IT training ships monthly TruePDF april 2019

WARTIME SURVIVOR RML 497 TO GO ON DISPLAYIRISH FERRIES NEWS W.B.YEATS ENTERS SERVICE April 2019 www.shipsmonthly.com RUSSIAN WITH A GERMAN HEART FLEET FOCUS THE ROYAL NAVY TODAY IN PRO

WARTIME SURVIVOR RML 497 TO GO ON DISPLAY

IRISH FERRIES NEWS

W.B.YEATS ENTERS SERVICE

April 2019

www.shipsmonthly.com

RUSSIAN WITH A GERMAN HEART FLEET FOCUS

THE ROYAL

NAVY TODAY

IN PROFILE

MAXSIM GORKIY

CLASSIC CARGO LINERS OF THE

EAST ASIATIC COMPANY

In this issue we focus on the Royal Navy

and the Royal Canadian Navy The composition of their respective fl eets is examined by two expert authors, who also look at what the future holds for naval operations, amid ongoing debate about the exact role of the Royal Navy in this century

Britain’s island nation mentality often supports the (perhaps romanticised) notion that our navy ‘rules the waves’ However, this idea is outdated, as the navy is relatively small, naval warfare has completely changed, and it is perhaps more accurate to say that

the waves are in fact ruled by container ships rather than warships

The Royal Navy is much reduced in size compared to previous eras, despite having its largest ever vessel as fl agship, HMS Queen Elizabeth And although the modern warships are undoubtedly more capable, with new submarines and surface combatants in the pipeline, what will they be used for?

Nicholas Leach

Editor sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS

Andrew & Donna Cooke • Roy Cressey • Gary Davies • Roy Fenton • William Mayes • Russell Plummer • Jim Shaw • Conrad Waters

Managing Director • Phil Weeden

Chief Executive • Steve Wright

Chairman • Steve Annetts

Finance Director • Joyce Parker-Sarioglu

Retail Distribution Manager • Eleanor Brown

Audience Development Manager • Andy Cotton

Brand Marketing Manager • Rebecca Gibson

Events Manager • Kat Chappell

Publishing Operations Manager • Charlotte

Whittaker

Print Production Manager • Nicola Pollard

Print Production Controller • Georgina Harris

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William Gibbons & Sons Ltd

© Kelsey Media 2019 All rights reserved Kelsey Media is a

trading name of Kelsey Publishing Ltd Reproduction in whole

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in banking, Conrad Waters has a long-standing interest

in naval history and is currently editor of Seaforth World Naval Review

Gary Davies

Gary Davies,

a freelance photographer specialising

in shipping and maritime subjects, has been a regular contributor to Ships Monthly for more than 25 years

Ian Buxton

Ian Buxton is a naval architect whose interests span shipping past and present, both naval and merchant,

as well as shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Niels Storringgaard

Niels Storringgaard retired after a 45-year career with EAC, Maersk and other companies He is interested

in the history of Danish and British ships and shipowners

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A FUTURE FOR THE ROYAL NAVY?

REGULARS

6 WATERFRONT

Ulysses Upgrade completed, RML 497 to go

on display in Hartlepool, Stena introduces Forecaster, and Orkney Ferries warning

10 FERRY

Honfleur to miss summer debut, W B Yeats

in service for Irish Ferries at last, and St Cecilia

joins sisters with Delcomar Russell Plummer

Profile of the Åland-owned Eckerö Line, which is

celebrating 25 years of service John Pagni

WARTIME SURVIVOR RML 497 TO GO ON DISPLAY

CROSSING Gibraltar Strait NOSTALGIA Denny apprentice ANNIVERSARY Eckerö Line

IRISH FERRIES NEWS

W.B.YEATS ENTERS SERVICE

April 2019

www.shipsmonthly.com

RUSSIAN WITH A GERMAN HEART

FLEET FOCUSTHE ROYAL

NAVY TODAY

IN PROFILE

MAXSIM GORKIY

CLASSIC CARGO LINERS OF THE

EAST ASIATIC COMPANY

COVER HMS Diamond is the third of six Type 45

destroyers, designed primarily to defend the Fleet

from air attack MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

The 1999-built ro-ro ferry Suecia Seaways

(24,613gt) heading out of Rotterdam Her

owners, the Danish ferry giant DFDS, enjoyed

all-time high fi nancial results in 2018; full

details on page 10 NICHOLAS LEACH

series of fine cargo liners Niels Storringgaard

66 FROM THE BRIDGE

Captain Diego Perra, Master of the cruise ship Grand Princess, talks about his career and the

ship he commands David Brown

History of the former Hamburg to mark her

50th anniversary this year Jonathan Crabbe

28 GIBRALTAR FERRIES

Ferry services across the Straits of Gibraltar,

from Spain to Morocco and Ceuta Matt Davies

33 SHIPS PICTORIAL

Photos of ships in Sydney, Portsmouth,

Southampton and on the Thames

36 YARD APPRENTICE

The first of a two-part article telling the story

of an apprenticeship in Denny’s Clydeside

shipyard in the 1950s Ian Buxton

WWW.SHIPSMONTHLY.COM

44 FLEET FOCUS

44 Profile of the Royal Navy and its

current fleet Gary Davies

49 Modernising the Royal Canadian Navy for the 21st century

Conrad Waters NAVAL SPECIAL

6tApril 2019 twww.shipsmonthly.com

RESTORATION

A unique World War II survivor arrived in Hartlepool in January following months of preparation for the transfer Rescue Motor Launch RML 497 completed a 420-nautical-mile journey to the National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool ahead of a conservation programme to get her on permanent display at the museum site She will form the centrepiece

of displays telling the story of coastal forces in the North Sea

Following her arrival at PD Ports, RML 497 was carefully craned into place alongside the National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool and placed into a temporary building Key stakeholders of the project, local dignitaries and members of the public gathered at the Museum to welcome RML 497 to Hartlepool

The 34m Rescue Motor Launch

497 has had a varied history She began life rescuing airmen during World War II, and latterly provided a ferry service in the South West She was acquired by the Portsmouth-based National Museum of the Royal Navy in 2015 following a grant of £90,600 from the HLF and £5,000 each from the Coastal Forces Heritage Trust and the National Museum The move was made possible by a Tees Valley Combined Authority grant

WARTIME SURVIVOR TO GO ON DISPLAY

RML 497 arrives at Hartlepool The former Royal Navy Fairmile B motor launch was named Western Lady III when used as a passenger motor vessel by Western Lady Ferry Service From 2009 to 2015 she operated

as The Fairmile for Greenway Ferry.

