This picture, courtesy Wikipedia, shows the Swedish America Line's
Stockholm in July 1956 after she had collided with the Italian Line's luxury liner
Andrea Doria off Nantuket, Massachusetts in thick fog. The
Stockholm, which had a strengthened ice breaking bow, sliced into the
Andea Doria amidships. Despite this mortal impact, and the fact that the
Stockholm immediately came free, scraping down her side, the
Andrea Doria remained afloat for 11 hours, allowing 1,660 passengers and crew to be rescued, while only 46 died, mostly in the initial impact. The full story is
here.
This is the 15,600grt
Athena, a cruise ship operated by Classic International Cruises, seen coming up the Sound of Mull on 18th July. She might looks like any other sleek, modern cruise liner, but she isn't. She's the
Stockholm, hiding behind her eighth name since the collision. She's a credit to her Swedish builders, who launched her in 1948, though she has obviously gone through some major repairs and several refits since then.
The
Yeoman Brook is one of several bulk carriers owned and operated by Aggregate Industries, a huge multinational concern with its finger in many pies - if you're interested in seeing them all, click
here. The four ships we see going through the Sound to the superquarry at Glensanda are run by Yeoman Poland, website
here, who deliver some 7 million tonnes of aggregate to customers throughout Europe.
The
sd Tornado is operated by the private Serco Denholm company for the Royal Navy under a 10-year PFI contract running from 2007. Her main role seems to be in torpedo recovery. We see a number of SD ships, moving between the Navy's testing ranges to the north of us and their Clyde bases.
The tug
David Andrews is seen here coming up the Sound on 11th July with what looks like a semi-submersible platform in tow. She's one of a number of tugs we see, sometimes towing the large nets for fish farms, though this work is also done by some surprisingly small fishing boats.
At this time of year the Sound is busy with yachts, this one seen leaving Kilchoan Bay after mooring there overnight. It's good to see her moving under canvas - too many of these boats, even in fair weather, motor around the place, one suspects because their skippers are too nervous to use the sails.
Lastly, here is a picture of a good, solid working boat, the
Good Fellowship, BK172, registered in Berwick. She's almost as old as the
Athena/Stockholm, having been built in Arbroath in 1960. The gear she uses to catch prawns is a 'bottom otter trawl' - details of this type of net are
here.
This picture, courtesy Wikipedia, shows the Swedish America Line's Stockholm in July 1956 after she had collided with the Italian Line's luxury liner Andrea Doria off Nantuket, Massachusetts in thick fog. The Stockholm, which had a strengthened ice breaking bow, sliced into the Andea Doria amidships. Despite this mortal impact, and the fact that the Stockholm immediately came free, scraping down her side, the Andrea Doria remained afloat for 11 hours, allowing 1,660 passengers and crew to be rescued, while only 46 died, mostly in the initial impact. The full story is here.
This is the 15,600grt Athena, a cruise ship operated by Classic International Cruises, seen coming up the Sound of Mull on 18th July. She might looks like any other sleek, modern cruise liner, but she isn't. She's the Stockholm, hiding behind her eighth name since the collision. She's a credit to her Swedish builders, who launched her in 1948, though she has obviously gone through some major repairs and several refits since then.
The Yeoman Brook is one of several bulk carriers owned and operated by Aggregate Industries, a huge multinational concern with its finger in many pies - if you're interested in seeing them all, click here. The four ships we see going through the Sound to the superquarry at Glensanda are run by Yeoman Poland, website here, who deliver some 7 million tonnes of aggregate to customers throughout Europe.
The sd Tornado is operated by the private Serco Denholm company for the Royal Navy under a 10-year PFI contract running from 2007. Her main role seems to be in torpedo recovery. We see a number of SD ships, moving between the Navy's testing ranges to the north of us and their Clyde bases.
The tug David Andrews is seen here coming up the Sound on 11th July with what looks like a semi-submersible platform in tow. She's one of a number of tugs we see, sometimes towing the large nets for fish farms, though this work is also done by some surprisingly small fishing boats.
At this time of year the Sound is busy with yachts, this one seen leaving Kilchoan Bay after mooring there overnight. It's good to see her moving under canvas - too many of these boats, even in fair weather, motor around the place, one suspects because their skippers are too nervous to use the sails.
Lastly, here is a picture of a good, solid working boat, the Good Fellowship, BK172, registered in Berwick. She's almost as old as the Athena/Stockholm, having been built in Arbroath in 1960. The gear she uses to catch prawns is a 'bottom otter trawl' - details of this type of net are here.
I've sailed on the yacht in the second picture which belonged to a friend of mine! BTW, yachts don't motor because their skippers are too nervous to use their sails. It's because a yacht can't sail any closer than about 45 degrees off the direction of the wind and sod's law decrees (especially in the Sound of Mull) that the wind is blowing exactly from where you want to go. In a reasonable wind, you can tack back and forth across the sound (the tacking is not to negotiate dog legs in the channel but to keep at the required angle to the wind) but in light winds the exercise is quite hopeless and can often result in the tide carrying you back faster than you can make progress so the only practical option is to get the iron topsail on.
ReplyDeleteHi Neil - Many thanks for the comment. Many of the yachts motoring in the Sound have a fair wind for their sails, but don't use them. That's why it's such a pleasure to see a yacht moving under canvas, particularly in brisk conditions. Jon
ReplyDeleteHello! That's my 1977 Moody 30 "SULAN". In my ownership between 2003 and 2012.
ReplyDeleteVery nostalgic.
Obviously too nervous to fly the canvas or possibly just trying to get to the pub before last orders!!
douglas.greer@johncrane.co.uk