Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2023 i Ships Monthly

MEDITERRANEAN Greece’s largest intra-national (domestic) shipping company, Attica Group, has taken over its financially troubled rival, ANEK Lines. Attica already owns Blue Star Ferries and Superfast Ferries, and in 2018 bought the majority of Hellenic Seaways it did not own. Thus, consolidation of Greece’s domestic maritime market continues while AG’s dominance grows. The agreement resulted in Attica assuming AL’s €85 million debt and guarantees ANEK’s independence, retaining its brand and livery. ANEK (an abbreviation for Crete Shipping Company in Greek) was founded in 1967 by Cretans to encourage links with the country’s largest island, and originally only islanders could own shares. In 1989 ANEK expanded to the Adriatic, operating the two ships Lato and Lissos on the Patras-Corfu-Igoumenitsa-Ancona. El Venezelos, Kriti l and Kriti II were added, all on Greece-ltaly…

ROLL ON/ROLL OFF New or extended charters of three vessels owned by Mariehamn based Goodby Shipping will bring regular visits to English ports for two of them: Baltic Bright will come into Sheerness, while Mistral starts a new service from Spain to Liverpool. The charter of Baltic Bright (1996/9,708gt) to carry paper from Hallstavik and Norrkoping in Sweden for London-based Holmen Paper has been extended to the end of 2024, with an option for the whole of 2025. The vessel has 1,068 lane metres of space. Mistral (1999/10,471gt), currently on charter to Faroe Islands operator Smyril Line, moves to Spain’s Suardiz Shipping next year to open a new connection from Vigo to Liverpool, while Goodby confirm that Mimer (1990/5,873gt) will continue on CMA-CGM’s services from the Leeward Islands. WATERFRONT •…

SCOTTISH FERRIES Port Glasgow-based shipbuilders Ferguson Marine announced there will be further delays to the completion of two LGB-hybrid powered ferries for Caledonian MacBrayne’s services to the Isle of Arran after additional work was requested by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency. In his latest quarterly quarterly report, Ferguson chief executive David Tydeman confirms delivery of Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa will not now take place until 2024, as modifications are needed to crew area doorways, and additional staircases are required between Decks 5, 6 and 7. Sea trials for the 5,000gt Glen Sannox, designed to carry 1,000 passengers and 127 cars, will not begin until the first quarter of next year, while the launch of Glen Rosa has been put back to a period when high tides are due,…

STENA LINE After very little time to establish herself as the Fishguard-Rosslare route’s new regular vessel in succession to Stena Europe (1981/24,828gt), the 2000-built/24,206gt Stena Nordica was quickly on the move again. This time she undertook a relief role on the North Channel service between Cairnryan and Belfast, which started with the 07.30 departure from the Northern Irish capital on 20 July, with trips to and from Fishguard suspended. Stena Nordica was needed after Stena Superfast VII (2001/30,285gt), which operates the busy route with two hours 15 minutes crossing times opposite sistership Stena Superfast VIII, suffered a fire in a back-up generator while she was lying between sailings at Belfast’s Victoria Terminal, without any passengers or vehicles aboard. The Superfast pair, built in Germany at the Howaldtswerke Werft in Kiel,…

CAL MAC A public vote was used by Caledonian Maritime Assets to decide the name of Hull 802, sister to Glen Sannox. Both vessels are under construction at the Ferguson Marine yard on the Clyde in Glasgow. Three name options were put forward, reflecting links with Arran, the island which is to be served when the 5,000gt pair come into service, Glen Sannox towards the end of the year and 802 expected to follow late in 2024. The names were Glen Cloy, after a valley on the east coast of Arran; Glen Rosa, which is close to Goat Fell, Arran; and Claymore, Gaelic for ‘great sword,’ and a name used for a ferry built in 1978; in late August the name was announced, with Glen Rosa having been chosen. The…

