Largam quase em silêncio...

May 29, 2014, 3:28 am

A visita está a acabar, a prancha já foi retirada, os amarradores estão a postos para largarem os cabos, o navio vai partir dentro de breves instantes.

Não há ninguém a dizer adeus, nada de despedidas, vamos ali mas estaremos de volta depressa. Parecem partidas a fingir, estas dos navios de cruzeiros dos cais de Lisboa.

Antigamente chorava-se, acenava-se, gastava-se a vista num derradeiro abraço impossível. Em Alcântara ou na Rocha, havia dias em que os nossos paquetes, apelidados de Transportes se enchiam de gente fardada de verde, e valia tudo entre o "Adeus e até ao meu regresso" - subiam aos mastros, saltavam para as baleeiras, enchiam-se todos os espaços exteriores do NIASSA, do VERA CRUZ...

Hoje não, é tudo demasiado civilizado e asséptico. Mas podia ser de outra maneira se o Porto de Lisboa apadrinhasse o faz de conta com umas gentes a carpirem a partida acenando e enchendo o vazio do momento da partida. Podiam ser funcionários a precisarem de boa nota na avaliação, ou entusiastas de navios sem vedações a proteger de entusiasmos excessivos. Que belas partidas seriam.

No dia 26 de Maio o EUROPA 2 largou, apitou, mas ninguém retribuiu o cumprimento de despedida. Tempos modernos.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

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Largar com saudades de Lisboa

May 29, 2014, 3:35 am

≫ Next: LAGOA e EUROPA 2

≪ Previous: Largam quase em silêncio...

Os navios de cruzeiros gostam de Lisboa. A cidade é bonita, o porto civilizado e as gentes simpáticas. Alguns parece não quererem ir embora: é o caso do ASUKA II que tem vindo ao Tejo anualmente com turistas japoneses em viagens à volta do mundo. Costuma ficar de um dia para o outro. Deixou marca no cais de Santa Apolónia: 2013, 2014, e veremos se volta em 2015...

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LAGOA e EUROPA 2

May 29, 2014, 3:47 am

≫ Next: BERLIN e CREOULA no Tejo

≪ Previous: Largar com saudades de Lisboa

Na manhã de Sábado, 25 de Maio de 2014, entraram diversos navios em Lisboa, caso do EUROPA 2 e do LAGOA, que subiram o Tejo muito próximos, embora com resoluções diferentes: o LAGOA apressado para atracar, o EUROPA 2 contemplativo para que os seus passageiros absorvessem a beleza mágica da cidade de Lisboa vista a partir do rio...

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BERLIN e CREOULA no Tejo

May 30, 2014, 3:54 pm

≫ Next: DAPHNE em Alang

≪ Previous: LAGOA e EUROPA 2

O navio de cruzeiros BERLIN e o navio de treino de mar CREOULA fotografados na tarde de 30 de Maio de 2014 no Tejo, com o primeiro a preparar-se para alcançar o segundo...

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DAPHNE em Alang

June 4, 2014, 2:35 pm

≫ Next: Bill Miller lecturing on the QUEEN VICTORIA

≪ Previous: BERLIN e CREOULA no Tejo

O navio de passageiros DAPHNE ex-PRINCESS DAPHNE já está fundeado próximo de Alang, a aguardar uma ultima inspecção antes da atribuição de um local para encalhar a fim de ser desmantelado. Chegou a Alang ao amanhecer de 2 de Junho depois de uma última viagem sem regresso, desde Creta, onde estivera imobilizado desde Outubro de 2012 na sequência do colapso da companhia Classic International Cruises.

Os mapas com a localização do DAPHNE são reproduzidos do "AIS MARINE TRAFFIC".

Alang é o principal cemitério de navios da actualidade e fica localizado próximo de Damão e Diu, que com Goa e alguns pequenos enclaves constituíam o Estado Português da India, tomado pela força em Dezembro de 1961.

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Bill Miller lecturing on the QUEEN VICTORIA

June 5, 2014, 1:30 am

≫ Next: A Marinha e os Arquivos

≪ Previous: DAPHNE em Alang

Tuesday, June 3rd At sea: Cool breezes on the starboard side! Interesting diversion & added treat as Cmdr Rynd narrates a morning sail with the QUEEN VICTORIA hugging the Cornish coast and noting at least half a dozen lighthouses – with evocative names like Lizard, Wolf Rock and Eddystone.