CROATIA’S NEW GUARDIAN

COASTGUARD VESSEL

The fi rst of fi ve offshore patrol vessels has been delivered to the Croatian Navy from the Brodosplit shipyard They are the fi rst ships specifi cally purpose-built for the Coastguard since independence, after the collapse of Yugoslavia

Initially scheduled for handover

in 2017-18, they were delayed caused because the prototype experienced issues during the systems testing by the navy

The vessels will perform typical duties patrolling Croatia’s long coastline and islands, enforcing maritime law against drug and migrant traffi cking, search and rescue, fi shing protection and anti-pirate and defence operations.CPV 31 Omiš has a 30mm gun forward plus two Browning machine guns, as well as a stern-launched RIB pursuit craft The Caterpillar engine gives the ships

a top speed of 28 knots and a range of 1,000nm at 15 knots JP

S The Croatian Coastguard’s new CPVs measure 43m by 8m and draw less than 4m, making them well suited for working Croatia’s craggy coastline.

MACANDREWS

TO DISAPPEAR

INDUSTRY NEWS

Another well-known name in

British shipping comes to an

end in April, when MacAndrews,

considered the world’s oldest

existing shipping company, is

merged into CMA CGM’s

Finland-based Containerships subsidiary,

which was acquired by the French

container carrier last year

Formed in Scotland as far back

as 1770, MacAndrews became

part of London-based United

Baltic Corporation in 1935, but

left shipowning in 1979 to rely on

chartered tonnage In 2002 the

company was purchased by CMA

CGM and, at the start of 2018, was

merged with the 1882-established

Oldenburg-Portugiesische

Dampfschiffs-Rhederei (OPDR)

under the MacAndrews GmbH

name, the company’s offi ce then

relocating to Hamburg

MacAndrews has most recently

provided shipping services

that connect various North and

Central European ports with the

Iberian Peninsula, the Canary

Islands and ports in Morocco JS

S A new series of ro-ro vessels being built in China to

a Knud E Hansen design for Italy’s Grimaldi Lines will incorporate

GRIMALDI RO-ROS

Norway’s Kongsberg Maritime

and Switzerland-based Leclanché

are joining forces to provide

elements of a hybrid marine

electric propulsion system for use

in a series of 238m by 34m ro-ro

vessels being built in China for

Italy’s Grimaldi Group

The 64,000gt ships will use

battery power alone while

manoeuvring in port and

while docked to reduce both

noise and pollution levels The batteries will be recharged, during navigation, by the ship’s shaft generators, as well as by 600m2 of solar panels

Being built by China’s CS Nanjing Jinling Shipyard, the vessels will be delivered

in 2020–22, with nine to be operated by the group’s Mediterranean-based Grimaldi Lines and three ice-strengthened units by its Finnish subsidiary Finnlines JS

HYBRID ELECTRIC POWER

WATERFRONT

COUNCIL FERRY WARNING

VIKINGLAND t
-JNBTTPMCBTFE

Salamis Lines is buying the registered Swedish Orient Line vessel for €4.95 million and expect

British-to take delivery of the 1982-built, 2,170 lane-metre freight ro-ro during April Vikingland had been in the Baltic on Stena Line’s Karlskrona-Gdynia route relieving vessels since August 2018 RP

LARGEST DREDGER t
%VUDI

builder Royal IHC has launched the 44,180kW self-propelled cutter suction dredger Spartacus for Belgium’s DEME as the world’s largest dredger of its type and the fi rst to be powered by LNG Capable of dredging to a depth

of 147.5ft (45m), Spartacus joins the previously delivered LNG- powered trailing suction hopper dredgers Minerva and Scheldt River in the DEME fl eet JS

NORTHERN ISLES t
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Government has invited three operators to tender for the next long-term contract covering ferry routes to Orkney and Shetland, including present service provider Serco Northlink RP

FERRY NEWS

As a part of the ongoing

development of Stena Line’s Irish

Sea route network, the 24,688gt

ro-ro vessel Stena Forecaster

(pictured) has been transferred

from Stena RoRo to Stena Line and

entered service on the

Belfast-Liverpool route on 12 February

Stena Forerunner will transfer back

to the North Sea and operation

of the fi rst of two new larger E-Flexer ships currently under construction in China The new ships will signifi cantly increase

both freight and travel capacity,’

said Paul Grant, Trade Director Irish Sea North

Stena Forecaster will make two departures a day Monday

to Friday, and will partner ro-pax vessels Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey on the Belfast-Liverpool route Stena Forecaster was built

in 2003 by Dalian Shipyard in China and measures 195m by 27m, with power coming from four Sulzer 8ZAL40S diesels

STENA INTRODUCES FORECASTER

ORKNEY ISLES

The Scottish Government has been warned by Orkney Island Council that unless £6.8 million

is received for the next year of passenger and vehicle services from Kirkwall, and other centres

on mainland, to islands, including Eday, Hoy, Sanday and Westray, they will stop running them

Operator Orkney Ferries is owned by the Island Council and currently has an eight-strong

fl eet, with the principal North

Isles network maintained by 771gt/1990-built sisters Earl Sigurd and Earl Thorfi nn, which came from the McTay Marine yard at Bromborough on the Wirral and carry 190 passengers and 26 cars