HANSA TOURISTIK Fifty-seven years old is a respectable age for a cruise ship, especially one originally built as a car ferry. Ocean Majesty, recently withdrawn from active service, began life as the Trasmediterranea car ferry Juan March in 1966, built for service between the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands. Although built to carry cars, she could not carry freight vehicles, and that limited her use in later years. She was sold to Sol Mediterranean in 1985, becoming Sol Christina, but was resold the following year to Opale Lines, for whom she operated as Kypros Star. Her life was lengthened considerably when she was sold in 1989 to Majestic International Cruises, who rebuilt her into the 535-passenger cruise ship Ocean Majesty. In the intervening 34 years she has been chartered…

US NAVY The US Navy has awarded multi year procurement contracts for nine more Arleigh Burke class destroyers. HII Ingalls is to get orders for the design and construction of six ships in Financial Year 2023-2027, and General Dynamic’s Bath Iron Works for three ships in FY 2023-26. The long-term fixed-price incentive firm target contracts, along with options for more ships, enable a more stable supply and investment chain that is calculated to save US$830 million. The new destroyers are being procured in Flight III configuration, with their Integrated Air and Missile Defense capability built around the AN/SPY6(V)(1) Air and Missile Defense Radar and the Aegis Baseline 10 Combat System. The first Flight III and 73rd of the class, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), was delivered by HII Ingalls…

HORIZON FFGs The European Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) has awarded a €1.5 billion contract to Naviris and Eurosam for the mid life modernisation of the French and Italian Navy’s Horizon class frigates. The ships are their version of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer. Naviris is the joint shipbuilding venture between France’s Naval Group and Italy’s Fincantieri, and Eurosam, a French-Italian joint venture that specialises in air defence systems. Apart from general whole ship improvements, the work will focus on the integration of a new-generation Principal Anti-Air Missile System, Long-Range Radar and electronic warfare suite enhancements designed to combat the emerging threats from hypersonic, ballistic, supersonic, sea-skimming, high-velocity cruise missiles and unmanned aerial systems. The work will start on the Italian ships, with Andrea Doria redelivered first by…

FLEET NEWS In a strange twist, after Camillo Eitzen sold its LPG fleet to Bergshav in 2011, Eitzen Group has re-acquired the fleet. B-Gas, which controls ten LPGs ranging from 3,000 to 5,000m3 in size, has been sold to the Oslo-based owner. The fleet predominantly operates in the north-west European market, with its headquarters located in the Danish town of Hellerup. Commenting on how the operation will fit with other parts of its business, Axel. C Eitzen, Executive Chairman of Eitzen, stated: ‘We are very positive about the outlook for the LPG and Petrochemical business in north-west Europe and we see synergies between B-Gas and our chemical company Christiania Shipping.’ Christiania Shipping, formerly known as Herning Shipping, became part of the Eitzen Group in 2020.…

◼ The author visited Algeciras in late 2022 to sail on Morocco Sun and make my first voyage on the vessel. Her Masters and Officers are from Morocco, Spain and Greece, while the rest of the 60 crew are from Honduras and the Philippines. ◼ AML operates six crossings a day each way between Algeciras and Tanger Med, with Morocco Sun and Morocco Star each completing three round trips. ◼ I was on the bridge for departure as the First Officer took over for the 0630 sailing from Algeciras, navigating through the harbour. The Master had previously worked for IMTC, joining Le Rif for the first time in Belfast to bring her back to Tanger, after first spending a few days on the Stranraer-Belfast route with Stena Line gaining familiarity…

◼ Launched 1944; converted to heavy repair ship 1964 ◼ Pennant R16 ◼ Colossus class light fleet aircraft carrier ◼ Scrapped in 1981 The name Triumph then passed within the space of a few months to a newly ordered Colossus class aircraft carrier under construction at Hawthorn Leslie and Co Shipyard on the River Tyne. She was launched on 2 November 1944 and commissioned on 6 May 1946, too late to see active service in World War II. However, within a few years she was involved in launching aerial strikes against Communist positions during the Korean War, including at the Battle of Inchon. The third Triumph of the 20th century spent several years operating as a training carrier for the Fleet Air Arm and as the cadet training ship, replacing…

