liners, which were converted into cruise ships.

Many of the most famous liners built in the post-war era found gainful employment

during their twilight years as cruise ships, with some, such as France rebuilt as Norway, enjoying effectively two careers. However, of the world’s three major cruise ship groups which emerged in the late 1960s, only Carnival, the third to start operations, made use of second-hand passenger liners from the start.

When Knut Kloster and

 Radically rebuilt for Epirotiki Lines in the early 1970s, and still wearing the Greek company’s colours, Ryndam soldiered on through the late 1980 as the casino ship Pride of Mississippi operating from Gulfport, Mississippi. H. STOTT

LINERS TO CRUISE

ips

 By 1972 Statendam had adopted Holland America’s new midnight blue hull livery and orange funnel graced with swaths of aqua, white and aqua. Despite a $7 million five-month refit, which included a major internal rebuild and a revised passenger capacity, the ship retained her troublesome steam turbines. These were not exchanged until Tony Lelakis acquired the vessel in 1986 and had diesels installed from the container ship Margaret Johnson. M. MULLIGAN

 The 27,888gt Galileo Galilei, in her original Lloyd Triestino colours, was completed by Cantieri Riuniti dell’ Adriatico in 1963 and was acquired by Chandris in 1983. T. JONES

Ted Arison joined forces in 1966 to form Norwegian Caribbean Lines, later to become Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), their first ship was Kloster’s recently completed Sunward, a 8,666gt ‘cruise ferry’ designed for the run between England, Spain and Gibraltar.

She was followed by a series of newbuildings, until the former France of 1960 was acquired in 1979 and rebuilt into the 70,202gt Norway, a ship big enough to operate both as a cruise ship and as her own destination.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, which was established in 1968, shunned secondhand tonnage and ordered only purpose-built ships.

The company’s first ship, the 18,416gt Song of Norway, entered service in 1970.

Although using only new ships for its own operations, Royal Caribbean acquired Admiral Cruises in 1988, which was then operating two older passenger liners, Azure Seas (ex-Southern Cross) and Emerald Seas (ex-President Roosevelt), but both were soon disposed of.

The company also acquired Celebrity Cruises, which was still operating the 1963-built reconstructed passenger liner Galileo Galilei, but this

 Acquired by P&O in 1978, the former two-funnelled Kungsholm emerged from Bremer Vulkan yard in 1979 as the one-funnelled Sea Princess and is seen in Princess Cruises colours berthed across from the company’s first purpose-built ship, the 1984-built Royal Princess. M. MULLIGAN

 In late 1995, when StarLauro Cruises was rebranded as Mediterranean Shipping Cruises, and subsequently MSC Cruises, Rhapsody took on new funnel colours and survived in the MSC fleet until being sold to Mano Maritime in 2009 as Golden Iris. T. JONES www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

31

 Built as Prinses Margriet for Holland’s Oranje Lijn in 1961, the 9,341gt Enna G operated as a passenger/cargo carrier between Australia and the Pacific island of Nauru in the early 1970s. NAUTICAL ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

ship, sailing for Celebrity as Meridian, was soon sold.

In late 1971, after Ted Arison and Knut Kloster began having difficulties at NCL, Arison broke off and started his own company. With the Canadian Pacific flagship, the 1961-built Empress of Canada, for sale, Arison and his team purchased the ten-year-old British-built liner in 1972. She was renamed Mardi Gras and departed Tilbury for Miami on 26 February 1972.

Although Carnival ordered its first purpose-built ship, the 36,674gt Tropicale, in 1980, its financial success soon had it taking over other companies, some still operating former liners. Holland America Line had taken delivery of the new cruise ships Nieuw Amsterdam and Noordam in 1983-84, but was still operating the 1959-built Rotterdam when Carnival purchased the company in 1989.

 Seen after conversion work in 1970, Andrea C was the rebuilt wardamaged American cargo ship Ocean Virtue. She was used for seasonal cruising from the late 1950s.She was scrapped at La Spezia in 1983. N. JONES

 The former Festivale (ex-Transvaal Castle) immaculate in her late 1990s repainting for operation as IslandBreeze. T. JONES  In 1998 the white-hulled IslandBreeze was repainted red to operate as Premier Cruise Line’s Big Red Boat III, but was caught up in Premier’s bankruptcy and sold for demolition at age 42 in 2003. H. STOTT

NEW VOLUME WORLD OF SHIPS For a full history of liners to cruise ships, the latest World of Ships bookazine covers the subject in detail, looking at some of the most famous passenger ships ever built.

Illustrated with 200 outstanding colour images, this meticulously researched volume looks at cruise lines which did not survive and those that thrived in the 21st century cruise boom, and looks at the ships that they operated.

32 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly

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Built for liner service and modified for cruising

£8.99 No.18

 Shin Sakura Maru pictured after her conversion into a full cruise ship, showing new open deck areas forward and additional lifeboats. MITSUI OSK LINES

PHOTO GALLERY Brittany Ferries’ ro-pax ferry Mont St Michel catches the morning spring sunshine as she departs Portsmouth for Ouistreham at 0815 on 13 April. DARREN HOLDAWAY

grace our gallery?

Have you an outstanding photo that would lusion in these pages, which Send your image to Ships Monthly for inc showcase the best in ship photography around the world.

The ro-ro/container carrier Eurocargo Salerno (1998/29,303gt) passes Calshot heading for Salerno carrying vehicles and containers from the car carrier Grande Europa for Mediterranean ports on 20 December 2020. PHIL KEMPSEY

www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

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 The 2011-built LPG tanker Monica Kosan (3,728gt) in the Victoria Channel, Belfast Harbour, inbound for oil berth 3, bringing a cargo of propane gas from Teesport, November 2020. ROY THOMPSON

34 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

 The 30,083gt bulk carrier White Bay

arriving in Glasgow on 10 May. Built by Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Co as Athos in 2004, she was renamed White Bay in 2013. BOB WRIGHT

 The container ship Sealand Michigan (74,583gt) arriving without any units at Grand Harbour in Malta in October 2020.

She usually operates in the Far East, Japan and Australia. MARIO BUHAGIAR

An unusual and flamboyant visitor to the River Thames was the ro-ro cargo vessel Alf Pollak, built in 2018 and usually seen in Italian waters. The 32,770gt vessel has recently been operating between Purfleet and Rozenburg in the Netherlands. FRASER GRAY

www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

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NORMANDIE GREATEST OF OCEAN LINERS

Normandie, the French ocean liner built for the French Line, entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat and crossed the Atlantic in a record four days and three hours. She remains the most powerful steam turboelectric-propelled passenger ship ever built. Mark Berry describes the famous ship’s short but glorious career.

O

n 29 October 1932, while hull number 534, to become the famous RMS Queen Mary, was unfinished and abandoned on the slipway in Clydebank, hull number T6 sat ready for launch in St Nazaire, France. Both born into the Great Depression, these two ships were to set the tone for transatlantic travel in the 1930s, and T6 was about to become Normandie.

36 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

Conceived by Compagnie Générale Transatlantique as an evolution of the successful liner Île de France, Normandie was to be ‘France afloat’, acting as a showcase to reflect the best of the nation, its culture, its cuisine and its science. In spite of prevailing worldwide economic woes, the French Government heavily subsidised the building of the ship, which, at $60 million, cost twice as much as Queen Mary.

This huge expenditure must be considered within

the context of the battle for prestige and supremacy on the North Atlantic. The French and British were far from the only players. Germany’s Bremen and Europa, Italy’s Rex and Conte de Savoia were all built during this period. They were ships of state, vying for market share, with glamorous interiors, technological advances and, of course, speed. The Blue Riband, accolade for the fastest Atlantic crossing, was very much in the minds of those who built and operated these liners. Size was the final factor. To run the biggest liner gave as much kudos to a shipping line in the 1930s as it had in the 1890s, and Normandie was the biggest by a margin, measuring 1,030ft by 117.8ft and 79,280grt.

Technically, the ship broke new ground on a number of fronts. The Russian engineer and designer Vladimir

CLASSIC LINERS 1 NORMANDIE

 A contemporary postcard showing the profiles of Queen Mary and Normandie, the two great liners of their era.  A fine photograph of Normandie at anchor when the liner was brand new.

Yourkevitch (born 1885), learnt his craft designing cruisers for the Russian navy, which was being modernised after the defeat by Japan in 1905. The streamlined concepts he brought to the design of submarines produced hull forms well ahead of their time. After the Russian Civil war, Yourkevitch relocated to France and began work for Penhoet, St Nazaire, and in 1929 became involved in the design of T6.

His design, which incorporated a bulbous bow, beat 25 other designs and was adopted for her construction.

Funnel uptakes ran up the sides of the ship rather than the centreline. This departure from convention had also been used on the French Liner L’Atlantique of 1930.

On Normandie it allowed an uninterrupted flow of public rooms and spaces which did not have to be arranged round large central voids for the

uptakes. An uninterrupted vista of 700ft led down the grand staircase through lounges and salons, almost the entire length of the ship.

The exterior of Normandie was another departure from the norm. There was no cluttering of her decks with ventilators or unnecessary deck fittings and winches, as these were hidden within the hull or beneath the streamlined whaleback with its adjoining breakwater, on the foredeck.

The foremast was situated above the bridge rather than on the deck, further enhancing Normandie’s clean lines. Of her three huge raked funnels, the rear was a dummy and housed the dog kennels, as well as providing ventilation for the interior of the ship.

For propulsion, quadruple three-bladed screws were linked to a massive turbo electric power plant producing 165,000shp, and 33 oil-fired boilers were linked to six small and four large turbines, which drove four turboalternators producing 33,400kw of electricity. Four huge electric motors drove the screws.

The interior of the ship was radically modern. Although Tourist and Third class were by no means lacking in comfort or appointments, the ship was geared to the premier class experience for First class passengers. The Art Deco movement of the late 1920s and early 1930s, arising from a group of radical artists and designers, found a stage at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des arts Décoratifs et Industriels

www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

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NORMANDIE

BUILT Chantiers de Penhoet, SaintNazaire, France; laid down 26.1.1931, launched 29.10.1932, maiden voyage 29.5.1935 DIMENSIONS Length 1,029ft (313.6m) overall, beam 117ft 10in (35.9m), draught 36ft 7in (11.2m), depth 92ft (28m) TONNAGE 79,280grt (1935-36), 83,423grt (post-1936) MACHINERY Four turbo-electric, total 160,000hp (200,000hp max) SPEED 29.5 knots designed; 32.2 knots recorded on trials ACCOMMODATION 1,972: 848 First class (cabin), 670 Tourist, 454 Third FATE Caught fire, capsized 1942; scrapped 10.1946

 One of Normandie’s huge alternators. She had installed power totalling 160,000hp.

Modernes in Paris, and heavily influenced the interiors of the new French ship of state.

Companies such as Lalique (glassware), Aubusson (carpeting and tapestries), and Christofle (silverware) were involved in fitting out the ship. Designers such as Raymond Subes, a metal worker and furniture maker, and Jean Dupas, an artist and designer, were brought in to work on the ship. Dupas was responsible for the huge First class dining salon, longer than the hall of mirrors at Versailles, and three decks in height. This amazing room, the largest at sea, was clad in glass, with 12 Lalique lighting towers and 38 illuminated columns. The room was accessed by 20ft-high doors Normandie making her maiden arrival in New York.

