Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i Ships Monthly

NEWBUILD BC Ferries, Canada’s largest ferry system, has released renderings of its next series of ferries, which are expected to enter service linking British Columbia’s Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver starting in 2029. Designed in cooperation with Norway’s LMG Marin AS, the double-ended ferries will carry up to 360 standard-sized vehicles and 2,100 passengers, compared to a capacity of 250 to 310 vehicles and 1,200 to 1,500 passengers on the older vessels they will replace. Propulsion will be provided by multiple engines capable of using bio- and renewable fuels, but with the machinery spaces configured to allow for the conversion to full battery-electric operation once shore-based recharging infrastructure becomes available at a later date. A Request for Proposal (RFP) covering construction of the vessels is expected to be released internationally…

ACCIDENT The spectacular collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge across the main shipping channel of Maryland’s Port of Baltimore after being hit by the 116,000dwt container ship Dali in the early morning hours of 26 March sent shockwaves around the world, causing major ports and shipping canals to examine their own exposure to such an incident. The world’s two major interocean canals, Panama and Suez, are now crossed by bridges, as is the busy Kiel Canal in Germany and Turkey’s Bosphorus waterway linking the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In addition, many major world ports, such as San Francisco and New York, have bridges across their main shipping channels, while the Øresund Bridge spans the narrow strait between Sweden and Denmark. Engineers are now examining these structures to see…

SCOTTISH WEST COAST On 19 March the Cal Mac ferry Isle of Lewis, dating from 1995 and one of the largest ships n the west coast fleet, visited Tarbert for berthing trials, as well as calling at Uig and Lochmaddy the same day. The visit was undertaken to assess whether the ships could be redeployed to the Uig Triangle, but the trials involved testing her bow ramp only. At Lochmaddy both bow and stern ramps were tested Meanwhile, there are been a number of personnel changes in Scotland recently: in early April Robbie Drummond stepped down as chief executive of Cal Mac. The ferry company has experienced years of problems caused by breakdowns affecting vessels in its ageing fleet, and delays to new ferries commissioned by its parent company CMAL.…

VEHICLE CARRIERS Norway’s Wallenius Wilhelmsen has declared options to have China’s Jinling Shipyard build four additional methanol dual-fuel Shaper class 9,300 CEU capacity auto carriers. The ships will be capable of using methanol upon delivery, but will also be ammonia ready and able to be converted to that fuel as soon as it becomes available in a safe and secure way. The declaration of the four options brings the total number of Shaper class PCTCs currently on order with Jinling to eight, with further options still available. The first of the ships is expected to be delivered within the second half of 2026, while the latest four will be delivered between May and November 2027. The company operates around 125 vessels servicing 15 trade routes which cover six continents.…

SUEZ OPERATIONS The targeting of shipping in the Red Sea has continued to escalate, with Houthi rebels in Yemen successfully sinking a merchant vessel for the first time, causing many shipping lines to divert away from transiting the Suez Canal. Warships from the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian and the European Union’s Operation Aspides have intercepted hundreds of missiles and drones, with US, British, French, Italian, German, and Greek warships all involved in live-fire action. The deployment of dozens of Standard, Aster, and Sea Ceptor anti-air missiles, costing millions each, against much less sophisticated targets has given confidence in their effectiveness but raised questions about the cost and logistics involved in replenishing missile stocks. Some intercepts have taken place at uncomfortably close range. WATERFRONT • www.shipsmonthly.com • The Granary, Downs Court,…

TECHNOLOGY Belgium’s Zulu Associates plans to have an autonomous, zero-emission container ship in operation on the English Channel by 2026, with full autonomous operation taking place after a year of testing. The 200TEU capacity vessel, which has received Approval in Principle (AiP) from Lloyd’s Register, will be powered by modular energy containers using battery and/or hydrogen-based systems and will also be equipped with auxiliary wind devices. Designed by Dutch naval architects Conoship International, the vessel will measure 105m by 17m and will be operated by Zulu Associates’ subsidiary Anglo Belgian Shipping Co on specific ‘green’ corridors between the European continent and the UK.…

