Left to right: -
1. My thanks to Markus Berger and Roland Grard for information on the unknown reefer. General consensus is that she is one of the former HILCO reefers built by the Framnaes Shipyard at Sanderfjord, Norway, in 1979 / 80. Researching photo databases, the ship that is now the SKIER STAR can be ruled out since she has 3 cranes forward of the bridge whereas the unknown reefer has 4. That leaves the PIETARI BRIGHT and the PIETARI BRUIN (both 9,065 gt / 12,475 dwt) as contenders. The former is perhaps the most likely since there is greater similarity in the relative length of the two words making up the name, which fits with what can be seen of the name marked on the bridge name board, than is the case with the PIETARI BRUIN.

2. [STILL UNIDENTIFIED] Unknown small general cargo ship photographed in a backwater of Cartagena harbour April 25th during a torrential downpour. The ship lacks a port side lifeboat and may be laid-up / derelict. There is no visible name at the bows. The name on the bridge board is indistinct but seemingly contains 7 letters prefaced by "MV." A blue hull and darker blue and white funnel markings are the main distinguishing features.

3. The third photo shows a ship (right of photo) of the same type as the previous one (above) at anchor off Panama City (Balboa) whose name appeared to be JOHNNY EXPRESS. However, I could find no trace of her in Lloyd's Register under that name.

UPDATE: Searching various ship lists, I determined that the name of the ship in question is JHONSY EXPRESS and not JOHNNY EXPRESS - a problem with holding binoculars steady in failing light! Her IMO number is 7035860 and she was previously named CHIOTIS-06, CHIOTISA-98, CHRISTA-96 and MINI LEAGUE-96. Dimensions: loa: 65.49 m breadth: 15.32 m draft: 4.95 m. Cargo handling gear: 2 x 15 t cranes (side-by-side). Built in 1970 by Hakodate Dock Co. Ltd., Muroran, Japan, her gross tonnage is 1,623 (3,063 dwt). She is a twin screw ship powered by 2, 552 kW, 6-cyl, 4-stroke Daihatsu 6PSHTCM-26D diesels. Owner / Manager: Inversiones Castos SA, Panama. Flag: Panama.

[Leon van Duivendijk identified the blue-hulled vessel in the middle of the third photo as the GINOS I. and supplied the following information: Previous names - MAJESTY II-06, ACUARIANO M-06, URANUS-01, FINLITH-97. Gross tonnage: 1,440 (1,510 dwt). Year of build: 1977-03, Sonderborg Skibsvaerft A/S, Denmark. Dimensions: loa: 71.96 m breadth: 13.00 m draft: 3.90 m. Cargo handling gear: 4 x 5 t derricks. Power is provided by an 1,104 kW, 8-cyl MWM TBD484-8 diesel for a speed of 13.0 kn. Her IMO number is 7507021. Owner / manager: Xtreme Marketing Corp., Apia, Samoa. Flag: Panama].

4. The fourth photo taken the same day off Balboa is of another ship of the same type named the GENERAL SEA. Leon van Duivendijk provided the following info: ex GENERAL LEE-06, ex AGIOS MINAS-01, ex MINI LYMPH-97. Gross tonnage: 1,614 DWT: 3,120. Built: 1975, the hull by Hashimoto Zosensho, Kobe, Japan. Fitted-out: Hakodate Dock Co. Ltd. Dimensions: Loa: 65.46 m B: 15.35 m Draught: 4.94 m. Cargo handling gear: 1 x 10 t crane. Main engines: 2 x Daihatsu 6PSHTCM-26D. Power: 2 x 552 kW. Speed: 10.3 kn. IMO number: 7413323. Owner / manager: Trasatlantic Shipping S.A., Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Flag: Panama.

[NOTE: The three coasters featured in photos 2-4 belong to a large class constructed in Japan by various yards, probably as replacements for WWII coastal / short sea tonnage - i.e. in much the same vein as the larger Freedom, Fortune, SD14 , etc, classes were built in the 1970s as replacements for Liberty and Empire ships and even older tonnage. In addition to the examples shown here, Leon van Duivendijk displays others in his General Cargo section including the AGHIA MARINA, ARHONTISA PINELOPI, LEVENTISA and ISABELLA, all of which have found service in and around Central America towards the end of their careers. Some were built with a single crane amidships and others with twin cranes mounted on a single pivot servicing the two holds. Leon comments that these broad beam coasters were built for Greek interests and all were named "MINI L......." early in their careers. Can anyone elaborate further on the origins of these interesting small ships?]

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LOUGH FISHER (ID number: 11831194) Persevering with the photo of the LOUGH FISHER as the "mystery ship" for at least 6 months has at last paid off! She was a Barrow registered coaster which I saw on a couple of occasions in 1959 but not before or after. I had the suspicion that she had a short-lived career in the ownership of James Fisher. Distant recollections of an article in the local press at the time concerning her loss proved to be correct. My thanks to Johnny Anderson of Sweden for providing the following information.

Johnny has a newspaper clipping showing the LOUGH FISHER stranded on the Oland South Reef in South East Sweden in November, 1959. He also checked the log of the rescue boat DROTTNING VIKTORIA which showed that the wreck occurred on November 13th. Ten persons of the crew were evacuated on the 13th and the remaining five crew members a day later. The ship was scrapped where she lay.

The date I took the photo was September 27 th, 1959, a few weeks from the fateful day of her stranding and shortly after she had arrived in Ramsden Docks, Barrow-in-Furness, light from Holyhead. She was a motor coaster completed by Cleland's, Wallsend in February, 1950 as the SLANEY for H. J. Wilson, London, becoming the LOUGH FISHER in 1955. Principal particulars: 994 gt.; loa: 66.9 m x 10.0 m breadth. single screw motorship - 10 knots.