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adorned with bronze medallions depicting scenes from the Normandie region.

Public spaces in First class also included a grand lounge, a winter garden with exotic plants, caged birds and a fountain, and indoor and outdoor pools. There was a full-sized theatre together with a children’s playroom.

The café-grill at the rear of the superstructure offered a fine dining experience, and at night the furniture was moved to create a dancefloor, and the room became a nightclub.

Before the ship had her first refit in 1936, the café-grill opened onto a large open terrace overlooking the stern.

During the refit, this lovely

open space was sacrificed to accommodate a rather ungainlylooking tourist lounge, which to many rather spoilt the ship’s lines. At the same time, the original three-bladed propellers were replaced with four-bladed ones to address vibration issues.

Normandie carried three classes of passenger. In addition to 848 First or Cabin class, there was provision for 670 Tourist class and 454 Third class. As with all threeclass ships of the day, each class had its own separate selfcontained areas, with dining rooms, lounges, smoking rooms and bars and of course separate cabin spaces.

The peak of luxury were the grand luxe suites, Rouen,

Caen, Deauville and Trouville.

These apartments offered bedrooms and bathrooms for three couples, together with salon, private dining room, pantry and bedroom space for children and servants.

Deauville and Trouville had their own private deck space. These suites attracted celebrities such as Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich and Walt Disney, who appreciated the privacy, level of service and French Style that Normandie’s deluxe service offered.

On 29 October 1932, T6 was launched and christened Normandie by Madame Lebrun, France’s First Lady, at the Chantiers de Penhoet yard. There then followed a

CLASSIC LINERS 1 NORMANDIE long period of fitting-out, during which the cavernous interiors became probably the most lavishly appointed spaces ever to go to sea.

At her trials she performed well, although vibration was a problem at high speed. She was formally handed over by the builders to her owners on 29 May 1935, and preparations began for the maiden voyage, which began at Le Havre.

In command was 54-yearold Captain Rene Pugnet.

Having joined CGT in 1907, he commanded a crew of 1,339 men and women on Normandie, who in turn served 1,014 passengers on this maiden crossing. President and Madame Lebrun were on board, with many other invited guests and dignitaries. CGT would earn no revenue from this trip, but there were huge public relations compensations.

ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

From Le Havre Normandie steamed to Southampton, and then headed out into the

Atlantic, making the crossing of 2,907 miles in a record four days, three hours and two minutes, averaging 30.1 knots, and taking the Blue Riband from the Italian Line’s Rex. A rapturous reception awaited the ship as she steamed into New York, proceeded up the Hudson River and docked at the French Line Pier 88. The ship was opened to the public, and journalists waxed lyrical about the new French wonder.

As an aside, most of the First class ashtrays, branded with the ship’s name, were stolen during this period. The replacements did not carry the name of the ship, and the originals are now highly collectable.

The ship broke the eastbound record on the return leg, calling first at Plymouth to unload some passengers and the mail, then heading to Southampton and back to Le Havre. Normandie traded the Blue Riband with Queen Mary, which finally entered service on 27 May 1936, until the outbreak of war in 1939.

There is no doubt that during her all too brief career, Normandie did not achieve her financial potential.

Some passengers found her interiors just too radical and intimidating in their grandeur. Queen Mary felt more like a country house in comparison, and many British and American travellers preferred this more traditional feel. Those who did travel on Normandie, however, certainly in first class, were treated to a level of service and gastronomic delight that has probably never been equalled.

Normandie undertook two cruises to Rio in 1938 and 1939, organised by the Raymond Whitcombe Travel Agency, crossing the equator and into tropical waters for the first time. She visited Nassau, Trinidad and Martinique, as well as Rio, on a 29-day itinerary, with prices starting at $435. These sunny holiday cruises were soon to become a memory, however, as the situation in Europe spiralled

towards conflict.

Normandie left Le Havre for the last time on 23 August 1939, carrying 1,417 passengers to New York. On 1 September, while she was docked in Manhattan, war was declared and Normandie was ordered to remain in port.

Two years passed, most of her crew returned home and the now nearly empty and lifeless ship lay at her berth.

Other liners, such as Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary,

 The First Class Dining Room.

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Painting of Normandie as she arrives at New York 1935, by Harley Crossley.

carried out troop-carrying duties, but Normandie waited in New York, with a skeleton crew keeping only essential services on board running.

In December 1941 she was taken over by the US Government and renamed USS Lafayette, and work began converting her to a troop ship. The famous liner probably had the largest troop-carrying capacity of any vessel of the time, and was seen as vital to US troop moving capacity.

However, this was not to come to pass. During December 1941 and into early 1942 work on the removal of furniture and fittings began, and the necessary structural alterations within the hull were made. On 9 February 1942 a welder, removing one of the light stanchions in the grand salon, accidentally set fire to a stack of kapok life preservers which were stored nearby.

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The end was tragic, as the fire mercilessly took hold of the ship’s structure and consumed the large areas of woodwork and decoration which had not yet been removed. The ship’s sophisticated fire protection system had been disconnected, and the New York Fire Dept’s hoses did not fit the ship’s water inlets.

Vladimir Yourkevitch, who was at that time in New York, pleaded to be allowed on board to open the sea cocks and flood the ship on an even keel, but he was overruled, and in the early hours of the next day, unstable owing to thousands of gallons of water hosed on to her, Normandie tipped over onto her port side

 A sad end to an iconic ship: Normandie on her side at Pier 88, New York, in February 1942.

alongside her dock, and her seagoing career was ended.

BEYOND SAVING

The salvage process was initially geared to righting the ship with the intention of putting her back into service. But the long process of cutting away the superstructure, plugging every underwater porthole, door and opening, and pumping her dry proved to be in vain.

Her hull was resting on a rocky outcrop beneath the harbour mud, and as she pivoted and moved with the tides, considerable damage was caused to her plating and structure, and she was declared to be beyond repair.

Although now upright, the ship was towed away in October 1943 to be scrapped at Port Newark. By December 1948, Normandie, the Ship of Light, was gone.

This early portrait of Cameronia/Tyrrhenia

by Odin Rosenvinge has a background of Naples and Mount Vesuvius, suiting their originally intended Mediterranean-New York route. In the end, Tyrrhenia was completed for Cunard and Cameronia operated on the Glasgow-New York run.

CLASSIC LINERS 2 CAMERONIA

AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

TSS CAMERONIA THE STALWART SCOT

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nchor Line, owned by Cunard since 1911, lost three of its largest liners during World War I, leaving only Columbia (1902) to resume Glasgow-New York sailings in August 1919.

An ambitious newbuilding programme comprised Cameronia, ordered from Beardmores, Caledonia and Transylvania from Fairfields, and California and Tuscania from Alex. Stephens for the Glasgow and Mediterranean to New York routes.

Laid down at Dalmuir on 7 March 1919 as yard no.584, Cameronia was the first new post-war British liner and the first of 34 ships totalling 389,000grt ordered for Cunard and associated lines.

Peter C. Kohler recalls the long and varied career of the Anchor liner Cameronia, the first British liner built after World War I, on the occasion of her centenary.

 The first official Anchor Line card for the new Cameronia. What appears to be the world’s smallest tugboat is depicted for ‘scale’ purposes. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

Designed by Cunard’s naval architect, Leonard Peskett, and setting the pattern for the 1920s intermediate liners, Cameronia measured 16,243grt with a length of 578ft and beam of 70.4ft.

Driving twin screws, 12,500shp Brown-Curtis double-reduction geared turbines and three double-ended and three single-ended oil-fired 220psi boilers gave her a 16.5-knot service speed. Seven holds, four forward and three aft, had a 400,000ft3 (bale) and 29,000ft3 (reefer) capacity. www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

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First class for 256 occupied the topmost three decks amidships with two- and three-berth cabins, some with private bath, with a drawing room, writing room, smoke room, gymnasium and veranda café on Promenade Deck.

Second class for 370 was aft of First with two- and four-berth cabins and a lounge and smoke room. Third class for 1,150 was fore and aft with two-, four- and six-berth cabins, two dining saloons, a general room and smoke room.

Cameronia was launched on 23 December 1919 by Lady Hermione Cameron of Lochiel, but her completion was badly delayed by strikes.

A joiner’s strike postponed her intended 16 February 1921 maiden voyage and then that of 16 April. After trials on 9-10 March, she sailed to Cherbourg for completion of her interiors. In the event, her first voyage began from Liverpool on 11 May on Cunard’s service to Halifax and New York. Heavy fog delayed her Halifax arrival by a day and Cameronia docked at New York on 21 May. Cameronia joined Anchor’s New York-Glasgow service on 1 June 1921. On 19 November she sailed from New York for Madeira, Gibraltar, Monaco, Genoa and Naples.

The round voyage was sold as a cruise by Thos. Cook, who

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 The new Anchor liner as depicted by Walter Thomas. J.H. Isherwood wrote ‘Cameronia was one of the finest looking of the smaller North Atlantic liners. She had a high sheer forward and a tremendous flare, while the hull dropped away gracefully to a very neatly-shaped cruiser stern . . . giving her a stately and dignified character.’ AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

chartered her in 1922 for a 63-day Mediterranean cruise from New York from 5 July to 6 September. Otherwise, she stayed full-time on the GlasgowNew York run. New to her routine starting on 26 March 1923 were occasional Boston calls; three years later it became a regular stop when she was en route to/from New York.

On 13 October 1925 Cameronia rescued the crew of the US Coast Guard patrol boat CG-128, which was disabled off Nantucket in a ferocious storm.

When she sailed from Glasgow on 2 January 1926, steering gear problems forced the liner’s return four days later. Her voyage was cancelled so she could be repaired, and her passengers  An early postcard depiction of Cameronia at sea, issued by Anchor Line; she was managed by the Henderson Brothers Ltd.

 The only sisterships in the British Merchant Navy to serve under different owners: Tyrrhenia (left) and Cameronia (right) at Dalmuir, May 1920. Their completion was already badly delayed by strikes.

 Cameronia on the ways at Beardmore’s, Dalmuir yards in 1919. She was the very first post-war British liner. FROM SHIPBUILDING & SHIPPING RECORD, 1920

CLASSIC LINERS 2 CAMERONIA CAMERONIA

BUILT 1920, William Beardmore & Co Ltd, Dalmuir DIMENSIONS 552ft 4in x 70ft 4in TONNAGE 16,243grt MACHINERY Twin-screw, geared turbines SPEED 16 knots ACCOMMODATION 265 First, 370 Second, 1,150 Third 290 Cabin, 431 Tourist, 698 Third (post 1926) 1,246 one-class (post 1948) OFFICERS & CREW 320

 The new Cameronia and the Anchor Line’s tender Paladin (1913) in the River Clyde. RAY WOODMORE COLLECTION

were transferred to Laconia.

In late November 1928 Cameronia arrived at Beardmore’s, where the forepart of her hull was rebuilt to reduce pitching in head seas, caused by a too flat-bottomed profile.

