Innehållsförteckning för June 2023 från Ships Monthly

PENTLAND FIRTH During the evening of 29 April Pentland Ferries’ catamaran ferry Pentalina went aground in St Margaret’s Hope. The vessel had 56 adults, three children and an infant on board, and there were no reports of any casualties. Smoke was detected in the engine room before the vessel grounded. The emergency services were soon in attendance. A spokeswoman from Orkney Islands Council said: ‘Our Marine Services and Emergency Planning teams are aware of the incident involving Pentalina. Emergency services are on the scene and the Coastguard are in control of the situation. Pentalina was taking on water and there was a fire in the engine room. RNLI lifeboats were dispatched from Stromness and Longhope, and St Margaret’s Hope, Stromness and Kirkwall Coastguard rescue teams were also on hand. The…

FREIGHT FERRIES On 10 May Stena Line announced that it is to increase capacity on its Heysham-Belfast freight service by 80 per cent as a multi-million pound investment sees the company constructing two new bespoke ferries for the route, the first of which is due to enter service on the Irish Sea in autumn 2025. Each of the two new 147m vessels has been designed to maximise freight volumes and will provide 2,800 lane metres of capacity, an 80 per cent increase on current capacities. The new vessels, the first of which is due to enter service in autumn 2025, will be equipped to carry 12 passengers and 26 crew. The ‘NewMax’ vessels will be able to operate on methanol fuel and Stena Line has secured future volumes of e-methanol…

NEW TANKERS Stolt Tankers’ joint venture in China, Shanghai SC-Stolt Shipping Ltd (SSCSSL), has contracted Chinese shipbuilder Wuchang Shipyard to construct two 9,200dwt chemical tankers for delivery in 2024 and 2025. Handover of the twin vessels will bring SSCSSL’s fleet up to 11 ships. At the same time, Stolt itself is acquiring two 15,000dwt second-hand stainless steel chemical tankers built in 2018 and 2019 that will be renamed Stolt Condor and Stolt Tucan for employment in its Inter-Caribbean service, additions that will bring the combined Stolt Tankers fleet up to 168 ships. Established by Jacob Stolt-Nielsen in 1959, Stolt is celebrating 64 years of operations.…

IRISH FERRIES The Irish Continental Group, set to introduce Baltic ferry Star (2007/36,249gt) on Irish Ferries services between Rosslare and Pembroke Dock, South Wales in early June, have brought back the name of famed writer Oscar Wilde for their new acquisition. She was built at Finland’s Aker Yard for Tallink’s shuttle service linking Helsinki and Tallinn and made a final crossing on 1 May. The ‘new’ Oscar Wilde takes 1,900 passengers with 520 cabin berths and vehicle deck space for 300 cars. Power comes from four MAK diesel engines developing 7,500kW for a top speed of 27 knots. Tallink chief executive Paavo Nagone said of the charter: ‘We have been looking for alternative work for Star for some time and I am pleased with the Irish Ferries agreement.’ The previous…

BLUE WAVE After working as Sea Anatolia for Greek operator Sea Lines, the former P&O Ferries freight vessel European Seaway (1991/22,986gt) has changed hands again, this time crossing the Atlantic to join the Blue Wave conglomerate in Honduras to sail as Blue Wave Horizon. Built in Germany at the Bremerhaven yard of Schichau Seebeckwerft, European Seaway was designed for the Dover-Zeebrugge freight service, but from 2000 ran twice daily between Dover and Calais, with Zeebrugge crossings overnight. In July 2012 she was chartered to support technicians working in the North Sea’s Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms. From August 2014 she was a wind farm support vessel off the North German coast, until she returned to the Dover-Calais route from the summer of 2015. Sea Lines refitted the vessel in…

P&O FERRIES The new 47,394gt ferry P&O Pioneer spent several weeks lying in Dunkirk after she had arrived in Europe following her completion at China’s GSI Yard. She was due to make her debut in early May, but this was delayed, With sister vessel P&O Liberte due later in the year, they represent a radical shift from anything previously seen on the Dover-Calais route, with hybrid battery power bringing a 40 per cent reduction in fuel usage compared to earlier vessels. Fitted with four Azipod propulsion units, they will have a speed of 20.8 knots, with the double-ended pair taking 1,500 passengers and 3,600 lane metres of vehicles, and will leave port without having to turn round.…

