On board ‘CONTSHIP VISION’
22 November 2000
As a maritime photographer specialising in just Ports and Shipping Photography I consider one of the perks of my profession is to be asked to go to sea on photographic assignments on many different vessels, and sometimes over several days, visiting several various and interesting ports along the way, getting off and photographing the great variety of ships alongside working wharves with high overhead cranes lifting colourful boxes filled with many kinds of cargo and destined for international ports all over the world.
This particular time Maris Freighter Cruises of Connecticut, U.S.A. and NSB-Niederelbe Schiffahrtsgesellschaftbetrieb Buxtehude, Germany, provided me with this excellent opportunity to sail on ‘Contship Vision’ which departed from within just a couple of kilometres of my home, at the Sea Land Container Terminal, Adelaide, South Australia, for a splendid sixteen day voyage via the container ports of Melbourne (P&O Ports Container terminal), Sydney (C.T.A.L. Container Terminal), Auckland (Axis Fergusson Intermodal Container Terminal), back to Melbourne (Patrick’s Container Terminal) and finally back to Adelaide.
“Contship Vision” was built in Samsung Shipyard, Korea in 1996 from plans which were originally designed by German Shipyard, Bremer Vulkan. The first of four ships, “Contship Romance” was built here. After this shipyard went bankrupt the plans were sent to Korea to build the three remaining ships which were still on order.
The ship has four passenger cabins just below the bridge, all with large rectangular windows providing excellent views of the sea and ports. All cabins have a separate bedroom (with a queen size bed and with an ensuite bathroom-great showers!!) from the main lounge room which has a very roomy space with comfortable sofas and an armchair surrounding a fixed coffee table. The lounge also contains a writing desk (directly beneath one of the portholes-in my case I kept it open almost throughout the entire voyage to enjoy the fresh air and to listen to the gentle phosphorescence of the sea as the ship glides through the water) and a refrigerator (for any additional drinks etc. whilst on board). On a cruise ship, this amount of space would be considered to be a penthouse or equivalent. On this ship there were no elevators (some container ships do have them). The choice is to go three flights down to the Officer’s Mess via the interior stairs or the alternative is to go via the outside stairwell. Most time (except in extreme windy circumstances) I used the outside stairwell to feel a little closer to the sea and to take in the conditions of the voyage at that time.
Passengers eat hearty, delicious meals in the Officer’s Mess, served by a friendly ship’s steward who also cleans the cabins once a week. The cook on board this particular vessel had previous working experience on cruise ships and in hotels belonging to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Because the major stock up of food etc. is done in Germany before departing on the world voyage several meals are deliciously German (my parents come from Holland and I have spent several years living in Germany). Dark German bread is served at most meals as well as a good range of German condiments which therefore adds a distinctive German flavour to the meal.
A separate TV and video recorder as well as a selection of books (mostly in German and in English) are available for some additional entertainment in the Officer’s Wardroom where one may also relax at any time during the voyage. This ship has an interior swimming pool as well as an excellent sauna to relax and pass away some time. These facilities were rarely used by the ship’s personnel but I took full advantage of the sauna at least. On the same deck there are also laundry facilities.
The Chief Mate ( Herr Wolfgang Müller) was most accommodating while I was on board. He took me on a personal tour of the ship from stem to stern including going down into the depths of the ship to the Engine Room where I was able to watch the monstrous engine noisily rotate the huge propeller shaft at one hundred revolutions per minute which enables the ship to travel at a speedy 22 knots. In the Ship’s Office he further showed me the computerised workings of loading and discharging container boxes whilst at the same time keeping the trim and ballast details of the ship at a stable level.
Several visits to the Ship’s Bridge enabled me to grasp some of the intricate computer technology required to drive the ship. I was also allowed to use the now almost primitive tool called the sextant which measures the angle of the sun to the horizon. In the Navigation Room (located immediately behind and adjacent to the Bridge) I determined the ship’s position using the navigation instruments and charts. In addition, weather details were also explained, e.g. cloud formations, air humidity, barometric pressure, sea swell, wind and sea currents.
On board, passengers have general access to the entire ship. Watching officers and crew performing several shipboard tasks can also be an enlightening experience for those who take an interest in their activities.
For safety reasons some rules need to be applied, particularly in port. Container ships are, after all, working vessels. They do their work at large container terminals where there are several overhead container cranes working in tandem with a multitude of trucks, straddle carriers, RTG’s (rubber tyred gantries), RMG’s ( rail mounted gantries) and huge forklifts etc., all working together with maximum teamwork to provide the greatest efficiency to work the ship. The person who thought up the idea of packing goods inside boxes and moving them completely revolutionised the shipping industry.
Depending on the number of containers to be worked, a length of stay is usually from six to thirty hours, plenty of time therefore to watch the full operation of the ship to shore workings.
Container Terminals are pedestrian free zones!!!
Usually there is also time to go ashore. Before going ashore, however, definetly find out exact departure details at each port. These times can change during the course of a voyage but upon arrival sailing times are generally known by this time. To do so requires arranging an on site service bus (usually at the gangway there is a crew member on watch or stevedore at work with a radio who can call in the bus) which takes people from the ship’s gangway to the container terminal entrance gate where onward travel is waiting if it also previously arranged.