North Isles support comes from the larger Varagen (1988/928gt), which joined the fl eet in 1991, having been delivered by Selby-based Cochrane Shipbuilders for an unsuccessful bid to launch

a Pentland Firth service from Burwick on South Ronaldsay to Gills Bay, Caithness RP

S The 358gt 1994-built Hoy Head is one of the vessels maintaining services around the Orkney archipelago NICHOLAS LEACH

VOYAGE OF

REMEMBRANCE

BOUDICCA

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is working

with the Royal British Legion to

offer a ‘Voyage of Remembrance’

for Normandy veterans to mark

the 75th anniversary of the June

1944 D-Day Landings The Legion

has chartered the 880-guest

Boudicca (1973/28,388gt) to

take up to 300 veterans, each

with a relative or carer, to see

special commemorations in both

England and France

Boudicca is due to sail from

Dover on 2 June and head to

Dunkirk, followed by calls at

Poole and Portsmouth for special

events, before she crosses the

English Channel to Le Havre on

6 June, exactly 75 years after the

D-Day Landings started

Peter Deer, Commercial

Director at Fred Olsen Cruise

Lines, commented: ‘The voyage

will follow the same path as

the ships involved on that

momentous day, and Boudicca

will provide a comfortable

setting in which to retrace those

8tApril 2019 twww.shipsmonthly.com

MAERSK SUPPLY

Maersk Maker, the fi nal vessel of Maersk Supply Service’s Starfi sh AHTS newbuilding series, was delivered from Kleven Yard on

14 February The arrival of the new ship completes Maersk Supply Service’s Fleet Renewal Programme, with ten newbuild vessels delivered and 23 vessels divested over the last three years

The average age of Maersk Supply Service’s current 44-vessel

fl eet has been reduced to less than ten years The renewed fl eet consists of 30 AHTS vessels, 12 SSVs and two PSVs, which support Maersk Supply Service’s various offshore projects, which include towing, mooring and installation; subsea construction; and inspection and maintenance Ten newbuild vessels have joined the Maersk Supply Service fl eet since March

2017, including six M class AHTS vessels of the Starfi sh series and four I-class SSVs of the Stingray series

BREXIT PLAN

The ferry Ulysses, Irish Ferries’

Dublin to Holyhead route vessel, returned to Dublin on

13 February following extensive work undertaken at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside The four-week upgrade involved a complete refurbishment as well as maintenance work, which included the fi tting of new propellers,

new rudder components, a full refurbishment of her stern thruster and other underwater works

There were also engine overhauls

as well as programmes for painting of the vehicle decks

The Birkenhead shipyard and engineering service company was chosen for Ulysses dry-docking because of their extensive expertise and a strong track record with this vessel Andrew Sheen,

Irish Ferries Managing Director said: ‘This is a signifi cant investment

in Ulysses We are delighted

to see her return to service to continue to provide the comfort and reliability that our customers expect from Irish Ferries’ Ulysses was completed in 2001

by Aker Finnyards, and entered service in March 2001 After the

2003 season, Ulysses was refi tted

at A&P Group’s Birkenhead yard

ICE-BREAKING

SUBMARINE

S An ice-class submarine being

designed for work in the Arctic

would carry a mini-submarine in an

enclosed hanger on deck MALACHITE

ULYSSES UPGRADE COMPLETED

An unusual view of Ulysses showing her rudder and propeller arrangement.

FLEET RENEWAL COMPLETED

S The anchor-handling tug supply vessel Maersk Maker has recently been completed and joins further newbuilds with Maersk Supply Service

RESEARCH SHIP

Russia’s FESCO Group has

signed a contract with the

Government of India’s National

Center for Polar and Ocean

Research to supply Indian

research stations in Antarctica

this year using its 1988-built

icebreaking supply ship Vasiliy

Golovnin (4,777gt) Under the agreement, the 159.8m diesel-electric powered vessel, which can carry 298TEU, will load supplies at Cape Town, South Africa for delivery to the Indian Antarctic stations of Bharati and Maitri and will also be available

to NCPOR scientists for scientifi c research activities JS

RUSSIA SUPPLIES INDIANS

FESCO’s icebreaking supply ship Vasiliy Golovnin has been chartered by the Government of India for

Antarctic supply missions FESCO

CONCEPT

Russia’s design bureau, Malachite,

which has developed several

classes of nuclear-powered

submarine for the Russian Navy,

has designed an 82m ice-breaking

submarine for oil, gas and mineral

subsea work in the Arctic

To be completed to Arc5

ice-class standards, the vessel would

be able to navigate through

1.2m thick ice while operating

on the surface and would carry

a mini-submarine that would

work independently from the

mothership Three remotely

operated vehicle (ROV) interfaces

would be provided on the hull,

while duration divers would be

able to exit from a hatch at the

bottom of the submarine that

would be fi tted with an internal

hyperbolic chamber JS

ISSUE 6 PADDLE STEAMERS

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO 21ST CENTURY PADDLE STEAMERS BRITISH VETERANS INCLUDING WAVERLEY FEATURED SCANDINAVIA CLAIMS THE WORLD’S TWO OLDEST PADDLERS FAMOUS RESTORED PADDLERS ON THE SWISS LAKES

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PHOTOS OF SHIPPING AT CAPE TOWN UNIQUE COLOUR IMAGES OF POST-WAR SHIPS PASSENGER SHIPS, LINERS AND CRUISE

SHIPS FEATURED IN-DEPTH PROFILES OF EACH SHIP FEATURED

ISSUE 8 CAPE TOWN SHIPS

STORY OF THE LAST OF FAMOUS ORIENT

LINE’S LINERS THE FOUR POST-WAR SHIPS BUILT AT THE VICKERS ARMSTRONGS ORCADES (1948), ORONSAY (1951) AND ORSOVA (1954) EXCLUSIVE FEATURE ON THE FOURTH SHIP, ORIANA (1961)

