December 2020

Ships Monthly

The world's number one shipping magazine

Ships Monthly1 min read
Uncertain Future For Shipping
As I write these words, the country has entered a second national lockdown. Although this one appears not to be as stringent as that in the spring, the Covid restrictions continue to have a major impact on the shipping world. While construction work
Ships Monthly1 min read
Mercy Ships’ New Hospital Ship
China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation’s Tianjin Xingang Shipyard has floated out the new hospital ship Global Mercy for philanthropic organisation Mercy Ships and expects to deliver the completed ship in early 2021. As the world’s largest nongovern
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Ships Monthly
EDITORIAL Editor • Nicholas Leach [email protected] Art Editor • Mark Hyde MANAGEMENT Managing Director • Phil Weeden Chief Executive • Steve Wright Finance Director • Joyce Parker-Sarioglu Retail Distribution Manager • Eleanor Brown Audience Develo
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Swift Takes To The Lake
On 13 October Damen Shipyards Group officially handed over the Lake cruiser Swift, a vessel to be operated by Windermere Lake Cruises Ltd. The build project has been a unique one, with Damen constructing the vessel inland on location at Windermere in
Ships Monthly1 min read
Drama Off The Isle Of Wight
A dramatic incident occurred on the south coast of England on 25 October, making the national news headlines, after seven stowaways were discovered on board the Liberian-flagged tanker Nave Andromeda (2011/42,338gt) as she arrived at the Nab Anchorag
Ships Monthly1 min read
Contributors This Month
Russell Plummer has been contributing to Ships Monthly for 40 years. He has travelled on and written about hundreds of ferries, cruise ships and excursion vessels. Stephen Payne is a naval architect, best known for designing Queen Mary_2. He is a pas
Ships Monthly1 min read
Ben Nevis Detained In Port
A union has condemned a shipowner for failure to pay crew wages. The 4,000dwt Malteseflagged offshore supply ship Ben Nevis arrived at Aberdeen on 3 October and was detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) due to unpaid wages to her India
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World’s First Lpg-retrofit
The main engine on the LPG carrier BW Gemini has been successfully converted from an MAN B&W 6G60ME-C9.2 type to an MAN B&W 6G60MELGIP dual-fuel type capable of operating on fuel oil and LPG. BW Gemini is part of the fleet of BW LPG, the world’s lead
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Heavylifters For Scrap
Bremen-based Zeaborn, which took over a number of Rickmers Linie heavylift ships three years ago, is now selling several of the vessels for demolition as it comes under severe financial pressure. Indian yards at Alang have gained the sisterships Zea
Ships Monthly1 min read
Essex Farewell To Astor
On 7 November the 1986-built cruise ship Astor (20,704gt), recently operated by Cruise and Maritime Voyages, departed Tilbury docks in Essex for the last time and set off for for Alang in Turkey to be recycled. Astor was sold at auction by C.W. Kello
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Cargo Vessel Loses Power
RNLI lifeboat crews from Dunmore East, Kilmore Quay and Rosslare Harbour launched on 20 October after the 2,997gt cargo vessel Lily_B (1997) had lost all power and was in danger of hitting rocks south of Hook Head in Wexford. The cargo vessel, with a
Ships Monthly1 min read
Le Havre In The Loop
CMA CGM has announced the return of its iconic FAL1 service to Le Havre. The CMA CGM Group is announcing the inclusion of Le Havre in the rotation of its FAL1 line (French Asia Line). This decision to stop at Le Havre from December reflects the compa
Ships Monthly2 min read
Brief News
CENTENARY TRIPS • The Lake Geneva paddle veteran Simplon’s 100th anniversary was celebrated with four days of special sailings starting on 4 September. Still boasting the original clipper bow and compound diagonal steam engine by builders Sulzer Brot
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Ferry
DFDS PLAN • The Danish ferry giant is planning to have replaced fossil fuel throughout its fleet with new generation zero emissions fuel by 2050, but admits it will be a tough challenge. The company’s Head of Innovation, Jakob Steffensen, commented:
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Ferries In The News…
BIGGER SHIPS • CLdN has brought in larger vessels to operate from Vlaardingen, Rotterdam, with Purfleet now served by 3,923 lanemetre sisters Amandine (2011) and Opaline (2010), while 5,379 lanemetre pair Laurline and the pictured Sixtine are running
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X-bow For Expedition