Not only had this proved uncomfortable for passengers, but it also occasioned expensive repairs, so much so that her underwriters paid half the £44,000 cost. A new bow section with finer lines, measuring 170ft by 24ft, was built at D&W Henderson’s yard and then dismantled, with every plate, rib and bolt

numbered. In five weeks the original hull section was cut out and the new section reassembled in its place. Her now dated Third Class public rooms were also improved.

The improved Cameronia returned to New York on 6 March 1929 and the next month inaugurated calls at Belfast, alternating with those at Moville (for Londonderry).

Starting in June, she accommodated 290 Cabin, 431 Tourist Third and 698 Third Class passengers. On 24 May 1930 an explosion aboard City of Sydney in the Irish Sea killed one man and injured three,

and Cameronia answered her SOS and transferred the casualties to Belfast.

For National Tours, Cameronia sailed from New York to Bermuda on 3 April 1932 and to Havana on 15 August, and these proved to be her only one-class cruises.

Cameronia’s 14-23 December 1932 crossing saw 400 of her 717 passengers stricken with influenza. Her surgeon was on 24-hour duty for four days, making 500 visits a day treating the sick, none of whom died and most of whom had recovered by the time the ship docked at Glasgow.

Cameronia, eagerly awaited, docked at New York on 11 December 1933 with the first shipment of 40,000 cases of Scotch whisky since the end of prohibition. This was followed by a record 103,623 cases, landed on 5 February 1934.

Cameronia docked at Glasgow on 21 August 1934 with ‘her decks battered, her furniture splintered and 30 of her passengers suffering from injuries after being hurled across her cabins from 60ft waves’. During the two-day gale, one seaman was washed overboard and lost.

With Anchor Line’s traffic devastated by the Depression,

Photo postcard of Cameronia.

AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

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Cameronia was laid up in King George V dock, Shieldhall in late December 1934. The following May the line went into receivership and was reformed and refinanced under Runciman Ltd, ending the Cunard association.

The British military build-up following the Italy-Abyssinia War saw Cameronia chartered as a transport. She left Glasgow on 3 October 1935 and thence from Liverpool with 2,000 troops for Aden. On 1 March 1936 she arrived at Southampton from India four days late owing to propeller problems. Nine days later she sailed on her final trooping voyage to Sudan. In six months Cameronia carried 16,617 personnel on four voyages, to Aden, Singapore, Bombay and Port Sudan.

Cameronia entered Barclay, Curle’s Elderslie yards on 23 April 1936 for a £30,000 refit before resuming her New York run amid better trading conditions. Her machinery was overhauled, her boilers were fitted with super heaters and Tourist Class cabins were provided with hot and cold running water. She returned to service with an 11 July Glasgow sailing.

The Admiralty chartered Cameronia from 18 to 22 May 1937 for the Coronation

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 Postcard of HMT Empire Clyde, the most popular of all post-war British troopships, due to her all-private cabin accommodation, carried over from her migrant service. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

Fleet Review at Spithead, during which she carried invited guests. On 5 February 1938 she returned to service after a refit, with all her Third class cabins now provided with running water and wardrobes.

WARTIME SERVICE

The first British liner to dock at New York after the outbreak of World War II, Cameronia arrived there from Glasgow on 13 September 1939 with her superstructure painted grey and a three-inch gun aft. She sailed unescorted on the route during 1939-40, laden with cargo eastbound and refugees and large consignments of Scotch westbound. Her 11th and final voyage departed New York on 4 November 1940, and this proved to be the last Anchor Line Atlantic passenger sailing.

Following conversion into

She was the largest transport ship at D-Day in June 1944, and also landed troops at St Tropez during Operation Dragoon that August.

On her final transatlantic voyages, Cameronia arrived at Halifax on 11 August 1945 a transport, HMT Cameronia and at Quebec City on 10 first carried troops to Suez September, carrying returning in January 1941 and then Canadian Forces. During made multiple trips between her war service, Cameronia Alexandria and Greece. steamed 321,323 miles and During the first half of 1942 carried 163,789 personnel. she was in South and East She was, like Columbia after African waters, after which she World War I, the sole survivor sailed to Bombay. of Anchor’s Atlantic fleet, Now a Landing Ship Infantry, as California, Transylvania Cameronia participated in and Caledonia were all war four Allied landings, starting casualties, and Tuscania was with Operation Torch on 12 sold to the Greeks in 1939.

November 1942. Off Algiers But there was no second on 22 December, she was hit by revival of Anchor’s Glasgowan aerial torpedo from a JU-88, New York passenger service. which blew a 288ft2 hole in her Instead, Cameronia side and killed 17 on board. She continued trooping managed to reach Bougie and throughout 1945, 1946 and then Algiers. After temporary well into 1947, going to patching at Gibraltar, she Palestine, India, Indo-China proceeded to Glasgow. and Kenya. On 30 July 1947 Fully repaired, Cameronia she returned to Glasgow on sailed for Malta in June 1943 her last transport voyage. She and then landed a Canadian was laid up and, at 26 years Tank Division at Syracuse. old, her prospects seemed

CLASSIC LINERS 2 CAMERONIA  HMT Empire Clyde in her transport livery of white, buff funnel and wide blue sheer line. J.H. Isherwood remarked: ‘Unfortunately her decks were so stepped down aft that [the] blue line was painted too low for good looks, rather giving her the appearance of a lady whose belt has slipped.’

ROY WOODMORE COLLECTION

bleak, but, as with so many of her countrymen, a fresh start ‘down under’ beckoned.

In February 1948 it was announced that Cameronia would be converted into a migrant ship for Australia’s Assisted Passage scheme.

At Barclay Curle’s Elderslie yard, she was refitted with a new, slightly shorter funnel, four of her six boilers were replaced, the gap between her bridge and boat deck superstructure filled in and she got new accommodation for 1,246 in 282 two-, four- or six-berth cabins. Her public rooms were refurbished and one was converted into a large

nursery. The £500,000 cost of the work was borne by the Australian Government.

On 1 November 1948 Cameronia made her first voyage from Glasgow to Sydney via Suez, Fremantle and Melbourne. Arriving at Sydney on 8 December, she was heralded as ‘The Queen Mary of the Migrant Fleet’.

She suffered engine trouble after leaving Glasgow on 1 June 1950, so diverted to Southampton for repairs. Her 1,245 passengers remained on board and she resumed her voyage on 14 June. Making four trips a year, Cameronia completed 11 voyages to Australia, carrying 13,811 migrants up to her final arrival at Sydney on 9 November 1952.

The Korean War gave Cameronia yet another lease on life when the Ministry of Transport purchased her for £41,000 on 9 January 1953 as a transport. Renamed Empire Clyde, her all-private cabin accommodation instantly

made her the most popular of all troopships.

Rushed into service still in her original livery, and renamed HMT Empire Clyde, she sailed from Liverpool to Malaya on 20 January 1953. Mostly on the Southampton-Singapore-Hong Kong route, Empire Clyde made at least nine such voyages from 1953 to 1956, often calling en route at Malta, Cyprus and Egypt, as well as making one trip to the West Indies and Bermuda in 1954. Her last voyage was to Christmas Island in July 1957. Her Captain, Alexander C. Johnson, and Purser, W.A. McKay, had both been aboard on her maiden voyage 35 years previously.

On 30 September 1957 Empire Clyde docked at Liverpool. It proved to be her swansong. Finally ringing off ‘Finished With Engines’, the former Cameronia arrived at the Newport, Monmouthshire yard of John Cashmore & Co in March 1958 to be broken up, 39 years after she had been laid down to begin a new a generation of British Atlantic intermediate liner. None had a better record than hers.

DID YOU KNOW?

 Cameronia was the first

British liner laid down and launched after World War I  Lady Hermione Cameron christened both the 1911-built Cameronia (I) and the 1919-built Cameronia (II)  From keel-laying to launch took only nine and a half months, which was a record at the time for a large liner  Cameronia was the first Anchor Line Atlantic liner with a cruiser stern, and the first with a single funnel since Furnessia of 1881  Cameronia was the first oilburning liner to sail from New York to the Mediterranean in 1921  Cameronia and Tyrrhenia/ Lancastria were the only British sisterships to sail for different companies  Cameronia made only two one-class cruises in her career, unique among the CunardAnchor intermediates

The migrant ship Cameronia: note the Boat Deck, which has been extended to the bridge, and the new, slightly shorter funnel.

ROY WOODMORE COLLECTION

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A TALE OF TWO V Malcolm Cranfield recounts the careers of two ships which passed to the independent Lithuanian Shipping Company in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Following their sale in 1996 to Victor & Family of Riga, Latvia, they traded as Victor and Julia. One of these ships came to prominence in France for the wrong reasons.

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fter the two small cargo vessels Victor and Julia had successfully been operated

by Victor & Family for three years , both were abandoned in 2000. Victor was subsequently scuttled off Brest in January 2002 following the intervention of the French authorities, and Julia was sold at auction.

The two ships were owned

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by Victor & Family, who had started their shipowning venture towards the end of 1994 with the acquisition of the Sietas-built coaster Athos of 1962. Athos traded successfully under the Latvian flag during 1995, but her registry was then changed to Belize.

She was sold to Russian interests in January 1997 to be managed by Solna Shipping & Trading of Yeysk on the

Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of Azov, registered in Belize but nominally owned in the United States by New Trading LLC of Oklahoma City. This may have been linked with US finance providers’ ability to facilitate the registration of a mortgage or charge. Athos was broken up at Aliaga in 2012 following a further 12 years of trading by Solna as Sormovskiy.

VICTOR

Victor was built by Valmet Oy at Helsinki in 1968 as Bereznik, one of 82 forest product carriers of differing types built in Finland between 1961 and 1971. She was launched on 29 March 1968 and delivered to the USSR’s Lithuanian Shipping Company in September 1968.

Bereznik frequently traded to the UK, with a first voyage to Garston soon followed by a visit to Avonmouth with a cargo of grain at the end of January 1969. Her last voyage was from New Holland to Klaipeda in August 1991.

She was next reported arriving at Hamburg in May 1992 as Birzai, owned by the newly-privatised Lithuanian Shipping Company, but she continued to make frequent visits to UK ports, including a call at Liverpool at the end of March 1993. On being

CARGO HISTORY

 Victor & Family’s first ship, the 1962-built coaster Athos, at Trabzon in June 2011 as Sormovskiy. From 1997 she was managed by Solna Shipping & Trading of Yeysk, Russia, but was nominally owned in the United States by New Trading LLC of Oklahoma City. CIHAN KASARCI

ICTORS acquired by Victor & Family, Birzai sailed from Klaipeda on 10 December 1996 and called at the Tees in July 1997.

Renamed Victor at Riga in November 1997, she then proceeded to Arzew in Algeria at the start of a new life, trading largely between Baltic and Mediterranean ports. In January 1999 she again visited New Holland, sailing from there to Catania in Sicily, but soon thereafter was transferred to the Belize flag to be nominally owned in the USA

by Seacastle Continental LLC of Wilmington, Delaware.

After sailing from Southampton on 18 June 1999, she made a call at Brest in northern France in August 1999 with a cargo of rapeseed from Constantza and proceeded without any known problems although, after arriving on 20 August

and completing discharge within two days, she remained in port for a further five days.