This year marks the 110th anniversary of the founding of a well-known American shipping company that no longer exists and also the 40th anniversary of its demise. New York-headquartered Moore-McCormack Lines (Mormac) was established by Albert V. Moore and Emmet J. McCormack in 1913 and 70 years later was sold to McLean Securities, the parent company of United States Lines, which had earlier been acquired by Sea-Land Service founder Malcolm McLean. At the time of its sale, Mormac was owned by Stamford, Connecticut based Moore McCormack Resources and was operating 13 cargo liners on trade routes between North America, South America and Africa. The company had initiated service to Brazil prior to America’s entry into World War I and by 1918 was operating 15 sailings annually to both Brazil and…

SHIPS MAIL Are cruise ships too big? Having just returned from a lovely two-week cruise, I am pleased to say that most of my prejudices about large cruise ships were disproven. However, my concern is evacuation. When we embarked, it was mandated that we attended our allotted muster station (this was logged) and we were encouraged (not mandated, which was surprising) to listen to the safety video in our cabins. The cruise ship I was on had over 5,000 passengers and crew over 18 decks. Imagine trying to traverse at least eight staircases, in a darkened, listing ship, along with other able bodied but also some disabled or elderly passengers, many of whom, because it was not mandated, did not watch the safety video. Stairwells were busy anyway and would…

AUGUST’S MYSTERY The mystery ship from August was not identified by any reader. However, on further examination, details printed on the original postcard states that it depicts the British coaster Coburg. Does this assist with any positive identification and further information about the small ship? THIS MONTH’S MYSTERY SHIP This month’s mystery shows an old coastal passenger ship. But which one? And when and where was the photo taken? Can you positively identify ship and the location? And provide details of the vessel’s owner and career? Send your answers, including a postal address, by email to: sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk; or by post to Mystery Ship, Ships Monthly, Kelsey Media, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Kent ME18 6AL. Emails preferred.…

INDUSTRY NEWS The Union of Greek Shipowners has disclosed that Greek shipowners now control the highest share, 21 per cent, of the global merchant fleet in terms of deadweight capacity and that the Greek merchant fleet, currently consisting of 5,520 vessels, is the world’s largest cross-trader, with more than 98 per cent of its overall capacity used to transport cargoes between third countries. In addition, because Greek shipowners are mostly active in the bulk and tramping sectors, the average size of Greek-owned ships has increased to 81,395dwt, while the world average stands at 45,337dwt. Although owning less than nine per cent of the world’s container ships in terms of deadweight, Greek owners control 31.27 per cent of the world’s oil tanker fleet, 25.32 per cent of the world’s bulk carrier…

PORT NEWS Port Houston recorded its busiest July in terms of containers handled, with 344,163 TEU passing through the port. This was a five per cent increase on the volumes in July 2022. However, volumes for the year to date are one per cent down on those of the same period in 2022, with 2.2 million TEU handled at the port’s two container terminals: Bayport, with five berths and Barbours Cut, which has six. Bayport recently commissioned three ship-to-shore container cranes, as part of a $560 million investment in the terminal, which included completion of an additional wharf. This will enable the terminal to handle container ships of up to 15,000TEU, which are expected to begin calling at the US Gulf Coast port following the completion of the Houston Ship…

RIVER SHIPS COSCO Shipping HI has floated out the first of two battery-powered 700TEU capacity container ships it is building for operation along the Yangtze river by subsidiary Shanghai Pan Asia Shipping. The twin 393ft by 77.5ft vessels, to enter service next year, will use 36 replaceable battery packs the size of a standard 20ft container to power two 900kW main propulsion motors. The battery packs will be swapped along the 600-mile river route between Shanghai and Wuhan for fully charged packs at recharging stations as required. A ‘smart ship’ management system will be used to adjust energy consumption based on water flow, wind and battery capacity.…