NEWBUILD Marseille-headquartered CMA CGM has taken delivery of the 30,901dwt CMA CGM Mermaid as the first in a series of ten LNGfuelled 2,000TEU container feeder ships it is having built by South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. All of the vessels measure 204.2m by 29.6m and make use of LNG storage tanks of 1,053m3 capacity housed ahead of the funnel, while the navigation bridge is set fully forward. Propulsion is provided by a 12-megawatt MAN main engine equipped with an alternator coupled to the propeller shaft. For testing purposes, a hydrogen fuel cell with an energy capacity of 1MW is to be installed on the final ship of the series, due to be handed over by the beginning of next year. All ten vessels will be employed to carry cargo on…

Royal Caribbean Group has a habit of going one bigger in its newbuildings. The latest leviathan to come out of the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland sets another record for being not only the largest cruise ship, but also the largest passenger vessel ever to sail. The ship, as can be seen from its vital statistics, is enormous and incorporates many original features. So big is Icon of the Seas that trying to describe its main attributes in an article is a challenge. The ship is the first of the Icon class of ships, first conceived to be a Quantumplus class, but which grew as planning advanced and new ideas surfaced. So now the three ships to be built are more Oasis-plus class, and are of about 250,000 gross…

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Over the past several decades cargo ships have changed considerably, with a variety of factors influencing new designs. Tightening environmental and manning regulations, as well as new technological advances, have all played their part. While cargo ships’ external profiles have not changed too much, except among certain types of vessels, power and propulsion systems have continued to evolve, as new fuels have been introduced and a growing number of energy-saving devices, such as rotors and sails, installed. Container ships continue to gain the most attention because of the near-monthly announcements of a new ‘world’s largest ship’ record, as operators seek economy of scale, but other vessels are also making news. Gas tankers, which carry gases under refrigeration and/or compression, have become particularly important, as new energy sources are exploited, while…

SHIPS MAIL FURTHER FERRY DISASTERS IN THE POST-WAR ERA letter of the month I read the most interesting article ‘Ferry Disasters in the post-war era’ by Richard Jones (SM, March). I believe there are five more similar major tragic accidents involving passenger/car ferries which are worth describing. These are, in chronological order, as follows: HERAKLION • The converted passenger/car ferry of Typaldos Lines (ex Leicestershire) was on her way from Chania Crete to Piraeus in a heavy storm in early hours of 8 December 1966. Due to the excessive roll of the ship, a poorly secured refrigerated trailer hit the side-loading garage door, which gave way and the seas entered when the ship was near the island of Milos. She capsized within minutes and sank with more than 268 casualties.…

D-DAY 80 YEARS ON Marking the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 which, codenamed Operation Neptune, was the largest seaborne invasion in the history of naval warfare. PLUS BLUE FUNNEL IN DISGUISE • Some of the Ocean Group’s ships which were transferred between the Blue Funnel and Elder Dempster Line fleets. CRYSTAL SERENITY • Profile of Crystal’s flagship Crystal Serenity which, fresh from a comprehensive $150 million refurbishment, is now operating out of Miami on a series of cruises to the Caribbean. STALWARTS OF THE WESTERN ISLES A look back over the careers of Caledonian MacBrayne’s famous ferries Suilven and Pioneer, two stalwarts which first entered service half a century ago. MODERN CARGO SHIPS • Part 2 of our look at recent developments in modern cargo ship designs, this…

AUSTAL FERRY The Degage Group of French Polynesia has contracted Austal Vietnam to design and construct a 71m passenger-cargo vessel for operation between Papeete, Tahiti and the Palliser Islands in French Polynesia. The steel monohull vessel, the first steel-hulled ship to be constructed by Austal Vietnam, will have an aluminium superstructure that will be able to accommodate up to 140 seated passengers and 17 crew. The new ship will feature a main cargo deck area of 494m2 capable of carrying a combination of 10ft and 20ft containers, as well as palletised cargo and vehicles. To be named Dory2, after her predecessor ship, the diesel-powered newbuild will have a cruising speed of 12 knots and a range of 1,000 nautical miles.…