Off to sea! John Jones was a mere boy of fifteen when he walked into the huge and very grand Cunard Building in his native Liverpool. "A man that seemed to be 10 ft tall took me to a room, placed me against a wall and measured my height. Happily, I was just tall enough," recalled John. "I was soon off to training school and then assigned to the SCYTHIA, then 30 years old and sailing on the Liverpool to Quebec City run. I earned 7 pounds a month or 5p an hour. I was given a crimson uniform and pillbox hat and off I went. After that, I had to buy my own uniforms from a London tailor on Saville Row. We were said to be the youngest seamen in the British merchant navy and, as a group, we slept 10-12 to a room. We ran errands onboard, delivered telegrams and other messages, helped in the purser's office and sometimes sat and chatted with passengers, especially ladies in first class, who were traveling alone. One grand lady once had 4 bellboys sitting at her feet!"

John was soon posted to another veteran Cunarder, the FRANCONIA. "She went aground in the St Lawrence, near Quebec City [July 1950], and then needed weeks of repairs. Many of the crew took jobs in the Chateau Frontenac Hotel to stay busy, but mostly to earn extra money."

Afterward, John became what he called a "gypsy". He served with Canadian Pacific, aboard the EMPRESS OF CANADA & EMPRESS OF FRANCE, with Pacific Steam Navigation and their REINA DEL PACIFICO & REINA DEL MAR, on the troopship EMPIRE CLYDE and on the migrant ship GEORGIC. "While with Cunard, I was something of one of those 'Cunard Yanks,' bringing home clothes, food and records from New York. We'd all go to Macy's and Woolworths. We also went to the Market Diner on 12th Avenue & 52nd Street and where the third drink was always free for seamen. We had lots of colonial-type passengers on the West Coast of South America run of the REINA DEL PACIFICO & REINA DEL MAR plus lots of businessmen. It was still three-class and I recall that first class was really too quiet, even too dull, and so these rich, well-dressed passengers would often march down to more casual, fun-filled tourist class in the evenings. Aboard the Empire Clyde, we carried troops, guns and military equipment for the planned British invasion of Egypt in 1956. And as for theGeorgic, which still had damages from being bombed and set afire in the War, she was said to be the 'roughest' passenger ship in the entire British fleet. She was really not fit for regular passenger service. Regular Cunard crews did not want to sail aboard her and sometimes there were too few crew. It was said that Cunard would go to prisons in and around Liverpool and gather-up minor criminals to serve onboard. These crew members were known to cause problems such as brawls and problems with the police in ports of call. They once called a sudden strike in Cape Town and would not re-board the ship, and at another time the ship itself was actually banned from Australian ports. When I served aboard the GEORGIC, we carried 10 pound Poms, those British migrants out to Sydney. Then we sailed up to Malaya, carrying Australian troops. Then it was to Viet-Nam and a charter to the French. We carried troops and evacuees out of troubled French Indo-China. The troops were a rough lot that included wounded, diseased and some hired Africans. We delivered them on a long, hot voyage to Algiers and then to Marseilles."

John was also posted to another Cunarder, the freighter ALSATIA, which was on the London-New York run. "We went, in the dark of a late night, to the rescue of the sinking American freighter FLYING ENTERPRISE. She was foundering off the British coast. We were ready with blankets, medicines and lots of hot soup."

John was soon back to passenger ships by the mid 1950s, however. He continued to be that "gypsy" and sailed aboard Shaw Savill Line, Union-Castle, New Zealand Shipping Company and the exotic Booth Line. At Shaw Savill, he sailed in two of the Company's oldest if smaller liners. "The MATAROA & TAMAROA, used on the long New Zealand run, were two of the oldest and slowest passenger ships in the British fleet by then," he recalled. "It took six weeks to go from London to Auckland via Curacao and the Panama Canal. Occasionally, we'd stop at Pitcairn Island to land supplies and mail. The locals, who were expert rowers, would come out to the anchored ship in open boats. They were very spiritual people. Once, these open boats were caught in a fierce, tropical storm. They all continued to row as they sang hymns. After arriving in New Zealand, we'd stay in local ports for six weeks, mostly loading lamb to be brought back to England. I made extra money by working as a temporary docker. But once I missed the ship and was taken to jail as a deserter. The jail for 2 nights was awful – a straw mattress for a bed and meager rations for food. After I was freed, I was flown – and under police guard -- to the South Island to rejoin the MATAROA. I was taken aboard, brought before the captain and fined a week's pay plus the cost for the jail, police and plane ride. I returned to London with no money – not a penny!"

John also served aboard Union-Castle's BLOEMFONTEIN CASTLE, an all-tourist class ship designed purposely for immigrants and low-fare travelers. "We carried lots of British migrants going out to Rhodesia, but also stopped in Rotterdam and collected Dutch & German migrants as well. Often, they were very poor people. When we'd reach Africa, on their last day onboard, they'd steal food from the dining room. They had no money for food for even their first days ashore."

