Grand Mistral on the Gulf of Finland, 30 May 2013

Grand Mistral

IMO 9172777
Name history: Mistral, Grand Mistral
Built 1999, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 48 200 GT
Length 216 m
Width 28,80 m
Draught 6,90 m
1 715 passengers
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 31 680 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22,5 knots

The Grand Mistral was one of the early ships to be featured in this blog. For a short history of the ship, see the first entry on her.

The photographs below show the Grand Mistral on the Gulf of Finland outside Kronstadt. After sailing out of the channel from St. Petersburg the Grand Mistral slowed down to drop off the pilot, giving our ship (the Princess Anastasia) the chance to overtake her. The Grand Mistral re-overtook us later in the evening, but the photographs of that will be the subject of a later entry.

In case you missed my trip report from the Princess Anastasia over at MaritimeMatters, you can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

As always, click on the images to see them in larger size.

The weather had been perfect during our entire Princess Anastasia cruise... until the departure from St. Petersburg. And even that turned out to be a good thing, as it made these dramatic photos of the Grand Mistral possible.

Not one of my favourite ships in the terms of exterior design, but the dramatic lighting more than makes up for it.

I love the way the sky looks in this one.

Here I should have used a larger apperture or higher ISO level as the image is slightly out of focus. Still good though.

Next time: MSC Musica and Grand Mistral sailing into the sunset.

Galaxy in Stockholm, 28 May 2013

Galaxy

IMO 9333694
Built 2006, Aker Finnyards Rauma, Finland
Tonnage 48 915 GT
Length 212,10 m
Width 29,00 m
Draught 6,40 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 800 passengers
2 138 berths
420 cars
1 130 lanemeters
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 26 240 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22 knots

For a short history of the Galaxy, see this entry. The photographs below show the Galaxy arriving at Stockholm's Värtanhamnen on the evening of 28 May 2013, photographed from onboard St. Peter Line's Princess Anastasia. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

I wouldn't mind living in Lidingö - at least not the highbuildings visible here. Imagine the photo opportunities during the morning arrivals! Okay, it might cost a bit.

The photogenic local ferry wreck in the foreground again.

Starting to turn in order to reverse to the terminal...

...which also leads to the ship being positioned rubbishly for the lighting.

Next time: Grand Mistral

Baltic Queen in Stockholm, 28 May 2013

Baltic Queen

IMO 9443255
Built 2009, STX Europe Rauma, Finland
Tonnage 48 915 GT
Length 212,10 m
Width 29,00 m
Draught 6,42 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 800 passengers
2 500 berths
600 cars
1 130 lanemeters
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 32 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 24,5 knots

I don't remember if there has been a history entry for the Baltic Queen before. There probably hasn't, because there's so little to say. The ship was built in 2009 by STX Europe in Rauma as the third and last unit of Tallink's Galaxy-class. On delivery in April 2009 she was placed on the Tallinn-Mariehamn-Stockholm route. In November-December 2009 and again in October-November 2010 she briefly moved to Silja Line's Turku-Långnäs-Stockholm -run, allowing the Silja Europa to move to the Helsinki-Mariehamn-Stockholm run to cover for the docking periods of the Silja Serenade and Silja Symphony. Apart from these occasions, Tallink's newest ship has stayed exclusively on the Tallinn-Stockholm run.

The photographs below show the Baltic Queen departing from Stockholm Värtahamnen in the afternoon of 28 May 2013, photographed from onboard St. Peter Line's Princess Anastasia. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

The lighting obviously wasn't ideal when approaching from this direction, but on the other hand it's not every day you can even photograph the ship from this particular point of view in this place.

As fashionable as it is to dislike the Tallink ship artworks, I must say I quite like the one on the BQ. It's not overdone and the colours used work surprisingly well together. I wouldn't mind seeing Tallink repaint some of their ships, but this one should stay exactly as it is.

The remains of a double-ended local Stockholm ferry in the foreground.

Departing view framed by harbour buildings. Notice the map of the Baltic Sea on the warehouse on the left.

Next time: Galaxy

Empress in Helsinki, 21 May 2013

First off, I would like to start by apologising for the lack of updates during this month. As noted in an earlier entry, I have spent most of this month working on my upcoming book Silja Line from De Samseglande to Tallink. This has included editing A LOT of photos - and I'm sure you can understand that when I've first spent 6-8 hours in editing ship photos in my "day job", doing some more photo editing for my blog on top of that does not strike my fancy. Today, however, is different, as I took a day off for ship photography and afterwards I felt sufficiently rejuvenated to work a bit on non-Silja/Tallink related photos. As is the tradition, we continue in chronological order from where we left off - in other words, Pullmantur Cruises' Empress.

Empress

IMO 8716899
Name history: Nordic Empress, Empress of the Seas, Empress
Built 1990, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 48 563 GT
Length 210,81 m
Width 30,70 m
Draft 7,10 m
2 020 passengers
2 Wärtsilä-Duvant Crepelle diesels, combined 16 200 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 19,5 knots

Obviously, the weather was not entirelty collaborative on the day I took these photos, but they are my first (and only) photos of any Pullmantur Cruises' ship in their new, blue-hulled livery. With regards to Pullmantur's new livery, I have to say I like that they have tried to do something different from the run-of-the-mill white-hulled cruise ship livery. But having said that, the new livery is terrible. Sure it's nice they did something different, but did they have to choose the other boring stereotypical hull colour besides white? And who did they have design this thing? I could come up with a better livery for crying out loud! (It's easy, actually. Just swap the dark and light blue in the current livery).

For a very short history of the Empress (as well as photos of her in Pullmantur's earlier livery), see the first entry on her.

So anyway, the photos below show the Empress departing Helsinki West Harbour on the afternoon of 21 May 2013. Photographed, as per the usual, from Sisä-Hattu. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Unusually, the Empress departed at exactly the same moment as the Star. Usually, the Star & Superstar are very punctual (they have to be, with such tight schedules) and never let other ships sail on their slot. This time however, the Empress did and the Star yielded.

The wind whipped up impressive waves... but unfortunately the sky didn't quite cooperate for best possible photos.

The bad weather being one of the reasons why I'm only showing you three photos today. Well, that and the fact the others were just more of the same.

Next time: Baltic Queen

Silja Europa in Helsinki, 21 May 2013

Silja Europa

IMO 8919805
Name history: Europa, Silja Europa
Built 1993, Meyer Werft, Germany
Tonnage 59 912 GT
Length 201,78 m
Width 32,60 m
Draught 6,80 m
Ice class 1 A Super
3 123 passengers
3 696 berths
350 cars
932 lane metres
4 MAN diesels, combined 31 800 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 22 knots

I know the last photographic entry was about the Silja Europa. But here's another one anyway. And hey, these show her without Tallink hull markings, in an appearancethat can no longer be seen live.

For a history of the ship, see this entry.

The photographs below show the Silja Europa arriving in Helsinki West Harbour on the afternoon of 21 May 2013. Photographed from Sisä-Hattu. Click on the images to see in larger size.

The seas were impressively slightly choppy on this day, giving some additional interest to these shots.

Unusually angled windows and sunlight make for impressive shots.

White-tipped waves.

Waves and reflections, now two for the price of one!

Next time: Empress.