The hull of the 126-passenger National Geographic Resolution, the second in the series of X-Bow ships under construction for Lindblad, arrived on 22 October at the Ulstein Verft shipyard in Norway from Poland, where insulation work, electrical instal
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Bmt Group To Design New Scilly Ferry
The Isles of Scilly Steamship Group (ISSG) is pushing ahead with a plan for a new ferry, which will provide a fresh generation of lifeline travel and freight service between Penzance and St Mary’s, and an onward freight supply chain to off-islands St
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Scorpio Sells Bulkers
Monaco-Based Scorpio Bulkers has been selling a number of ships as it moves forward with its plans to invest more heavily in the offshore wind energy sector. Recently sold have been the Kamsarmax-sized bulk carriers SBI Rock (2016), SBI Conga (2015)
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Government’s Major Ferry Award
The British Government has stepped in with a massive £77.6 million boost to maintain lifeline freight capacity on routes served by P&O Ferries, Brittany Ferries, DFDS Seaways and Stena Line after the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December. Rout
Ships Monthly1 min read
Irish Sea Pair Off To Baltic
Stena Line has confirmed that Visentini-built sisters Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey, both dating from 2015, will be heading to the Baltic for service from Nynashamn, Sweden to the Latvian port of Ventspils on a route acquired in 2012 and now offering
Ships Monthly1 min read
Galicia Debuts On The South Coast
Brittany Ferries’ newbuilding Galicia, part of the E-Flexer series, visited Portsmouth for berthing trials on 13 October. She is expected to enter service to Santander, Spain in mid-December following drydocking and crew familiarisation. Meanwhile, t
Ships Monthly1 min read
Shipyard Bailout
When Genting bought its German shipyards in 2016, with a view to securing space for its impressive building programme, cruise ship building slots were at a premium. Now, four years on, although yards are still full, reduced working and late deliverie
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Departures And Arrivals Down Under
The sale of both Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria to CMV has already been recorded. However, following the insolvency of that company, P&O Cruises Australia was left with the problem of finding new buyers for the ships. Although these ships are not true
Ships Monthly1 min read
Tilbury Ships Head For New Careers
Consisting of five ships laid up and under auction in October, the former fleet of the now defunct Cruise & Maritime Voyages has been sold, although most ships remain in Tilbury at present. Astoria, under charter and not part of the sale, left Tilbur
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Stena Vinga Standing In
Appearing on the Irish Sea for the first time, Stena Vinga (2005/13,906gt) is playing a part in a switch of vessels to provide annual overhaul cover. Built in Holland for Bornholmstraffikken as Hammerodde, she has been part of the Stena fleet since a
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Contracts For Calmac Pair
Three contracts worth more than £15 million have been placed by Port Glasgow-based Ferguson Marine to move towards the completion of two dual-fuel vessels for CalMac services on the Clyde and to the Western Isles. Then there will be further contracts
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End Of Passenger Sailings
Premature withdrawal under regrettable circumstances is how Trinity House describes the end of passenger sailings on its navigational aids tender Patricia. Built in 1983, Patricia was fitted with a suite of cabins, a lounge and a dining room for the
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A Third Ship
On 21 October the owners of Swan Hellenic placed an order for a third ship in the Vega class of expedition ships. The latest vessel, to be built in the Helsinki Shipyard, will be slightly larger than her near sisters, with a gross tonnage of 12,000,
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Another Casualty Of Covid
The sale of Fred. Olsen’s Black Watch and Boudicca for use as accommodation ships was reported last month, with both being casualties of the Coronavirus insofar as the pandemic allowed the company to acquire two more modern ships at a knock-down pric
Ships Monthly1 min read
Cruising Again
Various companies are restarting cruises. SeaDream 1 became the first cruise ship on an international voyage to call at a UK port to pick up passengers since March. The ship was repositioning from Europe to the Caribbean, and boarded 19 passengers in
Ships Monthly1 min read
Myanmar’s Modernisation