Aboard London-based New Zealand Shipping Company, John served on the 21,000-ton RANGITOTO, which carried over 400 passengers in all one-class quarters. "NZ Shipping, as it was called, was said to be a cut above Shaw Savill," he remembered. "Their ships were faster and more comfortable."

The Booth Line, also British, maintained an unusual service – across the mid Atlantic from Liverpool to the Caribbean and then 1,000 miles up to the Amazon River to Manaus. He sailed aboard that Company's passenger ships: the HILARY, HILDEBRAND & HUBERT. "These voyages along the Amazon were hot, steamy, thickly humid. The crew would often sleep on deck. Below, if you opened a porthole, insects of all sizes and types would come flooding in! The ships' navigating officers had to be very careful because of submerged rocks and floating logs in the River. Once, we bent the ship's only screw and then limped to Manaus. There was no shipyard in such a remote place and so two Brazilian divers were hired to make repairs. They carved away some of the twisted steel but which actually made the ship faster than before. The chief engineer was more than surprised – and pleased! We carried businessmen, traders and sometimes even a few tourists in first class and missionaries, medical people and teachers in tourist class. The crew often bought parrots and birds in Manaus and then brought them home to Liverpool. Myself, I bought a little Cayman, kept it in my cabin, but then discovered it didn't like colder climates. Soon after landing in Liverpool, I gave it to the Chester Zoo. Liverpool customs were easy in those days. Give them a few pounds and almost anything could be brought in!"

By the early 1960s, John was to go to another passenger ship, the APAPA of Elder Dempster Lines and serving on the Liverpool-West Africa run, but was hired – and almost at the last minute – by Lockheed Aircraft's Liverpool plant. "I was sent for training and became a skilled craftsman – making precision aircraft parts. My life as a seamen – of working 10 hours a day and 90 hours a week – was wonderful, a great education in itself, but it was then over."

Pass the salt! Dinner tonight with Ronnie Keir, a longtime Cunard friend & Chief Engineer of the QUEEN VICTORIA. Expectedly, he has huge knowledge about liners & has a great regard and interest in ships of the past. And being from Scotland, he has special interest in ships & shipbuilding on the historic River Clyde.

Photo: The RANGITOTO, one of New Zealand Shipping's big, 21,000-ton combo passenger-cargo liners, seen at Melbourne.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright Bill Miller (Edited by L.M.Correia). Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

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A Marinha e os Arquivos

June 5, 2014, 1:03 pm

≫ Next: Ships, ships, ships...

≪ Previous: Bill Miller lecturing on the QUEEN VICTORIA

A Marinha e os Arquivos: mostra documental a não perder, em Lisboa no pavilhão central da Cordoaria, de 9 a 23 de Junho, das 10h00 às 17h00, todos os dias úteis.

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Ships, ships, ships...

June 5, 2014, 1:35 pm

≫ Next: CREOULA no Tejo

≪ Previous: A Marinha e os Arquivos

Esta semana tem sido pródiga em navios visitados pelo Blogue dos Navios e do Mar: o SANTA MARIA MANUELA a 3 de Junho, no decorrer de uma curta escala para embarcar 50 passageiros, o HORIZON na primeira escala em Lisboa com as cores da CROISIERES DE FRANCE a 4 de Junho e hoje - 5 de Junho, o CREOULA revisitado no Alfeite. Belos navios a dar continuidade a uma vida inteira a ver navios...

This week the SHIPS AND THE SEA blog has been particularly busy visiting ships: the SANTA MARIA MANUELA on 3rd June, on a quick call to embark 50 passengers for a coastal cruise to Setúbal, the HORIZON on her maiden call to Lisbon under the livery of CROISIERES DE FRANCE on 4th June and today - 5 June, the CREOULA revisited at the Alfeite naval base. Great ships to look at, always...

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CREOULA no Tejo

June 7, 2014, 12:55 pm

≫ Next: The ANCHOR LINE Indian Run

≪ Previous: Ships, ships, ships...

Lisboa, 7 de Junho de 2014: hoje foi dia de saída do lugre CREOULA para mais uma viagem de treino de mar, com a duração de 7 dias, desta vez com a Universidade Itinerante do Mar a bordo e a cidade de Sevilha como destino.

Acompanhámos o navio a descer o Tejo e entretanto reactivámos o BLOGUE DO CREOULA, agora com aspecto mais moderno e funcional, pelo que estão todos convidados a voltarem a visitar o nosso espaço privativo de divulgação do CREOULA e dos seus irmãos SANTA MARIA MANUELA e ARGUS, que continuaremos a enriquecer com notícias, fotografias e histórias antigas e recentes.

Blogue do CREOULA renovado aqui...

