July 2022

Ships Monthly

The world's number one shipping magazine

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Ships Monthly
Editor • Nicholas Leach sm.ed@kelsey.co.uk Art Editor • Mark Hyde Ben Foster • ben@hillviewmedia.com or keith@hillviewmedia.com (for sales) Managing Director • Phil Weeden Chief Executive • Steve Wright Finance Director • Joyce Parker-Sarioglu Retail
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Contributors This Month
David Hobbs served in the Royal Navy for 33 years. On leaving the Navy he was Curator of the Fleet Air Arm Museum for eight years and is now a naval historian. Allan Jordan is a maritime historian and writer who specialises in the history of 20th cen
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Two more Eco-Lifters
Hamburg-based United Heavy Lift (UHL) has ordered an additional two F900 Eco-Lifter newbuilds from the China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s shipyard in Hudong, China after having taken delivery of 17 of the fuel-efficient ships since 2019. The late
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World’s First Emission-free Pushtug On Trial
The world’s first emission-free pushtug, the 20m by 8.2m Elektra, has been begun long-term testing operations in Germany following completion by the Hermann Barthel GmbH shipyard at Derben. Driven by two Schottel type SRP 100 Rudderpropellers, the in
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Welcome To A Special Issue
Welcome to this special issue of Ships Monthly celebrating a century of naval air power. This is a bumper 92-page edition, which includes a 28-page exclusive feature on the history and development of the aircraft carrier. We are fortunate that naval
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New Russian Research Ship
Despite its invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s Defence Ministry has taken delivery of the 81m by 16m oceanographic research ship Yevgeny Gorigledzhan from the Baltic Shipyard Yantar, part of Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation. The 4,000-tonne displa
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Sovcomflot Offloads Tonnage
Against a backdrop of restricted trading as a result of EU, US and British sanctions imposed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s largest shipowner, Sovcomflot, has begun shedding tonnage in a bid to repay western finance providers a
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Costa Venezia Moves To The Med
As Asian countries continue strict enforcement measures in an attempt to contain the latest Covid wave, cruise companies have shifted some ships to Europe in order to get them back to work. One such is Costa Venezia, despite the fact that the ship wa
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Newbuilds for Hagland
Dutch shipyard Royal Bodewes has launched the IMO Tier III-compliant bulk carrier Hagland Pioneer for future delivery to Norwegian shipowner Hagland Shipping as a series of two ships being built at a coast of $32.9 million. Ordered to replace existin
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Silent Passage In The Fjords
Havila Kystruten’s newest ship, the 15,519gt Havila Castor, made history in the Geirangerfjord on 2 June by operating the first zero emission cruise through the world heritage fjord. Havila Kystruten’s ships are claimed to be the most environmentally
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News In Brief
MOROCCO OPENS After a two-year ban on passenger traffic from Spain due to the Covid pandemic and Moroccan political problems, sailings by Balaeria, FRS, InterShipping and Africa Morocco Link to North Africa resumed in May with only Armas-Trasmediterr
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Another Pioneer From Allseas
The Swiss-based Allseas Group is well known for its 1,000,000-tonne displacement Pioneering Spirit, the world’s largest ship, but it now has another pioneering vessel, the 61,042dwt Hidden Gem, the world’s largest subsea miner. Converted out of the f
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New Toll Rates Proposed For The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal Authority has proposed a comprehensive restructuring of its toll system which would reduce the current structure of 430 tariffs to fewer than 60 and focus more on vessel capacity by 2025. Ships would also pay different fees for using
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Euronav And Frontline Merge
During their AGM in May, Euronav’s shareholders voted against the admission of three representatives of the Saverys family’s CMB (Compagnie Maritime Belgie). The move had been an attempt by the Belgium-based family to maintain control of the company,
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UAL BOCS Shipping Sees Fleets Merged
UAL BOCS Shipping has been formed to utilise the multipurpose general cargo fleets of the German-based Bremen Overseas Chartering and Shipping (BOCS) and Dutch-Universal Africa Lines (UAL). Based at Capelle a/d IJssel, the operation will continue UAL
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Trapezium-shaped Hull For New Hydrogen Tanker
Among a number of designs being drawn up for liquid hydrogen tankers is one by Netherlands-based C-Job Naval Architects that would feature a trapezium-shaped hull supporting three cryogenic storage tanks of 12,500m3 capacity each. The 141.75m by 34.9
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Kitty Hawk Arrives For Recycling
The decommissioned US Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, formerly CVA-63, docked at the Port of Brownsville, Texas on 31 May after a 16,000-mile trip from Bremerton, Washington, around the tip of South America, prior to her recycling. She had left