CLdN/FREIGHT LO-LO CLdN has chartered two 962TEU-capacity feeder container ships, Andromeda J and Pavo J, from German owner Jungerhans to operate in a new lo-lo service linking Rotterdam with Dublin and Cork. In the Dutch port, the pair will use the Distriport Terminal, at Rozenburg, which was recently acquired by CLdN, and lies adjacent to the company’s current ro-ro terminal. The introduction of the lo-lo ships in mid-March complements the company’s ro-ro services to Ireland, and will mean CLdN can optimise the services, redeploying ro-ros onto its Rotterdam-UK services. The company can now carry over 500,000 cargo units per year to and from Ireland, making it the largest ferry freight operator in the Irish market, with direct services to Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Santander, Liverpool and Heysham. CLdN, until recently known as…

DUBLIN-LIVERPOOL Stena Line has secured the freight-only vessel Bore Song to operate on its Dublin-Liverpool (Birkenhead) route. The ship, which originally operated on the Teesport-Zeebrugge route, will boost freight capacity on the route by 30 per cent. Stena’s Dublin-Liverpool dedicated freight service commenced operations on 15 February, with Stena Horizon serving temporarily, while the company searched for a longer-term solution. After modifications had been completed, the 25 586gt Bore Song entered service in mid-April. With capacity for almost 3,000 lane metres of freight, the ship will provide significantly more space and is well suited for this unaccompanied freight route. With Bore Song operational, Stena line restored normal capacity and operations on its Rosslare-Fishguard and Rosslare-Cherbourg routes. Stena is also investing in its port operations at Birkenhead to better serve freight…

HEBRIDES The first cruise ship to berth at the new Deep Water Terminal in Stornoway harbour, Ambassador Cruises’ 1999-built Ambition (ex-Mistral, Grand Mistral, Costa neoRiviera), visited the berth on 1 and 2 April. Stornoway is already an established cruise destination, well positioned for popular cruise ship itineraries, and the new Terminal will help with the port’s handling of cruise ships. The multi-purpose facilities provide an alongside berth for vessels up to 360m in length, with a water depth of 10m below Chart Datum, a ferry berth and 6.5 hectares of land for unloading, storage and industrial uses. The terminal, which is due to be completed later in the year, possesses a linkspan and ferry berth should ferry operator Cal Mac bring back a dedicated freight vessel, having previously used Clipper…

ROYAL CARIBBEAN The sixth Oasis class ship, Utopia of the Seas, is now expected to be delivered early and will therefore undertake an additional three-night cruise from Port Canaveral, departing on 19 July. Built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, she is expected to be similar in size to Wonder of the Seas, at 236,000gt. She will be the first vessel of this class to be powered by LNG. The largest ship in the fleet, Icon of the Seas, the first ship in the trio of Icon class ships, and also LNG-fuelled, completed her maiden voyage from Miami on schedule and without any apparent difficulties or failings. In other RCI news, following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Vision of the Seas has switched her home port temporarily…

INDUSTRY NEWS With cruising slowly coming back to life in China, MSC Bellissima signalled MSC Cruises’ return to the country after a break of four years when she arrived in Shanghai on 15 March to begin a series of cruises from her new homeport. Initially sailing locally, she will move to Japan for a while, returning in June for a programme of longer cruises to Japan and South Korea. Then she will go back to Japan and, from November, her place in China will be taken by MSC Splendida, which will cruise to Japan and Hong Kong from Shenzhen. The latest addition to the local fleet, Blue Dream Melody (formerly AIDAvita) operating for Blue Dream Cruises, will make her debut in June, sailing from Shanghai to ports in Japan and…