The Myanmar Navy (Tatmadaw) has boosted its blue water ambitions with the acquisition of its first ever submarine. The recently refitted ex-INS Sindhuvir was gifted by neighbouring India as part of growing defence co-operation under the Ministry of E
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Denmark Revives Asw
The Royal Danish Navy (Søværnet) has reclassified its two Absalon class combat support ships as frigates. HDMS Absalon (L16) and HDMS Esbern Snare (L17) retain their original names, but have the new pennant numbers F341 and F342, respectively. The sh
Ships Monthly2 min read
Brief News
VENUS CRUISE • The 1998-built Pacific Venus, operated by Venus Cruise Line, will be the last of the three Japanese-operated cruise ships to re-enter service when she resumes sailing on short domestic cruises in December. Mitsui OSK’s Nippon Maru and
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Patrol And Protect
Construction of the first of six new Overseas Patrol Vessels for New Caledonia has started at the Socarenam shipyard in Saint-Malo. The so-called Patrouilleur Outre-Mer (POM) will replace the French Navy’s P400 class patrol boats at French Overseas T
Ships Monthly2 min read
Brief News
US NAVY • The FFG(X) frigates are to be known as the Constellation (FFG 64) class. The name was first used by one of six heavy frigates that helped establish the Continental Navy in 1794. The 87th Arleigh Burke class destroyer is to be named USS John
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Looking To The Skies
The first of two Anti-Air Warfare configured FREMM DAs has conducted sea trials ahead of delivery next year. The future FS Alsace (D656) is the seventh Multi-Mission Frigate ordered by the French Procurement Agency for the Marine Nationale. The lates
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Power Projection
Japan has launched the first of a new type of state-of-the-art diesel-electric submarines at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Kobe. The future JS Taigei (SS 513), which translates as ‘big whale’, is a larger followon to the Soryu class. An
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Smart Guns
BAE Systems has been contracted to produce Bofors 40 Mk.4 and Bofors 57 Mk.3 naval gun systems for the Royal Navy’s new Type 31 frigates. The work will be carried out at their facility in Karlskoga, Sweden, with deliveries scheduled for 2023 and 2024
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Brief News
DONGJIN BUYS PIL SHIPS • South Korean feeder operator Dongjin Shipping has completed its purchase of two 728TEU container ships from financially pressed Singaporean liner operator Pacific International Lines (PIL) and has renamed the 2002-built vesse
Ships Monthly1 min read
Regular Caller
The car carrier Sea Cruiser 1 (3,184dwt), which has been a regular caller at Grimsby, has been sold for demolition. She was operated between Zeebrugge and Grimsby for Toyofuji Shipping (TFS), a subsidiary of Toyota. From 2005 until February 2019 she
Ships Monthly1 min read
New Heavylift Company
Shipping companies Marguisa and United Heavy Lift have formed a new shipping line, United Marguisa Lines, to operate the vessels UML Veronica and UML Valentina between Europe and West Africa. Both 15-knot ships measure 140m by 21.5m and are equipped
Ships Monthly1 min read
Another Coaster For Scot Line
Scotline Marine Holdings Ltd announced on 2 October that, in partnership with Royal Bodewes, they have exercised their option for a fourth newbuild 4,800dwt Bodewes Trader, which will be named Scot Isles and launched in the third quarter of 2021. Sco
Ships Monthly1 min read
Tanker Market Adjustment
As the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to play out, tanker owners have been readjusting their fleets, with several older VLCCs sold off, including the 18-year-old Seaways Mulan and the 20-year-old Chryssi, both going for approximately
Ships Monthly1 min readEarth Sciences
Dredging Programme
A Port of Blyth maintenance dredging scheme began in early October. The dredging of the port’s approaches, navigational channel and commercial berths was scheduled to last for about ten days, and included frequent trips to and from the spoil deposit
Ships Monthly1 min read
India Yard To Build For Oslo
ASKO Maritime AS, a subsidiary group of Norway’s Norges Gruppen ASA, has contracted India’s Cochin Shipyard Ltd to build a series of autonomous electric freight ferries to operate across Oslo Fjord. The ferries, with two firm and another two on optio
Ships Monthly1 min read
Heavylifters Join Up
Germany’s SAL Heavy Lift Group has acquired a controlling interest in Intermarine, a USbased project cargo handler, which will now operate as a subsidiary of the German carrier. Both companies operate heavylift ships of different sizes and capabiliti
Ships Monthly1 min read
Braving Winter Storms