However, her next call at Brest in April 2000, now under the Latvian flag, was unplanned and came to a dramatic conclusion in January 2002.

On 3 April 2000 Victor sailed from Le Tréport, near Dieppe in Normandy, with 3,000 tonnes of wheat for

discharge at Malaga in Spain, but soon reported water ingress to her engine room and generator failure in bad weather. It was estimated that repairs would cost about 300,000 francs (US$56,000).

She was taken in tow by the tug Abeille Flandre and arrived at Brest on 4 April 2000. It then transpired that her crew of 15, comprising Latvians,

 Victor arriving at Brest on 20  Victor as the Lithuanian Shipping Company’s Birzai entering Gladstone lock, August 1999 with rapeseed from Liverpool, stern first on the ebb tide of 27 March 1993. She proceeded to Constantza. P. BLAISE/AUTHOR’S COLLECTION Seaforth Dock to load a cargo of grain. AUTHOR

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Lithuanians, Russians and Ukrainians, had not been paid since the start of the year and by May 2000 were owed US$61,000, with crew unrest becoming a serious problem.

The ship’s registry, meanwhile, reverted to Latvia.

The trades union Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail or CFDT), the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), and the Association Française des Capitaines de Navires (‘AFCAN’) then became involved, demanding that the French government arrange payment of the crew’s back pay.

On 20 May 2000 the CGT invited the public on board the ship to see the deplorable conditions, symbolically selling to visitors 1,000 small bags of the cargo for ten francs each, and generally raising funds in order to support the crew.

Two days later a meeting was held between the Spanish cargo owner, the French government and the CGT. It was agreed that, in exchange for the cargo being released, the cargo owner would pay  Victor abandoned at Brest on 10 May 2001. On her side had been painted ‘garbage boats – that’s enough – what is Europe doing’.

YANNICK LE BRIS

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the overdue crew salaries and be compensated by the French government, which had been pressurised by the CGT to act responsibly in that way.

The cargo, which was beginning to become infested with rats, was then transhipped into the Dutch coaster Electron, which departed Brest on 30 May 2000 bound for Spain.

The French government then lodged a claim against Victor & Family, seizing the ship with the intention of selling her for scrap if they did not cooperate. On 14 June the crew left the ship to be cared for by the Seamen’s Club.

Meanwhile, at the Brest International Maritime Festival in July 2000, the attention of visitors was drawn to the problem of ‘garbage

ships’ such as Victor and the 1972-built Junior M, which had similarly put into Brest on 11 October 1999.

Then, on 21 August 2000, the 1972-built vessel Han suffered an explosion in her cargo of maize off Brest and was also towed into port by Abeille Flandre, the cargo being transhipped for onward carriage to Marin in Spain.

While Junior M was soon sent to Turkey for breaking, the CGT was later incensed on learning that Han, which had been sold to a Greek shipbreaking intermediary and allowed to sail from Brest in February 2001 under tow for Piraeus, had been repaired and returned to service as Tom T. Consequently, the CGT demanded that Victor be

 Victor as Bereznik discharging grain in Avonmouth’s Old Dock on 26 January 1969. Built at Helsinki, she was delivered to the USSR’s Lithuanian Shipping Co in September 1968.

JOHN WILTSHIRE/AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

scrapped at Brest, or sunk in order to ensure that she was not similarly sold, potentially resuming trading. A demonstration was organised on 26 October 2001, with the CGT representative Jean-Paul Hellequin chaining himself to the ship to demand that Victor be ‘oceanised’, i.e. sunk at sea.

On 19 November 2001, after two offers to buy the ship for scrap were declined, Victor formally became the property of the French state, when an official ‘cut the flagpole’ and took away her name plates, and it was decided in December 2001 to arrange for her to be scuttled. Victor was accordingly towed out of port on 5 January 2002 by the offshore tug/ supply ship Ailette and sunk by the French Navy.

The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the NorthEast Atlantic (the ‘OSPAR Convention’) decreed that any scuttling of ships should be more than 150m from the coast and in at least 2,000m of water depth. However, the scuttling of the vessel was still denounced by the CFDT and by the environmental association Robin des Bois (Robin Hood).

CARGO HISTORY

THE LONG CAREER OF THE 1967-BUILT JULIA

J

ulia was built by Valmet Oy at Turku in 1967 as Lyuban, another of the forest product carriers built in Finland. She was launched on 19 May 1967 and delivered to the USSR’s Lithuanian Shipping Company

by December 1967. Her last voyage as Lyuban was from Antwerp to the Baltic Sea in December 1991.

By April 1992 she was trading as Lazdijai, owned by the Lithuanian Shipping Company, but by the end

of 1996 she was sold to Victor & Family, who retained her name. Her subsequent career in their ownership was confused, but her end was not as dramatic as that of Victor.

Early in 1997 Lazdijai was transferred by Victor & Family to the Belize flag, but by May 1998 she was renamed Julia under the Latvian flag.

However, by July 1998 she reverted to the Belize flag as Julia I, only to revert to Julia by October 1998. After a call

 Julia as Lyuban passing Tromsø in northern Norway bound for Archangelsk in the autumn of 1985. Built at Turku in Finland, she was delivered to the USSR‘s Lithuanian Shipping Company late in 1967. GEIR OLE SØRENG

at Southampton in February 1999 as Julia, she was reported sailing from the same port in July 1999 bound for Thessaloniki as Julia I. However, on 31 December 1999 she loaded a cargo at Port La Nouvelle as Julia under the Latvian flag, by then nominally owned by Seacastle Continental LLC. Julia was detained at Terneuzen on the Ghent Canal in May 2000 and sold at auction, sailing on 3 July 2000 for

Constantza as Rebecca, operated under the Bolivian flag by the shipbreaking intermediaries Al Jazira Marine Services of Ajman, UAE. As Rebecca, she arrived at Kharg Island on 24 January 2001 from Piraeus and was beached at Mumbai on 8 February 2001 for breaking.  With many thanks to Yvan Letellier, Erwan Guéguéniat, Yvon Perchoc and Simon Olsen for their help with the research into this tale.

 Julia idle in the Ghent Canal at Terneuzen on 2 June 2000 awaiting sale.

Soon sold at auction, she sailed on 3 July 2000 for Constantza under the Bolivia flag as Rebecca. AUTHOR

Julia as the privatised Lithuanian Shipping Company’s Lazdijai, departing Immingham on 2 May 1994. PATRICK HILL

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SIETAS SMALL COAST  RUTH W In the mid-1950s, when production was starting to increase, a decision was made to classify the vessels according to types. At first letters were used, so in 1955 six examples of the Type HG were built, named after Hertha Gerdau. Type A and Type F also appeared, before a numerical scheme was adopted in 1958. This scheme has continued to the present day. Ruth W was the last of the nine Type 1 ships. Built as Heimatland, she was lengthened in 1966 and became Ruth W in 1977.

She was photographed in the River Ouse on 13 May 1980.

DAVID GALLICHAN, BERNARD MCCALL COLLECTION

J.J. Sietas in Hamburg is one of the best-known shipbuilders in northern Europe, and specialised in building small coasters for shortsea work, as this selection of photographs supplied by Bernard McCall shows.

T

he shipyard of J.J. Sietas is arguably one of the best-known in northern Europe.

It was founded in Hamburg in 1635 and, from its inception, the company was continuously owned by the founding family.

By 2009 the ninth generation of the family were overseeing matters. The first vessels built by the yard were of wood, but a change to steel came from the early 20th century.

From the 1950s the shipyard focussed on constructing ships in sections. In recent years, small to medium-sized container vessels were built, and the yard specialised in designs of small coasters, the focus of this article.

By 2009 the shipyard was experiencing financial

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difficulties due to rising steel prices, the rapid fall in demand for container ships and miscalculation of costs.

The global recession led to cancelled orders and the shipyard’s largest creditor, HSH Nordbank, took over management in early March 2009, the first time the company had been managed by someone outside the founding family since 1635.

The yard continued to experience financial problems, despite the change of management, until April 2014, when it became part of the Pella group, a Russian company owned by the Tsaturof family.

The yard is now known as Pella Sietas Werft, and is still active building ships.

During 2019 a 133m by 23m dredger was built.

 BETTY In the mid-1960s, shipowners began to seek variations on basic designs.

The first 14 Type 33 ships were followed by six Type 33d and nine Type 33e vessels.

The Type 33d differed from its predecessors in having a three-deck superstructure rather than two-deck. All had three three-tonne cranes, except one, which was gearless. Betty was delivered as Rolf in May 1967 and was renamed Betty in 1985. She was photographed in the Kiel Canal in 1992. KLAUS-PETER KIEDEL

CARGO VESSELS

ERS ROUND EUROPE

 AURIGAE The Type 37 was a return to a conventional design with cargo gear. Nine examples were built in 1963-64. Aurigae was delivered as Alteland in September 1963 and was renamed in 1984. She sank off the Dominican Republic on 5 August 1988 when on passage from Puerto Ordaz to Antwerp.

She was photographed at Par on 24 August 1985, when loading of china clay had just begun for delivery to Hamburg. CEDRIC CATT  EURO SKIPPER The nine Type 33e ships were built without cargo gear and were intended for the rapidly growing container trades. Euro Skipper was delivered as Adda in August 1966 and was soon chartered by Sealand for its container feeder work. She was lengthened by 13 metres in 1979 and became Euro Skipper in 1984. She was photographed leaving Par on 14 April 1987 destined for Rotterdam with a cargo of china clay. She was recycled at Aliaga in 2010. BERNARD MCCALL

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 AREND The five Type 47 ships were built between 1965 and 1969 and represented a significant development in design because they were built without cargo-handling gear. All five were built for Vega Reederei Friedrich Dauber, of Hamburg, a company which returned regularly to the Sietas yard. Friedrich Dauber died in 1965 and his business partner Uwe Brugge took over the company. He immediately won a lucrative 5-year contract of affreightment for the transport of materials for the Elbtunnel Project in Hamburg. These ships were also used to carry boilers and B&W main engines for the Lindo shipyard, the wide hatch covers being ideal for this work. Arend was delivered on 1 October 1966. She was sold to Caribbean operators and renamed Rocar in 1988, sailing from Rotterdam on 8 July to Mayaguez via Tenerife. She was removed from registers in 2012. We see her at Eastham in 1976. DAVID GALLICHAN, BERNARD MCCALL COLLECTION  EURO CLIPPER By the late 1960s a new design of vessel was required for the coastal container trades and the Type 58 was the result.

Between 1968 and 1971 23 were built.