ROYAL NAVY The UK’s Submarine Delivery Agency has formally awarded a £560 million contract to Babcock for the overhaul of HMS Victorious, although preliminary work on the Deep Maintenance Period (DMP) began back in May 2023. The boat is the second Vanguard class ballistic missile submarine to undergo a life extension package at Babcock’s Devonport facility. The eye-watering sum for the refit is a reflection of the material state of the 31-year-old vessel, which has been run especially hard due to lengthy delays in the DMP of HMS Vanguard. Victorious is due to enter dry dock later this year for work to begin in earnest. Although refuelling of the nuclear reactor is not planned, the work could take up to four years and extend her service life into the mid-2030s,…

RAN The Australian Government has released its blueprint for a larger and more lethal surface combatant fleet for the Royal Australian Navy, following the recommendations made by the Independent Analysis of the Navy’s Surface Combatant Fleet. As such, the composition of the future surface fleet will be three Hobart class destroyers, six Hunter class frigates, up to 11 general-purpose frigates, six new Large Optionally Crewed Surface Vessels, and 25 minor war vessels. The latter will comprise six Arafura class offshore patrol vessels, down from the 12 originally planned, and 19 Evolved Cape class patrol boats, with eight for the RAN and the remainder for the Australian Border Force. The Hobart class destroyers are to have their Aegis Combat System upgraded and also be equipped with Tomahawk and Naval Strike Missiles.…

CONTAINER SHIP Piraeus-based Capital Product Partners has sold three more boxships, the 2015-built 9,300TEU Akadimos and the 2008-built 5,100TEU sister ships Fos Express and Seattle Express, as it seeks to specialise in LNG carriers. Last year the company announced that it would be buying 11 LNG carriers from compatriot owner Marinakis for $3.13 billion, while at the same time selling the last of its bulk carriers, as well as the 2008-built 5,100TEU Long Beach Express. Established in 2007, Capital Product Partners currently owns 22 modern vessels, including nine LNG carriers and ten container ships, and has nine more LNG tankers to be delivered between the second quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2027.…

CONTAINER SHIPS Dutch-headquartered shortsea operator Samskip has launched a new service connecting the UK, Netherlands with Norway. The service calls at Rotterdam and Oslofjord, as well as the British ports of Immingham and Tilbury. In Rotterdam, the service calls at the Matrans Terminal, within the Eemhaven area of the port, while in Oslofjord three calls are made, with two at Moss. Other ports served are Kristiansand, Larvik, Fredrikstad and Brevik. Operating the route are four feeder container ships, ranging in capacity between 508 and 812 TEU: Vohburg, Energy, BF Cartagena and JSP Carla. The latter operates directly between Norway and the Dutch port. Samskip was founded in Iceland in 1990, and today operates in 35 countries.…

BUNKER TANKERS John H. Whitaker (Tankers), the largest operator of bunker tankers in British waters, has been acquired by fuel trader Lindsay Blee. The company, which has operated for over 144 years, has its origins in freight barges in the Humber area. The company went on to operate bunker barges in the area, although it was not until 1955, following the acquisition of the former German tanker Whitonia, that the company began operating sea-going/coastal bunker tankers, with the 1950-built tanker being stationed at Falmouth. Today, the Hull-based shipowner has eight seagoing tankers around the UK and Gibraltar. Its largest single operation is Southampton, where four tankers, including the largest, Whitonia, are in service.…

The various islands around the Shetland archipelago are linked by an 11-strong fleet of small ferries operated by the Shetland Islands Council. The services are headed by the 1,861gt double-enders Dagalien and Daggri, built at the Stocznia Polnocna yard in Gdansk, Poland. They were delivered in 2004 to replace a pair of earlier vessels on the route from Toft on Mainland to Ulsta at the southern end of the island of Yell. They have a 12-knot service speed from twin MAK engines. A previous order to the Polish yard brought the 658gt Linga into service in 2001. She runs from Laxo, Mainland to Symbister on the island of Whalsay, taking 100 passengers and 16 cars. The next largest vessel is the 420gt Lerina, delivered by Fergusons from Port Glasgow in…