THE STORY OF THE OF THE BATTLESHIPS OF THE

ROYAL NAVY FEATURING THE REVOLUTIONARY HMS DREADNOUGHT TO THE HMS VANGUARD STUNNING IMAGERY AND ILLUSTRATIONS DREADNOUGHTS IN WAR AND PEACE

ISSUE 7 ORIENT LINE

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10tApril 2019 twww.shipsmonthly.com

FERRIES IN THE NEWS FERRIES IN THE NEWS FERRIES IN THE NEWS FERRIES IN THE NEWS FERRIES IN T

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ST CECILIA JOINS SISTERS

Honfleur will miss planned

SEABORNE CONTRACT CANCELLED

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S Celebrity Flora’s recent launch

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St Helena was in London

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At 63m long and with a dived displacement of 1,930 tonnes, the A26 submarine is of comparable

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class aircraft carriers at Portsmouth MARITIME PHOTOGRAPHIC

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CARRIER DOCKING DILEMMA

The 9,627gt HHL Elbe, built by China’s Sanfu Ship Engineering in 2008, has been renamed Hudsongracht following

ARDMORE SELLS TANKERS

S The 15-year-old product tanker Ardmore Seamaster is one of two ships

SPLIETHOFF ACQUIRES HANSA SHIPS

electrically-propelled bunkering tanker has been

developed by Groot Ship Design for

Asahi Tanker Co GROOT SHIP DESIGN

The hopper dredger UKD Marlin (1993) dredged

CARGO

TEAM LINES TO CEASE TRADING

of ships involved in the sale

of Hamburg Süd’s dry bulk business to China Navigation

COAL CARRIER

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MISJE TENDERS FOR TWO ECO BULKERS

T The Marine Design & Consulting

DC 1314 type eco-bulkers that Misje Group are tendering for MARINE

DESIGN & CONSULTING

W The feeder vessel Livland (2001/ 5,016dw) was operated by Team Lines in 2008 At that time, the name Team Lines was written on her hull, but this practice was later abandoned

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S A delta-shaped craft riding on foils and powered by hydrogen fuel cells is being developed by Norway using PILOT-E funding HYON AS

TSUNEISHI DEVELOPS NEW TANKER

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Japan’s Tsuneishi Shipbuilding has delivered the first in a new series of wide-beamed LR1 product tankers it has

S The 122.5m by 22.3m icebreaker Xuelong 2 is to begin operations by mid-year after trials off the China coast POLAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE

NEW SYSTEM FOR CNG

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OFFSHORE VESSEL

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LNG OR BIOGAS FUELLED

A series of all-electric powered barges are being built in Holland for use

S The offshore installation vessel Orion will carry a Liebherr crane capable of lifting 5,000 tonnes DEME

S The new tanker Thun Evolve, recently completed by Ferus Smit, is one

20tApril 2019 twww.shipsmonthly.com

From modest beginnings, the Åland-owned Eckerö Line has survived

cut-throat competition to become a major force on the world’s most

popular international passenger route between the

capitals of Finland and Estonia,

as John Pagni explains.

ECKERÖ LINE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS

S Apollo in Eestin Linjat livery departing Helsinki West Harbour in the 1990s

She is still working in Canada for Société des Traversiers du Quebec.

STATISTICS

ROUTE Helsinki-Tallinn PASSENGERS 8.85 million (2018) VEHICLES 1,376 million (2018) TRUCKS and trailers 365,000 (2018)

S Translandia making steady progress in the Baltic; after Red Sea service in

2013, she arrived at Indian breakers in Alang in May 2014.

S Translandia berthed in Port of Tallinn’s Old City Harbour after a change of livery for the ship in her final Eckerö years

S Nordlandia could operate in winter, as shown here, but not in thick pack ice.

S Nordlandia was far more at home in the summer conditions of the Baltic She is now on charter to Trasmediterranea as Almiriya sailing Almeira-Mador.

rivals in terms of size, speed and comfort ALL PHOTOS BY JOHN PAGNI

S Alandia, built in 1972, originally Diana and Botnia Express, and later Jamaa II.

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SYMPHONY

OF THE SEAS

SHIP OF THE MONTH

BIGGEST BOX BOATS

COUNTDOWN OF THE WORLD’S TOP TEN

CONTAINER SHIPS

VICTORIA OF WIGHT

WIGHTLINK’S NEWBUILD DEBUTS

was a signifi cant event in

German maritime history

Not only was she the fi rst

major passenger vessel to

be built in the country for

German owners in 30 years,

but she also maintained a

strong connection with her motherland throughout her 40-year operational life, despite an early sale to the Soviet Union

Built for the short-lived German Atlantic Line by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche

Werft, the 25,000gt Hamburg

was conceived as a cruise ship with occasional transatlantic liner duties However, by the

RUSSIAN WITH A GERMAN HEART

MAXIM GORKIY

time she entered service, her owners had abandoned the North Atlantic trade, and she was employed solely as a cruise ship from the outset

German Atlantic’s marketing

department dubbed Hamburg

the ‘space ship’ in reference

to the generous proportion

of space dedicated to her

652 passengers, although there was undoubtedly

a futuristic connotation.Not so futuristic was the choice of steam turbines over more fuel-effi cient diesel engines, a decision that would ultimately hasten the vessel’s demise Nevertheless,

Hamburg’s designers came

up with a distinctive and handsome new look The ship’s angular forward superstructure and lack of

S Pictured in the 1980s while on charter to Neckermann, Maksim Gorkiy

enjoys some Aegean sun at Rhodes AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

S Maxim Gorkiy departing Vancouver in post-Soviet livery in April 1993 on

one of her record 35 global circumnavigations AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

The ship wore Phoenix Reisen livery

for just three of her 20 years with

the German company.