CUNARD The construction of Cunard’s Queen Anne reached a significant milestone on 14 April, when the funnel was lowered onto the ship at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard near Venice. Based on Holland America’s Pinnacle class, she will enter service in May 2024. With passengers ready to embark at Southampton, Cunard Line cancelled a transatlantic round trip on Queen Mary 2 which was due to leave on Sunday 23 April, citing a technical problem that needed to be resolved before sailing. The ship had arrived in Southampton the previous day, earlier than scheduled, in order to assess the problem, details of which have not been announced.…

US NAVY The latest side-entry launch at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard was an even more dramatic spectacle than usual, when the tug and gravity-assisted method went awry, almost causing the future USS Cleveland (LCS 31) to land on top of the tug. The milestone event on 15 April was the last time a ship would dynamically enter the water at the Wisconsin shipyard, as future ship launches are planned to take place using a new ship-lift system. The fourth warship to be named after the city in Ohio is the 16th and also the last Freedom class variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to be built. The earliest hulls of both Freedom and Independence types are already being decommissioned in favour of more battle-hardy hulls, namely Constellation class frigates. Fincantieri…

BULKER Italy’s Fratelli Cosulich Group has purchased the handysize bulk carrier Venture Ocean from Japan’s Doun Kisen and renamed the 38,947dwt vessel Saturnia for charter to Denmark’s Lauritzen Bulkers. The Cosulich and Saturnia names evoke memories of the older Cosulich Line, which operated the passenger liners Saturnia and Vulcania between Italy and North America, and the smaller Oceania and Neptunia between Italy and South America in the 1930s. However, the Cosulich Line, along with all other Italian shipping lines, was nationalised in 1935 and it was only after World War II that a new company, Fratelli Cosulich (Cosulich Brothers), could be established by the Cosulich family. Although more diversified than the older undertaking, Cosulich still remains active in the shipping sector.…

FEEDER SERVICES London-based Ellerman City Liners is introducing a new container service, connecting British ports with Poland. The company is deploying the 966TEU-capacity feeder container ship Nova on its IPEX service, which calls weekly at Teesport, Tilbury and Gdynia. Originally offering services from China and Vietnam to the UK in late 2021, the company maintains two other services: the USA Express route, which connects Tilbury, Bilbao, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg with New York, Jacksonville, and Wilmington; and the INEX service, which was operated by Nova and links Cadiz, Setubal and Aveiro with Tilbury, Teesport and Rotterdam.…

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the formation of the Isbrandtsen Steamship Company in the United States, later to be combined with the earlier established American Export Lines to create American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines in 1964. Hans Isbrandtsen, who first came to the United States in 1914, joined forces with his cousin, A.P. Møller, who later established Mærsk Line, to form the Isbrandtsen-Moller Company at New York in 1919. A decade later the firm signed an agreement with the Ford Motor Corporation to transport auto parts and general cargo from the US to Japan, China and the Philippines. Although this business grew, it was impacted by World War II, and in 1943 the joint venture with A.P. Møller was terminated. Hans Isbrandtsen then formed the Isbrandtsen Steamship Co, while…

Other passenger ships to have been named by members of the Royal family include the following. ■ Queen Elizabeth’s sister Princess Margaret named Union Castle Line’s RMS Edinburgh Castle on 16 October 1947. ■ Diana, Princess of Wales, named the cruise ship Royal Princess on 15 November 1984, and the nuclear submarine HMS Trafalgar at Barrow on 8 June 1997. ■ The Duchess of Cambridge named the cruise ship Royal Princess of Princess Cruises at Southampton on 13 June 2013. ■ Camilla, now Queen Consort to King Charles III, launched the nuclear submarine HMS Astute on 8 June 2007; the same year, on 7 December, she named Cunard’s Queen Victoria; as Duchess of Cornwall she named Saga’s Spirit of Discovery on 5 July 2019.…

The new cruise ship Wonder of the Seas is the fifth in the company’s industry-defining Oasis class. The design has revolutionised modern mass-market cruising by introducing architectural firsts, such as the open-air Central Park and Boardwalk, as well as expanding on a wide and varied assortment of entertainment options never before seen at sea. While the first two vessels in the class, the 225,282gt Oasis of the Seas (2009) and Allure of the Seas (2010), were built at the STX Europe Shipyard in Turku, Finland, the ensuing three ships, Harmony of the Seas (2016/226,963gt), Symphony of the Seas (2018/228,081gt) and Wonder of the Seas, have been delivered by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at St Nazaire, France. A sixth and final ship, Utopia of the Seas, is currently under construction at St…