P&O FERRIES The Dover-Calais route’s new 47,394gt double-ended passenger and vehicle ferry P&O Pioneer has been plagued by technical problems since coming into service on 19 June, with the 1,300 passenger vessel losing a succession of sailings starting on 5 July. Two Cross-Channel trips were cancelled then, with a repeat the following day and more crossings lost on 9 and 10 July. P&O Pioneer replaced Pride of Kent (1992/30,635gt), which has been at Dover since her conversion into a full passenger configuration in 2002-03, having originally been built at Seebeckwerft in Germany as European Highway for the Dover-Zeebrugge freight service. Pride of Kent moved to Tilbury on the Thames to lay up on 14 July after service totalling more than 30 years. As previously reported, P&O Pioneer built by GSI…

TRASMAPI Much-travelled in a career spanning a quarter of a century and including time with Brittany Ferries as Condor Rapide, Incat 045 (1997/5,007gt), built at Hobart in Tasmania, is the latest acquisition by Greek-Cypriot fast ferry specialist Seajets, bringing their fleet in the Aegean, with services to Crete, the Central Cyclades and Northern Greece, to 24 vessels. When new, the 870-passenger/200-car catamaran operated briefly between Melbourne and Hobart before a charter to the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Jervis Bay. Then came a charter to Italian company TIS (Traghetti delle Isole Sarde) linking Genoa with the Sardinian port of Palau. She then spent four years with Speed Ferries sailing as Winner, which ended with a sale by auction in May 2009. New owners Epic Shipping changed the name to Sea…

EMERALD CRUISES The Australian Scenic Group subsidiary Emerald Cruises recently introduced its second 100-passenger yacht, when Emerald Sakara sailed from Piraeus on her maiden voyage. With a crew numbering 76, the 5,315gt vessel, along with her sister Emerald Azzurra, was built in the Ha Long shipyard in Vietnam. She has a length of 110m and a beam of 16m. Her maiden voyage departed Piraeus on 5 August and ended in Civitavecchia eight days later. The ship’s first season is based around Italy, Greece, Turkey and Croatia, before she repositions to the Caribbean for the winter. She will be named in San Juan on 2 December by Kelly Craighead, the president of Cruise Lines International Association. Scenic Group also operates two ultra-luxury yachts, Scenic Eclipse and Scenic Eclipse II, under its…

NORWEGIAN CL Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has taken delivery of the 143,535gt Norwegian Viva from Italy’s Fincantieri as the second of four ‘Project Leonardo’ vessels. They were ordered five years ago as part of the company’s new Prima class, headed by the Norwegian Prima, delivered late last year. Somewhat smaller than the company’s 164,998gt Norwegian Escape class, the Prima ships measure 299m by 40.5m, are powered by a diesel-electric drive system featuring twin ABB Azipods, and accommodate 3,215 passengers (lower beds) while featuring upscale accommodation and the usual passenger amenities.…

US NAVY USS Zumwalt has arrived at the Ingalls shipyard in Mississippi for the installation of a Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic weapons system. The planned two-year retrofit will involve the removal of the two 155mm Advanced Gun Systems, which will be replaced with four missile tubes, each capable of accommodating three so-called Common Hypersonic Glide Bodies (C-HGB), for a total of 12 missiles. The C-HGB is currently being jointly developed with the US Army. It is intended to quickly and accurately strike targets anywhere on Earth, travelling at speeds greater than Mach 5. The US Navy, somewhat optimistically according to the Government Accountability Office, intends to have the system in service on all three Zumwalt class destroyers from 2025 on, and Block V Virginia class attack submarines, which have the…

TANKERS Financially troubled Concordia Maritime has nearly completed the sell-off of its entire fleet after entering into a sale agreement for the twin product carriers Stena Progress (2009) and Stena Premium (2011), both currently on charter to parent company Stena Bulk and operating on sub-charters. Their sale will leave only the 2010-built Stena Polaris as owned by Concordia, and this vessel has been chartered out to Florida-based Crowley for sub-charter to the US Military Sealift Command on a contract, with renewables running through to 2026. Since the beginning of 2022 Concordia has sold ten tankers in order to lower its debt and reduce costs. Formed in 1984, the Swedish company operated some of the largest tankers in the world. These included the 458,000dwt twins Stena King and Stena Queen, acquired…