CRUISE SHIP

sheer aft of the bow gave her

a contemporary feel, while

the low-slung superstructure

added a certain sleekness It

was her unusual

hourglass-style funnel, however, that set

the vessel apart

On 30 March 1969

Hamburg set out from

Cuxhaven on her maiden

voyage, a 36-night cruise

to West Africa and South

America She made her fi rst

appearance in New York on 26

June 1969 and subsequently

undertook a series of summer

cruises from the port Over

the next four years, she

operated deluxe cruises on

both sides of the Atlantic and

meaning later that year when

Maksim Gorkiy became the

real target of terrorists

Two separate attacks, perpetrated by militant anti-Castro Cuban exiles, occurred in December 1974 and November 1975 while the ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico In the fi rst incident, an explosive device was thrown on board, while the second more sophisticated attempt involved two blasts to the hull below the waterline Fortunately, there were no casualties, and damage to the ship was relatively minor

In another irony, Maksim

Gorkiy’s fi rst assignment as

On the 50th anniversary of the former Hamburg’s entry into service, Jonathan Crabbe recalls an extraordinary career that saw the vessel star in a blockbuster movie, survive an

encounter with an ice floe, and circle the globe

more times than any other cruise ship.

also from the United States west coast

COMRADE GORKIY

Following the sale of fl eetmate

Hanseatic to Home Lines, Hamburg was renamed

However, like many shipping lines at the time, German Atlantic was struggling with spiralling labour and fuel costs, forcing it to cease operations just two months later

The barely fi ve-year-old pride of the German merchant marine was put up for sale and was soon purchased by the Soviet Union for its Black Sea Shipping Company Delivered

in January 1974, the ship was

renamed Maksim Gorkiy –

pseudonym of Russian writer Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (1868-1936) – and the iconic hammer and sickle mounted

on her funnel

Before welcoming her fi rst

fare-paying passengers, Maksim

Gorkiy tried her hand at acting

Chartered to the makers of the 1974 British bomb thriller

‘Juggernaut’, she was cast

in the role of Britannic and

dispatched to the North Sea as

a fl oating set with stars Richard Harris and Omar Sharif on board In an eerie irony, scenes of bombs exploding on the ship would take on new

S Framed by the Harbour Bridge, Maxim is assisted to her Sydney berth on

her last call at the port in February 2007 AUTHOR

S Maksim Gorkiy arriving at San Francisco in May 1978 on an early

Neckermann world cruise AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

26tApril 2019 twww.shipsmonthly.com

a Soviet cruise ship saw her

deployed to the US on

short-term charter to a company going

by the wonderfully capitalist

name Wall Street Cruises

Commencing in May 1974, she

made budget trips to Bermuda,

the Bahamas and ‘nowhere’

from her New York base

After a further period

cruising from the US east

coast in 1975, the vessel

was placed under long-term

charter to West German travel

giant Neckermann Reisen

Based in Bremerhaven, the

ship was, to all intents and

purposes, German again

– perhaps more so than

previously, in that she would

cater exclusively to a

German-speaking clientele

Affectionately known

by the Germans simply as

Maksim, she departed Genoa

on 21 December 1975 on

her first cruise around the

world, an 86-day eastbound

circumnavigation It was

the beginning of a 32-year

tradition that would see the

vessel circumnavigate the globe more times than any other cruise ship – 35 in all

(Rotterdam and Sagafjord/

Saga Rose each made 29)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she made back-to-back world cruises that accounted for six months of her schedule, while other years a single voyage could last up to 150 days Her itineraries – among the most innovative and adventurous in the industry – included numerous extended stays in popular ports, as well as off-the-beaten-track destinations Occasionally the global political climate

Maksim Gorkiy was extensively

refitted in Bremerhaven, but shortly afterwards the charter

The company was well placed to capitalise on the reputation the ship had gained during her 13 years with Neckermann and deployed her on a similar schedule

Entering service with Phoenix

in December 1988, Maksim

typically spent the summer plying the waters of Northern Europe, while autumn found her in the Mediterranean and occasionally on longer voyages across the Atlantic

IN THE NEWS

The fall of the Berlin Wall made 1989 an unforgettable year in the ship’s homeland, and it was no ordinary year for

Maksim Gorkiy either She was

thrust into the international limelight on two occasions for very different reasons

Late in the evening of 19 June, while she was cruising in the Arctic Circle off Norway’s

Svalbard archipelago, Maksim

struck an ice floe, which made two holes in her bow She began taking on water, and the decision was made to evacuate passengers and some

of her crew, who huddled in lifeboats and on ice floes until they could be rescued by the Norwegian coastguard several hours later

Images from the scene

showed Maksim’s bow

partially submerged and her stern protruding above the waterline Kept afloat by pumps, the crippled vessel was temporarily patched before limping back to Bremerhaven for permanent repairs It was later revealed that the ship had been travelling too fast in heavy fog through an area well known for its ice floes.Four months after re-

entering service, Maksim hit

the headlines again when she became the unwitting host of

an historic two-day summit in Malta between US president George Bush and Soviet

W Sinking

feeling: going down by the bow, the ship came close to being lost when she struck Arctic ice in the late hours of 19 June 1989

X In home

waters, Maxim Gorkiy navigates the Kiel Canal

AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

turbines; twin screw

Hanseatic (1973-1974), Maksim Gorkiy (1974-1992), Maxim Gorkiy (1992- 2009), Maxim M (2009)