The early afternoon of Christmas Day 1943 saw seasonal festivities well under way aboard the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst. The ship was secure in the Altafjord in Northern Norway, and her crew were making the most of a festive relaxation in normal routines. Some had even been ashore skiing that morning. The relaxed mood was abruptly interrupted when the unwelcome order to prepare for sea was relayed through the loudspeakers. Christmas decorations on the mess decks were quickly tidied away as Scharnhorst was readied for imminent departure. The unforeseen urgency had been driven by the sighting of a British convoy of merchant ships bound for the Soviet Union. The life-and-death struggle in the east was going badly for Germany, making the prospect of disrupting the flow of allied supplies an attractive…

IRISH SEA CONNECTIONS A look back at ferry services between British and Ireland, with the focus on Holyhead’s links to Dublin, currently served by some of the most modern tonnage. PLUS P&O’S NEW CRUISE SHIP ARVIA • Profile of Arvia, the latest cruise ship to join the P&O Cruises fleet, having recently been built by Meyer Werft. GATEWAYS TO THE GULF COAST • The Texas ports of Houston and Galveston are among the busiest and biggest of any in the United States. THE MODERN GERMAN NAVY • An assessment of the Germany Navy’s current fleet, which is being modernised to meet new challenges. VIKING GLORY IN THE SPOTLIGHT • A look at the 2022-built Viking Glory, which is a step up in terms of size and green credentials from her…

SATELLITE TRACKING The Chinese satellite tracking and missile telemetry ship Yuan Wang 5 visited South Africa’s Port of Durban in late March during a voyage from the Yangtse River to the south Atlantic Ocean. Built by China’s Jiangnan Shipyard in 2007, the 222m by 25.2m ship is a third generation tracking vessel of the Yuan Wang (Long View) series and is equipped with a considerable amount of electronic tracking gear, while having accommodation for over 400 personnel and crew.…

CONTAINER SHIPS Shreyas Shipping and Logistics Ltd, headquartered in Mumbai, has acquired three second-hand container vessels that have made it the national leader in India’s containerised shipping sector with 12 vessels aggregating 26,085 TEUs. The new ships are the 2,872TEU SSL Godavari (ex-Windermere), the 2,553TEU SSL Kaveri (ex-TS Manila) and the 962TEU SSL Thamirabarani (ex-Sky Pride). The Indian company, which is part of the 45-year-old Transworld Group, also owns two handysize dry bulk carriers, the 22,634gt TBC Badrinath and 22,358gt TBC Kailash. Founded in 1988, Shreyas maintains charter arrangements with Dubai-based Transworld Feeder, which ensures the employment of a number of its vessels.…

DFDS SEAWAYS Five of the vessels currently used by DFDS for services from Dover will be converted to battery power by the end of the decade. They are Dover-Calais route pair Côte des Dunes (2001/32,761gt) and Côte des Flandres (2005/33,90gt), originally built for SeaFrance, and all of the 33,923gt trio, Dunkerque Seaways (2005), Delft Seaways (2006) and Dover Seaways (2006), which link the Kent port with Dunkirk and originally came from the Samsung Heavy Industries yard at Koje Island in South Korea to open the route for Norfolkline until bought by DFDS in 2010. DFDS also appear to have hit the target with their Calais-Sheerness service which enables freight operators to avoid congestion and delays at Dover. There are six return sailings each week by the 1,811 lane metre Botnia…

BRIDGEMANS GROUP Finnish ferry giant Tallink has signed a contract with Canada’s Vancouver-headquartered Bridgemans Group for a bareboat charter of the Latvian-flagged passenger and vehicle ferry Isabelle (1989/35,154gt), which will undergo refurbishment before crossing the North Atlantic later in the year. The contract includes a purchase option. The 2,480-passenger Isabelle, with 2,166 cabin berths, was used between Tallinn and Helsinki before the pandemic disrupted services. Since April 2022 she has been housing up to 900 refugees from the Ukraine at a berth in Tallinn while chartered by the Estonian Government. Built at Split in Croatia by Brodogradvena, she started life as SF Line’s Isabella on the Stockholm-Naantali route before offering 24-hour cruises out of Stockholm from 1992 until 1995, when there was a move to the Stockholm-Helsinki route. She was…