Destel was delivered in December 1969 and between 1973 and 1977 worked as Owen Kersten for Kersten Continental Line. She became Euroclipper in 1980, and Euro Clipper in 1986. She was recycled at Aliaga in January 2015. DAVID GALLICHAN, BERNARD MCCALL COLLECTION

 AROS TIMBER was the first of only two Type 62 coasters built, both in 1969. She was delivered as Buxtehude II to Julius Hauschildt on 22 June. She became Aros Timber in 1978 for a charter to Aros Line and reverted to Buxtehude II in 1980. She introduced a new profile for Sietas-built ships,

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with an eight-tonne crane amidships and a three-tonne derrick forward. Her sistership was built without gear. She was deleted from registers in 2012. She was photographed passing Meredyke on the River Trent on 12 May 1980. DAVID GALLICHAN, BERNARD MCCALL COLLECTION

 YAMBURG Between 1972 and 1977 17 of the Type 72 ships were built. The final one in the series was delivered in March 1977 as Parnass. In 1978 she returned to Sietas to be lengthened by just over 5m. She passed through the hands of several owners before becoming Yamburg in 2004. She was photographed in the Kiel Canal on 20 September 2008. Her present whereabouts are unknown, and she was last reported at Klaipeda in 2012.

OLIVER SESEMANN

CARGO VESSELS

 MONICA at Par in Cornwall waiting to load on 12 May 1995. She departed for Bremerhaven three days later. Delivered as Walter Behrens in October 1963, she was the solitary example of Type 38. She became Monica in June 1990. She left northern Europe in early 1997 and by late 1998 was trading in the Middle East. She was deleted from registers in 2012. CEDRIC CATT

 IRIS D Between 1961 and 1966 Type 28 vessels were built. Iris D was delivered as Hein Schriewer in December 1966. She became Iris D in March 1986 and was photographed passing Portishead for Avonmouth on 4 May 1987. She sank in Torbay in November 1989 but was raised, repaired and returned to service. In 1996 she was sold to Albania and was recycled in Durres in 2010. BERNARD MCCALL  AMERICAN CHEROKEE By the mid-1970s containerisation was developing rapidly. The naval architects in the Sietas shipyard were skilled in anticipating future trends and new designs showed the growing importance of containerisation. The Type 81 series reflected this, 22 examples being built between 1973 and 1977. They had a 144TEU container capacity.

They were very popular with charterers, which included United States Line, Unifeeder, Team Lines and Bell Lines. With the Sietas yard working at full capacity in the 1970s, some ships were subcontracted to the Norderwerft yard in Hamburg.

One such vessel was Nautilus, which was delivered as American Cherokee on 25 June 1975 for a fouryear charter to United States Line.

She is pictured passing the Hook of Holland on 25 July 1978. In 1996 she was converted to a tanker for the carriage of liquid carbon dioxide and renamed Hydrogas III. Now Iduna, she is currently a storage vessel at Warrenpoint. THE LATE JOHN WILTSHIRE

The recently-published hardback book ‘Sietas and Its Ships (Part 1)’ covers the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. The 96-page book is available from all good booksellers (when they eventually open), and copies can be obtained direct from the publisher, Coastal Shipping, 400 Nore Road, Portishead, BS20 8EZ priced £16.50 plus £1.65 UK postage. Email orders@coastalshipping.co.uk, telephone 01275 846178, visit www.coastalshipping.co.uk. www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

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SOUTH AMERICA’S RIVER PLATE ITS SHIPS AND SHIPPING Jim Shaw looks at the history of shipping on South America’s River Plate as the Port of Buenos Aires plans a major modernisation of its facilities.

An aerial view of the Puerto Nuevo docks with cruise ships at container berths, their passengers required to use shuttle buses to move to and from the white two-story Quinquela Martín cruise terminal seen in the background. AGDP

 A postcard view of Buenos Aires from the 1950s, with several cargo ships, including Hamburg Sud’s 1953-built Santa Teresa, anchored Mediterranean-style in Dársena Norte, and the tall 1936-built Kavanagh Building, once South America’s tallest, in the background. JIM SHAW COLLECTION

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T

he River Plate, or ‘Río de la Plata’, has long been a major hub for shipping on the east coast of South America, as it shelters the main ports of Argentina and Uruguay while also supporting transshipment traffic moving to and from Paraguay and southern Brazil.

The river, actually an estuary for the merged Uruguay and Paraná rivers, becomes the widest in the world just before reaching the Atlantic, near Montevideo, measuring over 140 miles across. It has a total drainage area of 1,220,000 square miles, and its many tributaries also bring down millions of tons of silt annually, giving the water a continually muddy appearance and requiring constant dredging to keep shipping channels open.

The river was first explored by the Portuguese in 1512, followed by the Spanish in 1516, the latter naming it

 One of the last users of the old Puerto Madero basins was the 5,294gt refrigerator ship Frostfjord, completed in 1964 as Pisang and scrapped at Gadani Beach as Safina Nadj in 1984.

In the foreground of this late1970s photo is the bunkering tanker Holanda, completed as the 1,582dwt Falucho in 1907 by the Fullerton yard at Paisley and converted into a barge during World War II by Argentina’s Nicolás Mihánovich. M. MULLIGAN

PORT PROFILE

 One of a number of conventional ferries operated between Argentina and Uruguay into the 1990s, the 1962-built Nicolás Mihánovich could accommodate 704 passengers and 70 vehicles, along with a crew of 52.

The vessel was last reported afloat at Iguazu, Argentina as an out-of-work casino after serving as a floating shopping mall at La Boca. M. MULLIGAN

 Built in Uruguay for Compañía Argentina de Navegación Mihánovich S. A. in 1938, the 500-passenger Ciudad de Colonia made over 39,200 trips between Buenos Aires and Colonia before being retired in the 1980s. She was last reported as being used as a floating residence on the Lujan River north of Buenos Aires. MARK MULLIGAN

Mar Dulce, or ‘Freshwater Sea’, but later changing it to Río de la Plata, or ‘River of the Silver’, after explorer Sebastian Cabot found silver among local Indians. Within a decade a small colony had been founded near the site of modern Buenos Aires, but this was later abandoned in favour of Asunción, further up the Paraná River.

In 1580 the site at Buenos Aires was again occupied, although its shallow water forced vessels to anchor well off until a number of long piers were constructed between 1856 and 1872.

These structures were then followed by the building of riverfront docks at the mouth of the Riachuelo River during the mid-1870s in an area of

became obsolete because of their limited size, although the larger northern basin, known as Dársena Norte, still continues in commercial use today, largely for ferry traffic.

Because of the rapidly growing size of ships calling at Buenos Aires, it was decided that a larger complex of docks was needed and, in 1907, a New Port, or ‘Puerto Nuevo’, was authorised for construction to the north of the Dársena Norte basin.

Unfortunately, material shortages during World War I delayed completion of this project until 1925, but the multiple deepwater docks, all protected by long breakwaters, became the largest docking complex in Latin America.

Although built to take the

Buenos Aires today known as La Boca or ‘The Mouth’.

As Argentina required a more substantial port complex for its growing exports of meat, grain and wool in the late 1800s, a major port construction project was launched in 1884 under the direction of local entrepreneur Eduardo Madero. Using a design furnished by British engineer Sir John Hawkshaw, and the expertise of British construction company Walker & Co Ltd, a series of four tide-protected contiguous docking basins were built, capped by a larger basin to the north, all finished between 1885 and 1897.

To later become known as ‘Puerto Madero’, the four smaller basins quickly

place of Puerto Modero, the older basins continued in operation until well after World War II, but gradually became derelict and were largely abandoned and out of use by the late 1970s.

 A collection of elderly tugs of the Empresa Flota Fluvial del Estado Argentino fleet, including the 1942-built Bio Bio (ex-Empire Goblin) (foreground), sandwiched between the company’s river passenger vessel 33 Orientales (right) and an ELMA cargo ship in the Dársena Sud basin during the late 1970s. M. MULLIGAN

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obsolete and it has only been through the demolition of old warehouses and the importation of new cranes that they have been able to keep pace with containerisation.

At the end of 2018 a modernisation plan was drawn up that was to have seen all three privately operated cargo terminals within Puerto Nuevo consolidated and new docks built, but this has now been delayed until mid-2022 because of Covid-19.  A 1923 product of the J. Crichton & Co yard at Saltney, and powered Once the pandemic has by triple expansion steam machinery provided by Cammell Laird & passed, it is expected that a Co, the Flota Fluvial tug Matador is seen alongside the 1966-built 33 new operating concession Orientales prior to being sold in the late 1970s. M. MULLIGAN will be issued to consolidate container operations within Puerto Nuevo under one management, while several berths will be reconfigured to handle larger ships. The goal will be the safe handling of vessels measuring up to 365.5m (1,200ft) by 51.2m (168ft) in size and with a capacity of 14,000 TEUs. At the same time, a new cruise terminal will be built to take the place of the existing structure, which requires  Montevideo’s inner harbour area, with the naval and customs building in the foreground, supports general cargo berths, as well as container and buses to shuttle passengers to and from their ships. Because cruise ship facilities and a dry bulk loading terminal. ANDP larger vessels will require MODERNISATION occupied only by yachts and a deeper navigation channels In the 1990s and early 2000s few historic craft. within the Rio de la Plata, the the Puerto Modero area was At the same time, the river’s existing channels are completely rebuilt with new Puerto Nuevo docks, expected to be dredged to housing and businesses, and now almost a century old, at least 11m (36ft), with the its docking basins today are have become increasingly combined port and deepening

projects projected to cost well over $1.5 billion.

Besides the docking facilities at Puerto Nuevo, containers and bulk cargoes are also handled at the Dock Sud complex located in the southern section of Buenos Aires, near La Boca, and at Puerto La Plata some 60km to the southeast. Dock Sud, actually located in Buenos Aires Province rather than the city itself, now handles more cargo tonnage-wise than Puerto Nuevo by virtue of its dry and liquid terminals, the latter catering to much of Argentina’s petroleum trade.

Puerto La Plata, developed in the late 1800s and once a centre for Argentina’s refrigerated meat exports, opened a new container terminal last year and has been handling approximately 4.2 million tonnes of containerised and bulk cargo annually, some formerly moved through Buenos Aires.

MONTEVIDEO

Across the Rio de la Plata, in neighbouring Uruguay, the Port of Montevideo has also become a challenger for Buenos Aires’ container traffic. In the past two decades the port’s Cuenca del Plata container terminal has been enlarged to a two-berth facility with seven cranes, while the The 1897-built ARA Presidente Sarmiento is one of two historical museum ships on display in the old Puerto Madero basins, the other being the 1874-built ARA Uruguay, both open to the public. JIM SHAW

 By the 1980s the Puerto Nuevo docks were still handling a considerable amount of conventional tonnage, including vessels of the state-owned Empresa Líneas Marítimas Argentinas (ELMA) fleet, but containerisation was on its way and ELMA, unable to compete, would be out of business by the mid-1990s. JIM SHAW

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PORT PROFILE

 A regular user of the Puerto Nuevo docks is the 18,326gt container ship Perito Moreno, which was completed by China’s Wenchong shipyard in 2009 and operated by Germany’s Winter Reederei. JIM SHAW

Montecon facility within the harbour operates another two berths equipped with Liebherr mobile cranes.

These two terminals have been handling about 940,000 TEUs annually, the Cuenca del Plata facility having a water depth alongside of 14m (46ft), the deepest on the estuary.

Montevideo, like Buenos Aires, also handles cruise ships at its cargo piers, while the privately operated Terminal Granelera Montevideo, situated in the northern extremity of the port, can handle bulk carriers up to 60,000dwt.