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Historic Tug Sinks In Canada
The Canadian city of Thunder Bay, Ontario is seeking proposals from local companies to raise the 117-year-old tugboat James Whalen from the Kaministiquia River after the historic vessel took on water and sank in late April. Built in 1905 by the Bertr
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News In Brief
SINGLE NAME Since 25 April CLdN has become the common brand name for all companies in the Belgian group, with individual names CLdN RoRo, CLdN Cargo and C-Ro Ports dropped after work to integrate ro-ro ships, ports and door-to-door activities. CLdN i
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Two-ship Dover-Calais Service Resumes
After being at a standstill following the dismissal of 800 seagoing staff in mid-March, P&O Ferries’ hopes of resuming Dover-Calais services through the Easter period came to nothing, and it was 26 April before Spirit of Britain (2011/47,592gt) began
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Berlin Has Rotor Sail Fitted
Aiming to be operating a fleet that is emissions-free by 2040, Scandlines has fitted another vessel with a Norsepower Rotor Sail. Following the successful conversion of Rostock-Gedser route’s Copenhagen (2016/22,319gt) in 2020, work has now been comp
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Ferries In The News
CHINA DELIVERY CIMC Raffles handed over the world’s largest ice-rated multi-fuel con-ro vessel Botnia Enabler to operator Wallenius Sol on 13 May. Sister vessel Baltic Enabler is due to follow later in the year from the Longkow Yard near Yantai, Chin
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Galicia Bound For Service On Irish Route
In April it was announced that Galicia (2020/41,671gt), Brittany Ferries’ first E-Flexer, will be moved to the Ireland-Spain route linking Rosslare with Bilbao in November while retaining her French crew and before the third vessel from the China-bui
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Dublin-Cherbourg Route Switch
The largest fleet vessel in the Irish Ferries fleet, W.B. Yeats (2018/51,388gt), had to go to the Harland and Wolff Yard in Belfast for a week from 2 May to have a new upper bow door fitted after suffering damage during a Dublin-Cherbourg crossing wh
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Veteran On The Move
Tallink Group subsidiary Tallinn Swedish Line has sold Sea Wind (1972/15,879gt) to Gdansk-based Polish operator Rudniki Shipping, with the vessel, originally built at Helsingør, Denmark and much altered since, handed over on 26 April. She was renamed
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Ferguson Marine milestone
A major milestone in the much-delayed completion of the pair of dual-fuel vessels for service with Caledonian MacBrayne was achieved at the Ferguson Marine yard shipyard in Port Glasgow in April when the second ship, still known only as Hull 802, was
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Troon Visitor
The small 2019-built cruise ship Greg Mortimer, which is usually employed on Arctic itineraries, has been undertaking a Wild Scotland cruise, which departed Edinburgh and ended at Aberdeen, and included stops at the small Ayrshire port of Troon, whic
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Change Afoot For Genting Ships
The former owner of the recently failed Genting Hong Kong, the Lim family, has extended its resorts business into cruising just months after the collapse of the previous business. The new Resorts World Cruises has managed to charter one of the ships
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Welcome Back As Full Fleet Sets Sail
When Quantum of the Seas came back into service in December 2020, it seemed likely that a full resumption of Royal Caribbean cruising would take a few months, but it has actually taken rather longer. More than two years after the initial wind-down an
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Funnel Fire On Freedom
While Carnival Freedom was docking at Grand Turk on the morning of 26 May, adjacent to the company’s latest ship, Mardi Gras, a fire broke out in her funnel. Although it was quickly extinguished, there was damage to the structure. It has been reporte
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Odyssey Finally Starts Her Med Season
The last of the Quantum class vessels, Odyssey of the Seas, was in Piraeus late May after a 14-day repositioning cruise which involved crossing the Atlantic before she commenced her first European summer season, with itineraries based out of Civitave
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World Europa’s New Standards
As she enters the final stages of construction, MSC World Europa is claimed to be the greenest and most efficient vessel in MSC Cruises’ fleet. She is due to be delivered in October, and MSC Cruises recently detailed the ship’s environmental credenti
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Dorset Caller Out Of Refit
Cunard’s Queen Victoria (2007/90,049gt) called at the Port of Portland from Belfast following her refit at the end of May. She had been used in the Caribbean as an accommodation ship for passengers who needed to isolate from other vessels within the
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News In Brief
HAVILA The Russian-financed ship Havila Capella (pictured) is still laid up, with further voyage cancellations due to the inability to insure the ship, despite the company having been given a dispensation to operate the ship for six months. The finan
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That’s alright, Jacques!