CONTAINER SHIPS German container operator Hapag-Lloyd has reportedly thrown its hat into the ring to acquire a 40 per cent stake in HMM, one of its partners in the THE Alliance. A major shareholding in the company, formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine, has been put up for sale by Korean state-backed banks, who took control in 2016. As well as container ships, HMM operate a fleet of bulk carriers and VLCCs, and have recently ordered a series of heavy-lift multipurpose general cargo ships. Others in the running to acquire the HMM share are Pan Ocean’s parent Harim Group and logistic companies LX Holdings and Dongwon Group. Despite lifting their shareholding in the company, SM Group, who originally said they were interested in buying the stake, have now reportedly pulled…

Thursday 13 July was a significant day in the history of Stena Line’s Fishguard-Rosslare route. Stena Europe, one of the company’s oldest fleet members, now marking 42 years of service, retired after more than two decades of sterling service on the southern corridor across the Irish Sea. Stena Europe was built at the Arendal Yard in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1981 for Sessan Line as Kronprinsessan Victoria, for their Gothenburg to Frederikshavn route. After financial difficulties, rival Stena Line took a controlling interest in the company, and Kronprinsessan Victoria and her twin sister were integrated into the Stena fleet, and Stena converted an upper car deck to take two levels of additional cabins She was renamed Stena Saga in 1988, then in 1994 she was transferred to the Harwich-Hook of Holland…

The countdown to the start of World War II saw the Royal Navy scrambling to rebuild its depleted strength. The Admiralty appreciated that the number of ships in all categories was inadequate to meet the demands of the forthcoming conflict, but time was short to remedy the deficiency. This problem was particularly acute among the destroyer flotillas, which were vital for both fleet operations and convoy protection. The navy’s response to the crisis was commendably pragmatic. Realising that speed was of the essence, it decided to utilise the propulsion plant and general configuration of the existing ‘J’ class destroyers as the basis for a new ship with a more basic equipment outfit and a slightly smaller hull. By adopting this approach, the revised design was ready to enter production as…

Several of the former Moore-McCormack cargo ships, now highly modified, remain under US Government ownership today. These include the Navy Aviation Logistics Support ships Wright (T-AVB-3) (ex-Mormacsun) and Curtiss (T-AVB-4) (ex-Mormacsky),as well as the Auxiliary Crane Ship (T-ACS) Green Mountain State (ex-Mormacaltair) and X-Band Transportable Radar Ship Pacific Tracker (XTR-1) (ex-Mormacdraco). In addition, the former Mormactide, completed as States Line’s Oregon in 1962, has been serving as the training ship Empire State VI (T-AP-1001) since 1989 for the State University of New York Maritime College but she was sold for demolition in Brownsville, Texas late last year, with a replacement ship now under construction.…

letter of the month The article about Queen Elizabeth 2 SM, June) mentions the tale of RMS Queen Mary’s naming, which Cunard dismiss as a myth. After work had restarted on Hull 534 in 1934, Cunard needed a name for the ship, so they sought an audience with King George V. The delegation comprised Sir Percy Bates, MD, Cunard; Sir Thomas Bell, MD; John Browns; and Sir Ashley Sparks, Chairman, Cunard USA. They attended Buckingham Palace, saying they wished to name their magnificent new liner after England’s greatest Queen. The King replied: ‘I am sure my wife (Queen Mary) will be delighted’. That was not the name Cunard wished for, nor did it end in the traditional suffix “-ia” and, more significantly, Lloyd’s Register did not permit two ships of…