Soviet Union (1974-1991), Bahamas (1991-2009), Saint Kitts and Nevis (2009)

leader Mikhail Gorbachev

Meetings were due to be held

aboard US and Soviet warships

anchored in Marsaxlokk Bay,

but inclement weather resulted

in a last-minute change of

venue to the securely berthed

Maksim Gorkiy The talks held

aboard the ship were credited

as being instrumental in

ending the Cold War

With the dissolution of the

Soviet Union in 1991, the

hammer and sickle logo gave

way to that of Sovcomflot,

superimposed on the white,

blue and red stripes of the

Russian Federation The vessel

was also reflagged to the

Bahamas, accompanied by a

minor change in spelling of

her Romanised name to

Maxim Gorkiy and the

removal of Cyrillic lettering

on her hull

AUF WIEDERSEHEN

After 17 years sailing for

Phoenix Reisen, Maxim was

repainted in the company’s

turquoise livery during a

December 2005 dry-docking

in Hamburg Her days with Phoenix were coming to an end, however, and two years later it was announced that she would be prematurely retired from the fleet

In spite of her excellent condition and ongoing popularity, the rising cost of fuel had made it increasingly difficult for the company to profitably operate the ageing steamship The vessel’s final cruise concluded in Venice

on 30 November 2008, only weeks shy of her 20th anniversary with Phoenix

In mid-2008 it was announced that the Orient Lines brand would be relaunched under new ownership, with the former

Maxim Gorkiy as its flagship

Images of the ship – to be

renamed Marco Polo II –

depicted her in the attractive livery worn by the original

line’s Marco Polo The livery

suited her well, as did the destination-oriented operator’s itineraries, which were to see the ship continue her global roaming but cater to a more international clientele

To the great disappointment

of many, however, the plan never materialised Just days

before Maxim was due to

retire from the Phoenix fleet, Orient Lines announced it

was postponing the start

of operations due to the unfavourable economic climate resulting from the global financial crisis

Maxim’s future was looking

bleak She was in exceptional condition for her age, but the ship’s fuel-guzzling turbines made her an unattractive proposition to any potential operator As the likelihood of

Maxim being sold for scrap increased, calls were made for the ship to be preserved in her birthplace of Hamburg

Following the successful return of the Dutch liner

Rotterdam (1959) to her

namesake city, the Germans

had similar ideas for Maxim

Like Rotterdam, Maxim

remained largely unaltered from her early days as

Hamburg and was a worthy

candidate for preservation

In spite of 11th-hour lobbying, time was not on the ship’s side, and she was sold

to Indian breakers in January

2009 The level of affection

felt for Maxim Gorkiy in

Germany was matched only

by that of her dedicated Russian and Ukrainian crew, who lovingly maintained the ship until the very end In an

unusual move, Maxim was

delivered to India under the care of members of her regular crew With the delivery name

Maxim M, she was beached at

Alang in the early hours of 25 February 2009

The mid-20th century produced many fine passenger

ships, but the story of Maxim Gorkiy will go down as one of the most colourful Maxim

was a ship rich in history and character, yet relatively little has been written about her in English, and she is not well known outside Europe Had her sale to breakers not been so hasty, she might now be enjoying a well-earned retirement on the banks of the Elbe Instead, like a departed

film star, Maxim Gorkiy lives

on through her screen role and in the memories of those who travelled on her

S Showing off her

sleek profile, Maksim

Gorkiy approaches the

windows were extended

aft several years later

AUTHOR’S COLLECTION

Maxim Gorkiy bathed in morning light during her final Sydney layover; her visit lasted four days and included a meeting with fleetmate Albatros

T Although built for Baleària’s Formentera service, Passió per Formentera has spent the majority

of her life to date sailing between Algeciras and Ceuta.

and the Spanish

enclave of Ceuta are both

extensive and competitive,

with no fewer than seven

different ferry companies

operating a total of 21 vessels

on routes from Algeciras to

Tangier Med, Algeciras to

Ceuta and Tarifa to Tangier

Along with services on the

Dover Strait, the routes across

the Gibraltar Strait, which

is just nine miles wide at its

narrowest, are among the

busiest in the world

Among the ferries that have

seen service are an eclectic

mix of former UK ferries,

including Reine Astrid,

Prins Albert , St Christopher,

Galloway Princess and Champs

Elysées,, with the latter in her

34th year and still operating as

Poeta López Anglada

Until the late 1960s there

were just two companies:

the Spanish state-owner

Trasmediterránea, operating

sister car ferries Victoria

(1952) and Virgen de África

(1953), along with Ciudad de Tarifa (1961) from Algeciras

to Ceuta and Tangier; and the British-owned Bland Line, operating from Gibraltar

to Tangier with the

Ailsa-built car ferry Mons Calpe

(1954), which could carry

581 passengers and 78 cars

Bland Line ceased operations

in 1986, selling Mons Calpe

to Cyprus, where she became

City of Limassol.

CROSSING

THE STRAIT

Matt Davies looks at the considerable growth of ferry

services across the Straits of Gibraltar, from Spain to

Morocco and Ceuta, that has taken place since the 1970s.

LIMADET

The Moroccan private operator Lignes Maritimes

du Detroit (Limadet) commenced operations with

new car ferry Ibn Batouta

in 1968 Initially she sailed from Malaga to Tangier, but was moved to Algeciras to reduce the crossing time;

Trasmediterránea took a 50 per cent share in the company

In 1993 a new Ibn Batouta

arived, but was sold fi ve years later to Trasmediterránea,

becoming Ciudad de Tanger

She was later replaced with a

third but older Ibn Batouta (ex-Saint Christopher)

In 1973 Balearic operator Isleña de Navegación (ISNASA) began operations from Algeciras to Ceuta with a small passenger ferry,

Menorca, later introducing the

sister car ferries Baleares and Isla de Mallorca and opening

a Tarifa-Tangier route In

1976 Aznar Line introduced

the new Monte Contés on

an Algeciras-Ceuta summer service The following year Trasmediterránea chartered

her, along with sister Monte Corona, eliminating their new

competitor In 1978 the ships

became Ciudad de Ceuta and Ciudad de Zaragoza

Four purpose-built ships were delivered to ISNASA from Barreras, Vigo in

the early 1980s: Bahía de Ceuta, Punta Europa, Bahía

de Málaga and Bahía de Cádiz ISNASA, along with associated Balearic operations Flebasa Lines, suffered bankruptcy in 1998, by which time the fl eet included two former Danish Superfl ex

ferries, Antonio Machado

S Ibn Batouta in Algeciras in Comanav livery after the acquisition of Limadet

The former sealink ferry, now in Greece is likely to return to service this year.