LOUGH FISHER in Ramsden Dock, Barrow-in-Furness, September 1959. Click photo for enlargement.

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MASTER ELIAS From the February 2006 edition: I recently came across the photo below mixed up with family photos. I had obviously taken it in the early 1960s at Hull, Yorkshire, and should eventually be able to track down the ship shown from my records.

Update: It wasn't difficult to find details of this ship, the MASTER ELIAS, as photographed. She was delivered in October, 1938, by Short Brothers Ltd, Sunderland, to Atlanticos Steamship Co. Ltd., Piraeus, as the MASTER ELIAS KULUKUNDIS (Kulukundis Shipping Co. S.A., London - managers). Details: 5,548 gt (10,450 dwt); Length: 132.1 m x 19.8 m x 10.36 m draft; Crew: 40; Machinery: T3-cyl, oil burning, 2,140 ihp by North Eastern Marine Engineering Co. Ltd., Sunderland; Speed: 11 knots.

October 1939: chartered by the Swiss War Transport Administration with Honegger & Ascott, London, as managers. Sailed for the Swiss Government until 1947 when returned to Atlanticos SS Co. Ltd.

1956: Sold to Theseus S.S. Co. Ltd., Piraeus (Kulukundis Shipping Co. S.A., London - managers).
1958: Renamed MASTER ELIAS.
1965: Sold to Umberto d'Amato, Torre del Greco, renamed UMBERTO D'AMATO.
1971: Sold to Giuseppe Lembo, Torre del Greco, renamed MENA LEMBO.
1971: Resold to Cantieri Navali Santa Maria, La Spezia, for demolition. Scrapping began October, 1971.
(Details from Swiss Ships).

MASTER ELIAS photographed Hull, 1960.

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MAYAGUEZ (IMO Number: 6828624) - I would like to thank Mac MacKay, D. J. van Nieuwenhuijzen and Ruud from the Netherlands for definitively identifying and providing details of the vintage container ship shown last October / November as the "mystery ship" on the sidebar. The sidebar photograph showed her berthed alongside the Halifax Shipyard in 1999. As I suspected, she was a later-build ship of that name than a previous MAYAGUEZ, the one which was captured by the Khymer Rouge in the Gulf of Thailand in 1975.

This MAYAGUEZ was built as the cellular container ship AMERICA LYNX for United States Line in 1968 by Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, Chester, Pennsylvania (hull no. 643). Principal particulars are as follows: Length o.a. - 213.52 m, breadth - 27.49 m, draught - 9.78 m; gross tonnage - 19,203 (20,904 dwt); main engines: 2, G.E. steam turbines providing 20,081 kW for a speed of 21.5 knots (note the twin black king posts which act as exhausts - the small funnel built into the bridge structure is a dummy). She remained as the AMERICAN LYNX until 1988 when sold to the Puerto Rico Maritime Shipping Authority of Maimi, being renamed MAYAGUEZ. At the time she visited Halifax she was sailing for Navieras Puerto Rico. The latest information from Ruud shows her status as "to be broken up".

MAYAGUEZ: photograph courtesy Mac MacKay.

Mac also points out that the twin-funnelled ship, the JACKSONVILLE, in the background of the sidebar photograph is in fact an integrated tug / barge combination. The pusher tug (1,443 gt / 18,200 bhp) is twin-hulled and was built in 1982 by Halter Chickasaw. It fits to a barge of 22,300 gt, the barge having the same name.

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MARIEL (IMO Number: 8502066) - Mac MacKay recently provided details and a better photograph (below) of this ship which occupied the home page sidebar as a "mystery ship" for several months. The Cypriot flagged MARIEL ran out of Halifax from January, 1999, until October, 2002, for Coral Line's Cuba service, along with her fleet-mate and sister-ship, NUEVITAS (ex KAPITAN CHMUTOV-98). This 6,359 gt general cargo ship was completed by Malta Shipbuilding in 1991 (launched 1988). Formerly the KAPITAN KHABALOV -98 she is now in service flying the Estonian flag as the REVAL (owners: Moondale Enterprises, Tallinn; manager: Siland, Tallinn). Another ship operating for Coral Lines was the SIRENS (11,749 gt / 1978). A photo and details can be found on the Halifax Shipping (General) page.

(Photo courtesy Mac MacKay)

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"K-19" I wonder how many of you were able to spot the ex-Soviet Juliet-class submarine, which starred as the ill-fated Hotel-class, K-19, in the film of that name?

The film is based on fact. The storyline revolves around the rushed development and commissioning of the USSR's first nuclear ballistic missile submarine in response to the perceived US nuclear threat and the subsequent failure of the boat's starboard nuclear reactor's cooling system on July 4, 1961. At that time she was 1,500 miles out from home base, in the Atlantic, on her maiden, active service voyage. The boat was eventually saved but several crew members died following exposure to high levels of radiation.

For the movie, which was largely filmed in Halifax and harbour approaches, a Juliet-class, conventionally powered, cruise missile submarine was acquired. This boat had previously been used as a restaurant and tourist attraction. She was modified at the Halifax Shipyard to more accurately portray the outward appearance of the somewhat larger K-19. This involved extending the fin towards the stern and covering the deck mounted twin missile launchers, two forward and two aft of the fin. The photos, which were taken pre-modification, clearly show the missile launchers and the hull indents to allow their elevation and to deflect their exhaust. K-19, by way of contrast, had triple launchers vertically mounted in the aft section of the fin.

Canadian Navy ships fulfilled the roles of the US destroyer (HMCS NIPPOGAN) and the Soviet rescue sub, S-270, (the SSK 73, HMCS ONONDAGA, an improved Oberon-class, built in the UK in 1965) in the movie.

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