General information and vessels of interest.
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INFORMATION IS GIVEN IN GOOD FAITH AND IS THE BEST AVAILABLE WHEN WRITTEN. THERE IS NO LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR SUBSEQUENT CHANGES.
Examples of Routes
Hajo - feeder container - Grangemouth - to east coast ports: Culercoats, Felixstowe, Rotterdam.
Western Trader - feeder container - Grangemouth - to east coast ports: Tyne, Grimbsy, Immingham and Felixstowe.
Bulk Carriers (Rosyth and Leith) bring in coal from Eastern Europe. ADVETURE 2, CHALLENGER II AND EXPLORER II made regular round trips to Murmansk and Vysotsk (Russia), and Riga and Ventspils (Latvia). Each trip takes just under a fortnight return. This contract was taken over by Murmansk Shipping Company Spring 2008. See note below for details of some of their fleet.
Adventure II and Challenger II for sale in February 2009, after Britannia Bulk Carriers went into liquidation in November 2008.
Leith also sees the import of pipes for SUBSEA at Leith for coating before loading onto pipelayers for the North Sea and elsewhere.
The smaller bulk carriers bring in a wide range of cargoes including metals and aggregates.
Border Tartan / Border Thistle - Oil Products Tanker - carry oil productd from Grangemouth to Inverness and the Scottish Islands.
Crude Oil Tankers carry Crude to Tranmere (Liverpool), Fawley, Rotterdam.
Notes on specific ships:
Cruiseships and Cruise Ferries:
Black Prince - Fred Olsen
Damaged propeller during transit of Corinth Canal 10th september 2007. Will be withdrawn from service during 2009- 2010 season - see Name changes.
MV Doulos
i) as Medina was described as one of the most modern and largest steamship operating on the Atlantic coast (of America) freighting goods, commissioned into service by the US Coast Guard during WW2;
ii) Acquired 1948 by the Panamanian company, Naviera San Miguel SA, she was renamed the ROMA (1949) and converted into a passenger ship with cabins for 287 people and dormitories for another 694 people. As 1950 was the Roman Catholic Holy Year, the ship was used to transport pilgrims to Rome and afterwards carried emigrants to Australia.
iii) In 1952 she was sold to Giamcomofu Andrea (Lines Costa) and renamed Franca C. At first sailing between Italy and Argentina she transported both emigrants and first, third and tourist class passengers, with a capacity of over 900. Remodelled 1959 as a first class luxury liner she pioneered the cruise trade out of Miami. Later visiting the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
iv) 1970 bought by Gute Bücher für Alle e.V. (Good Books for All) and named Dolous taking up her present role:
'The MV DOULOS visits port cities throughout the world, supplying vital literature resources, encouraging inter-cultural understanding, training young people for more effective life and service, promoting greater global awareness, providing practical aid and sharing a message of hope in God wherever there is opportunity.'
She is to be replaced in 2010.
Currently, March 2010, awaiting a rescue deal as no longer able to meet SOLAS and too costly to keep i service.
CRUISEINVEST R - Class
There are photographs of six of the eight shipps in this class:
INSIGNIA (former R- One)
The second Insignia named after the original ship (R -Two) was renamed Regatta.
REGATTA (former R- Two)
TAHITIAN PRINCESS (Former R - Four)
Pacific Princess (R -Three) and Tahitian Princess sail for Princess Cruises.
AZAMARA JOURNEY (Former R -Six)
See Delphin Renaissance below.
DELPHIN RENAISSANCE (Former R - Seven )
Built 2000 as R-SEVEN, Cruiseinvest, renamed 2004 Delphin Renaissance.. Renamed 2006, BLUE MOON, Pullmantur Line; 2007, Pullmatur taken over by RCI and transferred along with Blue Dream (ex R-Six) to Celebrity and then to new division, Azamara Cruises, as De-luxe class ship, and renamed Azamara Quest. (December 2007)
MINERVA II (Former R - Eight)
Sailed as Minerva II for Swan Hellenic, currently Royal Princess for Princss Cruises.
MS Explorer
2,398gt, Built 1969. 92 Passengers. GAP Shipping Co Ltd, ex Linbald Explorer (1969 - 85), Society Explorer (1985 - 1992). Became the first passenger vessel to navigate the North West passage in 1984. Lost 23rd November 2007 after striking submerged ice in the Bransfield Strait, between the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsular. All rescued by MS Nordnorge.