We are pleased to inform that our site dedicated to the CREOULA and her sister SANTA MARIA MANUELA and ARGUS has just been refitted and updated with photographs, news and stories about these magnificent Portuguese sail training ships. Check the CREOULA blog here, and enjoy. Photographs taken today, 7th June 2014 in Lisbon showing CREOULA leaving the river Tagus for another cruise, this time bound for Seville, Spain.

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The ANCHOR LINE Indian Run

June 10, 2014, 4:50 am

≫ Next: INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS: 11 escalas em Lisboa

≪ Previous: CREOULA no Tejo

Bill Miller writes about the old Scottish steamship company Anchor Line, of Glasgow:

"The smell of curry! "They were said to be the best kept, most immaculate passenger ships using the port of Liverpool in the 1950s & '60s," said Mike McDougle, who served aboard Britain's long-gone Anchor Line and aboard the Company's three, 11,000-ton passenger ships, the Caledonia, Cilicia & Circassia, which carried up to 300 one-class passengers each. "We were on the Indian run – sailing by way of Gibraltar, Port Said and the Suez Canal to Karachi and, the final stop, to Bombay. We carried very few tourists actually, but mostly government people, lots of the old colonials, businessmen, tea merchants and Indians including the occasional maharaja. Those Indian princes traveled with entire entourages that occupied as many as a dozen cabins onboard. One royal, I think it was the Maharaja of Rawalpindi, had a stateroom just for his pet falcon."

"These Anchor liners were famed for their cuisine," added Mike. "They had all-Indian galley crews that prepared the most wonderful curries. Just having, say, lunch aboard at Liverpool was a treat. Anchor Line food was equal to the finest Indian restaurant. Anchor was also noted for its exceptional maintenance and shipboard care. Everything, even the engine room, was in pristine condition. Even though these ships were over 20 years of age, it was as if they'd just left the shipyard."

Luís Miguel Correia end note: In Portugal the Companhia Colonial de Navegação had an unofficial link to Anchor Line in two ways:
In 1929 CCN purchased from Anchor Line the liner ASSYRIA and as the COLONIAL she served under the Portuguese colours until sold for breaking up in 1950.
Then at the end of WW2 an agreement between the Governments of Portugal and Great Britain gave priority to the building of merchant ships in British yards for Portuguese owners. CCN ordered two fine 13 000 grt passenger liners from John Brown of Clydebank, the PÁTRIA, delivered in December 1947 and the IMPÉRIO, delivered six months later while the rival Companhia Nacional de Navegação (CNN) ordered two passenger motor ships of similar size but of more modern design from Newcastle yards, the sisters ANGOLA and MOÇAMBIQUE.

The CCN pair was built and delivered one years in advance of the Nacional sisters mainly because instead of designing the PÁTRIA and IMPÉRIO from scratch, original plans developed by John Brown for Anchor Line before WW2 were used and adapted to Cia. Colonial requirements. This saved a full year and in fact The Colonial sisters were very similar in terms of exterior design to the Anchor final three passenger liners.

Built for the Lisbon-East Africa passenger and mail service, the PÁTRIA and the IMPÉRIO only made one voyage each homebound by Suez, the IMPÉRIO in the 1950s and the PÁTRIA in 1962 when she sailed from Mozambique for Karachi and then home to Lisbon.

Further to the official mail service, the Portuguese liners also cruised from time to time and also used to embark in Cape Town and Durban tourists from South Africa for the round coastal trip up to Mozambique and back, using the first class cabins alloted to passenger from Angola and left vacant after the ships sailed South from Moçamedes.
There was always a group of South African cruise passengers aboard when the ships sailed the Indian Ocean and often there was occasion for romance between young Portuguese ship officers and S.A. pretty girls, some giving way to weddings.

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INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS: 11 escalas em Lisboa

June 11, 2014, 6:06 am

≫ Next: QUEEN ELIZABETH regressou a Lisboa

≪ Previous: The ANCHOR LINE Indian Run

Lisboa, 11 de Junho de 2014: O navio de cruzeiros INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS está de novo no Tejo. Chegou pelas 07h30 da manhã, entrou a barra, pilotou em Algés e atracou a Alcântara. A partida será pelas 16h30.

Trata-se da primeira escala deste ano, uma vez que ao contrário do que aconteceu o ano passado, em 2014 o navio não passou o Inverno na Europa, que trocou pelas Caraíbas. Mas está de volta e até 16 de Outubro vem mais 10 vezes a Lisboa, representando as 11 escalas mais de 30 000 turistas para a nossa cidade.

As próximas escalas do INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS em Lisboa estão programadas para as datas seguintes: Junho 14: 11 e 26; Julho: 1, 23 e 29; Agosto: 20 e 27; Setembro: 17 e 29; Outubro: 10 e 16. O navio atraca habitualmente ao Cais Avançado de Alcântara, utilizando os passageiros a Estação Marítima.

