JULY 2009
The latter part of May and most of June were spent in the United Kingdom and included a couple of trips to the River Mersey to take in a very different shipping scene from that pertaining to Halifax. Many more ships can be observed daily arriving and departing the various ports and terminals along the river and ship canal than can be seen in the course of a week or more at Halifax. Noticeable this time compared to previous years was a fewer number of bulk carriers loading scrap metal for far east destinations. Since last year Hapag-Lloyd has started a regular service from Montreal using some of the ex Canadian Maritime ships. I saw, but was not able to obtain good photographs of the OTTAWA EXPRESS (ex CP HONOUR-05, CANMAR HONOUR-00) and MISSISSAUGA EXPRESS (ex CP PRIDE-05, CANMAR PRIDE-00). Ships that I did photograph can be viewed on the Recent Sightings page. They include several with Nova Scotia connections and even a vessel built in the Province!
Upon returning to the fog of Nova Scotia, brief glimmers of sunshine enabled me to see and photograph a couple of interesting ships in port. One of them, the veteran reefer CHERRY (with king posts and derricks - a real "blast from the past!") appears to have suffered mechanical breakdown and is currently moored at Pier 33. The other is a Maltese-flagged, Polish-owned Ro-Ro cargo ship, the ZERAN, which is anchored in the Bedford Basin. She is acting as a cut-price transport for Canadian military equipment required for exercises, a role she has previously fulfilled for the Irish and Dutch military.
)
)
Above left: The veteran reefer CHERRY at Pier 33 - note the lack of anchors, right: Pol-Levant's ZERAN anchored in the Bedford Basin.
Ship details:
ZERAN (ex SEAWHEEL ELBE-03, ZERAN-03). IMO number: 8302272. Managed by Pol-Levant Shipping Lines Ltd., Gdynia, Poland. Flag: Malta (Valletta). Gross tonnage: 15,685 (8,044 dwt). Completed: 1987-08, Stocznia im Komuny Paryskiej, Gdynia, Poland (yard no: b488/01. Dimensions: loa: 147.4 m b: 23.5 m draught: 7.05 m. Main engine(s): 2 Sulzer 6ZL40/48 diesels, twin screws Power: 6000 kW Speed: 14.5 kn.
INFORMATION UPDATES:
MYSTERY SHIPS
Several ZODIAKs and ZODIACs appear in Lloyd's of which 4 are fishing vessels or fish carriers. At first I thought she may be the Murmansk registered fish carrier ZODIAC ex SAMFROST-97, ELSHOUT-72. However, this ship was supposedly broken up in 1999 and looks nothing like the ship I photographed. Then I found that according to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, the ZODIAK ex SAMFROST-97, built in 1961, underwent a major hull renovation which was completed in December, 2003. Perhaps renovations included a complete re-modelling of the superstructure?? Or, the ship photographed may be an entirely different ship. Of the ZODIAKs and ZODIACs left, the most likely based on size and apparent age is the 1976-built fishing vessel ZODIAC (IMO number: 7609180 / 853 gt), which is registered in Belize - a registry where many older Russian vessels seem to end up. Is anyone able to make a positive identification?
BETSY ROSS
___________________________________
MY FIRST SHIP PHOTO The NEERLANDIA was completed as the MATAR-N for N.V. Van Nievelt, Goudriaan & Co. of Rotterdam in January, 1949, by D. & J. Boot De Vooruitgang at Alphen aan den Rijn, Holland (yard no: 1192). Her ID number was 5248566 and she was a typical Dutch coaster of 400 gt (549 dwt) with a length (pp) of 47.3 m and a beam of 8.2 m; a single screw motorship with a speed of 9 knots. In 1952 she became the ASUNCION (same owners) and in 1955, the NEERLANDIA (owner: Kustv. Reed. ms "Neerlandia"; managers: Kamps Scheepvaart & Handel Marts N.V., Rotterdam), whom she served until 1970 when sold to H. A. Al-Sager, Kuwait, and renamed MAYMOONAH . Her end came when she sprang a leak in the engine room and foundered in the Gulf of Oman on May 6, 1982. ___________________________________
A CLASSIC STEAMER
UPDATE: John Clark of Portishead recently saw and photographed the HANSTEEN under steam and looking fully restored in Trondheim harbour. He has kindly permitted me to post his photo. Many thanks, John. ___________________________________
SITE CONTENTS:
LIST OF SHIPS This is a new section which contains an alphabetical, page-linked list of ships (currently about 260 in total) permanently appearing on this site that were built prior to 1980. Many of them were photographed in black and white up to 50 years ago. Clicking on a ship's name will take you to the page upon which it is displayed.
CHERRY (ex R.P. CAYMAN-96, CAYMAN-89, CHERRY-86). IMO number: 7110062. Managed by Holy House Shipping AB, Stockholm. Flag: Cook Islands (Rarotonga). Gross tonnage: 9,983 (10,800 dwt). Completed: 1971-11by Nylands Verksted AS, Oslo, Norway (yard no: 650). Dimensions: loa: 155.8 m b: 21.3 m draught: 9.15 m. Main engine(s): Nylands Verksted 9K74EF diesel Power: 12798 kW at 124 rpm Speed: 22.0 kn.