Despite the heavy weather affecting the port of Aberdeen in early October, shipping continued to use the port as usual. On 2 October the Norwegian-flagged reefer Rotsund, in ballast, arrived from Eskifjörður in Iceland. Local pilots brought her into
Ships Monthly1 min read
Canadian Ferry For Chile
Chilean ferry operator Navimag Ferries has taken delivery of the 150m ro-pax ferry Esperanza from China’s Guangdong Bonny Fair Heavy Industry Ltd for operation between Puerto Montt and Puerto Natales in southern Chile. Designed by Vancouver, BC-based
Ships Monthly1 min read
Powerful Breaker For Russia
Russia’s FSUE Rosmorport has taken official delivery of the new 25MW diesel-electric icebreaker Victor Chernomyrdin from the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in St Petersburg. Laid down in 2012 and launched in 2016, the 22,300-tonne displacement ship has an
Ships Monthly1 min read
World First
Turkey’s CEMRE shipyard has launched the Service Operation Vessel (SOV) Groene Wind for the Belgium-based DEME Group as that company’s first SOV. To be delivered in the next few months, the 60m craft is of a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) co
Ships Monthly1 min read
Odfjell Tanker To Test Fuel Cell
Norwegian shipowner Odjfell will employ one of its new chemical tankers to test fuel cell technology being developed in a project funded by Gassnova, the Norwegian state enterprise for carbon capture and storage. The project is centred on the further
Ships Monthly1 min read
More Bulkers For Oldendorff
Germany’s Oldendorff continues to take delivery of many bulk carriers because of extensive orders placed with Chinese and Japanese shipyards between 2015 and 2017. This summer the company took delivery of the 63,000dwt Britta Oldendorff and 100,000dw
Ships Monthly1 min read
Self-unloader Delivered
Canada’s Algoma Central Corp has taken delivery of the 198m by 24m bulk carrier Algoma Intrepid, the second of two Equinox class self-unloading vessels, from Croatia’s 3 Maj Shipyard, following Algoma Innovator in 2018. Both vessels feature forward-m
Ships Monthly5 min read
UK Ferry Heritage Where Are They Now?
British ferry operators Townsend Thoresen and Sealink caused quite a stir in the mid-1970s, when each ordered four new vessels which, following lengthy and successful home waters careers, went on to serve operators in the Mediterranean and Adriatic S
Ships Monthly1 min read
Damen Build For Guyana
Louisiana-based Edison Chouest has been contracted to build two new offshore vessels for employment off Guyana, South America. The twin 50m-long dual azimuth stern-drive boats will be completed to a Damen 5016 design, and will provide escort, hose-ha
Ships Monthly2 min readFinance & Money Management
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Townsend Th oresen Investment
The Townsend Ferries company, formed by retired Army Captain Stuart Townsend as far back as 1928, became an English Channel ferry force, going public in 1956, with Nott Industries taking control the following year. The company then purchased share ca
Ships Monthly3 min read
Sealink’s French Connection
After using UK shipyards for the majority of its newbuildings, Sealink broke fresh ground in the early 1970s, ordering three 5,590gt passenger and vehicle ferries from France’s Arsenal de Marine in Brest. They were named after the fifth-century broth
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The Big Picture
General Steam Navigation Company Ltd’s 1957 Leith-built cargo vessel Sandpiper pictured in the East India Dock, one of London’s enclosed upriver docks. Sandpiper operated on GSNC’s shortsea services until 3 July 1966, when she left Leith bound for Le
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The Danish Shipowner Who Traded Round The World
From the 1960s to the 1980s Denmark had the largest fleet of coasters in the world. Coasters are primarily intended to trade on short voyages, but this was not the case with many Danish coaster owners, whose smaller ships of up to 3,000dwt regularly
Ships Monthly6 min read
CUNARD’S ‘FAMILY’ SHIPS Media (1947) and Parthia (1948)
Two of the most unusual passenger ships to have sailed for Cunard were the post-World War II Media and Parthia. At around 13,340gt, they were combination passenger-cargo ships which carried only 250 passengers, all in First class. With a service spee
Ships Monthly2 min read
On Board Features • Media And parthia • Deck By Deck
Media and Parthia had a total of ten decks designated, from top to bottom, Navigating Bridge, Sun, Boat, Promenade, A, B, Lower, Orlop, Lower Orlop and Tank Top. The combination sisters mainly accommodated their passengers midships on A and B decks i
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Balearic Shipping
The expanding port of the capital city of the Balearic Islands, Palma, is nestled in the western side of the sweeping arc of the Bay of Palma, and is set against a picturesque historic cityscape made up of the Baroque Cathedral of Santa Maria, Castel
