Rosella outside Kobba Klintar, 24 June 2012

Kobba Klintar is an island outside Mariehamn in the Åland Islands, Finland. It previously housed a pilot station, but today the island is open as a museum. It is also superbly situatied for ship photography, being just south of the point where the east- and southbound shipping lanes out of Mariehamn split. I ventured to the island on 24 June with my friend Bruce Peter to photograph the Turku-Stockholm and Mariehamn-Kapellskär ferries during their afternoon calls at Mariehamn. (Bruce was also kind enough to pay the fairly steep fare of the transportation to the island arranged by Kobba Klintars vänner for me as well as himself).

Ships photographed from the island were Amorella, Isabella, Rosella, Silja Europa and Galaxy. We start of with the Rosella.

Rosella

IMO 7901265
Built 1980, Wärtsilä Turku, Finland
Tonnage 16 879 GT
Length 136,11 m
Width 24,24 m
Draught 5,60 m
Ice class 1A
1 530 passengers
1 200 berths
340 cars
720 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä-Pielstick diesels, combined 17 652 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 20,2 knots

For a detailed account of the history of the Rosella, see the first entry on her (it can also be handy to keep that entry in hand for comparisons, the ship has undergone a refit that also affected her exterior since then). The photographs below show the Rosella passing Kobba Klintar, inbound to Mariehamn on 24 Jyne 2012. Click on the images to see in larger size.

No idea what the white-painted rocks in the foreground are for - but their make for good photo accessories.

The "Rustella" is living up to her nickname a bit too well. But a fine photo, even if I say so myself.

Passing the Marhällan lighthouse (thanks Juhani!).

Notice (in addition to the fantastic composition and colours!) the round windows on the superstructure. These are the result of a 2011 refit in which the public spaces were expanded.

For some reason I really like the pool of water on the rock in the foreground.

Going past and towards Mariehamn.

After this photo the Rosella passed into shade and... well, compared to the photos above they didn't look as good and hence I decided to end with this one.

Next time: Silja Europa.