Princess Maria interiors, 10.-11. February 2011 + Princess Maria in St. Petersburg, 11. February 2011

The temperature outside is +28 degrees Celsius today. To balance what is probably the warmest day of the summer, I'd like to take you back to this year's February and my cruise to St. Petersburg onboard the Princess Maria. On that trip the outside temperatures were closer to -28 degrees centigrade. Some of these images have already been featured in the April 2011 issue of Ulkomatala. For those interested (who can speak Finnish), the June issue is now out and can be read at www.ulkomatala.net.

Princess Maria

IMO 7911533
Built 1981 Wärtsilä Turku, Finland
Tonnage 34 093 GT
Length 168,05 m
Width 29 m
Draught 6,72 m
Ice class 1 A Super
1638 passengers
395 cars
4 Wärtsilä-Pielstick diesels, combined 22 948 kW
2 controllable pitch propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 sterns thruster
Speed 21,2 knots

A word of the ship's interior design is perhaps in order. The original 1981 interiors of the (then-)Finlandia were designed by Vuokko Laakso, Carita Holthoer and Ilmo Issakainen. Most of the original interiors would perhaps be best described as late-70s functionalism - with the notable exception of the focal point of the ship, the two-deck high restaurant/night club complex in front of the ship, which had a less sterile decor featuring tiffany lamps and illuminated stained glass panels on the lower level (à la carte -restaurant) and a garden-like ambience for the terrace level (buffet). With the exception of a handful of the original trellis-backed chairs in the buffet, very little of the original decor remains and the layout has been altered in places, sometimes radically.

The current decor, mostly dating from the ship's time as DFDS Seaways' Queen of Scandinavia, is fairly subdued and somewhat minimalist, avoiding the excesses of modern ferry (and cruise ship) interiors. However, some of the changes made by the current operator St. Peter Line appear uncoordinated and do not fit the overall theme of the interiors.

The following is a somewhat limited section of photography from the ship's interiors. In part this is of no fault of my own as St. Peter Line did not allow photographing in the two most interesting interior spaces, the Nemo Casino/Exporer's restaurant complex on the front of deck 7 nor the XXXX Bar night club and the adjacent smoking room on deck 8.

Princess Maria interiors photographed on 10. and 11. February 2011. Click on the individual images to view larger size.

Looking aft from the sun deck on deck 9 on the very cold morning of 11. February 2011. The windows on the right are those of conference rooms added during a refit in 1985. This forward section of the outer deck is normally out-of-bounds, but on this trip there were only very few passengers onboard as the ship was returning from a docking in Helsinki and some of the onboard restrictions were relaxed.

Un-sunny sun deck on deck 8. Had it not been for the pretty impressive entryway into St. Petersburg (and struggling through the ice), the weather would have chased any sane person indoors.

The forward stairwell, with John Walravens striking a pose. The sculpture on the left, like so many other things onboard, is a DFDS addition.

The arcade on deck 7, facing forward with the tax-free shop on the left. The plastic wicker chairs are at odds with the otherwise refined decor.

Appareantly, gambling is all the rage in Russia as slot machines were liberally sprinkled on deck 7 even outside the casino. Annoying there was even a row of slot machines and garish neon signs right in front of the large forward window in the casino/restaurant complex, rendering the beautiful window useless.

The Columbus Night Club on deck 7. This area was originally conference rooms (with the evening's entertainment taking place largely in the restaurants) but DFDS sensibly opted for a separate night club/showroom, although it must be said the layout of the room is quite generic, almost a direct copy from the Mariella of 1985.

While the place was ptractically deserted on the outbound voyage, inbound from St. Petersburg with a large number of young Russians onboard the atmosphere was amazing and the entertainment (both the evening show and the bands) was amongst the best I've ever seen onboard any ship.

The Bake & Coffee cafeteria with it's attractive DFDS-era decor (this area was originally simply an extantion of the entrance lobby). My fellow passenger Mathias Saken (of Finnjetweb fame) tells me the food sold here was both affordable and tasty (I opted for the more expensive but very nice buffet on both nights).

