Millennium memories

Each cruise season brings a greater variety of ships visiting Sydney, some are frequent visitors but others are pawns to the re-positioning movements of Head Office. One such ship is the Millennium which visited briefly between 2008-2009 and has since never returned. Below are a selection of videos and photos taken on two separate occasions (and two vastly different cameras!)

Stormy skies gather over the Millennium.

Millenium was the largest ship positioned in Australia for Celebrity cruises at the time, she replaced Century which returned for the 2011-2012 season and will be superseded by the Celebrity Solstice when she arrives in November 2012.

Storm clouds gather but the summers sun still shines its rays on the Millennium.

An evening departure and unusually - for a modern cruise ship - assisted by tugs.

The Millennium has rounded the Opera House and under the guidance of the Harbour Pilot heading towards Sydney Heads and then out into the Pacific.

A last look as the sun fades and the Millennium sails further away....

Costa Concordia: In Memoriam

WHAT NEXT FOR THE CONCORDIA?

The successful salvage of the Costa Concordia was a triumph of engineering and now the shattered, compressed and semi submerged hull lies in Genoa awaiting the scrappers torch. The fate of the ship is now sealed however many questions regarding the behaviour of the Captain, his officers and the integrity of the ship still need to be answered.
The ship may have sailed for the last time, but the Costa Concordia will continue to haunt the maritime community for years to come...

ONE YEAR ON:

The circumstances leading to the disaster are still mired in rumour and controversy and the wreck remains at Giglio slowly rusting. Plans are well underway to remove the wreck in what's looking to be an impressive salvage operation, already the magradome roof and funnel have been removed while the port side of the ship has been reinforced in preparation for righting. The salvage can also be followed on this site:
http://www.theparbucklingproject.com/

The ship is destined for the scrapyard but the questions first asked last year when the disaster occurred are still unanswered, it's hoped that with the upcoming trial and inquiry, some clarity can be reached. 32 people needlessly died that night and 2 of those victims have yet to be recovered, for all their families it is hoped the trial will reveal all the deficiencies that took place on that fateful night and implement recommendations to ensure a disaster of this magnitude never ever happens again.

UPDATE:
Salvaging the Costa Concordia has been progressing and heavy machinery can be seen surrounding the hulk of the ship.
The rock lodged in the port side of the hull has now been removed and in June it was announced that it will be incorporated into a memorial on the island of Giglio to commemorate the disaster and the loss of 32 lives.

The salvage can be followed via the Giglio webcam:
http://www.giglionews.it/2010022440919/webcam/isola-del-giglio/webcam-giglio-porto-panoramica.html

And via this site:
http://thelastsalute.eu/

With the investigations well and truly underway, it is hoped that some big questions surrounding this disaster will be answered, including:
 - Was the disorganised evacuation due to a lack of training and a disregard for safety procedures rather than a lack of leadership and communication?
 - How could the Costa Concordia lose ALL power? The ship had 6 engines - could they all be incapacitated at the same time? What happened to backup systems? Some power was restored as images show the ship was well lit as she listed outside the Giglio's harbour...
 - Why did the Costa Concordia roll over onto her starboard side? This is the side away from where the visible damage occurred. Was the bottom torn out more badly than initially thought?
 - Does the capsize of the Costa Concordia represent a fatal loss of stability? If so, why? Do cruise ships have stability tables that allow officers to discern at which angle is dangerous for their ship to be in? Do maritime architects factor in only enough stability to ensure the ship remains upright in a stormy sea?
 - The design of the Costa Concordia is an adaptation of the Carnival Destiny, a ship whose design is copied on Carnival Triumph and Carnival Victory, as well as on Costa fleetmates Costa Fortuna and Costa Magica. The Costa Concordia is also the basis of the following ships: Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa, Costa Fascinosa and Carnival Splendor (this ship suffered an engine room fire which disabled the ship in 2010. The cause of the fire and subsequent total power outage remains unknown). Were all these ships built to a flawed design?