SMYRIL LINE FERRY • GROUND-BREAKING BOXBOATS WARTIME DESTROYERS • POST-WAR TRAMPSHIP PLUS RN BATTLE CLASS DESTROYERS • A pictorial record of the Royal Navy’s ultimate World War II destroyer design, of which 16 were built. ON BOARD ROTTERDAM WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT • Recalling a final cruise on Holland American Line’s 1959-built Rotterdam in the spring of 1997, when the lights, indeed, went out. THE COLOURFUL CAREER OF A POST-WAR TRAMPSHIP • The eventful career of the cargo ship Marlin II, which lasted almost 40 years, and the notable occasion when she ‘escaped’ the port of Nantes with an unauthorised departure. SEATRAIN • The history of Seatrain, a pioneering Tyne-built ship, which was arguably the forerunner of every container ship sailing today. ON SALE 27 OCTOBER 2023…

INDUSTRY NEWS Bermuda-headquartered Golden Ocean Group, currently ranked as the world’s largest publicly listed dry bulk company in terms of deadweight tonnage, has taken delivery of the 84,700dwt bulk carrier Golden John (48,500gt) from China’s DSIC Shanhaiguan Shipbuilding Industry. The 227.2m by 36m 14-knot Ice Class IC vessel, registered under the Marshall Islands flag, meets IMO Tier III emission standards and has a carrying capacity of 105,000m3 in seven cargo holds. The new ship’s delivery follows the acquisition of six 208,000dwt second-hand Newcastlemax vessels by Golden Ocean for $291 million earlier this year. Golden Ocean was created as a de-merged part of Norway’s Frontline group in 2004 and its fleet of 100 vessels is managed by Golden Ocean Group Management AS.…

FIRE ON BOARD The car carrier Fremantle Highway, which suffered major damage following a fire at sea in late July, was safely towed into the Dutch port of Eemshaven in August through the combined efforts of salvage specialists Multraship Towage and Smit Salvage. There were 21 crew aboard at the time of the incident, as well as the pilot and a superintendent. All except one of the crew, who died after jumping off the ship, were rescued by boat and helicopter. The ten-year-old Panama-flagged vessel was carrying 3,784 cars, nearly 500 of which were battery powered. Although the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, it is thought to have started on a mid-level deck, leaving a good portion of the vehicles carried on the lower decks undamaged.…

TECHNOLOGY A collaboration between Cargill, BAR Technologies, MC Shipping and Yara Marine Technologies has the potential to decarbonize bulk cargo vessels by up to 30 per cent. On 21 August Cargill and BAR Technologies’ WindWings innovation started testing new wind propulsion technology. Mitsubishi Corporation’s Pyxis Ocean, chartered by Cargill, is the first vessel to be retrofitted with two WindWings, which are large wing sails measuring up to 45m in height that can be fitted to the deck of bulk cargo ships to harness wind power. Manufactured by partner Yara Marine Technologies, they are expected to generate average fuel savings of up to 30 per cent on newbuild vessels, and even more if used in combination with alternative fuels. The installation of the wings took place at the COSCO shipyard in…

IRISH SEA FERRIES On 22 August P&O Ferries stated it is to close the historic Liverpool-Dublin route at the end of the year, with an internal memo explaining the decision being widely circulated on social media. The statement from Peter Hebblethwaite, CEO P&O Ferries, explained: ‘Earlier this year, the owner of our Liverpool site, Peel Ports, informed us that our current berth would no longer be available to us after the end of 2023. We have pursued every possible option to maintain our service on our Liverpool-Dublin route. Despite our utmost efforts to find a viable solution, no suitable alternative has been found that would enable us to maintain the service into 2024. It is with great regret that I must therefore announce that we intend to close the Liverpool-Dublin…