THE FUTURE

Uruguay has announced plans to establish a new deepwater port at Rocha, beyond the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, which would have a draught of 20m (65.5ft) to handle ore carriers. If container facilities are also developed, and an intermodal road/rail network established, it could eventually take some traffic away from the shallow-draught Rio de la Plata ports, including Buenos Aires.

The largest ships currently calling at the Argentinian port are of about 10,600TEU capacity and, because of their

built-in shallow draught (wide beam), have come to be known as South America Maximum (SamMax) ships.

If fully loaded, however, they must still discharge some cargo at Santos, Brazil before proceeding into the river, after which they will call at Santos again outbound to ‘top up’. There remains the possibility of dredging the Rio de la Plata to a deeper draught of 12.8m (42ft), but this is generally considered to be the maximum depth that is economically feasible.

 Making use of her steam whistle to acknowledge a passing ship, the 230gt tugboat Ona Cochello, a 1921 product of the Palmers Jarrow yard in South Tyneside, passes through the Dársena Sud basin on a foggy day during the 1970s. M. MULLIGAN

 Cruise ships calling at Montevideo, such as Costa Crociere’s 2009-built Costa Pacifica, utilise cargo docks in the harbour area which are within walking distance of the city centre for the passengers. JIM SHAW

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VETERAN FERRIES AT 40 Baltic stalwarts in thespotlight Russell Plummer looks at several more ferries which have completed four decades of service, and also focuses on some long-serving ships from the Mediterranean fleet of Italy’s Moby Lines.

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C

ompetition between SwedenFinland traffic rivals Viking Line and Silja Line intensified in the 1980s and each operator introduced substantial new vessels with Silja, a partnership between Effoa of Finland and Sweden’s Rederi AB Svea breaking a long connection with French builders DubegionNormandy, based in Nantes, to

order in Finland from Wärtsilä, Viking Line’s building choice for a long time.

Silja’s vessels entered service as Finlandia in May 1981, with Silvia Regina following four months later. Now, 40 years on, Finlandia is in Stena Line ownership operating as Stena Saga, while the former Silvia Regina is in the fleet of Moby Lines associate Tirennia and renamed Moby Dada.

FERRY HERITAGE

FROM FINLANDIA TO MOBY DADA

W

Finlandia pictured soon after her completion.

SUPPLIED BY KALLE ID

MOBY DADA

BUILT 1981 as Finlandia (yard no.1251) for Silja Line partner EFFOA Silja Line, now running Italy-Sardinia as Moby Dada TONNAGE As built: 25,905gt, 3,898 dwt; after rebuilding: 34,093gt DIMENSIONS Length 166.10, width 28.46m, depth 6.70m MACHINERY 4 x Wärtsilä 12PC2.5V diesel engines, output 22,948kW, driving twin screws SPEED 22 knots (20 knots service) CAPACITY 360 cars (1,022 lane metres) PASSENGERS As built: 1,676; now 1,638 (1,762 berthed) FLAG Italy NAMES Finlandia (1981-90), Queen of Scandinavia (1990-2009), Princess Maria (2010-2016), Moby Dada (2016-)

hile it was taking shape at Wärtsilä’s Perno shipyard, Finlandia’s hull was lengthened to 166.1m before a tow to Wärtsilä’s Turku facility for completion and delivery after being named by Tellervo Koivisto, wife of the Finnish prime minister, whose husband later became president.

The 25,905gt vessel entered service between Helsinki and Stockholm on 1 April 1981.

However, it was soon found that she was difficult to handle in autumn storms due to her exceptionally wide bows, which had been installed in a bid to boost vehicle capacity.

So, early in 1982, she was sent back to Turku to have a much sleeker forward design fitted, at a cost of FIM5million.

Carrying EFFOA’s trademark funnel design of two broad white stripes on a

black background, Finlandia offered 1,601 berths in 647 en-suite cabins, plus a couchette area. The main Maxim’s Restaurant seated 479, fronting a dance floor, with a further 491 places in a terrace restaurant offering Scandinavian cold table fare.

With the route mainly in open seas, there was sufficient power from four Pielstick diesel engines to make a more southerly sweep when ice conditions prevailed.

 Now sailing from the Italian mainland to Sardinia for Tirennia Line, Moby Dada has retained her double-take livery, with the port side hull painted orange with blue on the starboard side, both also carrying Looney Tunes cartoon characters. BOB WRIGHT

Finlandia in the 1980s with Silja Line’s seal’s head logo prominent on the hull and funnel.

The vessel moved to DFDS as Queen of Scandinavia in the 1990s first running to Oslo.

Trips as Princess Maria to St.Petersburg from Stockholm and Helsinki began in 2010.

creation of a 1,200-seat Music Bar, which had impressive views over the stern. A 40-seat gourmet area was also added in the main restaurant.

With new tonnage taking shape, Finlandia’s Baltic days MORE PASSENGERS ended in May 1990. DFDS Spectacular increases in passenger bought the vessel for service as numbers were achieved in 1981, Queen of Scandinavia between and even in 1986, when Viking Copenhagen and Oslo, with Line brought in new vessels, calls at Helsingborg. In Finlandia and Silvia Regina held June 2001 she was moved on to their market share. Further to the North Sea crossing investment in the two ships from North Shields near was made between autumn Newcastle to IJmuiden, before 1987 and the opening months making a switch in 2007 to of 1988, which included run from the Tyne to the the removal of a previous Norwegian ports of Stavanger, Childrens’ World area and the Haugesund and Bergen. The

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vessel was laid up after the Norway route closed at the end of August 2008.

In 2009 she had spells as an accommodation ship, first in Oskarshamn and then at Copenhagen, with a return to service from April 2010 under a three-year charter to Russia’s

Inflot Cruise and Ferry to start a St Peter Line service under the management of DFDS Lisco. She was used to connect Stockholm with Helsinki or Tallinn en-route to St Petersburg, as Princess Maria.

After the Italian Moby Lines secured an interest in

St Peter Line, the ship made an immediate Mediterranean move in 2016, being renamed Moby Dada and having the Italian operator’s trademark Looney Tunes cartoon characters painted on the hull but, unusually, with an orange background on the port side of

the hull and blue to starboard.

After a June 2017 debut between Nice and the Corsican port of Bastia, Moby Dada was more recently switched to services of associated Italian company Tirennia between the Italian port of Civitavecchia to Cagliari in Sardinia.

MOBY LINES RELY ON FERRY VETERANS

R

ecent addition Moby Dada joined the Italian company whose Moby Lines name was brought in during the early 1990s for what was founded in 1959 by Achille Onorato as Navigazione Archipelago Maddalenino (NAVARMA) to establish ferry services from Sardinia to nearby small islands. After using secondhand vessels, the company had newbuildings Bastia and Giraglia commissioned in 1974 and 1981, and these remain in service as part of a 17-strong fleet. A dozen of the ferries date back to the 1970s or even earlier.

Just three purpose-built ships, Moby Aki (2005/36,284gt), Moby Freedom (2001/ 36,100gt) and Moby Wonder (2001/36,093gt), were brought in, although Moby

Freedom was sold in 2012 and now sails as Finlandia for Eckerö Line. Moby Wonder looked to be heading for DFDS in 2019 before the move fell through.

The Moby Lines title was brought in during the early 1990s, when vessels carried large blue whale logos on their hulls. In 2003 a deal with Warner Brothers resulted in

the introduction of the present hull decoration, which consists of characters from the Looney Tunes cartoons including Sylvester the Cat and his yellow rival Tweety Pie.

BASTIA (1974/1,936gt) was built for services from Sardinia, now running between Santa Teresa di Gallura and Bonifacio.

GIRAGLIA (1981/2,041gt) built for Sardinian service, now running Piombino to Cavo, Elba.

MOBY ALE (1969/3,973gt) was originally in the Baltic as Mikkel Mols, then Moby Kiss, and now sails Piombino-Portoferraio.

MOBY BABY TWO (1974/ 5,226gt) ran in the Baltic as Kalle III, Wasa Prince and Peder Olsen; debuted for Mols Line as Moby Lally in 2000 and became Moby Baby Two in 2017.

MOBY CORSE (1978/19,595gt) served DFDS as Dana Anglia/

Duke of Scandinavia and Brittany Ferries as Pont l’Abbé, before joining Moby in 2010 to sail between the mainland port of Genoa and Bastia, Corsica.

MOBY DADA (1981/34,093gt) see adjacent panel for history.

MOBY DREA (1975/22,528gt) sailed for Tor Line as Tor Britannia, then with DFDS as Prince of Scandinavia until Moby purchase in 2003; now sailing Olbia to Genoa or Livorno.

MOBY KISS (1975/11,688gt) was originally in the Baltic as Mette Mols and then Banasa and Galaxy in the Med before joining Moby’s Corsican links in 2016.

MOBY NIKI (1974/9,089gt)

was built for Baltic service as Europafarjan III before a move to the Mediterranean with Corsica Ferries and then European Ferries, becoming Moby Niki running out of Portoferraio in 2016.

MOBY OTTA (1976/22,528gt), sister of Moby Drea, sailed as Tor Scandinavia and then Princess of Scandinavia with DFDS. Bought

by Moby in 2006 for service from Genoa to Olbia, Sardinia.

MOBY TOMMY (2002/30,302gt) was built as Minoan Lines’ Ariadne Palace, bought to debut as Moby Tommy in 2016 and used for the Italy-Corsica link.

MOBY VINCENT (1974/12,108gt) was built in Germany as Stena

Normandica, starting on charter in the Mediterranean before four years on the Irish Sea as Sealink’s St Brendan from 1985. Bought by Moby in 1990 for Livorno-Bastia.

MOBY ZAZA (1982/22,161gt) ran Sheerness-Vlissingen as Olau Line’s first Olau Britannia until being sold to Fred. Olsen as Bayard in 1990; she was then with Color Line as Christian IV 1991-2008, Julia for Stella Line and then Fastnet Line to run Cork-Swansea; bought in 2012 for a North Sea Wind Farm accommodation ship role, she was Wind Perfection until moving to Moby in 2016 for the Nice-Bastia route.

Moby Wonder at Civitavecchia in 2010.

OLDER SHIPS STILL IN OPERATION WITH MOBY LINES

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FERRY HERITAGE Baltivia in Polferries colours. During her time with TT-Line in 1998 she was modified with an extension to the passenger areas.

POLISH SURVIVOR’S CHANNEL LINK

T

he after hull of a ship that was originally to be named Sagaland was launched at Sweden’s Kalmar Shipyard in January 1981. The fore part of the ship was floated out from the FEAB Yard in Marstrand in May, before a central section followed from City Varvet in Gothenburg.

Eriksberg Dry Dock in Sweden united the three parts, although an engine room fire caused a delay in completion of two months, with delivery finally taking place on 15 December 1981. By then, a complaint from another operator resulted in the vessel’s name being changed to Saga Star.

Handed over to TT-Saga Line, Saga Star ran the service linking Helsingborg and Malmø with Trelleborg and Travemünde.

She could carry 178 passengers

and had 1,408 lane metres of vehicle space, with a line-up of four Lindholmen-Pielstick diesel engines giving a speed of 19 knots. As the 1980s progressed, Saga Star became well known on the Trelleborg-Travemünde run, continuing after TT-Saga Line began trading as part of TT-Line.