The carcass of the Costa Concordia as seen from space. Image courtesy of gCaptain and DigitalAge.

There remains conflicting evidence regarding what actually happened and it will be months before a reasonable idea of the sequence of events which led to this disaster is revealed. I will not conjecture on who was at fault however it seems there are a variety of factors that tragically combined to create this catastrophe. My initial goal in writing this article is to ponder for a moment on our fallibility and the relative fragility of the machinery which we build and use.

A leviathan built by the hands of man and now laid low by their actions....
Image courtesy of the New York Times.

Late yesterday evening (Saturday 14th January, Sydney time) it was announced that the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia had run aground and was listing badly, images this morning revealed the ship had rolled over on its side, a large gash in its hull and up to 40 missing people and sadly - 3 fatalities.

Early photos showed the ship brightly lit but listing dramatically to starboard:

Image courtesy of  http://amateurphotographer.ru   

The morning revealed the true extent of the disaster. The ship lay at an 80 degree list just outside the harbour of the small island of Giglio.

Image courtesy of 1x1 News & Pictures:  http://1x1.fi/en/1990

It beggars belief that such a large cruise ship with state of the art equipment should suffer a complete power failure and smash into rocks with enough ferocity to wrap whole boulders within its hull plates! See below:

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

As more information comes to hand and as our prayers go out to those who those who have been affected by this disaster, we reflect on the loss and the all too brief life of the Costa Concordia.

Costa Concordia: 2006-2012?

Built by Fincantieri in Genoa, at the time of her completion she was the largest Italian cruise ship to have been built. Since her handover to Costa on 30 June 2006, the Costa Concordia has been a frequent visitor to Mediterrean ports, running a series of well defined 7 and 10 day cruises across the western portion of that sea.

Builder plate from the Fincantieri shipyard. The Costa Concordia was completed in 2006 and her job number was 6122.

From her entry into service until the completion of the Costa Serena in 2007, the Concordia was the flagship of Costa Cruises.

At the time of her completion, the Costa Concordia created waves of interest and excitement regarding the new features she introduced. These included the exclusive Samsara Spa complex which centred around a 2 deck spa with 58 cabins conveniently located nearby. Also aboard was the first Formula One simulator which included three different tracks and five different language options. Fine dining and watering holes abounded with five restaurants and 13 bars, one of which included a chocolate fountain.

This view from Valletta highlights the immense girth of the Costa  Concordia, she weighs 114,500 tons and is 290 metres long with a beam of 35 metres. (952 x 35ft).

The Formula One simulator can be seen through the windows from this top deck view.

The chocolate fountain in action!

In 2008, my family were fortunate to embark on a 7 day cruise (19-25 May) that encompassed the cities of Savona, Barcelona, Palermo, Valletta and Tunis. Below are several photos of our time aboard the Costa Concordia, it's hard to believe that this impressive ship now lies half sunk and shattered on the rocks at Giglio...

Passengers resemble ants as they board the ship. This was photo was taken  later in the cruise at Palermo.

The Atrium decked out in preparation for departure.

Lighting detail above the Atrium, these lights would constantly change colour.

The Atrium extended through ten decks.

Another view looking down as the panoramic elevators shuttle passengers up and down

The decor onboard the Costa Concordia, designed by Joe Farcus, was designed to  have all the garish flash of Los Vegas mixed with references to the Renaissance and Art Deco.

The Atrium in its current status. The painting on the right side of the photo is the same as the one  in the above photo.

Our cabin to the left and it's adjoining corridor. All this is currently underwater...

An elaborate chandelier under which an art auction is about to take place.

The stern of the Costa Concordia while docked in Savona.

The stern as it now lies half submerged. Image courtesy of Huffington Post.