S The one time Pride of Free Enterprise and former Pride of Bruges, P&OSL

Picardy and Oleander as Sherbatisky departing Algeciras for Tangier Med in

2010, while she was operating for Comarit The vessel, which has also operated

for Trasmediterránea, was scrapped at Alang in 2015.

Trasmediterránea’s unsual looking Ciudad de Malaga, which was built for ISNASA as Julian Besterio, has spent most of her life serving the strait and is seen departing Tangier Med

S During 2016 and 2017 Intershipping chartered the ferry Nova Star, which was built for service for LD Lines in Singapore The vessel, which now sails for Polferries, is seen reversing onto the berth at Algeciras.

FERRY SERVICES

and Miguel Hernandez, two

Kjellstrand catamarans, Sevilla

92 and Rápido de Algeciras,

and two new 8,851gt ferries

Manuel Azaña and Julian

Besteiro, built in 1995 Julian

Besteiro never made it into

service but was laid up at the

builder’s due to the company’s

financial difficulties and passed

to Trasmediterránea in 1998,

becoming Ciudad de Malaga.

Meanwhile, a new company,

Euroferrys, was formed in

1998 by displaced employees

They initially operated Bahia

de Ceuta and Punta Europa,

and later upgraded services

with Euroferrys Atlantica on

the Algeciras-Tanger crossing,

and an Incat, Euroferrys

Primero, for Ceuta, which was

later replaced by a new Austal

101 catamaran, Euroferrys

Pacifica Euroferrys operated

until 2008, when they

were taken over by Acciona

Trasmediterránea

purchased Buquebus’s Spanish business; they had already started a Tangier service in

2003, as Baleària Nautas Al-Maghreb, in conjunction with Moroccan partner Hakim Oualit, using the 115m fast

monohull Federico García Lorca A Ceuta service was

added in October 2006 using the smaller Rodriquez 83m

monohull Ramon Llull

In 2011 Baleària took over the public service contract for the Algeciras-Ceuta route operated by Trasmediterránea and introduced conventional

ferry Passió per Formentera on

the Denia-Ibiza-Formentera service A mix of vessels have

operated, with Incats Jaume I, Jaume II and Jaume III seeing

service with conventional ferries

Bahama Mama and Sicilia; chartered ro-ros Levante, Pauline Russ and Miranda; and former

TRASMEDITERRÁNEA

Trasmediterránea, which was privatised in 2002, operates two vessels to Tangier and one to Ceuta The company first introduced fast ferries onto the straits in 1995,

when two 450-passenger, 90-car Bazán monohulls,

Alcántara and Almudaina,

entered service Operations were later upgraded with larger

98m Incats Today, Ciudad

de Malaga and Las Palmas

de Gran Canaria operate to

Tangier Med, supported by

the ro-ro La Surprise, while the Incat catamaran Milenium Dos operates to Ceuta

BUQUEBUS & BALEÀRIA

In 1997 the Argentinean fast ferry operator Buquebus began operations between Algeciras and Ceuta with fast car-carrying

Bazán monuhull Albayzin;

she was replaced a year later

by 73m Incat Patricia Olivia, now Pinar del Rio, and P&O’s

Troon-Larne Austal fast craft

Express was acquired in 2005, becoming Avemar Dos

In September 2007 Baleària

In 1984 Norwegian company Fred

Olsen redeployed the Skagerrak

ferry Buenavista to a newly formed

Moroccan joint venture, Comarit

(Compagnie Maritime Morocco

Norvegienne), to sail between

Algeciras and Tangier Renamed

Bismillah and placed under Moroccan

flag and crew, she kept Olsen’s grey

hull and buff yellow funnel and the

‘shark’ flag logo modified with a

star In 1998 Bismillah was joined by

Fred Olsen’s Bollette, which became

Boughaz, and in 1996 a third vessel, Banasa, the former Danish ferry Mette Mols, was introduced

A fourth chartered vessel, Sara

1, joined the fleet in 2003 Owned

by Egyptian El Salam, she was built

as the Danish ferry Djursland, but spent time with Olsen’s Canaries subsidiary, Lineas Fred Olsen, as Benchijigua In 2009 Olsen sold their 55 per cent stake in Comarit

to the Moroccan partner Comarit subsequently expanded, purchasing

Comanav’s ferry operations in 2009 and introducing the Hellenic seaways Austal fast craft Highspeed 2 and Highspeed 3 as Boraq and Bissat to

a Tarifa-Tangier service in 2010 in competition with FRS.

Comanav, the Moroccan state shipping and port operator, entered the Straits in 1998, having operated

a ferry service from Tangier to Sete since 1975 Operations began using one-time Stena vessel Moby Vincent on charter from Navarama

Lines (later Moby Lines) Comanav purchased sister vessel Moby Kiss, and introduced her in 1999

as Al Mansour In 2007 Comanav was privatised, being acquired by CMA CGM, but in 2012 Comarit and Comanav effectively ceased operations as crews went on strike in Algeciras with wages unpaid, and the port authority detained the ships for non-payment of fees Both companies were declared bankrupt in 2013, along with Líneas Marítimas Europeas.

S Comarit’s original vessel Bismillah (1971), at Algeciras in 2010 wearing

the operator’s later livery.

S Boughaz, one of a series of nine ferries built in the early 1970s by Jos L

Meyer Werft of Papenburg, departing Algeciras for Tangier Med in 2010.

