MARCHEN MAERSK

The Marchen Maersk (IMO: 9359014, Port of Registry: Dragor, Denmark) is the second ship in a series of six container ships. The 7,000 teu container vessel was launched on Saturday 10 May 2008 at Odense Steel Shipyard, Denmark. She is 367 metres long, 43 metres wide and has a gross tonnage of 98,268.. The ship is designed and built to meet the highest demands for safe, precise, environmentally friendly and economic transportation of goods all over the globe. Among other things, a waste heat recovery system is installed to optimise the use of the energy produced. With her 12-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex diesel engine which develops 93,000 BHP, the Marchen Maersk will be deployed in Maersk's AE-2 loop servicing, amongst others, several ports in South Korea and China, Rotterdam, Felixstowe and Bremerhaven. The Marchen Maersk will arrive this afternoon at the APM Terminal, Rotterdam with the last port of call at Bremerhaven. She will depart within about 36 hours with destination Felixstowe. The vessel is scheduled to return to Rotterdam in about two months.

Photo by: Ma Rui Source: Flickr.com Copyright by: Ma Rui

EMMA MAERSK

The Emma Maersk is the largest containership of all times with a total teu capacity 11,000 teu (of which 1,000 forty foot reefer containers) according to the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group . Rumours are that a total capacity of 13,500 teu is also possible. This capacity is possible by stacking the containers in 22 rows wide. The vessel is 397 meters long, 56 meters wide, has a depth of 30 meters and a deadweigth of 156,907 tons. The specially designed Wärtsilä diesel engine delivers 80,000 kW. A waste heat recovery system is installed to optimise the use of the energy produced, so that the engine can deliver up to 90,000 kW. The ship was built this year by Odense Steel Shipyard Ltd. The Emma's sister vessels are (amongst others): Estelle Maersk and Eleonora Maersk.

The Emma Maersk will arrive at the APM terminal, Rotterdam from Algeciras later this day. The vessel will then set sail for Bremerhaven on the APM AE1 line. She will return within about two months to Rotterdam.

MS ROTTERDAM

Today's Ship of the Day is the ms Rotterdam (IMO: 9122552, Port of registry: Rotterdam), the flagship of the Holland America Line which has a capacity of 1.316 passengers. She is already the sixth ship of the HAL to bear the name.
The Rotterdam has 658 rooms of which there are 4 penthouse suites, 36 normal suites, 120 mini suites, 381 outside staterooms and 117 inside staterooms. Furthermore there are several restaurants, bars, a theather, a kids club, a library, a casino and a health spa on board. This in 1997 in Italy built vessel is 238 meters long, 32 meters wide and has a gross tonnage of almost 60.000. The ms Rotterdam has arrived last night at the Holland Amerikakade from Copenhagen. She will depart this evening with destination Oslo and will continue her tour to Arhus, Warnemunde, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Prices start from about $ 2.000 per person.

Pictures below are of the penthouse, the art gallery and the atrium.

SAVANNAH EXPRESS

Today's SotD is the Savannah Express (IMO: 9294989, Port of Registry: Hamburg) which has a maximum teu capacity of 8,400. The vessel is 332 metres long, 43 metres wide, has a deadweight tonnage of 107,000 and a gross tonnage of 94,483. She was built in 2005 by Daewoo Heavy Industries. The 68,520 KW HSD engine gives the vessel a maximum speed of 25 knots.

The Savannah Express is scheduled to arrive this evening at the Port of Rotterdam.

MAASDAM

The Maasdam (IMO: 8919257, Port of registry: Rotterdam) is one of the most luxury vessels in the Holland America Line fleet. She is one of the smaller vessels in the line with her length of almost 220 meters, a width of 31 meters and a capacity of 1.258 passengers. She is already the fifth ship of the HAL to bear the name.
The vessel has 629 rooms of which there is 1 penthouse suites, 28 deluxe suites, 120 normal suites, 336 outside staterooms and 144 inside staterooms. Furthermore there are several restaurants, bars, a theather, a kids club, special areas designed exclusively for teens, a casino and a health spa on board. She was built in 1993 in Italy by Fincatieri Shipyard.

The Maasdam has arrived this morning at the Holland Amerikakade. She will depart this evening with destination Cherbourg and will continue her tour to the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland and Canada with a final destination at Boston, USA. Prices start from about $ 1.500 per person.