MULTI-PURPOSE SHIPS The Western Baltija Shipbuilding yard in Klaipeda, Lithuania has launched the hull of the 95m Scharhörn, the first of three multipurpose pollution control ships it is building in cooperation with the Abeking & Rasmussen facility at Lemwerder, Germany, with the latter yard to outfit the vessels. All will be powered by LNG/electric propulsion systems incorporating four 3,600KW Bergen B36:45L6AG medium speed gas engines supplied by Rolls-Royce, which will give a bollard pull of 145 tonnes for emergency towing. Upon delivery, they will replace the 47-year-old Scharhörn, the 1984-built Mellum and the 23-year-old Neuwerk. WATERFRONT • www.shipsmonthly.com • The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6AL • t > 01959 541444 • e > sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk…

ISLE OF MAN SP The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s new flagship Manxman, which cost £78 million from the Hyundi Mipo Shipyard in South Korea, entered service on 17 August with a departure from Douglas to Heysham at 08.45. Delivered in May, Manxman provided just the day sailing to the mainland, with Ben-My-Chree (1998/12,504gt) covering the overnight return trips, but these will be added to Manxman’s programme in October. The 24,161gt vessel carries 948 passengers and 237 cars, with a line up of four Wärtsilä diesel engines, two with ten cylinders and two with eight, providing a service speed of 19 knots. Manxman revives a name previously carried by two earlier Steam Packet vessels. The first was a twin-funnelled ferry built in 1904 and bought from the Midland Railway…

CELESTYAL After serving Louis Cruise Lines and its successor Celestyal Cruises for almost 16 years, Celestyal Crystal was retired at the beginning of September, when her replacement, the 1994-built Celestyal Journey, came into service after her refit. Celestyal Crystal has a long and interesting history, having been built in 1980 for Viking Line as the ferry Viking Saga to serve on the capital cities route linking Stockholm and Helsinki. This was during the peak of the golden era for Baltic Ferries, when ships were replaced by new, larger ships while they were still very young. Viking Saga became the ‘cruise ship’ Sally Albatros in 1986. Following a disastrous fire in 1990, from which only the lower part of the hull and the engines remained, she was fully rebuilt into the…

P&O CRUISES P&O Cruises’ Britannia broke her moorings in strong winds while she was alongside in the port of Palma on 27 August, causing her to drift and collide with the oil tanker Castillo de Arteaga, which was also berthed in the port. Damage to Britannia was slight, but one of the lifeboats was disabled, thus reducing the overall survival craft capacity on an almost full ship. There was superficial damage to deck railings and some life rafts were displaced. As a result, and in order to comply with regulations, 321 passengers were disembarked and flown home. After inspection, Britannia sailed from Palma late on 28 August, and as a result of the delay her call at Gibraltar was dropped. She arrived back in Southampton on time on 1 September.…

POLISH NAVY The Polish Navy’s Project 106 Miecznik (Swordfish) programme has reached a symbolic milestone, with a high-profile steel-cutting ceremony at the PGZ Naval Shipyard in Gdynia on 16 August heralding the start of construction. The keel laying is scheduled for the first quarter of next year, with the first of three ships currently on order due for completion in late 2026. More details of the ships’ weapons fit has also been revealed. The missile systems will include 32 Lockheed Martin Mk.41 VLS Strike Length launchers for MBDA UK Sea Ceptor surface-to-air missiles, using a quad-pack for up to 128 CAMM missiles, along with eight Saab RBS15 Mk3E anti-ship missiles, with an option to mount eight more. The lead vessel, to be named Wicher (Gale), will be fully fitted out…

BULGARIAN NAVY The first of two Multi-purpose Modular Patrol Vessels (MMPV) ordered by the Bulgarian Navy has been launched. The ships are being built locally at the MTG Dolphin shipyard in Varna under the management of the NVL Group, the German prime contractor, formerly Lürssen Defence. The 2,300-tonne corvettes are based on NVL’s OPV-90 design, a smaller variant of which is in service with the Royal Brunei Navy and under construction for the Royal Australian Navy. Intended to provide Bulgaria’s contribution to NATO and EU maritime security, the 90m warships will be equipped with two twin launchers for Saab RBS15 Mk3 anti-ship missiles, an eight-cell VLS for MBDA VL Mica SAM, an OTO 76mm main gun, a Rheinmetall Oerlikon Millennium 35mm CIWS and two 324mm torpedo launch systems.…

