Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos

DRYDOCKING - Ferry RIGEL II at Malta - 06.03.2018. The 1980 built CYP flag ferry RIGEL II  left Valletta (Grand Harbour), Malta from Palumbo Malta Shipyard Dock 4 on Monday 12th March 2018 assisted by 1 local SEA SALVOR with 1 pilot aboard while 1 Pilot was assisting the dock master at the Dock. She was built in Sweden by Oresundsvarvet Landskona as Yard Number 278 launched as VISBY for Rederi AB Gotland. During  1990 the   VISBY was chartered to UK   based ferry operator Sealink British Ferries.   Following a major refit atTilbury, the ferry entered service in March 1990 as the FELICITY.  The FELICITY was renamed STENA FELICITY   in 1991 following the acquisition of Sealink British Ferries by Stena Line.  In 1997 the charter of the STENA FELICITY  ended of which her place on the Fishguard route was taken by another ferry the KONINGIN BEATRIX. Following a refit and rebuild in Germany, the vessel re-entered Gotl...

CASUALTY - 31 Years Ago - HERALD OF FREE ENTERPRISE - 06.03.1987 During the evening of 6th March 1987 MS Herald of Free Enterprise, a Townsend Thoresen branded RORO passenger and car ferry owned by European Ferries capsized shortly after sailing.  The ferry left the Belgium port of Zeebrugge bound for Dover.  At 1920 hrs the vessel passed out of the inner breakwater and in to the shipping channel, by 1928 hrs she had capsized. At 1927 hrs the helmsman reported that the vessel wouldn’t respond. Her master immediately put the engines to astern.  Unfortunately by this point the vessel was already listing 30 degrees to port and this had no effect. The vessel righted for a moment before capsizing to port and settling on a sandbar on her side, the sandbank prevented the ferry from completely sinking in deeper water. The water reached the ship’s electrical systems and destroyed both the main and emergency power which left the ship in complete darkness. At the time the ...

BLOW FROM THE PAST - MASSALIA at Malta. The ferry MASSALIA was built by Dubigeon-Normandie S.A. in 1971 and delivered to Compagnie de Paquebots who put her on the route Marseille- Malaga-Casablanca  and also cruises around the Mediterannean Sea including Malta.  Her imo was 7048219 with 142.24 metres as length overall weith a beam of 22.2 metres and draught of 5.5 metres. Below is image of the vessel entering Valletta back to 80's - Photo by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use this image without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos - www.maltashipphotos.com

DRYDOCKING - Ferry CATANIA at Malta - Jan/Feb 2018. The 2003 built 186 metres long ferry  CATANIA  owned by Grimaldi Lines, Italy was drydocked at Palumbo Malta Shipyard Ltd Dock no 6 on Sunday 28th January, 2018. She's the former EUROSTAR SALERNO until January 2009. Then on Friday 9th February, 2018 the vessel shifted from Dock no 6 to Factory Wharf assisted by 2 local tugs LIENI and SEA SALVOR. Interesting to see her in Grimaldi Lines Blue Colours not the Dark ones anymore.  Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos - www.maltashipphotos.com

Gozo Channel Ropax TA' PINU Completed in Time For Carnival. Gozo Channel’s ropax TA' PINU  has just undergone a three week routine drydock at Palumbo Malta Shipyard and sailed back into service on Wednesday 31st January 2018, in time to handle next week’s carnival traffic between the two islands. The ferry spent 23 days in Dock 5 where 70 workers dedicated their energies to overhauling the underwater area using special high-pressure hydro-blasting, repainting the vessel, and carrying out the necessary repairs. One change passengers will notice is the complete modernisation of the ferry’s restrooms, as well as the treatment to the garage deck area that can handle a maximum of 158 vehicles. Palumbo general manager Joseph Calleja said the shipyard’s team worked hand in hand with the ship’s captain Joseph Vella and crew to ensure a quick turnaround of the works. Gozo Channel engineering manager Sammy Grech said: “Our ships normally enter the dock for routine works dur...

23 Years since ESTONIA sank on 28 September 1994 claiming 852 lives MS ESTONIA  previously VIKING SALLY   (1980–1990), SILJA STAR   (1990–1991), and WASA KING  (1991–1993), was a passenger ferry  built in 1979/80 at the German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg as HUll 590 . The ship sank in 1994 at the Baltic Sea  in one of the worst maritime disasters of  the 20th century.  After TITANIC she is  the second-deadliest European shipwreck disaster to have occurred in peacetime and the deadliest peacetime shipwreck to have occurred in European waters, with 852 lives lost. The sinking of the ferry vessel MS ESTONIA in the Baltic Sea is an accident that will haunt the maritime domain for long years and even beyond. Caused by myriad reasons, this Baltic Sea accident was an event so unprecedented that the extent of the damages caused, both to life and to property, is still shocking even after so many years since the disaster occurred. ...

SHIP OF THE WEEK - BRIDGE. Originally was built in 1976 at Canberra, Australia as a ro/ro vessel completed by New South Wales Government's State Dockyard at Newcastle as a twin screw vessel BASS TRADER for the Australian National Line Shipping Co (ANL). Equipped with two 9 cylinder 4 stroke cycle engine single acting MAN type oil engines by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, Kobe. Driving twin controllable pitch propellers and a bow propeller with a service speed of 14.5 knots.   In 1997 she was sold to Strintzis Lines S.A. Cyprus, converted into passenger/roro/ferry, 16537 gross tons and renamed IONIAN BRIDGE. 1999 same owners and renamed BLUE BRIDGE while in 2004 she was sold to sold to Meykel Shipping Line, Spain & renamed MERCEDES DEL MAR until 2010 when she was acquired by European Sealines and renamed BRIDGE. During August 2014 she brought Evacuees from Libya disembarking them at Valletta of which they were taken straight to the airport to get their des...

Ship of the Week - AL HUSSEIN. Car and passenger ferry built by Hall, Russell & Co, Aberdeen, that entered service, Mallaig to Armadale (Skye), in 1964 for David MacBrayne as  Clansman . In 1972 she was rebuilt so that she could carry larger lorries, involving heightening her and giving her a new bow door. Then Ullapool to Stornoway service and, from 1977, reserve ship but chartered to P&O for Northern Isles service in the winters. Sold in 1984 to Torbay Seaways for new Channel Islands service but was not suitable and sold on to Mira Shipping of Malta and renamed  Tamira  for a Malta-Gozo service that also never materialised. Sold again and employed in the Gulf of Aqaba and renamed  Al Hussein , then sold and renamed  Al Rasheed  in 1986. By 2002 she was lying abandoned off the coast of Sudan. Here seen as AL HUSSEIN with IMO 6404935 moored at Coal Wharf, Grand Harbour, Malta - 27.03.1986 - www.maltashipphotos.com

Polferries in talks with the UK’s Thanet Council according to local press Regional British online news service Kent Online announced today on the 2nd  August that “a leading Polish ferry company” is in talks with Thanet Council about possible ferry services from the Port of Ramsgate. Archived image of Catamaran BOOMERANG with IMO 9150286 berthed at Ras Hanzir Dolphins at Valletta, Malta back in 1997 - www.maltashipphotos.com