Fotografias de Luís Miguel Correia tiradas esta manhã no Tejo.

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QUEEN ELIZABETH regressou a Lisboa

June 12, 2014, 1:05 am

≫ Next: MSC BARCELONA na Liscont

≪ Previous: INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS: 11 escalas em Lisboa

Lisboa, 12 de Junho de 2014: O navio de cruzeiros QUEEN ELIZABETH regressou ontem a Lisboa para a primeira escala de um navio da Cunard desde a festa no Tejo de 6 de Maioúltimo. Ainda estive a perscrutar o horizonte à procura dos outros QUEEN mas desta vez foi mesmo só o mais recente, e nada mau, o dia esteve óptimo e o ELIZABETH partilhou o porto de Lisboa com o INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS.

Fotografias de Luís Miguel Correia registando a chegada do QE aos pilotos, na manhã de 11 de Junho de 2014. O QUEEN ELIZABETH atracou ao cais do Jardim do Tabaco.

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MSC BARCELONA na Liscont

June 14, 2014, 10:33 am

≫ Next: Quadros Fluviais do Tejo

≪ Previous: QUEEN ELIZABETH regressou a Lisboa

Lisboa, 14 de Junho de 2014: duas imagens do cais da Liscont esta manhã, destacando-se, atracado, o porta-contentores MSC BARCELONA e a navegar no seu cruzeiro das 11h00, o TRAFARIA PRAIA, da Douro Azul.

O MSC BARCELONA (IMO 9480186) foi construído em 2011 e está fretado à MSC, sendo propriedade do armador alemão Claus Peter Offen Reederei. O navio tem 74 456 TDW e 61 870 GR, navegando com registo liberiano. Fretado a tempo à MSC, navega com as cores da empresa de Geneve.

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Quadros Fluviais do Tejo

June 14, 2014, 1:40 pm

≫ Next: Saída da nossa Barca para viagem...

≪ Previous: MSC BARCELONA na Liscont

O gosto pelos navios e o fascínio pelo Tejo e pelo porto de Lisboa proporcionam muitas vezes verdadeiros quadros fluviais fotográficos, como aconteceu esta manhã nalgumas horas passadas no rio a fotografar: de cima para baixo, aspecto da fragata VASCO DA GAMA a subir o rio passando o lugre CREOULA, ambos de entrada rumo à Base Naval, no Alfeite; há inúmeras formas de usufruir do rio, e alguns preferem a pesca à fotografia; para outros, nas manhãs de sábado, o Tejo é mesmo a remo e há que carregar com os barcos, que neste mundo nada é de graça; no Pontal de Cacilhas, para além do Farol, agora vermelho (originalmente era verde) o cacilheiro S. PAULUS mostra o seu perfil elegante, dentro em pouco seguirá para a margem Norte para assegurar os habituais passeios turísticos; já o cacilheiro CAMPOLIDE dedica-se às travessias regulares entre Cacilhas e o Cais do Sodré, enquanto o rebocador SVITZER LEIXÕES atravessa o rio em sentido contrário depois de auxiliar três navios de guerra em manobras de atracação; por fim, 14 de Junho foi este ano o Dia da Marinha do Tejo que promoveu uma concentração de embarcações tradicionais de vela frente ao Cais das Colunas.

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Saída da nossa Barca para viagem...

June 14, 2014, 3:35 pm

≫ Next: Dia da Marinha do Tejo

≪ Previous: Quadros Fluviais do Tejo

O navio-escola SAGRES saiu de Lisboa na manhã de 13 de Junho de 2014, na sua habitual viagem anual com os cadetes da Escola Naval. Não tendo sido possível levar a nossa Barca ao Brasil este ano como chegou a ser pensado, a SAGRES vai visitar os arquipélagos das Canárias e Açores, - Las Palmas de Grã Canária, Ponta Delgada e Angra do Heroísmo.

Ontem ao fim do dia a SAGRES cruzou-se com o CREOULA ao largo da costa alentejana e esta manhã esteve na Baía de Sagres, navegando agora para SW com destino a Las Palmas onde chega a 19.

As fotografias da partida, tiradas junta à Torre de Belém, com más condições de luz foram as possíveis, apenas para registar o momento...

Para além da luz, em contraluz, para ser mais preciso, uma embarcação de recreio colou-se à SAGRES e não havia meio de se afastar, teimando em ficar n "retrato" contra minha vontade...

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Dia da Marinha do Tejo

June 14, 2014, 3:56 pm

≫ Next: FINCANTIERI soma e segue

≪ Previous: Saída da nossa Barca para viagem...