Jacques Chevallier (A725), the first of four new replenishment ships for the French Navy, has been launched at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire. Built from 20 blocks, the naval tanker was assembled in a record 50 days, due to t
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Danes Boost Firepower
A Danish warship has fired an SM-2 Block IIIA missile for the first time. The test was conducted by HDMS Niels Juel to prove integration of the missile with ship systems and the Mk 41 vertical launcher system at the Andøya Space Defense range in nort
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Building Bridges
The Royal Navy has signed new cooperative initiatives to extend working relationships with the Royal Danish Navy and the US Coast Guard. The Type 31 Implementing Agreement has been set up to support the introduction of the new Inspiration class friga
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Farewell To Fleet Members
The nuclear-powered attack submarines Talent and Trenchant were formally decommissioned together at a joint ceremony at Devonport Naval Base on 20 May. Crews from each boat paraded in Plymouth for the final time in front of The Princess Royal, HMS Ta
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Multi-mission Patrol Vessels
The South African Navy has taken delivery of SAS Sekhukhune (P1571), the first of three multimission inshore patrol vessels (MMIPVs), at the naval dockyard in Simon’s Town, Cape Town. The locally-built MMIPV is based on Damen’s Stan Patrol 6211 and i
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Forging A New Frontier
Two of the US Navy’s oft-maligned Littoral Combat Ships are making news for more positive reasons. USS Sioux (LCS 11) has lived up to her motto of ‘forging a new frontier’ by becoming the first LCS to deploy to European waters. The Freedom-variant ha
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News In Brief
EUROSEAS BUYS BOXSHIPS Euroseas of Greece has purchased the twin Seaspan-owned container ships Seaspan Manila, built in 2007, and Seaspan Melbourne, built in 2005, for $37 million. Both 4,250TEU ships come with charter agreements that run into 2025 a
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Swire acquires Westwood
Singapore-based Swire Shipping has purchased Westwood Shipping Lines from Japan’s Sumitomo Warehouse, which had earlier acquired the company from American lumber giant Weyerhaeuser in 2011. Westwood has been operating seven con-bulk ships between the
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US Shipbreaker Gains EU Vessel
In a rare undertaking, a US-based shipbreaker is recycling a EU-flagged ship, the Norwegian-owned Wolverine, in accordance with EU Ship Recycling Regulations. The demolition of the 158m by 23m vessel comes about after the International Shipbreaking y
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Asian Owner Orders In Europe
Dutch builder Royal Bodewes has been contracted to build a 7,750dwt cement carrier for Taiwan’s U-Ming Marine, with the 115m by 15.8m vessel to be handed over by the first quarter of 2024. The design of the new ship will be based on a previously deli
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Management Buyout At A2B
Led by Henk Bakker, MD of Van Uden Group, the shares of De Vierhouten Groep in A2B-online were acquired on 20 April, in a management buyout of the shortsea specialist. A2B-online owns seven container ships, six 508TEU capacity vessels built to Sietas
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Protestors Prevent Berthing
On the night of 15 May, while she was inbound to Navigator Terminals, just downriver from the Dartford Bridge on the Essex bank of the Thames, the 40,000dwt, Greek-flagged Andromeda was forced to turn around and return to the anchorages in the Thames
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Vietnam Repairs
Bangkok-based Thoresen Thai has returned its bulk carrier Thor Nitnirund to service following repairs at Vietnam’s Nosco Shipyard after the ship suffered grounding damage. Built by China’s COSCO Nantong Shipyard in 2016, and last operated as SBI Teth
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First Autonomous Electric Ship
Chinese shipping company Navigation Brilliance (BRINAV) has placed what it claims is the world’s first autonomous electric-powered container ship into commercial service between Qingdao Port in Shandong Province and Dongjiakou Port in the Yellow Sea
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Grant Awards
SCOTTISH FISHERIES MUSEUM Museums Galleries Scotland have announced that amongst 39 museums and galleries across Scotland which have been awarded over £1 million, with funding from the Scottish Government, four are for maritime museums and historic s
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Swiss Paddler Returns To Service
The Lake Geneva paddle steamer Rhône, operated by the Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le Léman (CGN), returned to service in late February after a three-year rebuild estimated to have cost in excess of 12 million Swiss francs. She was withdrawn
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Royal visit to D-Day Landing Craft
HRH The Princess Royal visited the D-Day survivor LCT 7074 at the D-Day Story, Southsea on 21 April. As patron of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, she inaugurated LCT 7074 and thanked the organisations and individuals who have worked on this pr
