Dry Cargo Ship VIKINGBANK

Just like the saying 'What goes around, comes around', so is true with ship designs. Back around the turn of the 20th Century, most warships including the Dreadnought-class battleships sported a reversed bow or as some called it then, a 'ram bow' which basically meant that when all other offensive measures have failed or aren't available, the order is simply, 'full speed ahead and prepare to ram' the enemy submarine or whatever in half. You do what you have to do to survive just like the ancient Athenians did in 535 BC, when the 'naval' ram bow was first recorded. Today, the inverted bow concept is making a comeback, not so much as a weapon but rather as a 'wave-piercing' bow design that allows the ship to slice through waves instead of rising over them in rough seas, and in doing so, it reduces fuel consumption and wave resisting drag.  

Earlier this month, I snapped the 468' Dutch dry cargo ship VIKINGBANK which is the first ship that I have ever seen with an inverted bow, which basically means that the longest point of the ship is below instead of above the waterline which one might generally see on current ocean going vessels like the IRMA (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/07/bulk-carrier-irma.html). Built in 2012, the VIKINGBANK is owned by Pot Scheepvart of Delfzijl, NL and proudly motored by us at Loyalist Park near Morrisborg on her way to Trois Rivieres, Quebec like a true 'trend-setter'.

Carlz Boats: Harbour Tugs OMNI RICHELIEU & JERRY C.

Carlz Boats: Harbour Tugs OMNI RICHELIEU & JERRY C.: When the OMNI RICHELIEU was built in 1969 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, her name was PORT ALFRED II and she operated primarily in the upper Saguenay River for Alcan who had an aluminum smelter in La Baie des Ha! Ha!

Harbour Tugs OMNI RICHELIEU & JERRY G.

The ideal summer temperature for me is 'HOT! HOT! HOT!' However, for the most part it's 'NOT! NOT! NOT!' been that HOT at all with probably only two or three times when we've had a cluster of scorchers in the high 30's and 40's (Celsius that is, in Fahrenheit that's about 87 to 95). Actually it has been very pleasant. A lot like when we first moved to Ottawa in 1978. When we leased our first NEW car, an '79 Mercury Zephyr Villager station wagon with it's fake 'MACtac' wood-grain sides, we got all the bells and whistles on it except air conditioning because you didn't need it. It didn't really get that 'HOT!' back then and when it did, we just motored along with the wagon's standard cooling feature, 4WD100, or '4 windows down at 100 kilometres per hour'.

I guess I'm just a little rangy about the current not so 'HOT! HOT! HOT!' temps because I know in less than 6 months, most of the 'Great White North' will be covered in snow and ice, and the wind will be 'COLD! COLD! COLD!' just like when I snapped these two harbour tugs, OMNI RICHELIEU and JERRY G., mired in ice last February at Hamilton harbour near the proud Tribal-class destroyer, HMCS HAIDA, (http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2013/04/the-last-tribal-hmcs-haida-g63-dde215.html). 
When the 86' OMNI RICHELIEU was built in 1969 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, her name was PORT ALFRED II and she operated primarily in the upper Saguenay River for Alcan who had an aluminum smelter in La Baie des Ha! Ha! (No Joking, this time!). In a 1972, she was sold to Omnimar of Sorel and her name was changed to in OMNI RICHELIEU. When Groupe Ocean took over Omnimar in 1982, she continued to operate along the St. Lawrence, until more recently when the RICHELIEU and JERRY G., were assigned to offer various work boat services for the Ports of Hamilton, Toronto and Oshawa, all located on Lake Ontario. Meanwhile, the 91' JERRY G. was built in 1960 at and for Davie Shipbuilding of Lauzon, Quebec. In 1975 when Davie got out of the tug boat business, she was sold to McAllister Towing of Montreal which was eventually taken over by Groupe Ocean. Regardless of the season, both the OMNI RICHELIEU and JERRY G. have proven their worth in ship berthing, towing, firefighting and even breaking ice, ICE! YIKES!! Enough with the winter COLD & ICE talk! It's summer here and time enjoy it with an nice COLD beverage with a lot of ICE. CHEERS!!

Carlz Boats: Container Ship MAERSK PEMBROKE

Carlz Boats: Container Ship MAERSK PEMBROKE: When built in 1998 in Rostock, Germany, she was named P&O NEDLLOYD SIDNEY. Her name was changed to MAERSK PEMBROKE when purchased by Maersk Lines of Copenhagen, Denmark in 2006 though she flies the flag of The Netherlands.