Costa Europa departing from Savona. This view was taken from the balcony of our cabin.  The Costa Europa  collided with a dock on 26 February 2010 at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt which caused the death of three crewmenbers and injured 4 four people.  The ship has since left Costa Cruises and now operates as the Thomson Dream.

Costa's trademark stovepipe funnel standing tall.

The same area of decking can be seen here lying at a crazy angle:

Image courtesy of media.ia.com

Top deck frivolity before departure in Rome.

The waterslide was a popular feature, along with the swimming pools.

The ironies abound with this tragedy, this ship celebrated the concord of nations that comprised the European Union and now she lies broken and half sunk just as the EY is buckling under the stresses of economic hardship. Seafarers are known to be superstitious and many will observe that the date on which this disaster took place was Friday, 13th January 2012.

Preserved Perspectives: Abegweit

Walking along the shores of Lake Michigan is a feast for the eyes with Chicago's skyline on one side and the blue expanse of the Lake on the other. Along Lake Shore Drive and amongst the yachts docked in Du Sable Harbour lies an interesting sight - a large, distinctive ferry seemingly out of place in these genteel surrounds.

The eye is not misleading, there is indeed a ferry docked here but she no longer operates as such, she is the former Canadian National Railways ferry Abegweit.

The powerful prow of the Abegweit remains a forceful presence but the ship no longer needs to do any tough sailing - the yachts by her side can do that.

Nowadays the ferry does not travel, she is securely moored and serving as the clubhouse for the Columbia Yacht Club. The yacht club was founded in 1892 and has used two previous ships as a clubhouse. The first was the Pere Marquette which opened on 13 May, 1925. This ship was replaced by the venerable steamer Florida in 1937 until 1983 when she in turn was replaced by the Abegweit. 

Abegweit means 'cradle of the waves' in the native Mi-kmaq language which describes Prince Edward Island.

The Abegweit was built in 1947 in Quebec to operate across the Abegweit passage to connect the communities of Port Borden and Cape Tormentine. The advances in ferry technology soon made her redundant and in 1982 was sold to the Columbia Yacht Club.

A feature of the shoreline for three decades and hopefully many more to come!

Since 1983, the Abegweit has served as the clubhouse for this classic Chicago institution and remains an icon along the shores of Lake Michigan.

Lovingly maintained and beautifully preserved, the Abegweit is set to remain as a Clubhouse for many more years.

Some more information regarding the history of the Abegweit can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Abegweit_(1947)

A good site with history of the club and of this ship: http://www.columbiayachtclub.com/

Classic Ship Retrospective: Milwaukee Clipper

The Milwaukee Clipper is a much storied ship and one that has been extremely fortunate to have survived not just the vagaries of nature but the fickle dealings of industry.

At first glance this ship may appear to be a survivor from the 1930s but in fact, the Milwaukee Clipper is only 106 years young.

The models above depict two very different ships but in fact they are the one and the same. The Milwaukee Clipper started life in 1905 as the Juniata (the model on the left) and had two sister ships, the Tionesta and Octorara, all three sisters were named after rivers in Pennsylvania as was the custom for the Anchor Line (which was owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad) - the original owners of the Juniata.

The Juniata was the middle sister of the three, the first being Tionesta in 1903 followed by Juniata in 1905 and then the Octorara in 1910. The three sisters ran between Buffalo and Duluth for almost 30 years before the onset of the Depression and new safety regulations forced the retirement of all three ships. The poster above dates from the early thirties when the trio were given white hulls and the foredeck was built up. As the Great Depression set in traffic numbers fell but the final nail in the coffin was the sweeping reforms affecting passenger ships following the catastrophic burning of the Morro Castle which drastically restricted the amount of wood that could be used in the superstructure. (For more information regarding the Morro Castle disaster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Morro_Castle_(1930))

In 1940, after four years of layup, the Juniata was bought by the Wisconsin & Michigan Stamship Company and was completely rebuilt. She emerged as the distinctly modern and unique Milwaukee Clipper, she was the only one of the sisters to eventually return to commercial service.