The "mystery ship" (first posted in February 2008) is no mystery as far as its name and general type are concerned. It is clearly the ZODIAK or ZODIAC and either is or was a fishing vessel or fish carrier. Judging by the Cyrillic script and funnel colours that smack of the Soviet era, one can safely assume that she has Russian affiliations. The photo was taken in the British Columbian port of Steveston in May, 2007, and there appears to be a new deckhouse and crane fitted to the stern deck.
My thanks to "Carl" for providing leads to further information on the Camano class (T-AKL), ex US Army light cargo ship appearing on the Pre-1960's Built Ships page associated with a cruise I took through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coast of the US April / May of last year. The BETSY ROSS seen at Astoria, Oregon, was one of a number of ships I photographed that were built in the U.S.A. during WWII. Follow the link to see the updated information.
The first photo I ever took was of the Dutch coaster, NEERLANDIA (see sidebar), with a pre-WWII Kodak Box Brownie. Results with this camera were less than impressive, but they began an interest in ship photography that has continued for 50 years. The coaster had arrived at Barrow on April 17, 1959, from Bordeaux with a cargo of wood pulp.
While reading through an old issue of Sea Breezes, I came across a photograph and some details of what is the oldest steamship I have thus far managed to capture on film - the 1866-launched, ex Norwegian Hydrographic Survey Ship HANSTEEN. I took the photo shown on the sidebar on September 26th, 1995, when she was moored at a berth opposite the Trondheim ferry terminal. She started life as an iron-hulled, schooner-rigged steamer, having been completed for "Den Geografiske Opmaaling" by Nylands Vaerksted, Christiania (Oslo) - yard no: 11 - on the 22nd May, 1867. For those interested, a synopsis of her long and continuing career can be found at the excellent warsailors.com web site (entry by the name of D/S Haarek). As far as I can determine, she has a length of 102 feet and is 114, 131 or 166 (depending on source) gross tons. She is currently owned by Stiftelsen D/S Hansteen of Trondheim. Can anyone provide an update of her current status?
Below is the list of pages that make up this site.
){kind=link}
BARROW DOCKS (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, UK: updated - November, 2007) features photographs taken mostly between 1959 and 1964. Ships depicted include new buildings (Vickers Ltd), vessels laid-up or in the process of being broken-up (Thos. Ward's yard). Also included are a wide variety of merchant ships of every type and vintage, from tugs and dredgers to coasters, iron ore ships, general cargo vessels and tankers.
[More Ore Ships] [Ships Laid-up]
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA (updated September, 2007) This section contains a number of pages featuring photographs taken over the past 10 to 15 years of cargo ship traffic through the Port of Halifax and special events taking place on the harbour.
TRAVELS (updated February, 2008) includes a selection of photographs taken when on holiday, working overseas or just browsing about looking for ships. This page will feature shipping in the ports of Hull and Liverpool as well as in more exotic locations.
[Pacific Coast of US] [Pre-1960s Ships Seen on Cruise] [Holyhead & Mersey - Summer 2007]
[Merseyside - Historic Ships] [Shipping in Hull - 1960s]
PASSENGER SHIPS (updated - January, 2006) is a series of pages devoted to passenger ships of whatever variety and includes some golden oldies as well as recent sightings of floating apartment blocks visiting the Port of Halifax.
[2003 Halifax Cruise Season] [2004 Halifax Cruise Season] [2005 Halifax Cruise Season]
NEW PICS (updated - February, 2008) includes recent sightings photographed in Halifax and elsewhere.
FEATURED SHIPS (updated - February, 2008) includes mostly vintage ships photographed in B&W at Barrow, Liverpool and a few elsewhere.
[Featured Ships - March to June '05]
_______________________________________
My thanks to Ron Mapplebeck and his excellent TEESSHIPS site -
http://www.teesships.freeuk.com/index.htm - for providing the inspiration. Comprehensive links to other ship related sites are to be found on Ron's web site.
_______________________________________
MORE ABOUT ME AND THIS SITE
This site is a personal, regularly updated web log of ships photographed over a span of almost 50 years. In addition to the photographs displayed, I have added - wherever possible - details and a synopsis of the history of the ships featured. While every reasonable effort has been made to verify facts and to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, the author cannot accept responsibility for any errors that have inadvertently crept into the content.
There is a complete list of sections and pages that make up the site on this page. A linked list of ships built prior to 1980 appearing in the various pages can be accessed from the List of Ships link (here, or) on the sidebar (top left). The site currently includes photographs, details and histories of over 400 ships - some of them long gone and others that are currently in service.
All photographs shown on this site are copyright. If you wish to use them for inclusion in other sites or for commercial purposes, please send me an e-mail.
_______________________________________
Photographs will be changed from time to time due to web space limitations. B&W photos on this site have mostly been scanned from the original negatives (where they still exist) at 300 dpi in 5.25 x 8 inch format. Colour photos have been scanned from slides or negatives at 600 dpi in the same size format. Many of the recent photos are digital and are postcard size at 300 dpi.
Higher resolution jpegs of individual ships are available upon request for personal use.