Please find the pictures of the dining room and penthouse below.

MIRCEA

Today's SotD is the three-masted sailing vessel Mircea (Port of registry: Constantza, Romania) which built in 1938 in Hamburg by the Blohm & Voss shipyard as a training vessel for the Romanian Navy. After World War II she was temporarily taken over by the USSR, but then returned to Romania. In 1966, she was overhauled by Blohm & Voss. The Mircea is 82 metres long, 12 metres wide and 42 metres high. She has a sail surface of 1800 sq.m. (23 sails) and a crew of 210! She is also equipped with a 809 kW MAK diesel engine. The Mircea arrived this morning at the Parkkade, Rotterdam with the last port of call at Brest. She will stay here for about 4 days before sailing towards Copenhagen.

Source: Dirk van der Made at Wikipedia License terms: Creative Commons Attribution license

QUEEN ELIZABETH 2

Today we have the most famous cruise ship of the Cunard Line entering the Port of Rotterdam, namely the 48 year old, Queen Elizabeth 2 (IMO: 6725418, Port of Registry: Southampton). The legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 was built in 1969 by Upper Clyde Shipyards, UK and has already carried over two million passengers. She is 293 metres long, 32 metres wide, has a gross tonnage of 70,327 and a maximum speed of 34 knots, making her the fastest cruise ship afloat. She provides accomodation to 1,778 passengers. On board are a casino, book shop, several bars and restaurants, a library, theatre, pools, a shopping mall with a Harrod's store etc., etc. The QE2 is currently sailing on her final journey. She has been sold for 100 million dollars to Dubai World company to be berthed at one of the artificial islands (Palm Jumeirah) of the coast of Dubai where the ship will function as a luxury hotel. More detailed information can be found at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabeth_2.

The QE2 arrived this morning at the Holland Amerikakade, Rotterdam. She will depart this evening at about 18.00 hours with destination Zeebrugge.

Please find the webcam of the vessel below:

CMA CGM TOSCA

Today's SotD is the CMA CGM Tosca (Port of Registry: Marseille, France, IMO: 9299783). The ship is capable of transporting about 8,500 teu and has a capacity for 700 reefers. She is 334 meters long, 43 meters wide and has a deadweight tonnage of 101,800. The vessel was built in 2005 by Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea and is managed and operated by CMA CGM, France. She is propelled by a 68,640 kW 12 cylinder MAN-B&W engine which gives the vessel a maximum speed of 23 knots. The Tosca's sisters are, amongst others, CMA CGM Parsifal, CMA CGM Don Carlos and CMA CGM La Traviata, all named after famous opera's. The CMA CGM Tosca arrived last night at ECT Delta terminal, Rotterdam. She is scheduled to depart the port of Rotterdam tomorrow. The ship is sailing on the French Asia Line (FAL) between the Far East and North-Western Europe.

Photo by: Jan Tiedemann Source: Hamburg port images

BERGE NORD (EVA N)

Today's SotD is the Berge Nord (IMO: 9127150, Port of Registry: Stavanger, Norway) , which will be renamed in the Port of Rotterdam to 'Eva N'. In Rotterdam her ownership will be transferred from BW Gas ASA, Norway tot Neu Seeschiffahrt. The Berge Nord/Eva N has a deadweight tonnage of 218,000, a draught of almost 19 meters and has seven holds and hatches. The ship was built in 1997 by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea. This 305 meters long, 53 meters wide bulk carrier is the biggest ship to enter the Arctic sea. Other vessels owned by BW Gas and visiting Rotterdam regularly are: Berge Stahl, Bergeland, Berge Arctic and Berge Pacific. Vessels owned by Neu Seeschiffahrt and regularly visiting Rotterdam are: Faith N, Alfred N and Waterman N.

The Berge Nord arrived this morning at the EMO bulk terminal, Rotterdam from Seven Islands, Canada carrying iron ore. From Rotterdam the iron ore is transported in barges to the steel mills of ThyssenKrupp and Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann in Germany.