In April 1988 she was sold to French operator Cie Meridionale, undertaking Mediterranean service as Girolata from Marseille to Bastia from October 1988 to late March 1989. Next came a charter by DFDS Seaways for routes from Bremerhaven, and between Cuxhaven and Immingham or Harwich.

Rebuilt in Marseille in 1989 to full ro-pax format with additional cabin accommodation and stabilisers fitted, the vessel

 A 1990s stern view with the  There was Mediterranean vessel in TT-Line colours after service as Girolata for Cie the name Saga Star was restored. Meridionale from 1989.

returned to TT-Line on charter in August 1993. She was refitted in Lübeck by Flender Werft, before being bought by France’s Conseil General de Seine Maritime in 2002, then making a debut on Transmanche Ferries’ DieppeNewhaven route.

Renamed Dieppe and given the traditional yellow hull of Transmanche, she had an early problem when running aground near Newhaven, but suffered minimal damage. English Channel sailings continued until a 2006 sale to Polish Zeluga Baltyska. She was repainted and her interior was upgraded at the Stocznia Remontowa Yard, before starting Baltic service for Polferries, having been renamed Baltivia, operating mainly between Gdansk and Nynashamn.

 The vessel was renamed Dieppe for Transmanche service from France to Newhaven.

BALTIVIA

BUILT 1981 as Saga Star by Kalmar FAEB, Sweden (yard no.153) for Johnson Line/Svealast, now running as Baltivia from Gdansk to Nynashamn TONNAGE As built: 8,226gt, 2,876 net, 5,492 dwt; now 17,790gt, 9,066 net, 5,309 dwt DIMENSIONS 147m x 24,03m, depth 6.26m; after rebuilding146.9m x 24m, depth 6m MACHINERY Four LindholmenPielstick 8PC2-57 diesel engines, output 15,300kW driving twin screws SPEED 19.5 knots (17 knots service) CAPACITY 80 cars (1,404 lane metres) PASSENGERS As built: 80 drivers; now 178 FLAG Finland NAMES Saga Star (1981-89), Girolata (1989-93), Saga Star (1993-01), Dieppe (2001-05), Baltivia (2006-)

 As Baltivia, bow loading at Nynashamn, Sweden in 2005 after purchase by Polferries. www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

61

Stena Saga in 2008 after the removal of the distinctive funnel spoiler carried from completion for Silja Line in 1981 as a boost to stability.

A

SWEDISH QUEEN NAMED SILVIA REGINA

fter a similar building process to elder sister Finlandia involving the Wärtsilä Shipyards at Perno and Turku, Silvia Regina was named by Sweden’s Queen Silvia on 28 April 1981, but instead of being delivered directly to operator Svea Line, her owners were Finnish company Suomen Yritysrahoitus from Helsinki, which was also the vessel’s port of registry. Her career with Svea was only short as the company was absorbed by its parent Johnson Line with their yellow and blue funnel colours introduced.

Like Finlandia, Silvia Regina had wide bows to boost vehicle capacity and was also rebuilt forward at Wärtsilä’s Perno yard, with work starting on 13 January

1982 before a return to service early in the following month.

During 1984 the vessel’s home port was changed from Helsinki to Mariehamn in the Åland Islands and in 1987 Johnson Line bought her from Yritysrahoitus and changed her registry to the Swedish flag.

Silvia Regina was bought

by Stena Line in 1988 but chartered back to Johnson Line until delayed new Silja tonnage came on stream in May 1991, spending her final few months with a new funnel livery showing Silja’s seal’s head emblem. Finally taken over by Stena June 1991, there was a trip to Bremerhaven for a big refit at the Seebeckwerft Yard before a debut as Stena Britannica on the Hook of Holland to Harwich route, only to prove uneconomical to operate on the North Sea, with June 1994 bringing a

move to the Oslo-Frederikshavn route as Stena Saga.

While she was sailing from Denmark on 9 August 1995, her engines stalled for two hours and anchors were dropped to prevent a drift towards land. A refit in January 2000 saw stern sponsons added, and from December 2002 into January 2003 there was another big refit from the City Varvet yard in Gothenburg, to where she returned in the winter of 2005-06 and again early in 2008, when the funnel’s distinctive spoiler was removed to improve stability.

During March 2020 Stena announced suspension of the Oslo-Frederikshavn route due to border closure implications following the arrival of the Covid 19 pandemic, and she has since been laid up in the Swedish port of Uddevalla.

1981 • Silvia Regina running Stockholm-Helsinki for Silja Line.

1991 • In Stena livery as Stena Britannica running Harwich-Hook.

1994 • Change to Stena Saga and move back to the Baltic.

62 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

STENA SAGA

BUILT 1981 as Silvia Regina by Wärtsilä at Perno and Turku (yard no.1,252) for Svea Line to serve Silja Line service TONNAGE As built: 25,905 gross, 3,898 dwt; after rebuilding 2005: 33,750 gross,17,528 net, 38,98 dwt DIMENSIONS Length 166.7m, width 28.40m, depth 6.70m MACHINERY 4 x Wärtsilä 12PC2.5V diesel engines, output 22,963kW driving twin screws SPEED 22 knots (20 knots service) CAPACITY 510 cars (1,032 lane metres) PASSENGERS As built 2,000 (1,601 berths) FLAG Sweden NAMES Silvia Regina (1981-91), Stena Britannica (1991-94), Stena Saga 1994 to date CURRENT Now laid up at Uddevalla, Sweden, as Stena Saga

2018 • Still Stena Saga but with another livery alteration.

CHARTROOM of book themonth

SHIPS LIBRARY Shippax Guide 20

Guide 20 costs SEK975 including postage from Sweden and is available from Shippax, PO Box 7067, SE300-07 Halmstad, Sweden, or online from www.shippax.com.

Created 75 years ago and developed by the late Klas Brogren, Shippax AB, based in Halmstad, Sweden, has gained a worldwide reputation for the quality of its output, which includes three annual guides, a monthly

magazine and a comprehensive website. Guide 20, their latest title, presents a complete register of ro-pax vessels, ro-ro freight ferries and cruise tonnage, together with details of newbuildings and vessels on order from each category. This year it is the turn of more than 800 freight vessels to be pictured through 28 impressive pages.

With English used throughout, almost half of the content, running to more than 250 A4 pages, is devoted to the Stena E-Flexer series, with Stena Edda, delivered last December Stockholm cityscape and the raw, sometimes harsh, but always beautiful archipelago. Profusely illustrated, it covers hundreds of passenger vessels and their operators. NL • Published by Ferry Publications, PO Box 33, Ramsey, Isle of Man IM99 4LP; tel 01624 898445, info@ lilypublications.co.uk, 112-page softback, price £16.95 plus postage.

Passenger ships of the Stockholm Archipelago Richard Sevlle

The 24,000 islands of the Stockholm Archipelago, which has the elegant Swedish capital at its heart, are home to a huge variety of passenger ships, from well-known Baltic cruise ferries and the latest international cruise ships to a myriad of local working vessels. The array includes archipelago and commuter ferries, tourist excursion and restaurant ships, and workaday road ferries.

Many of the local vessels are true veterans, a remarkable number dating from the 19th century, which have often been rebuilt and re-engined several times over. There are also a number of immaculately maintained steamers which remain in active commercial operation.

Passenger Ships of the Stockholm Archipelago aims to give readers an insight into this fascinating, contrasting fleet, showcasing these diverse vessels both in the

The United States Marine Corps in the Korean War

by Chinese builders CMI Jinling Weihai and now in service on the Irish Sea, as the theme vessel. Stena Edda recently joined elder sister Stena Embla on the Birkenhead Twelve Quays-Belfast service, and every aspect of her construction is covered in detail, with a host of colour pictures covering on-board areas in a walkthrough of facilities from Decks 7 to 10, which are particularly impressive.

The E-Flexers live up to their name.

There are three different interior designs for the first ships now in service or building, and Stena’s own personnel write of the challenges that were overcome to bring in Stena Edda and Stena Embla following lead ship Stena Estrid for the Holyhead-Dublin route Irish Sea service.

Brittany Ferries explain the thinking behind their more cruise-oriented emphasis for Galicia, Salamanca and deep behind enemy lines at Inchon port. In November 1950 the Chinese Army invaded North Korea with eight divisions tasked with the destruction of the 1st Marine Division at the Chosin Reservoir. The Marines made a 78-mile fighting withdrawal before being evacuated by the US Navy.

In February 1951 the 1st Marine Division returned tocombat, assisting the Eighth (US) Army to repulse five Chinese Army offensives over four months. By November 1951 the large-scale back and forth offensive operations had ended, replaced by a stalemate which lasted until the 27 July 1953 armistice.

The bitter three-year conflict accounted for the death of 4,267 Marines and another 23,744 wounded. PS • Published by Pen & Sword Maritime, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, S70 2AS; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk; enquiries@ pen-and-sword.co.uk; price £15.99.

Michael Green

In this ‘Images of War’ publication, author Michael Green describes the United States Marine Corps’ outstanding contribution, organisation, tactics, fighting doctrine and weaponry during the Korean War. It is profusely illustrated with rare photographs from the wartime archives.

On 25 June 1950 the North Korean Army invaded South Korea. Among the US forces sent to South Korea was the 1st Marine Division. In September 1950 the Division audaciously landed

Titanic ‘Iceberg ahead’ James W. Bancroft

On 10 April 1912 people from all walks of life began embarking on Titanic, then the largest ship afloat, for what

READERS’ PAGES

Santona, which are designed for services to Spain, while DFDS are set to provide a complete contrast with Côte d’Opale, now nearing completion at the Weihai yard and set to undertake the 90-minute crossing of the English Channel between Dover and Calais. RP was to be the trip of a lifetime on the ship’s maiden voyage across the North Atlantic. Many were looking forward to starting new lives in the USA. However, just before midnight on Sunday 14 April 1912 Titanic’s crew began to send out distress signals stating: ‘We have struck an Iceberg’.

The damage was fatal, and some three hours after the disaster began to unfold the last visible part of Titanic slipped beneath the waves.

There were only 16 lifeboats and four collapsible dinghies, which was completely insufficient for the number of passengers making the crossing.

As a consequence, more than 1,500 passengers and crew died: two out of every three on board perished.

Much has been written and said about the Titanic disaster. The author, James Bancroft, is well known for his depth of research and attention to detail, and in this book he has selected 50 people involved in the disaster to give their specific eyewitness accounts.

He has thus managed to make the confusing situation much clearer, so the reader can experience the dreadful events as they unfolded.

The book also includes biographical tributes to the 50 people, who came from all walks of life and regions, telling who they were, their experiences during the disaster, and what happened to those who were fortunate enough to survive. PS • Published by Frontline Books, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorks, S70 2AS; 214 pages, softback; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk; price £20. www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

63

CHARTROOM SHIPS MAIL

CONFUSION ABOUT DESEADO Following on from the various correspondence regarding the Royal Mail Ship Deseado, I note that Roy Brook sailed on her in the early 1960s, but I think there is some confusion about which Deseado. The ship pictured on the colour Royal Mail postcard is the 1942 Harland & Wolff-built ship, which stayed with RM Line until scrapped in 1968.