The original builders plate for the Juniata now resides in the ship's museum.

The Juniata could have easily been scrapped but instead she was rebuilt into a unique ship that symbolised the new expression of artistic modernism which was replicated across several of the newest American ocean liners of that era. The old look was replaced by a racy, modern and streamlined exterior that made the ship completely unrecognisable as her former self and gave her a style that was unique to passenger shipping on the Great Lakes. The only other passenger ship on the Great Lakes that came close to this degree of exterior styling was the Aquarama which entered service in 1952. Some brochure views: http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/moncsp.htm
And here: http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/moncbr.htm

American ocean liners embraced this style from the 1930s through to the 1950s with such examples as the Del trio (photos of the Del-Ships: http://www.ssmaritime.com/Del-Trio.htm) and the Ancon trio (photos can be seen here: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/CZAngelsSpace/PRRLinersOne.html). This streamlined styling climaxed with the 1958 Moore-McCormack sisters. (photos here: http://www.moore-mccormack.com/SS-Brasil-1958/SS-Brasil-Timeline.htm)

On the Great Lakes only a handful of ships sported a streamlined exterior and even fewer were passenger ships, today there is only the Puget Sound ferry Kalakala and the Milwaukee Clipper left to remind us of an era long gone. (For more information about the Kalakala see here: http://www.kalakala.org/). The Aquarama was scrapped in 2007 leaving only the Milwaukee Clipper as the sole survivor of a once considerable class of ship. Not only is she the last surviving American built art deco passenger ship on the Great Lakes, but she is also over a century old and still has her original quadruple expansion engines. She is also in remarkably good condition - a state of being that some ships many decades her junior would be envious!

Milwaukee Clipper at her current home in Muskegon, Michigan.

A tour of the Milwaukee Clipper provides an insight into a time when travelling included a touch of elegance and an opportunity to enjoy the good company of family and friends.

This is a slightly modified photo of the Milwaukee Clipper arriving at her namesake city, the original (and larger) photo can be found here: http://www.retrocom.com/retromilw/clipper1.htm

The Milwaukee Clipper currently resides at the dock formerly used by the Grand Trunk Railway.

Upon entering through the main doors, passengers were treated to this friendly message.

Below are photos depicting cabins in various states of preservation: 

This cabin is patiently awaiting some TLC....

The restoration of this cabin has brought it back to it's early Clipper condition.

On the upper deck forward of midships is the ship's Theatre complete with original fold up chairs.

Immediately ahead of the Theatre is the Children's Playroom, the two rooms were separated by a distinctly non-sound proof curtain. The two fairytale characters outlined to the right of the picture are original to the Milwaukee Clipper. Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny were added during the ships time in Chicago.

The Grand Staircase reflects the clean aesthetics of Art Deco  styling and functionality.

A glimpse into what the staircase well would have looked like when the ship operated as the Juniata can be found aboard the Keewatin (see below).

The Keewatin was built in 1907 and currently resides at Douglas, Michigan and is open for visitors. More information can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Keewatin 

Another remnant from the Juniata that can still be seen are the sounding ports, these plugs, once opened, allow a measuring pole to be inserted to determine the depth of water in the bilges.

Continuing our tour of the Milwaukee Clipper:

The Soda Bowl.

The attendant behind the counter came to be known as the 'Soda Jerk', this term came from the old soda fountain days. The kids behind the counter would be serving "SODA
or POP" and would have to "JERK" the handle to get it to pour from the tap

The beautifully restored 1940s bar displaying what 20,000 hours of preservation work will do.

A quiet corner at the cafeteria.

Two views of the main lounge area that once thronged with families travelling between Milwaukee and Muskegon. Today a high speed ferry does the same voyage in two and half hours.

For more period views see these Brochure images: http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/wmsc.htm

And here for more internal views: http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/wmsc54i.htm

A lounge area for quiet reflection.