BREMEN EXPRESS

The Bremen Express (IMO: 9343728, Port of Registry: Hamburg) is one of the newest containervessels of Hapag-Lloyd's Colombo Express class. She was delivered this year at Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea. The Bremen Express is propelled by a 68,530 kW Hyundai Heavy 12 cylinder engine which gives the vessel a maximum speed of 25 knots. The vessel is 335 metres long, 43 metres wide and has a gross tonnage of 93,750. She is capable of transporting up to 8,749 containers.

The Bremen Express is scheduled to arrive this evening at the ECT Delta Terminal, Rotterdam with the last port of call at Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia.

NORMAND CUTTER

Since we have covered the Berge Stahl (arrived this morning at the EECV terminal) and the Evelyn Maersk (arrived this morning at the APM Terminal) already several times, we've chosen to have the Normand Cutter (IMO: 9231535, flag:
Isle of Man) as the Ship of the Day. The Normand Cutter is a DP Class II Subsea
Construction Vessel purpose built for today’s market place, owned by Solstad Offshore ASA. She was built in 2001 by Maritim Ltd, Gdansk, Poland and converted from a cable laying and repair vessel to its current form in 2001 by Ulstein Verft AS, Norway.
The vessel is equipped with a number of features for a wide range of offshore operations like:

• Laying of flexible pipes
• Lay rate of up to 1000 m/hr.
• Heavy lift crane 300 t for sub-sea installation and construction work
• Large deck for offshore construction operations
• Three permanent locations and two temporary locations for work ROVs and control vans
• Operation in both shallow and deep water
• Range 6000 n.m. at service speed
• Continuous operation at sea for 40 days

The vessel is 127 metres long, 27 metres wide, has a helicopter deck dimensioned for the Super Puma AS 332 L2 and provides accomodation for a total of 114 persons. She is equipped with all the latest manoeuvering and communication devices for an accurate positioning.

The Normand Cutter arrived this morning at the Wilhelminahaven, Schiedam with her last port of call at Aberdeen.

BREMEN EXPRESS

The Bremen Express (IMO: 9343728, Port of Registry: Hamburg) is the newest containervessel of Hapag-Lloyd's Colombo Express class. She was delivered this year at Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea. The Bremen Express is propelled by a 68,530 kW Hyundai Heavy 12 cylinder engine which gives the vessel a maximum speed of 25 knots. The vessel is 335 metres long, 43 metres wide and has a gross tonnage of 93,750. She is capable of transporting up to 8,749 containers.

The Bremen Express is scheduled to arrive this evening at the ECT Delta Terminal, Rotterdam with the last port of call at Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia.

AL JABRIYAH II

Today's SotD is the Suez-Max tanker Al Jabriyah II (IMO: 9329708, Port of Registry: Kuwait). The Al Jabriyah II is 333 metres long and 60 metres wide and has a maximum draught of 22.5 metres. These dimensions give the vessel a deadweight tonnage of 317,570. The vessel was delivered in 2007 by Hyundai Heavy Industries and is owned by the Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. She is propelled by a 6S90MC-C HHI MAN B&W engine. The Al Jabriyah II's sister vessel is the Kazimah III which featured as Ship of the Day in November 2007. The Al Jabriyah II is arrived this morning at the MOT Terminal Rotterdam with the last port of call at Le Havre. For some more pictures (exterior and interior) take a look at Auke Visser's Supertankers website

Photo by: Fred Vloo

NYK OCEANUS

The NYK Oceanus (IMO: 9312975, Port of Registry: Panama) was built in 2007 at IHI corporation shipyard, Japan and is currently owned and operated by NYK Line. The vessel is 336 metres long, 46 metres wide and has a maximum TEU capacity of 9,120 of which 600 reefer containers. These dimensions give the vessel a gross tonnage of 98,799. She is propelled by a Sulzer 12RT-flex96C engine which delivers a power output of 68,200 kW. She has a maximum speed of 24.5 knots. Although not as large as the NYK vessels Vesta, Vega, Venus and Virgo, the NYK Oceanus is still one of the largest containervessels currently sailing.

The NYK Oceanus arrived later this morning from Hamburg on the EU3-loop. She will leave within 48 hours with destination China and will return to Rotterdam in about two months.