CAL MAC Leclanche is to provide battery features for the additional pair of ferries ordered from the Cemre Yard in Turkey by Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMAL). Electrical systems integrator The Schottell Group has given Leclanche a contract for two Navius MRS 3TM battery storage systems. The CMAL pair have been designed to operate on Cal Mac’s routes from Uig in Skye to Lochmaddy, North Uist and Tarbert, Harris, each taking 450 passengers, with space for 100 cars or 134 trucks. Cemre is already constructing a pair of 5,861gt vessels for Cal Mac service, which are due to enter service on routes to Islay in 2024 and 2025, each taking 450 passengers and up to 275 cars. Work also continues at the Ferguson Marine yard on the Clyde on the much-delayed…

WIGHTLINK Wight Light (2008/2,546gt) was operating in February with a defect that prevented use of the side passenger ramp and those boarding on foot had to use the vehicle deck for access. St Clare (2001/5,359gt) was back in service from Portsmouth to Fishbourne from 25 February, which released Victoria of Wight (2018/8,041gt) for some preliminary work in Portsmouth before leaving for dry-docking in Falmouth. St Faith (1989/3,009gt) took over as the main vessel in the absence of the Wightlink flagship as, after the removal of her mezzanine decks, she could carry taller freight vehicles than St Clare. Extra foot passenger sailings were operated over six February nights to carry children from IOW Schools to compete in the Dance Live! Event. St Faith had to be withdrawn on 20 February due…

NL/BELGIUM The Dutch and Belgian navies are set to take delivery of the first of their jointly developed Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates in 2029 and 2030 respectively, following approval of the standard equipment fit and budget for their procurement by both defence ministries. The four ships are to cost around €1 billion each. Displacing around 6,400 tonnes, the ships have has grown in size from the original concept to accommodate a higher degree of shock resistance and improved underwater noise performance. With a primary Anti-Submarine Warfare role, they will also provide escort protection for ships conducting amphibious and mine warfare operations. Their standard weapons fit will include Naval Strike Missile anti-ship and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 surface-to-air missile systems, Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) and Raytheon Mk.54 torpedoes, along…

TURKISH NAVY The Turkish Navy has a new flagship following the commissioning of its largest vessel ever on 10 April. The amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu (L400) is also Turkey’s first landing helicopter dock. Based on Navantia’s Juan Carlos I design, the ship was built by the Istanbul-based Sedef shipyard and is reported to contain 70 per cent domestic content. It was originally intended that F-35 fighter jets would be operated from the ship. However, that changed when Turkey was removed from the multinational Joint Strike Fighter programme for purchasing S-400 air defence systems from Russia. The LHD, similar to those operated by Australia and Spain, will instead deploy squadrons of TB-3 Bayraktar or Kizilelma unmanned combat aerial vehicles and Hürjet light-attack aircraft, all of which are under development, and…

The passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, so soon after the celebrations of her Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years as head of the UK and the Commonwealth, prompted a focus on the regal associations with the Royal Navy and the merchant marine, and the many ships, boats and craft associated with Her Majesty. That association is probably best highlighted by the formal launch and naming ceremonies of new vessels. The Queen christened 24 ships during her lifetime, first as Princess Elizabeth and then when she was monarch. The list includes passenger liners, cruise ships, Royal Navy warships, research vessels, tankers and RNLI lifeboats. The naming of ships has been one of the duties of members of the Royal family since the christening of HMS Prince Royal…

From the malecón (sea wall) in old La Paz, the comings and goings of two big passenger ferries, which serve the little port of Pichilingue 20km away, can just be made out. Situated on the west shore of the Sea of Cortez (also known as the Gulf of California), Pichilingue marks the western terminus of two routes linking the Baja California peninsula with the west coast of ‘mainland’ Mexico. Both routes are maintained by La Paz-based operator Baja Ferries. The shorter northern route reaches 200km north east from Pichilingue to Topolobampo, an old fishing port near the larger mainland town of Los Mochis. The longer southern route, which is a 500km passage, runs southeast to Mazatlán, a busy industrial centre and resort town. Last summer’s travels took me once in…

Akeen ship photographer, Captain Danny Lynch was happy to encourage like-minded enthusiasts and, in that era, was able to take them out on his tugs with the owner’s permission so that they could see his tug working first-hand, as well as some of the ships being manoeuvred. Danny started work in October 1958, at the age of 15, as a deck boy on Newport Screw Towing Company (NSTC)’s 1922-built screw tug Monnow. After she was scrapped in August 1960, he briefly went to sea before joining the same company’s Duncurlew as mate in 1963. He was promoted to Relief Master in 1966, serving on many of the NSTC fleet, continuing with Cory Towage after 1970 when NSTC was taken over, and thereafter working along the coast of South Wales, as…