The news out of East Africa was startling. For the first time in more than 60 years, a large new passenger ship was taking shape on Lake Victoria, one of the continent’s great lakes. The new boat had been projected for so long that it had become something of a myth. But the photos proved it was a reality: after years of chatter, the new Mwanza was a myth no more. The question now was what would this mean for the new ship’s predecessor, the 1961-built Victoria? After six decades of service, was the writing finally on the wall for this old vessel, which had been a mainstay of public transport in East Africa for more than two generations? Just one thing seemed sure: if I wanted to pay my…

Built at Aberdeen, St Helena entered service in November 1990. Until 2002 her routine port of departure from the UK was Cardiff. This was changed to Portland until 2011, after which time the ship only operated in the South Atlantic, with her port calls limited to Cape Town, St Helena and Ascension. Like her predecessor, the ship came to be known affectionately as the ‘RMS’ – reflecting the fact that she was then the last oceangoing vessel carrying the Royal Mail. For many years, the idea of providing St Helena with an international airport had been proposed and hotly debated. After the airport was eventually completed, RMS St Helena was finally withdrawn. A new wharf on the island now allows a vessel to berth alongside, making the handling of freight,…

MARCH’S MYSTERY The mystery ship is the oil tanker El Oso, which was completed in September 1921 by Armstrong, Whitworth on the Tyne, and was one of a class of three ships that operated from Peru to UK carrying fuel. The tankers had accommodation for oilfield employees. The 7,267grt steel-hulled steamship measured 440.5ft by 57.5ft and was powered by a single three-cylinder engine. She was owned by Lobitos Oilfields, London, and served them throughout the inter-war years. On 11 January 1940 she was mined and sunk six miles from the Bar Lightship at the entrance to the Mersey on a voyage from Lobitos to Ellesmere Port with a cargo of crude. Three crew were lost, but the master and 32 crew were picked up by HMS Walker (D 27) and…

COMPANY NEWS Heavylift companies Jumbo Shipping of Holland, SAL Heavy Lift of Germany and Intermarine of the USA have formed the JSI Alliance to market their combined fleet of 50 multipurpose heavylift ships. Intermarine recently expanded its fleet through the long-term charter of four additional ships, Industrial Fraternity, Industrial Skipper, Industrial Swift and Louise Auerbach, while Jumbo and SAL will start taking delivery of the first of their new 14,600dwt Orca class vessels within the next few months. The latter will be equipped with twin 800-tonne capacity deck cranes capable of lifting 1,600 tonnes in tandem, while the recently chartered Intermarine ships have tandem lifting capacities ranging from 300 tonnes to 500 tonnes. The Jumbo ships have combined lifting capacities ranging from 400 to 3,000 tonnes. The new JSI Alliance…

LNG CAR CARRIERS Greek car carrier owner Neptune Lines, established in 1975 and currently operating a fleet of 21 ships ranging from 1,500CEU to 6,500CEU capacity, has added an additional two 4,200CEU vessels to its series of ships being built by the Fujian Mawei yard in China. The company now has four LNG dual-fuel car carriers under construction for delivery between 2026 and 2027, at a cost of approximately $75 million each. Designed in cooperation with Finland’s Deltamarin, all of the units will include battery based energy storage systems, connections to allow the use of shore power while the ships are berthed, and space arrangements for the future installation of solar power systems. WATERFRONT • www.shipsmonthly.com • The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6AL • t >…

MOTOR VESSEL The 688gt twin screw motor vessel, built by John I. Thornycroft in 1949, and now undergoing restoration in Bristol, has been awarded a £248,318 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the greater part of which will go towards the cost of dry-docking to check, repair and repaint the hull. Built for the Red Funnel fleet to replace two paddle vessels lost during World War II, Balmoral carried 600 passengers and up to ten sternloaded cars between Southampton and Cowes until joining P. & A. Campbell’s White Funnel fleet on the Bristol Channel in 1980. Much of the current work on Balmoral in Bristol is being carried out by volunteers and includes a major rebuild of the bar. Ventilators have been removed from the upper deck for refurbishment.…