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Back Afloat
In April the Morecambe Bay prawner Helen II (pictured) returned to the water after a major 12-year restoration project. Built by Crossfields of Arnside in 1910, she worked from the Mersey until 1930, then fished off the Welsh coast for ten years, and
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Historic Warship To Stay In Belfast
Agreement has been reached with key partners The National Museum of the Royal Navy and The National Lottery Heritage Fund to keep HMS Caroline in Belfast until at least 2038. One of eight C class light cruisers built around 1914, and the last survivo
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The ‘Great Repair’ Gets Started
In May scaffolding was erected around the hull of HMS Victory to provide a temporary structure in preparation for the ‘Great Repair’, which offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see under the skin of a First-Rate ship of the line. Platforms wi
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Little Ship
Work has begun on the conservation of Skylark IX, one of only a couple of Dunkirk Little Ships remaining in Scotland, which for several years remained sunk on the River Leven. Thanks to a small grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, initial c
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Silja Line Celebrates 65 Years On The Baltic
For its 65th anniversary on 20 May, Silja Line had special ‘Silja 65’ menus, cocktails and other features for those passengers who were on board aboard its five Baltic vessels. Back in 1957, the company had very different Finnish ownership to its sta
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Training Vessel Preserved
The former Dutch training vessel Prinses Beatrix has been allocated her own berth in the Inland Shipping Museum in Dordrecht, having been handed over by her owner, Concordia Damen Shipyard, on extended loan to the Inland Shipping Society at a ceremon
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Subscribe 6 Issues For £22
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The Drive To Decarbonise
New fuels, such as methanol, ammonia and hydrogen, are being examined to help ‘decarbonise’ the shipping industry, but increasing attention is also being paid to wind, electrical and solar power. Wind energy has been used in various degrees over the
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Solid Sail
Also in France, shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique has received an AiP from Bureau Veritas for its Solid Sail concept, which the French builder feels is the best wind-assist system for large vessels, including cruise ships. Solid Sail is a 1,200m2
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Deployable Kites From Seawing
Deployable kites are also being looked at for auxiliary power, and three 210,000dwt LNG-fuelled bulk carriers, being built by Japan’s Nihon Shipyard for compatriot shipowners NYK Line, K Line and Mitsui OSK Lines, will be fitted with an automated Sea
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Bulkers On The Humber
Bulk carriers are a common sight on the River Humber, and will call at one of several bulk terminals found along the estuary. Immingham is one of the biggest mineral ports in Europe, handling coal for several power stations on the nearby River Trent
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New From The World Of Ships Books Range
LATEST ISSUE OUT NOW ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY ORDER NOW WHILE STOCKS LAST Delivered direct to your door Just £8.99 each, with free P&P Four new titles published annually – check our website for the latest SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/SHIPS OR CALL: 01959 543 747 L
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1 The Origins Of The Carrier
By 1918 the Royal Navy was so far ahead of other navies in developing methods of operating aircraft from ships that an American liaison officer sent to study its methods, Captain G.W. Steele USN, reported that so many ideas had been learned from the
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2 The First Carriers
Argus was the world’s first true aircraft carrier; she had a flush deck from bow to stern on which wheeled aircraft could take off and land. Lifts allowed them to be struck down into the hangar or raised from it to be ranged on deck for take-off. Cap
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3 The Big Conversions
Limited post-war funding and the Washington Naval Treaty, signed in 1922, forced the RN to retain its small prototype carriers for too long. New ships could not be afforded until 1935, when the new Ark Royal was laid down. Both the USA and Japan were
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4 Major Role In World War II
In September 1939 the RN had six aircraft carriers with a further six, Illustrious, Victorious, Formidable, Indomitable, Indefatigable and Implacable, under construction. Ark Royal, delivered in 1938, was the newest and best of those in service. Ther
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Aircraft Carriers Serving Navies Worldwide
Aircraft carriers are operated by a number of the world’s navies today. USA • The US Navy has the largest fleet of carriers, all of them nuclear-powered, but is seeking ways to expand their numbers with a potential class of conventionally powered lig
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Missed An Issue?