MONA LISA
Built as Kungsholm, Swedish America Line; sold P&O, 1978, renamed Sea Princess, 1995, renamed Victoria, sold 2002, named Mona Lisa. Sold 2006 sailed as Pullmantur Cruises' Oceanic II (2007). Sailed as The Scholar Ship end 2007, renamed Mona Lisa.
Ran aground aground on the morning of May 4 2008 in the Irben Strait off the Latvian coast at a distance of 18 kilometres from the coast. As many as 651 passengers, mostly elderly German, and eleven crewmembers were evacuated from the ship on another 322 crewmembers remained on board the ship.
Pacific Venus
Struck by freak wave 17th July 2007. Repaired and resumed schedule August 2007
CRUISE FERRIES:
Color Line: Christian IV and Silvia Ana
Christian IV is up for sale and renamed Julia (2008), Silvia Ana has been sold and is going to do a Montevideo - Buenos Aries run. (November 2007 - see photographs for new route).
10th November 2007:one of her stabilizers punched a 20 cm hole below the water line on her port side during a violent storm when she encountered 12 metre waves (just under 40 feet). She managed to reach Lerwick Harbour after her engineers used the auxiliary back up power to restart the main engine when she suffered a blackout and engine failure en route between Bergen and Tórshavn, arriving Monday 11th November. The £60 million ferry had only re-entered service in the north east Atlantic on Saturday the 9th after being in dry dock for her annual overhaul in Hamburg for the previous two weeks. She resumed her voyage to the Faeroes on the Tuesday and picked up her normal schedule on Friday the 16th. (Dec 2007)
Superfasr IX, Superfast X and Blue Star 1
Superfasr IX and Superfast X sold and transferrred - see ships for details.
SUPERFAST IX [IMO 9211509] renamed Atlantic Vision. Chartered five years by Canada's Marine Atlantic, for service between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques Newfoundland. Starting early 2009.
Superfast X was sold in 2006, with transfer January 2007, to a French firm bidding to gain the Corsica/France franchise, the decision for which was delayed several times.
She had her hull painted blue and was renamed Jean Nicoli, but her owners failed to obtain the franchise and she only did occasional charter work in 2007.
JANUARY 2008 sold to SEAFRANCE to run on Dover Calais service, replacing two older vessels. She is going into a shipyard to have all her cabins ripped out to convert her into a day boat, and I suspect she will come out painted all white with Seafrance on her hull.
The decision to buy and convert by Seafrance is effectively to jump a four year waiting period for a new ship if ordered today, and with still rising steel, labour and new engine costs, a sensible one, despite the hefty premium price paid and conversion costs.
Superfast/Attica have made a fortune from the sale of 8 of the modern fleet, netting more than they originally paid for the vessels, such is the demand for quality second hand tonnage.
Blue Star 1 - Rosyth - Zebrugge to end 13 September 2008. She will be transferred to the Mediterranean.
Route taken over by Scottish Viking starting 19th May 2009
OTHER
RSS James Cook
Since her naming ceremony by HRH The Princess Royal, in February, the RSS James Cook has undertaken a number of scientific voyages. Her maiden voyage of eight weeks, commenced on the 5th of March 2007, was to study a hole in the Earth's crust which reveals the mantle below. Scientists were investigating a large area thousands of square kilometres in extent in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where the Earth's crust seems to be missing entirely. Here the mantle, normally covered by crust many kilometres thick, is exposed on the seafloor, 3000m below the surface. It has been described as being like an open wound on the surface of the Earth.
Her next voyage was to the Nazare Canyon just off the coast of Portugal where Scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, using ISIS, a robotic underwater vehicle the size of a transit van, collected samples of marine life found in the massive canyon and captured film of the amazing world found in the depths of the ocean.
This was followed by a five week return voyage to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an underwater mountain range between Iceland and the Azores, where a team of researchers, led by Professor Monty Priede from the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab, explored the Ocean at various depths from 800m to 3500m. The international team of scientists uncovered a wealth of new information and insights, stunning images and marine life specimens, including one species thought to be new to science. Professor Priede said, "It is like surveying a new continent half way between America and Europe. We can recognise the creatures, but familiar ones are absent and unusual ones are common. We are finding species that are rare or unknown elsewhere in the world." September 2007
Skandi Navica
Subsea 7 aquired by Slandi Navica pilelay and construction vessel for $62million, May 2008. The vessel which was built in 1999, will be renamed Seven Navica and will continue to operate as a rigid pipelayer within the Subsea 7 worldwide vesel fleet. The vessel has been under charter with Subsea 7 for eight years and has a track record of successful pipelaying.
