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 - no longer! - see below] 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.

UPDATE: SHIP AT CARTAGENA - EVERY SHIP HAS A STORY
After almost 2 years occupying the Mystery Ship position at the top of the sidebar, the Japanese-built "MINI-ship" I photographed at Cartagena, Colombia, in April 2007 has been identified by her ex-Captain - Capitan Manolis Joannou - as the ROMANO I. My sincere thanks go to the Captain for providing detailed information about the ship and its history.

Capt. Joannou was in command of this ship for 14 months from 2004, joining when she was the NEAMONI (Panama flag) owned by Overseas-Greece, a Livanos company, trading in the Caribbean and the Pacific. She had been completed by the Hakodate Dock Co. Ltd., Kobe, as the MINI LAW (yard no: 33) in May, 1971 (hull constructed by Hashimoto, Kobe) and was renamed MINI MERCHANT in 1989, the name she carried until sold as the NEAMONI in 2002.

Particulars of the ship are as follows: length overall 65.47 m; breadth 15.3 m; summer draught: 4.95 m. Gross tonnage 1,649 (3,205 dwt). Holds 2 of 14.2 m x 21.33 m. Cranes 1 x 8 t. Main engines 2 x 6 cyl, 4-stroke Daihatsu (model 6PSHTCM-26D) diesels each of 552 kW. Speed about 10 knots.

NEAMONI was sold to White Feather Transport of Panama in 2004, becoming the SEAMONI. She was in danger of foundering on 7th December, 2004, while in transit from the Dominican Republic to Porto Cabello, Venezuela, with a cargo of plaster. The Curacao Coast Guard cutter JAGUAR arrived on scene to find the ship taking in water in one of her holds and the engine room was beginning to flood. The cutter installed a bilge pump and later three more pumps arrived which succeeded in stabilising the influx. Three and a half hours after sending the call for help the SEAMONI was taken in tow to the nearest port. Divers discovered a crack in her hull, which was repaired and the remaining water was pumped out of the hold by the local Fire Brigade. The ship sailed for dry docking at Cartagena, Colombia, arriving before Christmas. Work was finished in February, 2005, whereupon the SEAMONI was moved by tug to the Costa Brava Wharves, Cartagena, to complete work on the engines and generators. Unfortunately, at this point, the owner died and his family had no interest in continuing to manage the vessel. Consequently, she was abandoned at the wharf. According to Equasis she became the ROMANO I in April, 2005; ownership given as New Marine Transport Inc., Panama. I believe the photo (above) is of her at the Costa Brava Wharf, so she may not have moved in two years, which would explain the rather derelict state in which I saw her.

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.

JHONSY EXPRESS - UPDATE: (March, 2009) Renamed TURINA MIST as of January, 2008. Owner: Wetland Marine SA, 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.

GINOS I - UPDATE: (March, 2009) This ship has again been sold and renamed. She is now the ANI I (as from October, 2008) for Crystal Trading Holding Corp., Panama. I have also been contacted by Mr. Henning Sorensen who owned the ship as the URANUS, homeport: Aalborg, Denmark. He has provided a photograph of her when in his ownership which can be found here.

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.

GENERAL SEA - UPDATE: (March, 2009) Renamed RED DIAMOND as of December, 2008. Owner: Red Diamond Shipping SA, 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?]

_______________________________________

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.

_______________________________________

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.

_______________________________________

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.

_______________________________________

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)

_______________________________________

"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.

_______________________________________