FAITH N

The Faith N (Port of registry: Panama, IMO: 8618425), is one of the larger bulk carriers currently sailing. She is owned by the General Ore Carrier Corporation and operated by Neu Seeschiffahrt, Hamburg. The vessel was built in 1990 by Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani, has a deadweight tonnage of about 261.000, is 325 meters long, 54 meters wide and has a draught of 20.5 meters. The ship has 9 transitional bulkheads and 2 longitudional bulkheads. Her sister vessels are the Alfred N and Arthur N.

The Faith N will arriv this evening at the EMO terminal, Rotterdam from Tubarao, Brasil.

ELLY MAERSK

The Elly Maersk (IMO: 9321536, Port of Registry: Svendborg, Denmark) is, together with her sisters (amongst which are the 'Emma Maersk' and 'Evelyn Maersk'), the largest containership ever with a total teu capacity 11,000 teu (of which 1,000 forty foot reefer containers) according to the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group. Rumours are that a total capacity of 13,500 teu is also possible. This capacity is possible by stacking the containers in 22 rows wide. The vessel is 397 meters long, 56 meters wide, has a depth of 30 meters and a deadweight of 156,907 tons. Amazingly, all this size and capacity requires a crew of only 13. The specially designed Wärtsilä diesel engine delivers 80,000 kW. A waste heat recovery system is installed to optimise the use of the energy produced, so that the engine can deliver up to 90,000 kW. The vessels in this series will also establish new standards for safety and environmental responsibility. Environmentally-safe silicone paint, for example, is used on the hull, below the water line, reducing water resistance, and thereby fuel consumption, by 1,200 tons per year. The ship was already the sixth in line of Maersk PS-class vessels. Currently there are eight PS-class vessels of which the most recent is the 'Eugen Maersk'

The Elly Maersk arrived this morning at the APM terminal, Rotterdam from the port of Algeciras. She will stay there for about 36 hours. The vessel will then set sail for Bremerhaven on the APM AE1 line. She will return within about 7 weeks to Rotterdam.

PACIFIC REEFER

The Pacific Reefer (IMO: 9179268, Port of Registry: Panama) is a refrigerated cargo vessel of 145 metres long, 22.6 metres wide, a depth of 13.3 metres and a gross tonnage of 10,991. The Pacific Reefer has a refrigerated cargo capacity of 16,996 m3 and is equipped with two cranes with a SWL of 36 tons each and two cranes with a SWL of 8 tons each. She is propelled by a 11,000 kW Kobe Diesel engine which gives the vessel an operating speed of 18.3 knots. The vessel is operated by Fukujin Kisen Co., Japan and was built in 1999 by Shin Kochijyuko Heavy Industries, Japan.

The Pacific Reefer is scheduled to arrive this evening at the Fruit Terminal Rotterdam with the last port at Sheerness, UK.

EURODAM

Today we have the newly built Holland America Line cruise ship Eurodam (IMO: 9378448, Port of Registry: Rotterdam) featuring as the Ship of the Day. The ms Eurodam can accomodate up to 2,104 passenger on 11 passenger decks. She is featured with a topside Pan-Asian restaurant and lounge surrounded by panoramic views, an Explorer's Lounge Bar, an Italian restaurant adjacent to the Lido, elegant luxury jewelry boutique, atrium bar area, an enhanced show lounge and a photographic and imaging center. The Eurodam is 285 metres long, 36 metres wide and has a gross tonnage of 86,723. The ship is propelled and powered by four 12-cylinder V-type and two eight-cylinder in-line engines, manufactured by Germany’s Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. These MaK brand engines are turbocharged, fuel-injected machines with Flexible Camshaft Technology that reduce visible smoke and nitrogen oxide emissions to levels below International Maritime Organization regulations. The engines are capable of producing 1,000 kilowatts of electricity per cylinder, with a total output of 64 megawatts.

The Eurodam is currently in port Rotterdam where she had her dedication ceremony last Sunday. The vessel will depart on Wednesday afternoon for her 3-day maiden trip with destinations Hamburg and Copenhagen. From Copenhagen she will start her first longer journey (20 days) with the following destinations: Oslo, Norway; Alesund, Norway; Vik, Norway; Flam, Norway; Stavanger, Norway; Newcastle upon Tyne, England; S Queensferry (Edinburgh), UK; Invergordon, Scotland; Tallinn, Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Warnemunde (Berlin) Germany; Arhus, Denmark.