Festa marítima no Terreiro do Paço, com a comemoração do Dia da Marinha do Tejo.

Fotografias tiradas ao fim da manhã de 14 de Junho de 2014.

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FINCANTIERI soma e segue

June 15, 2014, 5:16 am

≫ Next: Veleiros da Escola Naval

≪ Previous: Dia da Marinha do Tejo

MILAN, June 13 (Reuters) – Italian state-owned shipmaker Fincantieri aims to make its debut on the Milan bourse in July with a stock market value of up to 1.84 billion euros ($2.5 billion), it said on Friday.

Fincantieri, maker of vessels ranging from luxury yachts to military aircraft carriers, said in a statement it would offer a stake of up to 38.2 percent stake, mostly made up of new shares, at a price range between 0.78 euros and 1 euro per share.

That would value the company, based in the northeastern port city of Trieste, at between 1.57 billion euros and 1.84 billion, and the initial public share offering up to 704 million euros.

The flotation – the bulk of which will be reserved for institutional investors – starts on Monday, the same day as that of UniCredit’s online banking unit Fineco.

Fincantieri is wholly controlled by Fintecna, itself owned by state financial holding Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

The proceeds of up to 600 million euros from the issue will be used to bolster Financtieri’s finances.

Fintecna can at best cash in 200 million euros from the listing, meaning the Italian treasury does not stand to gain much from the privatisation. ($1 = 0.7345 Euros) (Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by David Holmes)

The Fincantieri formula for success is time-tested. Combine the the best naval architecture and marine engineering minds in the business with expansive facilities and computer-controlled manufacturing equipment. Add to this a seasoned and motivated workforce with a rich history of delivering on time and within contracted costs for both government and commercial vessels. Drive each of these elements with the innovative thinking and enterprising spirit that is the foundation of the Fincantieri

Marine Group.

FMG is a subsidiary of Fincantieri, one of Europe’s largest shipbuilders with a track record dating back 200 years and a history of building more than 7,000 ships. Fincantieri is making substantial capital investments in each of the four FMG shipyards in order to take performance and quality to new levels.

The FMG shipyards have a distinguished history of building quality ships. Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin, was founded in 1942 and has built more than 1,500 vessels for government and commercial clients. Bay Shipbuilding traces its roots in building Great Lakes vessels back to 1918. A new shipyard, ACE Marine, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is an all-aluminum shipbuilder and is the builder of the Response Boat Medium for the United States Coast Guard.

FMG offers complete marine solutions. It has a large and experienced naval architecture and marine engineering staff, and provides cost-effective answers to complex marine transportation challenges. FMG’s climate-controlled facilities are modern and expansive, and purpose-designed for maximum manufacturing efficiency under the highest standards of quality control. The FMG workforce is both highly trained and skilled, and committed to safe operation. All of this is backed by a hands-on management team clearly focused on client satisfaction.

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Cruise ships by Fincantieri

The success achieved by Fincantieri in the cruise ships business stems from a long tradition.

Already in the early 1900s the two shipbuilding centres of Genoa and Trieste were unrivalled players at world level building ships which already then stood out for their design, elegant interior furnishings and engineering solutions.

Of the many ships built the Rex is worthy of special mention as possibly the most famous, classical Italian transatlantic liner, the epitome of luxury and elegance. Built at Genoa shipyard, the Rex is remembered for winning the Blue Riband in 1933, having beaten the record for crossing the Atlantic, a record won by few other transatlantic liners.

Fincantieri was one of the first in the 1980s to take up the opportunity of the new trend in the cruise tourist industry and it approached the market by drawing on its experience and prestige acquired in previous decades as builder of transatlantic liners.

The Crown Princess, delivered in 1990, is perhaps one of the most beautiful ships of our time with its dolphin skyline evoking the sea, designed by Renzo Piano. This ship is the forefather of a fleet of over 50 cruise ships built by Fincantieri, flag bearers of technology and design, engineering capacity and creativity.

The leadership gained with a distinctive product “Made in Italy”, is the result of top quality and a privileged relationship with the best international customers.

Our customers, who are mainly the world’s leading cruise companies, know they can rely on an integrated construction system which exploits, in addition to one of the world’s most advanced industrial procedures and processes, a large and qualified network of subcontractors and suppliers who provide furnishings, supply services and create interiors with the care and attention of our best tradition of craftsmanship and the class of all-Italian design.

Thanks to its constant attention to Research and Innovation, Fincantieri continually develops new generations of ships in order to follow, indeed often anticipate, demand from the market and ship owners.

Fincantieri serves all the sectors of the cruise market with a wide range of vessels which includes postpanamax and panamax ships as well as medium-small super luxury vessels or ships for special voyage types (expedition cruise, etc.)