Container Ship MAERSK PEMBROKE

I could barely contain myself when just after we arrived at Parc Rene-Labrosse in Montreal East, the partially loaded 688' container ship MAERSK PEMBROKE motored by. This was as close as I have been to a container ship since last September in Fremantle, Western Australia where I snapped the  965' MOL EMINENCE http://carlzboats.blogspot.ca/2012/10/container-ship-mol-eminence.html below. Though both container ships are approximately 105' wide, the MAERSK PEMBROKE can only carry up to 2,902 containers or 'sea-cans' compared to 4,658, the maximum TEU (Twenty foot Equivalent Units) for the MOL EMINENCE.
When built in 1998 in Rostock, Germany, she was named P&O NEDLLOYD SIDNEY. Her name was changed to MAERSK PEMBROKE when purchased by Maersk Lines of Copenhagen, Denmark in 2006 though she flies the flag of The Netherlands. What also was surprising to me was the name 'PEMBROKE' because there's a city called Pembroke about an hour's drive north of here along the Ottawa River. Having said that, there's also a 'Pembroke' in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia in the US and one in the UK according to Google Maps. Then again perhaps the ship was named after the Earl of Pembroke or the Pembroke Welsh Corgi, which QueenEII has owned 30 dogs of this breed since her coronation in 1952. Regardless, it's better that she's named 'Pembroke' instead of being simply 'broke-in-half' like the 1,037' MOL COMFORT which split in two during a severe storm and spilled her load of 4,500 containers into the Indian Ocean this past June. Kind of gives a whole new meaning of the term 'sea-can', don't you think?

Carlz Boats: Tanker ESTA DESGAGNÉS

Carlz Boats: Tanker ESTA DESGAGNÉS: Like most tankers, the ESTA has many pipes and a catwalk from the superstructure to its fo'c'sle. She also has a reinforced ice strengthen bow which allows her full access and manoeuvrability when the St. Lawrence River becomes clogged with ice during the winter months.

Tanker ESTA DESGAGNÉS (Revisited)

Hey 👋I'm getting a little better at this self imposed jigsaw puzzle challenge I've been fiddling with during the latest provincial "Lockdown and STAY AT HOME, gall darn-it" restrictions, by completing my latest effort of the tanker ESTA DESGAGNÉS in about an hour, over three days, that is. The last piece this time was a portion of her always immaculate white superstructure which your can better in the shots below when I caught her for the first time in Montreal-East on September 26, 2014.

 

On that day it had been a bonus surprise as I had also just found another really nice place to set up the barbie and snap away at moored or passing by boats. Just off Rue Notre Dame in Montreal-Est is Parc Rene-Labrosse which is situated along the St. Lawrence River between two oil tanker terminals. Say What? Yup, it appears much of the east end of Montreal Island is home to Shell, Gulf and Petro-Canada oil refineries which produces over 380,000 barrels per day and also stores oil products produces further up the Great Lakes in Sarnia and Nanticoke, Ontario. While waiting to flip the burgers, I snapped the 405' tanker ESTA DESGAGNÉS off-loading at the Petro-Canada terminal just east of the park. 

 

When built in 1992 in Wismar, Germany her name was EMSSTERN and then in the next year her name was changed to EMERALD STAR. In 2010 her name was changed again to ESTA DESGAGNÉS and has been sailing with the Group Desgagnés markings of a dark blue hull and a yellow flashing near the bow and on her stack though she is managed by Rigal Shipping of Shediac, New Brunswick. 

 

At a time before tall fences were erected all along both sides of the Welland Canal, I caught the downbound ESTA DESGAGNÉS passing beneath Bridge 21 in Port Colborne on October 9, 2013. The seagulls still have a great view, fence or no fence 😀

 

The ESTA DESGAGNÉS was built double-hulled with a cargo capacity of 10,500 cubic metres of oil or chemicals  and according to my nephew, Corey who saw her pass through Port Colborne recently, 'she has a lot of pipes on her deck'. Very true Corey. Like most tankers, the ESTA has many pipes and a catwalk from the superstructure to its fo'c'sle which connect to her seven cargo holds. 

She also has a reinforced ice strengthen bow which allows her full access and manoeuvrability when the St. Lawrence River becomes clogged with ice during the winter months and while replenishing vehicle and jet fuel depots in the high Arctic every summer months.

Anchored in the river and waiting for a dock space is the 724.5' Fednav icebreaking bulk carrier/tanker ARCTIC. Click here to read about her: http://carlzboats.blogspot.com/2013/12/ice-breaking-motor-vessel-arctic.html

From the Port Huron side of the St.Clair River, I took this snap of the ESTA taking on cargo at Sarnia on September 19, 2013.

The proud ESTA DESGAGNÉS worked for the last time with the unique yellow slash near her bow and Groupe Desgagnés flag emblem on her stack,   when on May 9, 2020 she arrived in Montreal for long term layup and soon after put up for sale. Last August, ESTA was sold to an unknown Russian company and on September 17, the newly named CALLISTO got underway, bound for Pusan, South Korea via the north route above Russia. I'm certain her sleek ice-breaking bow was useful in that long journey to the other side of the world.

With the former Montreal Olympics stadium "Big O" in the background, the now Russsian owned and named CALLISTO prepares for her departure in this photo by René Beauchamp on September 6, 2020.

Thanks again as always René for letting me use your photos. You can see more of his new and archived photos around Montreal along the St. Lawrence in a group he helps administer, Seaway News - Voie maritime Info. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/groups/985794125135584

Now which Jigsaw Planet Carlz Boats puzzle should I create next. Stay tuned c):-D