P&O FERRIES A 50,000-tonne reduction in carbon emissions on P&O Ferries routes has been achieved after a dedicated centre for Fuel and Energy Efficiency was created at Dover, helped by the Dover-Calais route’s new hybrid ferries, P&O Pioneer, introduced in July 2023, and sistership P&O Liberte, which started service on 23 March. The Dover-based centre brings in new data that can be used to help find the most effective way to track and reduce carbon. It has been a key to the successful debut of P&O Pioneer, which can carry up to 1,500 passengers, with vehicle decks offering 2,800 lane metres of space for freight vehicles, plus a separate area for 182 cars. The new Fusion class sisters, designed by OSK in Denmark and built at China’s Guanghzhou Yard, are…

STENA LINE Major renewals have been made to 63,039gt sisterships Stena Britannica and Stena Hollandica, which share the North Sea service from Harwich to the Hook of Holland and were built at Germany’s Waden Yard in Wismar. Completed in 2010 and registered in the UK and Holland respectively, they carry 1,200 passengers, with an even larger number of overnight berths, and offer 1,380 lane metres of vehicle space. Each ship was out of service in dry dock for 18 days while a work force of 360 toiled inside and out. The hulls were shot-blasted before the application of specialised paint to reduce water resistance and cut 2,500 metric tonnes of C02 emissions a year. On board, the passenger areas were reorganised to increase capacity, with a major change being the…

CLdN COMES IN One of the ferry world’s most iconic names is on the way out, with Seatruck being replaced by the name of Belgium-headquartered current owners CLdN. They have been expanding services over the past few years, having introduced new services from Santander to Dublin and Dublin to Liverpool in January 2023, with Seatruck Ferries deploying an extra vessel, initially the 14,759gt Seatruck Pennant (since sold, now UR), on the Dublin-Liverpool route. Seatruck first came in during 1996, with ownership switching to Crescent Shipping in 1998. It was then acquired by the Clipper Group, who left the shipping business during 2022, when CLdN took over Seatruck operations. Clipper’s 14,759gt vessels Clipper Point (2008) and Clipper Pennant (2009) became Seatruck Point and Seatruck Pennant until they left a fleet of…

CARNIVAL CORP On 23 March Carnival Freedom experienced a funnel fire, which caused severe damage and resulted in parts of her superstructure falling onto the decks. She was off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas when the fire broke out. Having disembarked her passengers at Port Canaveral, the ship proceeded to the Grand Bahama shipyard at Freeport for repairs. The following two cruises were cancelled and the ship was back in service on 4 April. Following the demolition of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, effectively closing the port to most traffic, Carnival Cruise Line had to find an alternative berth for Carnival Legend, on her way back to Baltimore towards the end of a cruise. As a temporary move, until Baltimore reopens, Carnival Legend will use Norfolk, Virginia as…

VARIOUS COMPANIES Somewhat down from the peak of a few years ago, when there were more than 100 cruise ships on order, the current total of 64 still shows confidence in a once again booming market. Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest group, contributes just four to that list: the two recently ordered Excel class for Carnival Cruise Line, Star Princess for Princess Cruises and Queen Anne for Cunard. Royal Caribbean contributes two Oasis class and two Icon class for the main fleet, Silver Ray for Silversea Cruises and the last of the Edge class for Celebrity. The Mein Schiff joint venture with TUI adds a further three ships, making a total of nine for the group. Now the third largest cruise group, MSC has just three World Class ships on…