ORELIA
CSO Orelia undergoing sea trials off the River Tyne, prior to sailing to Leith. A&P Tyne recently completed the multi-million pound upgrade and life extension contract on the CSO Orelia, a Dive Support Vessel for Technip UK. The 1984 Swan Hunter built vessel arrived at the Hebburn yard in early January 2008. The contract included the renewal of the accommodation block which required the removal of existing accommodation systems, facilities and original steelwork structures. The new accommodation block is complete with new cabins, wet rooms and furniture. The new module weighing circa 370t was installed with the use of a mobile heavy lift crane when the vessel was drydocked. Major fabrication works also included the completion of new forward and aft structures which will enhance the vessel's sea performance and increase fuel economy.
Additionally, a significant amount of upgrades were carried out on the dive system, switchboards and distribution boards to the 6,368DWT vessel as well as substantial overhauls and upgrades on all major machinery, renewal of helicopter reception facilities, a new AC plant, sewage treatment plant and oily water system, class & flag surveys, hull and tank steelwork repairs and hull blast and paint.
Named changed to Orelia.
HMS ENDURANCE
HMS Endurance experienced flooding in engine room and engine control room when on passage through the Magellan Strait on route to Valparaso on the 16th December 2008. The fllooding left her without power or propulsion for six hours in total darkness with a 30 degree list in 50 knot winds. She managed to drop anchors before rescue by the Chilean Navy. She was towed to Punta Arenas for emergency repairs and then on to the Falkland Islands in early January 2009. She is expected to be returned to Portsmouth by heavy lift ship or barge.
HMS MONMOUTH
The Type 23 Duke Class Frigate, HMS Monmouth seen leaving Leith, 4th March 2008, after a short visit designed to forge links with the Capital. She returned to the UK last December after a year circumnavigating the globe - a tour which included visits to Jap[an and to the Chinese city of Qingdao, which will host the sailing events for 2008 Olympics. The Type 23 frigate, built by Yarrow Shipbuilders on the Clyde, was launched in 1991. She was the Royal Navy's first warship to combine Diesel Electric and Gas Turbine drive to produce a ship which is fast, manoeuvrable, efficient and with an extended range compared with similar vessels. She is armed with a 4.5" gun, Seawolf and Harpoon missiles, torpedoes, as well as 30mm cannons and general purpose machine guns. She carries a Merlin helicopter for anti-submarine warfare, which can also carry out a wide range of transport duties including search and rescue.
Nick named 'The Black Duke' after James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth, she is unique in flying a Black Flag on her main mast and having a black crown on top of Jack. (see inset). She is the seventh warship to bear the name and has the largest number of battle honours than any ship in the Royal Navy.
K/V Harstad
K/V Harstad is a vessel of 83m in length overall with a breadth (moulded) of 15.5m and measuring 3132 gross tonnes. The new EmergencyTowing Vessel will undertake a variety of duties on the Norwegian coastline and within Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) including offshore standby and rescue, towage, fire-fighting, salvage, pollution prevention, general law enforcement and fishery operations. A rapid increase in tanker traffic along the coastline of northern Norway, with the associated increased risk of groundings and oil pollution, is a serious threat.
K/V Harstad is therefore equipped to tow tankers of up to 200,000dwt in an emergency situation. Operating along the full length of Norway's coastline and throughout the country's EEZ involves a considerable time in the Barents Sea and thus she has a requirement for ICE class 1B, along with anti-icing measures that included heated shelters for the two MOB/boarding boats.
Harstad is manned, as are other Norwegian coastguard vessels, by a combined military and civilian crew and in its patrol boat role it carries a foredeck mounted gun and is equipped with a full military and civilian communications system.
Maritime Journal » Archive » 2005 » April » Tugs & Towing by Jack Gaston
MV Elektron
MV Elektron supplies St Kilda with food, fuel and other essentials in summer and autumn, as it is impossible to land stores on the islands in winter, except by helicopter. Bad weather delayed the last re-supply of St Kilda in October 2000 and after fuel and supplies were off-loaded, very strong south-westerly winds arose which caused her to drag her kedge anchor as she tried to pull off. The winds then rapidly turned her broadside to the ramp on the beach and she was lifted on to the boulder beach, her engine rooms swamped. She was eventually towed to Belafast in high seas.