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Ferries

Availing itself of highly diversified, in-depth technological know-how and skills, Fincantieri is capable of designing and building a full range of merchant ships (chemical tankers, gas carriers, RoRos, ferries, etc.).

The company specialises in the construction of ferries for passengers and vehicles. In this sector Fincantieri provides its customers with a complete range (from cruise ferries to Ropax and High Speed Ferries), together with the capacity to understand the needs of the shipowners designing tailor made vessels within contained construction lead-times.

Fincantieri products benefit from design and construction solutions from cruise shipbuilding. The customer portfolio includes some of the main Italian and foreign ship owners: Grimaldi, Moby, Tirrenia, Finnlines, Tallink, Neptune, P&O Ferries, SNCM, Minoan, to name but a few. Since 1998 Fincantieri has designed and built a fleet of 23 ferries in service for the community, sailing on the new Motorways of the Sea.

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Naval Vessels

The history of Fincantieri in the field of naval vessels counts over 2,000 vessels built for the Italian Navy and many foreign navies.

Fincantieri is able to design and build a wide range of surface ships, aircraft carriers, frigates, corvettes, patrol vessels, in addition to support ships and submarines.

Ships are assisted throughout the course of their whole life with the provision of logistical support and post sales services as the company is able to guarantee both planning of maintenance and the execution of work of an ordinary or extraordinary nature and refitting at Fincantieri facilities or at a site chosen by the customer.

The company is the reference partner of the Italian Navy for the design, construction and logistical support of the surface fleet and submarines in addition to boasting a consolidated relationship with other State bodies.

Fincantieri has well-proven products, which provide high operating standards alongside optimised costs thanks to the use of design and construction solutions tried and tested in the merchant field.

The company can work as Warship Design Authority and Prime Contractor.

In the naval field Fincantieri provides its customers with a dedicated structure made up of a design centre in Genoa and a flexible, integrated production system of two shipyards at Muggiano and Riva Trigoso.

Fincantieri is partner to some of the main companies in the defence sector within the framework of supranational programmes. The more recent co-operations have included one with the German Submarine Consortium for the construction of submarines for the German and Italian Navies, one with the French company DCN in the Orizzonte and FREMM programmes, and one with the team of Lockheed Martin Corp in the programme of Littoral Combat Ships for the US Navy.

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Fincantieri Yachts

We’ve built over 7000 ships, so at Fincantieri we know quite a bit about the sea and how to build top-of-the-range seagoing vessels of all types. One of the secrets is understanding their differences. For example, we know that a Mega-yacht is unique, not just a luxurious passenger ship, but rather she’s a very special statement of her owner’s success, sophistication and style.

With this in mind, we made the strategic decision to pursue excellence at the very top of the yacht market and set up Fincantieri Yachts as an autonomous division, totally focussed on building yachts larger than 70 metres (230ft).

We gave them a highly-skilled and dedicated team and made sure they’re supported by Fincantieri’s best in-house experts as well as world-renowned consultants and suppliers.

This gives Fincantieri Yachts all that’s needed to develop the unique technical, industrial, organizational, regulatory and project management solutions required to produce first-class yachts.

We also understand that not all yacht owners have the same ideas. Some want to create, with their own designers, completely new, unique and distinctive vessels, specifically designed to their own vision, and we’re ready to develop and build these projects for them.

But other owners prefer to build upon an exclusive existing design. So, for them, we joined with some of the world’s most prestigious international yacht designers to create five concept designs: “Project Light” 80 metres, “Project Mars” 90 metres, “Project X-Vintage” 99 metres, “Project Armonia” 142 metres and “Project Fortissimo” 145 metres. Although technically detailed, these concept designs are intended to be adapted to any owner’s specific desires.

Why Fincantieri Yachts? Within Fincantieri Yachts, we’ve assembled all of the elements needed to build top-of-the-range mega-yachts, bringing a little bit of Italian magic, to offer yacht owners a construction experience which is smooth, professional and focused on quality as well as being creative, exciting and personally rewarding.

Fincantieri Yachts

Viale San Bartolomeo, 446

19126 Muggiano (SP) Italy

Ph: +39 0187 543 238 Fax: +39 0187 543 239

EMail: fincantieriyachts@fincantieri.it

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Ship repairs and conversions

Fincantieri has been providing services to the Shiprepair and Conversion sector since its launching in 1959. Then, utilising the services of dedicated Companies which were initiated in 1992, Fincantieri established itself as one of the largest direct providers of drydocks and shiprepair services in the Mediterranean. This activity has developed into a specialised Marine Services business unit, which is technically and commercially able to respond quickly and efficiently to client needs and which provides all the required support for ship repair, conversion and other specialised projects.