APRIL’S MYSTERY This is a very old ship from one of my previous companies, the Blue Funnel line. She is the Belfast-built Antenor,, completed in 1896 at 5,531grt. She measured 422ft in length, with a beam of 49.4ft. She was powered by a triple expansion engine, which gave her a rather pedestrian service speed of ten knots. She was transferred to the Dutch branch of Holt’s, NSM Oceaan, in 1914, but later returned to the British flag. She survived being torpedoed in the Mediterranean in 1918, and was sold to a Genoese company and renamed Fortunato. She was broken up shortly thereafter. John JordanCloyne, Co Cork THIS MONTH’S MYSTERY SHIP This month’s mystery shows an old single-funnelled steamer, with cargo gear both fore and aft. The name Melmore Head is…

CRUISE VISITOR The 2021-built Le Commandant Charcot (31,283gt), an icebreaking cruise ship operated by the French shipping company Compagnie du Ponant, made a maiden call in the Solent on 26 April. Named after the French polar scientist Jean-Baptiste Charcot, the vessel was built at Vard Tulcea shipyard in Romania and fitted out in Norway. The ship had left Hamburg and called at Zeebrugge before coming to Southampton, on the way to Brest, for scheduled dry docking. This was her first call at Southampton. The closest she has been to the UK were on previous visits to Cherbourg and Le Havre. The 150m by 28m beam vessel can carry 270 guests and 187 crew, and her top speed of 15 knots comes from a diesel electric propulsion system made up of…

HOLLAND AMERICA Three large cruise operators, all part of Carnival Corporation, P&O Cruises, Cunard Line and Holland America Line, are now all more than 150 years old, with Holland America the latest operator to join this exclusive club, the anniversary being formally marked on 17 April. The current Rotterdam (the seventh of the company’s ships to bear the name) arrived from New York in her namesake port for a celebratory visit. HRH Princess Margriet of The Netherlands, together with the President of Holland America Line, the Mayor of Rotterdam and some descendants from the original founders of the company, gathered in the Hotel New York, adjacent to the ship, for a celebratory event, followed by a gala dinner aboard Rotterdam. The hotel was the company’s HQ until 1977. The fifth…

IRISH NAVAL SERVICE Having entered service with the Royal New Zealand Navy in 2010, two patrol vessels have been sold, having had an operational life of just nine years after they were deemed unfit for purpose following newly introduced regulatory requirements in 2012. The two vessels, built in Whangarei by BAE Systems Australia at a cost of NZ$36 million each, have been at the Devonport Naval Base since they were decommissioned in October 2019. Ireland’s Department of Defence agreed to buy them on the condition that NZ brought them back up to a state of operational service. The work included the complete overhaul of engines, generators, drive shafts, props and stabilisers.…

INDUSTRY NEWS A leader in the push towards cleaner cruising, Aida Cruises’ ships are connecting to shore power more often, when it is available. On a recent cruise, tests were carried out at a new shoreside power facility at Aarhus, Denmark’s first such installation, when AIDAsol was successfully connected to the shoreside electricity supply. The Aarhus power connection is expected to be formally opened in the summer. Aidasol also connected at Warnemünde, Kristiansand and the Altona terminal in Hamburg. In Warnemünde, for the first time, two ships connected to shore power at the same time, with Aidamar occupying an adjacent berth. Another port gearing up to reduce ship emissions is Kiel, where the port authority is hoping to connect a third of this year’s 200+ cruise ships calling to the…

ROYAL NAVY The arrival of spring has brought the end of service for two more Royal Navy warships. HMS Enterprise was decommissioned at Portsmouth on 30 March, followed a few weeks later by HMS Montrose on 17 April. The Plymouth-based Type 23 returned to Devonport in December last year after a four-year stint forward-deployed to the Arabian Gulf. After a 29-year-career, the frigate was afforded a farewell visit to her namesake town in north east Scotland. Curiously, she entered Portsmouth flying a paying-off pennant, only to sail again the following week for operational tasking. As a general-purpose frigate, she will be replaced by one of the five Type 31 Inspiration class frigates under construction in Rosyth. HMS Enterprise’s RN service ended after only 20 years. The hydrographic survey ship follows…