The reference to Shaw Savill Line I think refers to the 1961 Alexander Stephen-built Iberic, which was transferred within the Furness Group to Royal Mail Line in 1976 and renamed Deseado, so I assume it must have been the earlier ship that Roy sailed on as second mate.

Peter Sommerville Greenock

With reference to Roy Brooke’s letter about Deseado (SM, Letters, May), I am wary about commenting on a piece from an ex-officer, but I believe all the ships mentioned have been confused with other ships because

Marco Polo memories

The article saying farewell to Marco Polo (SM, Apr) reminded me of a trip to Greenland on a three-week cruise from Tilbury, via Orkney, the Faroes and Iceland, and three ports of call on

The 1961-built Iberic of 11,248grt was renamed Deseado in 1976 when she came under the management of Royal Mail Lines.

of the Furness Group switching their ships around.

I served on Durango in 1961 and remember her as a war-built ship.

Although she was similar to Deseado in many respects, there were many differences between the ships, such as the forward well deck and goalpost mast. In 1973 I worked my passage from New Zealand to the UK on Cymric, and soon after I saw her go down the Thames as Durango.

Tony Message, Swanscombe

During the 1960s I served as an engineer officer with Royal Mail Line on various vessels. Between 1963 and 1965 I had a very happy time on Drina, one of the four D ships, undertaking a last deepsea voyage to Australia on charter to Shaw Savill.

After returning to Hamburg, we took her to the Royal Victoria Docks in London, followed by shore leave. We returned from leave to take her to the river Blackwater, dropping anchor between West Mersea and Bradwell.

this famous ship. It was a fascinating cruise, and the only way to visit Greenland, which was very interesting.

I have been as far north as Svalbard and as far south as the Antarctic peninsula, always by sea, but had never gone to Greenland until then.

We were delighted to be aboard Marco Polo. She was extremely comfortable and well-organised, and the food was excellent. The crew were most helpful and the ship was immaculate throughout. One could have, literally, eaten one’s dinner off the deck!

president of www.histarmar.com.ar, Guillermo Berger in Buenos Aries, was recently in touch with Sue following a remarkable find. He had been contacted by Mrs Graciela Seró Mantero about the seafaring careers of her late husband and late father.

A chance remark brought to light that, in her father’s nautical library, she had found, between the leaves of a book, a drawing of the freighter Lucho IV made by A.W. Kinghorn in 1951. Sandy heard of this and, with his wife and daughter, pieced together the story of its origins.

It transpired that, during Sandy’s first trip as a cadet at the age of 18, he had, while he was aboard Columbia Star when she was anchored in San Sebastian, briefly travelled on board the small Lucho

in 1920, to Rio Grande and back to oversee Columbia Star’s cargo of frozen lamb. He recalled doing the drawing from the quayside and presenting it to Captain Mantero (Graciela’s father) at the end of his short ‘passenger’ trip. That the drawing had been retained for 70 years was a moving tribute.

The story had added poignancy in that Lucho IV went missing off the coast of Bay of Bear Marino, near Penguin Island, about 20km south of Puerto, the following year, in July 1952. Captain Mantero had declined that specific voyage for family reasons, offering the command to a friend, and always felt responsible for the loss of his friend, the ship and the crew, as only a few life jackets were found in the subsequent search.

IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN SANDYIV, which KINGHORN It is with great sadness that I am Ship’s Monthly reader and was launched in Germany writing to let you know that my father, Sandy Kinghorn (1933-2021), passed away on 12 May. He died peacefully at home surrounded by family at the age of 88. We are proud of his life, of all the people he met, the voyages and friendships he made, and of his many marvellous qualities. He was a wonderful father and will be greatly missed. He will also be a great loss to the shipping world.

He was passionate about his life at sea and had a prodigious memory for details and stories. For many years he was a regular contributor to Ships Monthly and his articles were much enjoyed. Most recently he was in correspondence about the South American trade route, which he plied with Blue Star Line.

Sue Mayfield

64 • July 2021 • www.shipsmonthly.com

Both Deseado and Darro were also at anchor there, and Drina’s skeleton crew of navigating and engineering officers were tasked to visit Deseado and Darro daily to maintain their readiness to sail.

After a few weeks, we were ordered to take Drina to Royal Albert Dock to hand her over to new owners Shaw Savill and Albion. Drina was renamed Rominic. We returned to Deseado, taking her to Harland and Wolff, Belfast for dry-docking, survey and a mini-refit. She then sailed from Belfast to London, and loaded frozen beef on the River Plate at Buenos Aires. She was taken through the Panama Canal, and the Red Ensign was replaced by the Stars and Stripes, as she was taken over by the US government.

On her return to the UK, she was laid up again, being eventually scrapped at Hamburg in 1968.

David J. Kennett Wareham, Dorset Marco Polo had a wonderful historic atmosphere and so it was with great sadness, and some surprise, that I learned of her demise. I would have thought that, since she was so popular and obviously in excellent seaworthy condition, some sort of arrangement could have been made to mothball her temporarily, or even transfer her to a new company.

I get the impression that many cruise lines operate on extremely tight financial margins, leaving little room for manoeuvre.

Michael Palmer Wantage, Oxfordshire

Dana Anglia

With reference to the piece about the DFDS stalwart Dana Anglia becoming Pont l’Abbé (see SM, April. p.46), I would like to make a couple of clarifications. Dana Anglia sailed for DFDS between Esbjerg and Harwich after coming into service in the summer of 1978, not 1966 as one of the captions stated. She arrived in Harwich through the early morning mist, having gone up to the Pool of London, under Tower Bridge, for her naming ceremony.

Interestingly, she did not have her stacks on the top of her funnel at the

READERS’ PAGES time because of clearance needed to get under Tower Bridge. At the time she was the largest ship to go up to the Pool. If my memory serves me correctly, one of the directors stood on the top of the funnel as she passed under the bridge. I know because my husband and I were there, as we both worked for DFDS for many years.

Angela Arnold, Ipswich

Mediterranean service as Massalia.

The ship is pictured wearing the classic grey livery of HML after she had entered service as a cargo liner, calling at various Mediterranean ports including Genova, Piraeus, Limassol, Beirut, Port Said and Alexandria from Marseille. She was scrapped in 1974.

Alexandros Papayannis Athens, Greece

The famous liner Empress of Canada (see SM, April) in fact lives on. To save money, the later Canadian Pacific funnel style was simply painted over using existing weld lines to create the Carnival funnel familiar today on the company’s modern cruise ships.

Colin Wright Orpington

I am researching Captain S.E.A. Gregory, as I have found a scrapbook, containing photos and press cuttings dating from 1939 to 1947, when Gregory was master of the cargo liner Port Napier. He was on her when fire broke out while the ship was off Pago Pago, New Zealand. He was involved with another cargo liner, Port Bowen, which ran aground on 22 July 1939 at Castle Beach Wanganui, New Zealand. Both ships were operated by Port Line. I would return this book to his relatives if any are still alive.

Thomas Clark, Ipswich, Suffolk tom.lyne.clark@btinternet.com

Empress to Carnival

In the port of Naples

The unidentified ship in the port of Naples (SM, March, p.64) is the 1936-built Bretagne of Fred. Olsen Lines. She was sold in 1958 to Hellenic Mediterranean Lines for

RECALLING A TRIP ON PERANG

An old scrapbook

MAY’S MYSTERY SHIP

I was Fourth Engineer on the Elder Dempster Lines cargo ship Perang.

We carried cement from UK to Accra in Ghana and offloaded into seagoing canoes in the surf. On our return voyage to the UK via Hamburg we collided with another ship in the canal and had to be towed into Bremen for repairs.

Perang was built in 1954 by William Gray West Hartlepool, with Doxford four-cylinder heavy

oil engine by Scotts Engineering.

All auxiliaries, generators, pumps, compressors, steering gear, winches and capstans were steam-powered.

At sea the main exhaust was diverted through a vertical Cochran boiler, and in port a Scotch boiler was used for cargo handling by the winches. In the galley even the range was heated by solid fuel.

Perang was scrapped in 1978 Michael C. Boyd, Tonbridge

was left unfinished by the German occupier as a Hansa-B standard type, and remained under Belgian Government ownership until 1950.

She was renamed Gand and was operated by Armement Deppe until 1959. After being renamed later, she was broken up in Turkey in 1973.

Gand as pictured was flying the Belgian flag between 1962 and 1973. In 1973 she was renamed Good Hope by Framicons Cia Naviera, Piraeus. In 1975 she was renamed Helena C by Nea Proodos Shipping. She was scrapped in Kaohsiung in December 1984.

Urbain Ureel, Aartrijke, Belgium

THIS MONTH’S MYSTERY SHIP This month’s mystery photo shows Send your answers,

The mystery ship is Gand (7,888grt), which was built in 1962 by J. Boel Zonen of Belgium for Armement Deppe SA of Antwerp. She was sold in 1973 and renamed Good Hope and again in 1975, becoming Helen C. She was broken up at Kaohsiung in 1984.

Peter Sommerville, Greenock The mystery ship is the Belgianflagged cargo ship Gand, named using the French spelling of the Flemish city Ghent. The vessel was built in 1962 at Boelwerf in Temse for the Armement Deppe SA. She measured 141.23m by 19.35m and had a 6,650hp ACEC MAN single-stroke

diesel engine. Armement Deppe is probably Belgium’s oldest shipping company, having been founded in 1863 by Adolf Deppe, a German citizen. In 1960 Deppe was taken over

by CMB (Compagnie Maritime Belge).

Gand had two predecessors with the same name. The first was a 1919-built vessel originally named Langley and renamed Gand in 1922 for Armement Deppe. She was torpedoed on 10 May 1941 by U-556 off Nova Scotia on a voyage from Liverpool to Sydney.

The second Gand was launched as Henry Story in 1948 by the Cockerill Yards in Hoboken (Belgium). She

a some kind of motor vessel at anchor, with a series of small boats alongside. But which vessel is it? When was she built and for whom was she operating? Where might the photo have been taken? What was her fate?

including your postal address, by email to: sm.ed@ kelsey.co.uk; or by post to Mystery Ship, Ships Monthly, Kelsey Media, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Kent ME18 6AL. Emails preferred.

www.shipsmonthly.com • July 2021 •

65

NEXT ISSUE Brittany Ferries’ ro-ro workhorse In November 2020 the 2007-built Cotentin rejoined the Brittany Ferries fleet after seven years of charter work as Stena Baltica. Kevin Mitchell looks at the career of the largest ro-ro freighter linking the UK and France.

FERRYTALE OF NEW YORK Thomas Rinaldi looks at the PLUS

myriad of ferry services that criss-cross New York habour, linking boroughs and states.

KIROV CLASS CRUISERS Conceived during the latter stages of the Cold War, the Soviet Navy’s Kirov class battlecruisers are a potent symbol of Russian power.

MEDWAY MEMORIES Geoff Lunn, who has lived near the River Medway for most of his life, recalls times when the river was full of shipping, and recalls some famous vessels that have visited.

P&O’S FAR EASTERN SERVICE Stephen Payne recalls the ships that were operated on the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company’s frontline express service to Australia and other secondary but no less important routes.

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