DFDS Seaways are responsible for the crewing of the ship and their legacy show in quite many other places on the ship. This sticker (appareantly from the days the ship was sailing between Newcastle and IJmuiden) was in the mirror of our cabin bathroom.

Time to get back onboard... Princess Maria at the Morskoy Vokzal terminalin the afternoon of 11. February 2011. The somewhat unusual point of view of this photograph was archieved by climbing on top of a big pile of snow in the quay.

Smyril in Tórshavn, 26 May 2011

Smyril

IMO 9275218
Built 2005, IZAR San Fernando, Spain
Tonnage 12 320 GT
Length 135,00 m
Width 22,70 m
Draught 5,60 m
800 passengers (winter) / 975 passengers (summer)
96 passenger cabins
200 cars or 30 trailers
1 830 lane metres
4 MAN B&W diesels, combined 13 440 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 21 knots

Smyril is a small(ish) local ferry belonging to Strandfaraskip Landsins, a public transport company owned by the Faroese Government (the company also operate buses in addition to ferries). Smyril is also the name of a local subspecies of the Merlin (Pigeon Hawk) and it has been a traditional name in the Strandfaraskip Landsins fleet, with five different ships carrying that name having sailed for the company since the 1890s.

The current Smyril was built in 2005 by the IZAR shipyard in San Fernando, Spain as a replacement for the aged Smyril (4). Since October 2005 the (current) Smyril has sailed on a route connecting the Faroese capital Tórshavn to Tvøroyri in Suðuroy (South Island). The crossing takes about two hours with 3 daily departures from each port. Between September and October 2010 the Smyril was docked for four weeks in Denmark, during which time she was replaced by the chartered Tallink ferry Regina Baltica. Sometime after 2006 the Smyril's funnel was rebuilt with extended exhausts, possibly during this 2010 docking.

The photographs below show the Smyril at, and departing from,the harbour of Tórshavn on 26 May 2011. All photos are taken from onboard the MSC Poesia. Click on the individual images to view larger size.

In Tórshavn for a very quick turnaround. Notice the mooring line from the MSC Poesia in front of the Smyril's bow; there was very little extra space between the two ships.

Barele fitting in the image taken from the aft decks of the MSC Poesia. Smyril Line's Norröna on the left.

Departing. Again in the background is the Norröna and also the Faroese parliament buildings (Tinganes) on the left (the red buildings on the point of the peninsula).

A "little" bit of fisheye-like distortion in this picture - though it's not nescessarily a bad thing.

Heading south and (eventually) towards Tvøroyri, with the "suburbs" of Tórshavn in the background.

No caption needed, really.

The bolt-upright exhausts in the funnel (very similar to those of the Norröna, actually) are a later addition but in actual fact they somewhat improve the ship's looks in my opinion.

Norröna in Tórshavn, 26 May 2011

Norröna

IMO 9227390
Built 2003, Flender Werft Lübeck, Germany
Tonnage 36 966 GT
Length 165,74 m
Width 30,00 m
Draught 6,50 m
1 482 passengers
1 012 berths
800 cars or 130 trailers
1 830 lane metres
4 diesels, combined 21 600 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 21 knots

The Norröna is the only passenger ship in addition to Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 to operate a regular passenger service on the North Atlantic. She sails from Hirsthals in Denmark to Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands, continuing during the summer months further to Seyðisfjörður in Iceland.

Smyril Line had begun operations in 1983 with the second-hand ferry Gustav Vasa, which was renamed Norröna (I) for service with her new owners. In 2003 the original Norröna was replaced by a new, purpose-built ferry also named Norröna. The new Norröna was contracted fom the Flensburger Schiffbaugeshellschaft (FSG) in Flensburg, Germany, with concept design by Knud E. Hansen AS, but due to FSG's thick orderbook the ship was subcontracted to Flender Werft in Lübeck, Germany. Coinciding with the delivery of the new Norröna the old Norröna was renamed Norröna I.