COMARIT AND COMANAV

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Sealink SNCF/Stena Line vessel

Poeta López Anglada (ex-Champs

Elysees, Stena Navigator) Current

vessels are Avemar Dos, Pinar del

Rio and Passió per Formentera on

the Ceuta route, and Poeta López

Anglada on the Tangier Med

route, supported by the chartered

Anman (ex-Manuel Azaña)

FRS

In 2000 the German company

Förde Reederei Seetouristik

(FRS) established a Spanish

subsidiary to reopen the

Tarifa-Tangier service with a

passenger catamaran, Hansa Jet Operations subsequently

expanded, with a car ferry service commencing at Tarifa using the Kvaerner Fjellstrand

60m catamaran Tanger Jet in

2001 and a 78m Incat Tarifa Jet as second vessel in 2004

An 86m Incat, Tarifa Jet,

and an Austal 86m craft,

Tanger Jet II, followed in 2006

and 2007 The Austal was sold in 2013 and replaced by another Kvaerner Fjellstrand

60m craft, Algeciras Jet, which

had been introduced onto

an Algeciras-Ceuta service in

2008, with sister Ceuta Jet

In 2010 FRS expanded onto the Algeciras-Tangier Med route using a chartered

ro-ro Nicea Passenger

sailings followed in 2011, when the former Ostend ferry

Eurovoyager was chartered

from Trans Europa Ferries

She was replaced by the

Danish ro-pax Mette Mols, which, as Tanger Express,

was joined for the summer

by the chartered Stena Feronia In 2014 sister vessel

Kattegat moved south from

FRS’s Danish operation as a permanent second vessel FRS expanded further with

a passenger car ferry between Tangier and Motril, with

Kattegat opening the route

in 2015 and replaced by the former Seafrance train ferry

Nord Pas-de-Calais renamed Al Andalus Express in 2016 It is

now freight only and operated

by ro-ro Miramar Express

INTERSHIPPING

A new Moroccan operator, Intershipping, was formed in

2012 by former employees of Comarit-Comanav, serving Algeciras-Tanger Med

with the chartered Stena Feronia and Tarifa-Tanger

with two chartered Greek

fast monohulls, Panagia Thalassini and Panagia Parou,

the latter sinking in Algeciras

in 2016 after she had been laid

up for three years

Vessels operated have included the fast monohull

Queen Nefertiti, the

conventional passenger ferries

Nova Star, Amman, Norman

Sara 1 was chartered by Comarit from

2003 to 2010 and sailed for subsidiary Líneas Marítimas Europeas She was

scrapped in 2010.

S A classic channel veteran still going strong is the magnificent Poeta López Anglada of Baleària, which was built in 1984 for service with SNCF Sealink between Dover and Calais as Champs Elysées.

Asturias, Adriatica 1, and

ro-ro freighters Clipper Point

and Stena Carrier The current

fleet consist of Tarifa-Tangier

fast ferries Maria Dolores,

Boraq and Detroit Jet, the latter

pair acquired from Comarit, as

well as conventional passenger

ferry Med Star, which entered

service in 2018 from Greece,

where the vessel had briefly

seen service as Västervik.

AFRICA MOROCCO LINK

Another Moroccan operator,

Africa Morocco Link (AML),

came on the scene in June

2016, starting operations

between Algeciras and Tangier

Med Formed as a joint venture

between the Greek Attica

Group, AML started sailings

with Attica’s Diagoras from

S Tanger Express of FRS, built for the Danish Mols Line service between

Sjællands Odde and Ebeltoft, was acquired by FRS in 2011.

Blue Star and operations have been enhanced each summer with chartered tonnage

El Venizelos of Anek, Galaxy

of European Seaways and

Aylah and Queen Nefertiti, both

of Arab Bridge Maritime, have all been utilised In 2017

Digaoras returned to Greece and

was replaced by current vessel

Morocco Star, one-time Danish train ferry Prins Joachim.

Finally, completing the

line-up are two dedicated freight operators: STAMP operate a daily freight sailing between Algeciras and Ceuta with

Transporter, while Peregar

operate a similar service

from Malaga with Festivo on

alternate days in between sailings to Spain’s other enclave, Melilla

MED TARIFA

FERRY SERVICES

STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR FERRIES 2019

MAESTRO SUN Intershipping Algeciras – Tangier Med 1986 15,375 161m 15k 2,191 - 12

LA SURPRISE Trasmediterránea Algeciras – Tangier Med 2000 15,224 142m 19.5k 1,164 1,011 12

POETA LÓPEZ ANGLADA Baleària Algeciras – Tangier Med 1984 15,093 130m 18.5k 850 330 1,800

MOROCCO STAR Africa Morocco Link Algeciras – Tangier Med 1980 16,071 152m 18.5k 625 200 1,000

CIUDAD DE MALAGA Trasmediterránea Algeciras – Tangier Med 1998 8,851 140m 21k - 460 1,180

LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA Trasmediterránea Algeciras – Tangier Med 1993 10,473 117m 16k 993 280 800

The May 2019 issue will be on sale from Friday 12th April

Ships Corner

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Formed in 1926, we are a professional body for Sea Captains

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The Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier Global Brave (2010/57,317dwt) arriving at

Southampton from Liverpool in ballast to load a cargo of scrap metal for Damietta, Egypt

The 2018-built cruise ship Viking Orion passing the Sydney Opera House

PICTORIAL

Have you an outstanding photo that would grace our gallery? Send your image to Ships Monthly for inclusion in these pages, which showcase the best in ship photography around the world

PICTORIAL

The Cyprus-flagged car carrier Main

Highway (9,233gt, ex-Feedermate,

Main) was built in 1998 by Hegemann

The 2017-built container ship Polar Mexico (43,628gt) heading down the Thames, passing Gravesend; she has

The 1996-built ferry Commodore Goodwill (11,166gt) operates a daily service between Portsmouth and the

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