Dedicated resources for this activity include the large shipyard in Palermo which comprises several workshops, deep quays and drydocks (400,000DWT Max), two docks (250,000DWT Max) at Trieste ATSM, and a dock (40,000DWT Max) at the Muggiano yard in La Spezia.

Fincantieri offers ship owners a wealth of experience encompassing a full range of interventions on all types of vessels which, when required, can be supplemented by the capabilities and resources of the shipbuilding and other divisions within the company.

The shiprepair and conversion business unit also includes steel fabrication for marine, offshore and onshore applications and is evaluating possibilities to diversify into activities which offer synergy with its capabilities, resources and central Mediterranean location.

Fincantieri works as prime contractor in the field of ordinary and extraordinary maintenance, conversion/upgrading providing technical support and assistance in drawing up and managing maintenance programmes, in accurately estimating the length of time the ship will be out of service and in addition, coordinating and carrying out purchasing activities up till execution of the work in the shipyard.

Wide-ranging technical skills and consolidated production and technological capacities enable the company to satisfy all the customer’s requirements, with the guarantee of high quality services and contained delivery time frames.

Comentário LMC: o Grupo Fincantieri é um conjunto de empresas públicas de grande expressão mundial pela qualidade e inovação. Tenho pena que em Portugal o esforço de criação de uma indústria naval moderna desenvolvido a partir da década de 1930, com o Arsenal do Alfeite, o Estaleiro da CUF, Viana do Castelo e todos os outros acabando na Lisnave e Setenave não tenha proporcionado um polo de desenvolvimento semelhante. Em Portugal, quanto mais engenheiros navais formamos no Técnico, menos indústria naval temos. Olhe-se para todos os estaleiros fechados, nomeadamente Viana, olhe-se para a vergonha que é todo o processo do navio de passageiros ATLÂNTIDA, e reflicta-se na necessidade urgente de mudar procedimentos e formas de trabalhar com o interesse público sempre em consideração, ou pensam que alguma vez seremos capazes de regressar ao Mar sem navios e sem meios para os projectarmos, construir e explorar?

Navio de passageiros ATLÂNTIDA, atracado no Alfeite a 14 de Junho de 2014. Fotografia de Luís Miguel Correia

Notícia da Reuters. Texto adicional de / News released by Reuters with comments by L.M.Correia. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

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Veleiros da Escola Naval

June 15, 2014, 7:11 am

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A Escola Naval tem à sua disposição não só a barca SAGRES, que é o Navio-escola oficial da Marinha Portuguesa, mas uma série de veleiros de menores dimensões, caso do N/E POLAR e deste veleiro que fotografámos na manhã de 14 de Junho de 2014 a navegar frente ao Caramujo.

Não conseguimos identificar o nome, alguém nos ajuda?

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AMÉLIA DE MELLO: o paquete branco

June 17, 2014, 3:26 am

≫ Next: Os vapores das ilhas...

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Comprado em Israel em 1966 pela Sociedade Geral para fazer a carreira de Angola, o paquete AMÉLIA DE MELLO ex ZION tinha a particularidde de ser o único dos grandes navios de passageiros portugueses com casco branco. Os navios da Colonial tinham cascos cinzento esverdeado, os da Nacional cascos azuis claros e antes disso cinzentos claros e os da Insulana eram pretos.

Claro que haviam o quarteto da Sociedade Geral também de casco branco, (ALFREDO DA SILVA, ANA MAFALDA, RITA MARIA e MANUEL ALFREDO), mas esses eram navios muito mistos, mais cargueiros e mais pequenos.

Branco mesmo, como muitos dos navios de passageiros estrangeiros que visitavam Lisboa e o Funchaln a segunda metade da década de 1960, só mesmo o AMÉLIA DE MELLO, um bonito navio, que navegou pouco mais de 5 anos com a bandeira portuguesa e acabou comprado pelo armador grego Vlassopulos em 1972. Rebocado para Bilbao, foi reconstruído para cruzeiros e passou a chamar-se ITHACA e mais tarde DOLPHIN, tendo navegado muitos anos em cruzeiros entre a Florida e as Bahamas...

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Os vapores das ilhas...

June 18, 2014, 3:49 pm

≫ Next: Navio de cruzeiros TRAFARIA PRAIA

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Anúncios de viagens aos Açores dos paquetes CARVALHO ARAÚJO e LIMA relativas a Dezembro de 1933, o CARVALHO era novo, acabado de construir em Itália em 1930, o LIMA nem tanto, datava de 1907 e fazia a linha das ilhas desde 1923.

Estes navios pareciam ser eternos, ainda os conheci bem e o CARVALHO ARAÚJO fez a ultima viagem aos Açores em 1970, o LIMA dois anos antes...

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