The new Norröna's career start was not without problems, and in January 2004 the Norröna I had to be briefly drafted back to service as a replacement. The ports of call in the Norröna's service have varied, with calls in Bergen (Norway) and Lerwick (Shetland Islands) being included in addition to the Danish, Faroese and Icelandic ports, and originally the Danish port of call was Hanstholm rather than Hirsthals. In January 2006 a water measurement system was installed on the Norröna in collaboration with the Stony Brook University and the University of Rhode Island in an effort to monitor the Gulf Stream. An improved version of this system remains in use in 2011.

In 2008, the ship's somewhat complex timetable of linking the Faroe Islands to Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the UK was simplified, now concentrating solely in providing a Denmark-Faroes-Iceland service. Since 2010, the exact route has remained Hirtshals–Tórshavn–Seyðisfjörður.

The photographs below show the Norröna arriving in, and in the port of, Tórshavn on 26 May 2011. As you can see the weather was less than ideal, but despite the occasionally poor quality of the images I felt such an unusual ship deserved to have multiple images of it posted. Click on the individual images to view full size.

Coming in from Seyðisfjörður at high speed.

Outside the harbour breakwater, the Norröna made a very fast turn, with a somehwta dangerous-looking list.

Practicality, rather than beauty, has clearly been the guiding principle in designing the ship. Though she's not ugly either, in my opinion.

Originally the ship's side-text read just Smyril Line without the web url. The text appears to have been changed sometime before 2010.

Very unusually for 2000s-built ship, the Norröna features a cabins forward, public spaces aft -arrangement that had been popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s ferry design.

Drawings of the ship show she was originally planned to have a more streamlined, swept-back funnel. The final result is perhaps more fitting of her design.

Entering the harbour proper. The aft of MSC Poesia is visible behind the Norröna's bow.

At quay, having alreadt unloaded most freight.

Norröna against the backdrop of her home port Tórshavn, photographed from onboard the MSC Poesia.

Color Fantasy in Kiel, 23 May 2011

Color Fantasy

IMO 9278234
Built 2004, Kvaerner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 74 500 GT
Length 223,70 m
Width 35,00 m
Draught 6,80 m
Ice class 1B
2 750 passengers
2 667 berths
750 cars
1 270 lane metres
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 31 200 kW
2 propellers
3 bow thrusters
2 stern thrusters
Speed 22 knots

Color Fantasy was Color Line's first ever newbuilding. When delivered in 2004 she was also the world's largest ferry, surpassing the previous record holders (P&O Ferries' Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull) by an impressive 16 000 GT. On delivery the Color Fantasy was placed on the Oslo-Kiel route, replacing the Prinsesse Ragnhild (which was moved to a new Bergen-Stavanger-Hirsthals service). The Color Fantasy lost her accolade of being the world's largest ferry in 2007 when her sister Color Magic was delivered.

The photographs below show the Color Fantasy in the Kiel Fjord, shortly after departure from the Norwegenkai terminal on 23 May 2011. Click on the images to view larger size.

Color Fantasy passing the famous HDW Kiel shipyard. The west side of the Kiel Fjord is far from an ideal photo spot around the time the Color Line ships depart and as you can see I had to heavily treat the first two images to get anything presentable out of them.

Side elevation of the futuristic Fantasy.

Towards the mouth of the fjord, in much nicer lighting.

Farväl, Fakta om Fartyg

Fakta om Fartyg, my all-time favourite ship information database website, has closed down due to technical difficulties. Which is a sad, sad thing as it was by far the best free information database related to ships that could be found online. I even learned to speak (or at least read) Swedish largely thanks to FoF. Thank you, Micke Asklander, for keeping up such a fabulous website for such a long time.

The closure of Fakta om Fartyg can also mean a reduction in factual accuracy of this blog, as FoF has been my primary source of information for the ship histories and technical data. Any tips on a comparable free information database would be much appriciated if I'm going to keep up the current level of factual accuracy for this place.

Igen, många tackar Micke!

Edit 20. 6. 2011: Thanks to the large-scalle support, herr Asklander is now planning on reopening his website.