FLOATING STORAGE Rotterdam-based SMIT Salvage successfully transferred 1.14 million barrels of light crude oil from the decaying 47-year-old floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit FSO Safer to the 2008-built 308,000dwt tanker Most Yemen (ex-Nautica), which has 34 storage tanks, with some remaining oil mixed with sediment still to be removed. Prior to the transfer, a portable inert gas system was installed on the 406,640dwt 362m-long Safer to maintain the stability of its storage tanks while environmental protection barriers were placed between the two ships. The older tanker, completed by Japan’s Hitachi Zosen Corporation as Esso Japan in 1976 and converted to an oil barge in 1987, is to be taken to a certified ‘green’ demolition yard for recycling, while the newer ship, acquired by the United Nations from Antwerp based…

NEWBUILD Maran Tankers Management, the tanker unit of Greece’s Angelicoussis Shipping Group, has ordered eight 155,500dwt LNG-powered tankers from China’s New Times Shipyard for delivery in 2026 and 2027. The Suezmax-size ships will follow the LNG-powered VLCCs Antonis I. Angelicoussis, Maris A. Angelicoussis, Maran Danae and Maran Dione, all handed over this year, bringing the Maran Tankers fleet to 55 vessels in total. Maran have an option for four more tankers with New Times. WATERFRONT • www.shipsmonthly.com • The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6AL • t > 01959 541444 • e > sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk…

Now in her 44th year and 20 years after being sold and leaving the Stranraer-Belfast route for a new life on the Straits of Gibraltar as Le Rif, the former Sealink ferry Galloway Princess still operates between Spain and Morocco as Morocco Sun. During her career, she has spent six years laid up, changed ownership and been renamed, and the Algeciras-Tanger route has switched its Moroccan terminal to the new purpose-built port of Tanger Med, located closer to Algeciras to reduce the crossing time from two and a half to one and a half hours. Ordered in 1977, Galloway Princess was built by Harland and Wolff of Belfast in 1979 as the first of four double freight-deck drive-through ferries for the British Rail owned ferry company Sealink. The design was…

No fewer than ten Royal Navy have ships been named HMS Triumph at one time or another, and this feature focuses on the four most recent, starting with the Swiftsure class battleship launched in the early years of the 19th century. Of the other ships to have carried the name, the first was a 68-gun galleon built in 1561, rebuilt in 1596, and sold in 1618. The second was launched in 1623 and broken up in 1687. The 1698-built HMS Triumph was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line. She was renamed HMS Prince in 1714, rebuilt in 1750 and broken up in 1773. Another HMS Triumph, an 18-gun sloop, came along in 1739, and the next was built in 1764 as a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line. She…

One summer evening in 1974 I was searching the job vacancies section in the Times Educational Supplement. At the time I was driving 17 miles each way from our home in Wantage, Oxfordshire to Shrivenham CE Primary School on the Wiltshire border. I did not like the job, and we were struggling to make ends meet. My wife Gillian was out fund-raising for Action Aid, while I looked after our three young children. Sadly, there were no vacancies close to home, but I turned to the exotic overseas section on the back pages and saw that an English teacher in Saudi Arabia was wanted, as well as a head of school in Nairobi, and then another ad caught my eye. It read: ‘Tristan da Cunha, Education Officer/Head of School’. On…

I sailed on the troopship Empire Windrush from Southampton to Suez in 1950. With the current interest in the ‘Windrush generation’, I am saddened that the word ‘Empire’ is in the main absent from most articles. The ship was built as the passenger liner and cruise ship Monte Rosa and was launched in Germany in 1930. She was transferred to the UK as a war prize in 1945 and then renamed. For many young servicemen who sailed on Empire Windrush, this may have been their first sea voyage. For me, the name Empire Windrush stirs strong memories of my youth.…