During my stay on board I met several passengers who had travelled from the European ports all the way to Australia, with others embarking in New Zealand to sail to Europe. Most passengers are retired, and who, therefore, have the time to undertake such lengthy voyages. Some people just do not like air travel whilst for others a sense of ’spirit of adventure’ can still be felt when taking an ocean voyage where one can still take in the smell of the salty sea air, watch dolphins and seals cavorting in the water and albatrosses flying overhead and close by, their huge wingspans in glide motion as they effortlessly keep up with the ship.
In addition, there aren’t any problems for women who wish to travel alone on these ships, as noted by the number of single retired women who were travelling on board just in the sixteen days that I was on board.
However, a clean bill of health is a definite requirement for all prospective passengers. A medical certificate must be signed by a doctor providing clearance for such travel before considering such a voyage. On board, ships’ officers are also required to have a first aid certificate. There are some limited first aid facilities also available on board.
Naturally, during my particular cruise, my main priority was to take good photographic images of the ship, in the various ports, discharging and loading cargo, and at sea.
Of course the weather can never be guaranteed and on this occasion there was unfortunately considerable rain about in each port. This did not deter me from doing my work and I went ahead anyway taking several images in rainy conditions. Periodically however, the sun certainly did come out and shine bright rays of sunlight through the clouds which indeed was most pleasing. Because of the inclement weather conditions I was forced on some of these occasions to take several early evening and night images just to vary the total mix of photographs.
In addition, I photographed passengers eating in the Officer’s Mess, reading and relaxing in the Officer’s Wardroom as well as out on deck. Some more images were taken inside the Engine Room, when on one occasion, while the ship was in port, the Chief Engineer (Herr Michael Köhn) and his team of mechanical engineers, needed to replace one of the huge pistons inside one of the giant cylinders. An all out teamwork effort is required to perform this difficult task within the short space of time allotted in port.
At each port, special authority was sought to enable me to obtain the best images from the best angles with the right lighting conditions. Most Terminal Managers were accommodating in this matter. These permissions enabled me find the best vantage points and allowed me to climb many container cranes and straddle carriers etc., as well as getting to several other locations within the terminal which ordinarily would be totally off limits to most people.
Safety is always a most critical issue and rules and regulations need to be strictly adhered to in order to minimise accidents. In fact, just before our arrival in one particular port, a ten meter high straddle carrier, while working, had toppled over sideways and was consequently severely damaged!! Fortunately the driver was not too badly hurt.
All in all, I enjoyed this most interesting voyage on ‘Contship Vision’, an experience I can recommend to those other travellers out there who are interested in taking a sea voyage (of almost any length) without having to go with a cruise ship. Having enjoyed both these experiences, I must say that they are totally different types of sea voyage experiences. The ships are berthed at different parts of the port. It goes without saying, shipboard activities are also totally different. On container vessels and tramp steamers passengers need to be able to make their own entertainment.
For me, some of the highlights included watching the ship take on a pilot and then glide slowly into each port, take on tugs which push and pull it towards its berth and again when leaving port to head back out to sea with similar procedures with the tugboats and pilot. No matter what time of day or night, or whether it was raining, I would invariably make myself get up to watch these interesting procedures from the bridge and with the right conditions I would also photograph the entire proceedings. The excitement of seeing a city’s lights come into view as the ship glides gently into port, the quiet of a dawn morning, the ending of another day at sea with a magnificent orange sunset over the sea and the tranquillity that one feels as one stands alone by the bow as the sea rushes by provides the ocean going traveller with a number of memories never to be forgotten. Air travel just does not compare!!
A perfect opportunity also presents itself to the avid reader for reading ‘that’ book or ‘those’ books which have been sitting on book shelves for so long, waiting for the right moment of time where one can just sit back, put up the weary feet, enjoy the sunshine while gazing out to a clear blue sea, book in hand!!
CONTSHIP VISION DETAILS
Captained by: Captain Georg Scherg
Owned by: Conti Container Schiffsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.
Chartered by: Contship
Managing owner: NSB-Niederelbe Schiffartsbetrieb-Buxtehude
C/o Harburger Straße 4
D 21 614, Buxtehude, GERMANY.
Phone: 04161-645-0
Ports of call: London, Hamburg, Rotterdam, La Spezia, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle, Singapore, Pt Said, Pireaus, La Spezia, Zeebrugge, London.
Length: 192.62 metres (630 feet)
Breadth: 32.25 metres
Draft: 12.819 metres
Speed: 22 knots
Crew: 20 persons
Passengers: 10 persons
Deadweight Tonnage: 48,000 tons
G.R.Tonnage: 31,750 tons
N.R.Tonnage: 19,976 tons
Container capacity: 2758 TEU’S
On deck: 1408 TEU’S
In hold: 1350 TEU’S
Powered by: Sulzer (Switzerland)
Main engine output: 24,300 kw (approx 33,000 HP)
Flag: German
Written by: CHRISTIAAN WERK
PORTS AND SHIPPING PHOTOGRAPHY WORLDWIDE
Tel: +61 8 8341 9507
Web site:www.maritime-images.net
Email: christiaan@maritime-images.net
Sponsored by: Maris Freighter Cruises
Tel: 1 203 222 1500
Web site: www.freightercruises.com