The ships bridge is a mixture of period equipment and replicas which have replaced the originals lost to vandals while the ship spent years laid up in Chicago.

The ship's wheel.

During her years of service, the lifeboats were rarely used although there were two occasions where they were deployed. One time involved rescuing the dog of Mr McKee, a prominent businessman and owner (at the time) of the Milwaukee Clipper, which decided to go for a swim and jumped out of his cabin porthole. The other occasion was when a woman tried to end her life by jumping overboard however she was rescued before the lake claimed her.

Looking towards the forepeak.

The streamlined forward superstructure of the Milwaukee Clipper typifies the era of elegance and functionality of the mid thirties.

Glancing back on the upper deck looking towards the faux funnel installed during the rebuild. While not a functional funnel, this structure was used to house generators, ventilation fans and batteries.

The 'real' funnel of the Milwaukee Clipper and to the left can be seen the original whistle used when the ship operated as the Juniata.

The Juniata original quadruple expansion engine was retained during the rebuild and is currently the only remaining American built engine of this type still in existence. The engine remains in extremely good condition however the four Scotch boilers have not aged as well and will need to be completely rebuilt before this engine can run again.

Also original from the days of the Juniata is the large rudder mechanism. The white chains at the top of the photo are the back-up should the main rudder engine fail.

On the main deck is also a museum featuring artifacts from the ship's service from her time as the Juniata as well as Milwaukee Clipper.

The dominant feature of the museum is the large half model of the Milwaukee Clipper.

The story of how this model came to be is recounted here:  The builder was Lester Williams, a graduate of Ripon College in Wisconsin, majoring in Physics and Math. He became a sign painter in Green Lake, Wis.  He built two half models, the SS Amsterdam and the SS Milwaukee Clipper. Lester built the Clipper model while the SS Juniata was undergoing her rebuild into the Milwaukee Clipper in 1940, supposedly on the advice from someone working on the ship as to what she would look like.  He gave the model to the owner of the Nautical Inn in Green Lake and apparently took the value out in drinks.  This would account for the little discrepancies the model has. In 1947 the owner in the Inn converted it into a dairy bar and the model was no longer appropriate.  It was moved to one of the storage buildings of the Pilgrim Church Camp until it was later hung in the mess hall over the doorway.  When they no longer wanted it, they contacted Mr. Jim Landwehr of the Wisconsin Historical Society and he put them in touch with MCPI (Milwaukee Clipper Preservation, Inc.) The camp had no idea that the Clipper still existed. A group of Clipper volunteers went to Wisconsin and brought the model back on a big trailer on the SS Badger.  The Badger people got a big kick carrying the Clipper to Michigan!  
A traditional steam powered voyage on the SS Badger can still be enjoyed, see here: http://www.ssbadger.com/home.aspx

This painting of the Milwaukee Clipper arriving on a wintry morning is by local Muskegon artist Bruce DeVries.

A last glance at the Milwaukee Clipper, a ship undergoing a steady rebirth after a long hibernation and one that represents two amazing eras of maritime history.
Douglas MacArthur said it and I will repeat it here: I shall return!

The Milwaukee Clipper is slowly being brought back to life by a dedicated group of locals who have formed the S.S. Milwaukee Clipper Preservation Inc, and apart from being among the friendliest and most hospitable people I have ever met, have worked wonders in gradually resurrecting this beautiful ship back to her former glory. 

Image courtesy of SS Milwaukee Clipper Preservation Inc.

This poster comes from the preserved car ferry City of Milwaukee but the messaging applies not just to the Milwaukee Clipper but to all preservationists seeking to educate future generations by preserving the last vestiges of the past.
More info on the City of Milwaukee can be found here: http://www.carferry.com/

For all the latest information about the Milwaukee Clipper, click here: http://www.milwaukeeclipper.com

Other helpful links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Clipper
http://www.hnsa.org/ships/clipper.htm