SOUTH KOREAN NAVY The first FFX Batch III ship for the South Korean Navy was launched at HHI’s Ulsan shipyard on 10 April. The future ROKS Chungnam (FFG-828) is the first of six Chungnam class ships that feature a host of technological advances over earlier ships. The main upgrade is the addition of an integrated mainmast, which houses a quad-array Active Electronically Scanned Radar, advanced Infrared Search and Track and an Electro Optical Tracking System. They are also the first RoK ships to be equipped with the indigenous LIG Nex1 CIWS-II, a 30mm Gatling gun similar to the Dutch Goalkeeper. Six Batch III frigates are to be produced by 2027, with the next three to be built by SK Oceanplant. A shipyard for the final pair has yet to be…

TANKER In a shift away from deck-mounted cylindrical tanks for LNG storage, Finland’s Deltamarin and GTT of France have designed a 305,000dwt LNG-fuelled Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) that would make use of a 12,500m3 capacity GTT membrane-type LNG tank fitted behind the pilot house. The design has received an Approval in Principle (AiP) from the classification society ClassNK, which means that the onboard integration of a membrane fuel tank is technically feasible on an LNG-fuelled tanker and that it would meet all safety regulations. The new design, which does not reduce cargo volume, as would be the case with an internally-fitted membrane tank, also offers an engineering solution that complies with the environmental regulations adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).…

CONTAINER SHIPS CMA CGM of France has ordered 16 container ships from the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), four of which will be of 23,000TEU capacity and twelve of 15,000TEU capacity. The latter vessels, to be built by Jiangnan SB and Dalian SB, both part of CSSC, will incorporate dual-fuel engines capable of burning methanol, while the larger 23,000TEU vessels, to be built by Hudong-Zhonghua SB, will be powered by dual-fuel LNG burning engines. The combined order, valued at over $3 billion, is the largest single order for container ships ever placed in China. All 16 vessels are to be delivered in 2025-26 and may be followed by up to ten more LNG dual-fuel 23,000TEU ships, several of which could be built in South Korea. CMA CGM now has 96…

CONTAINER SHIPS The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) is continuing its buying spree, centred around second-hand tonnage, by acquiring six additional vessels over the past several months. These include the 8,144TEU Maersk Surabaya, 5,570TEU Maersk Yamuna and the 5,364TEU twins Ever Unific and Ever Uberty, both of which had been expected to go for scrap. The purchases bring the combined MSC fleet up to 743 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 4.84 million TEU.…

On ascending to the throne in 1952, the young Queen Elizabeth II took on many responsibilities, including being Patron of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a role held by every reigning British monarch since King George IV in the 1820s. HM Queen Elizabeth named five RNLI lifeboats during her reign: ■ The Solent class lifeboat Royal British Legion Jubilee at Henley on Thames, 17 July 1972, funded to celebrate the Royal British Legion’s 50th anniversary; ■ The Waveney class lifeboat The Scout at Hartlepool on 14 July 1977, funded by The Scout Association; ■ The Mersey class lifeboat Her Majesty The Queen at Ramsgate on 22 June 1992, funded by Police Constabularies in the UK; ■ The Severn class lifeboat Richard Cox Scott at Falmouth on 1 May 2002, during…

The ferry operation from Ullapool to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides is both a lifeline service and a tourist service. A key part of the Caledonian MacBrayne network, it is the most northerly of the company’s routes, with ferries crossing the Minch, one of the most notoriously rough channels anywhere around the British Isles. The route has been operated since March 1973 by CalMac, who took over historic mail boat services which had been declining as car ferries emerged. Over its 50-year history, the Stornoway to Ullapool service has been in the hands of five regular ships, with numerous extras standing in at various times. The first regular services across the Minch date from the 1820s, when the paddler Ben Nevis, powered by a 32hp engine and small enough to…

The South African Navy celebrated a notable achievement on 23 May 2022, when its Hecla class hydrographic survey vessel, SAS Protea, marked 50 years in service, becoming the first South African naval vessel to reach this milestone, ahead of the Bar class boom defence vessel SAS Somerset and the Ton class minesweeper SAS East London, which each accumulated 43 years of service. But, compared to other ships of the Navy, Protea has had a particularly active period of uninterrupted service. She is the latest in a long line of hydrographic survey vessels to have seen service with the South African Hydrographic Office. Since 1922 the Office has operated no fewer than five such vessels, as it has played a leading role in the international field of hydrography for many years.…