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The Tragic Story Of Admiral Nakhimov
The coming year will mark the 35th anniversary of a Russian shipping disaster which took the lives of 423 people and mandated the retirement of all of Russia’s remaining older passenger vessels. The incident took place only a few miles off the Black
Ships Monthly1 min read
KIEL CANAL CLASSICS Famous Cruise Ships Of The 1970s In The Kiel Canal
The bridges, roads and paths alongside the 61-mile Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal), in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, provide some excellent vantage points for the ship photographer. Today the Canal, which links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel a
Ships Monthly6 min read
Air Power For Marina Militare
Patrick Boniface looks back at the design and career of the Italian Navy’s 35-year-old aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, which is due to be replaced in 2022 by ITS Trieste, a large and capable landing helicopter dock ship. For 50 years after the e
Ships Monthly4 min read
HMS Gannet MEMORIES OF THE VICTORIAN NAVY
HMS Gannet is now on display at Number 3 dry dock at Chatham Historic Dockyard, a short distance from where she was built in 1878. She was one of nine Doterel class sloops built for the Royal Navy, ships of composite construction, with wooden hulls o
Ships Monthly1 min readTechnology & Engineering
In The Engine Room
Media and Parthia were driven by twin screws connected to four steam turbines through double-reduction gearing, which provided a greater degree of efficiency over the single reduction type. Further efficiencies were obtained by having just two boiler
Ships Monthly1 min read
Remembering A Small Ferry In The 1990s
The article Celebrating the ‘Wee Ferries’ of Scotland (SM, Oct) mentioned the Ulva Ferry. My wife and I lived on Mull in 1993-94, when I was the construction manager for the Tobermory Water Treatment Plant. Back then, the ferry did not run to a timet
Ships Monthly1 min read
Is Ryde On Borrowed Time?
During a visit to the Isle of Wight in early September, I looked in at Binfield Marina to see what had happened to the old paddler Ryde and if she was still around, and to my surprise she was. Although reports in late March 2019 suggested that a plan
Ships Monthly4 min read
Ships Mail
On 28 September I was working in a garden about three quarters of a mile up the coast from the six Fred. Olsen cruise ships laid up at Rosyth when, at about 1100, one of the ships’ horns started to sound and the other five joined in. We saw Boudicca
Ships Monthly3 min read
A View From The Bridge
Fred. Olsen Cruise Line’s Black Watch served various UK ports and operated itineraries from Southampton. Black Watch offered a five-night Valentine’s weekend cruise in February 2020, with Storm Dennis following the ship up the North Sea, so the first
Ships Monthly2 min read
Book Of The Month
These three books are part of a series that has been created by reproducing selections of the renowned naval draughtsman John Lambert’s highly detailed plans. Each volume concentrates on specific naval weapons carried by British destroyers during Wor
Ships Monthly2 min read
Ships Library
Stena Line Irish Sea John Bryant Stena Line’s Irish Sea ferry operations are covered in detail in this wellproduced new book, which is profusely illustrated with outstanding colour photos of all the Irish Sea ferries operated by the Swedish company,
Ships Monthly1 min read
This Month’s Mystery Ship
This month’s mystery photo shows a passenger vessel of some kind at Istanbul, but her name is not distinguishable, although it was made up of eight letters. When was she built? A number of UK-built vessels found their way to Turley, and is this one o
Ships Monthly1 min read
October’s Mystery Ship
The mystery ship is either the Glasgow-registered Royal Scotsman or the Belfast-registered Royal Ulsterman, both of 3,244grt and built in 1936 for the Burns & Laird Lines’ Glasgow to Belfast service. Royal Scotsman was requisitioned for Admiralty ser
Ships Monthly1 min read
Sea Cloud relative
I read Ships Monthly with great pleasure every month and the article about Sea Cloud (SM, Oct) was of particular interest. One of my distant relatives, Johan Hansen, was a crew member on the vessel in 1933, but when they were in Nantes in France that
Ships Monthly1 min read
Grace Line’s ‘Four Sisters’ Of The 1930s
ON SALE DEC 23 PLUS FIRTH OF FORTH SHIPPING • Ships and shipping in the Firth of Forth, home to three major ports, six harbours, two gas terminals and the Royal Yacht Britannia. BROKEN UP IN ALIAGA • A photographic look at some interesting old passen

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