COVER STORY Isle of Mull profile INSIDE Ice breaking train ferries, remembering reefers, Battle of Midway COVER STORY New ferry Salamanca INSIDE Centaur voyage report, cruise ship Rotterdam, Scheldt shipspotting COVER STORY Odyssey of the Seas INSIDE
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5 The Post-1945 Era
The largest carriers of the wartime era were the three ships of the Midway class, originally described by the USN as ‘battle carriers’ (designated CVB), and which were designed to operate up to 137 aircraft. USS Midway (CVB 41) was laid down in Octob
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Crossing The cook Strait
Two companies run regular ferry services between Wellington, on New Zealand’s North Island, and Picton in the Marlborough Sounds on the South Island: Interislander, with three ships, and Strait Shipping, under the Bluebridge brand, with two ships. Bo
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News In Brief
ROYAL NAVY Babcock has won a ten-year contract to provide dry dock maintenance for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. The £30 million arrangement covers both planned and contingency docking at their facility in Rosyth, where both ships were
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Ships Of The Soviet Union
Admiral Sergei Gorshkov (1910-1988), who came to prominence following the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and subsequent fall of President Khrushchev, underlined that ‘a strong merchant fleet is an important element in the overall build-up of Soviet sea po
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Carnival Cruise Line cruising For Half A Century
In March 2022 Carnival Cruise Line celebrated its 50th anniversary. The youngest of the three largest North American cruise corporations, Carnival calls itself the ‘world’s most popular cruise line’, but its origins are relatively simple. Few people
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Scarlet Lady Continues To Be Much Discussed
Since her debut, Scarlet Lady has definitely had an impact on the shape and design of cruise ships. First of all, the bulbous bow, helping stabilise ships, is nonexistent on Scarlet Lady and her sisters, Valiant Lady and Resilient Lady. I do not know
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Ships Mail
Having travelled from the UK to Spain on the cruise ferry Cap Finistère (Portsmouth) and Pont-Aven (Plymouth) many times, I have been following Galicia and Salamanca (SM, May) with interest. Compared to Cap Finistère, the new ships are larger, carryi
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Tilbury Landing Stage 90 Years On
More than two centuries have passed since the construction of London’s first purposebuilt docks. The opening of the West India Docks in 1802 heralded a period of considerable development which lasted throughout most of the 19th century. Apart from th
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Mystery Ship
The mystery ship is British Railway’s Falaise (1947) after she had been converted to a car ferry but before she was painted in Sealink’s blue-hulled livery. Her car deck’s tapered extraction fan cowlings, installed during conversion, are distinctive.
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Can You Help Barge Pudge?
A centenary appeal is under way to enable volunteers to complete the final stages of restoration of the Thames sailing barge Pudge. Based at the K.J. Finch Shipwright yard at Fullbridge, Pudge will have new decks, and coamings, beams and ceilings rep
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Book Of The Month
David Hobbs Published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, tel 01226 734555. Price £35 (£16.99 online). This impressive book tells the story of how naval air operations evolved into a vital element of the Ro
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Next Issue
A look at the impressive careers of 12 ro-pax ferries built by Superfast between 1995 and 2002 that are still running in fleets around the world, along with the story of the man who was the inspiration behind them. Part 1 covers the first six ships.

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