Notes on tankers.
One of the mot regular fleets to be seen at Hound Point is that of the Lundqvist Shipping Company Limited, whose fleet of eight ships: Alfa Britannia, Alfa Germania, Alfa Italia, Hildegaard,Katja, Penelop, Sarpen, Thornbury, carry North Sea crude to refineries in Britain and Europe.
MT TEMPERA
The Society of Naval Architects of Japan awarded its 'Ship of the Year 2002' accolade to Tempera, built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI), owned by Fortum Oil & Gas of Finland and classed by Lloyd's Register. Tempera is the largest tanker in the world to be built to Lloyd's Register's 1A Super Ice Class notation. It is also the world's first double-acting tanker (DAT), which means that it can proceed through light ice conditions ahead and through heavy ice conditions astern, due to its azipod propulsion configuration, specially designed aft end and ability to turn through 180 degrees.
MT STENA ARCTICA
With its 117,100 deadweight tons, the vessel is not only the largest Swedish flagged ship in the Swedish merchant navy but also the world's largest tanker with the highest class in service. Its hull is heavily reinforced and its propulsion system is considerably more powerful compared with normal tankers, thus enabling it to safely manoeuvre in the icy waters of the Baltic Sea.
The Stena Arctica, together with additional ice-strengthened units and in cooperation with Sovcomflot - the largest shipping company in Russia - will mainly transport Russian crude oil from the Gulf of Finland to the Continent. Naming ceremony January 28th, 2006
MT STENA ALEXITA
Teekay was honored by ExxonMobil for providing continuous shuttle tanker service to its Floating Production Storage and offloading units (FPSO's) in the North Sea, despite severe winter weather conditions that caused many other production facilities to shut down. (2006)
Through the worst of the winter storms, Stena Alexita and Stena Sirita, two of Teekay's most advanced shuttle tankers which are jointly owned with Stena and managed by Teekay, were able to service ExxonMobil-operated FPSOs on the Balder and Jotun fields.
"Without a shuttle service that is able to connect to their FPSOs in almost any weather, ExxonMobil would have to wait for an opportunity to load that might have been days or weeks away. Exxon has limited storage capacity in the Balder and Jotun fields and would have had to shut down production without a regular shuttle connection".
Teekay has the most sophisticated shuttle tankers in the North Sea, equipped with dynamic positioning systems. "Our computer-based, satellite navigation systems coordinate the bow and stern thrusters as well as the CPP propellers, thereby enabling the vessel to stay on location in waves up to 9 meters," Mr. Feilberg explained. [Extract from Teekay Newsletter.]
MURMANSK SHIPPING COMPANY
Seven of the Dmitry Donskoj class are shown: the Dmitry Donskoj, Alexander Nevsky, Ivan Susanin* and Admiral Ushakov, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov and Peter Velikij, the latter being of the rebuilt and extended group.
"Dmitry Donskoj" type vessels
Wharf - builder: Varnovwerf (Varnemuende, Germany)
Purpose: Transportation of bulked cargoes, including ore, grain, and containers of the international standard
Class: RF KM UL 1 A2 bulk Register, ORP
Max. length: 162.1 m; Width: 22.86 m; Draught: 9.88 m
Deadweight capacity: 19,885 t/19,625 t* ; Hold capacity (grain): 22,257m3; Container capacity: 20 feet - 442; 40 feet - 219
Main unit: MAN K 8 Z 70 / 120 E; Power: 8,235kW (11,200 el h/p); Service speed: 13 knots ;Navigation area: unlimited
Vessels of MSCO: Dmitry Donskoj, Alexander Nevsky, Ivan Bogun*, Ivan Susanin*.
"Dmitry Donskoj" after the modernization
Extened 2005: Cxengxi Shipyard, China State Shipbuilding Corporation. - Fabrication of a new section - 18.4 meters long
- Cut the vessel into two bodies in way of 3#/4# bulkhead
- Insert the new body in between and welding with the existing two bodies.
- One bow thruster to be installed
Class: RF KM LU4 1 A2 bulk Register, ORP
Max. length: 180.5 m; Width: 22.86 m; Draught: 9.88 m
Deadweight capacity: 23 169; Hold capacity (grain): 25,444m3; Container capacity: 20 feet - 512;
Vessels of MSCO: Peter Velikij, Dmitry Pozharsky, Admiral Ushakov, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov, Kuzma Minin.