NETHERLANDS NAVY The Dutch government is continuing its capital investment in the Koninklijke Marine fleet, with more than €11 billion earmarked to replace submarines, frigates, landing ships and patrol vessels in the next decade. Among the combatants to be introduced are four new air-defence frigates to supersede the Zeven Provinciën class frigates in the 2040s. With a €2.5 billion budget for the ships and the same amount for weapon systems, the project is the MoD’s largest and most expensive programme. To help keep costs down, the hulls are likely to be built more cheaply at Damen’s shipyard in Romania, with some sensors and weapons systems reused from existing ships. There are also plans to replace the navy’s two LPDs and four Holland class Ocean Patrol Vessels with a single class…

UKRAINE WAR A Ukrainian Magura V5 uncrewed surface vessel (USV) squadron attack has claimed another Black Sea Fleet victim. It was the third time unlucky for the Project 22160 patrol ship RFS Sergei Kotov. The warship, which was only commissioned in July 2022, had survived two previous attacks, only to be sunk by the third near the Kerch Strait on 5 March. Sergei Kotov was one of four active vessels of the class, with two more under construction. Displacing around 1,965 tonnes, they are equipped with erectable VLS launchers for Kalibr-NK cruise missiles and a 76mm AK-176 main gun. Since the war with Ukraine began, their armament has been supplemented by ground-based Tor-M2 (SA-15 Gauntlet) surface-to-air missile systems lashed to the flight deck in order to address their inadequate air…

Vaughan-Jenkins lived at Combe Down, a small village on the outskirts of Bath. He was responsible for managing the photographic side of the Locomotive & General Railway Photographs collection from its inception in June 1939 until 1951. He continued to take photographs of locomotives until at least 1960. During the 1930s he worked in the theatre industry, which gave him opportunities to take photographs of ships and railways during the daytime, when he was free. Among the locations where he photographed ships were Bristol, Torquay, Southampton and Gravesend. He photographed the Greek-owned ship Ithaki in dry dock at Avonmouth on 5 May 1934 and, on 26 May, from the south pier, captured Briarwood, Delftdyk and Annan which were sailing on the afternoon tide, the latter from Bristol’s City Docks. Remarkably,…

When the new mv Mwanza enters service this year, she will join an interesting and varied fleet of more than a dozen inland waterways vessels belonging to Tanzania’s Marine Services Co Ltd (MSC), whose territory includes passenger and cargo routes on Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa (Malawi), in addition to Lake Victoria. The new MV Mwanza is also one of several completed and projected newbuilds that represent an unexpected revival of shipbuilding activity on Africa’s Great Lakes involving new vessels built in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as in Tanzania. Besides Mwanza and Victoria, Marine Services Co operates two further notable passenger vessels on Lake Victoria: MV Butiama (1980), which provides service between Mwanza and Nansio Port on Ukerewe Island; and MV Clarias (1961), serving the…

On Thursday 1 March 1934 a new Royal Navy cruiser was readied for launch at the Vickers Armstrong shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness. After a short religious ceremony conducted under a somewhat overcast sky by the Cumbrian town’s bishop, the ship was named HMS Ajax by Lady Chatfield, wife of the then First Sea Lord. The cruiser that entered the water that day was subsequently to enjoy one of the most active and distinguished careers of any British warship of her era. A NEW DESIGN Ajax was one of five Leander class cruisers commissioned by the Royal Navy between 1933 and 1935. Her design traced its origins to the challenges the navy faced in building sufficient cruisers to meet its worldwide commitments during the period of financial restraint that followed World War…

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Many will remember seeing the film The Bounty, released way back in 1984, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. I was involved in a very small way during the building of the Bounty replica in the late 1970s. She was a wonderful example of the skills of craftsmen and shipwrights, being built to the original Admiralty drawings. Those who saw that film would be dismayed to see her now. After some years sailing in and around Sydney, Australia, she was sold to Asian interests, and again made the occasional tourist trips, but was mostly a static attraction in Hong Kong, renamed Chi Ming. That operation closed and today the historic ship is literally rotting away, her mizzen mast chopped down due to wood rot, at a berth on the Chao Phraya River,…