The Point class sealift ship Hartland Point. The MoD has quietly cut the number of Point class ro-ros. Maritime Photo

The MoD has reduced the number of Point class transport ships readily available to provide UK armed forces with a dedicated strategic lift service from six to four. The cut in numbers was confirmed in response to a Parliamentary question about the outcome of a review of the MoD’s strategic sealift requirement. The study concluded that only those four ships contracted on a full-time basis under the Private Finance Initiative continued to be value for money. As a result, the two ‘standby’ vessels, which are usually chartered out but available at short notice, are to be sold.

The 2,650 lane-metre ro-ro vessels, built by Flensburger Schiffbau and Harland & Wolff, were introduced between 2002 and 2003. They soon proved their value, providing a significant contribution to Operation Telic, shipping heavy equipment for the war in Iraq. GD

The new Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior, the third vessel to carry the name. seapix online

The new Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior, undertook a five-week tour of New Zealand ports in January. Built in 2010 in Gdansk, Poland, she was fitted out in Bremen, Germany and launched in October 2011. The entire €22.5 million cost of the project was funded by Greenpeace supporters.

The 58m ship carries 1,300m2 of sail on 55m high A-frame masts, and her propeller can be feathered to reduce resistance through the water while under sail. She is powered, when not under sail, by the cleanest and most efficient diesel-electric engines, and she carries advanced satellite communications systems.

A wooden dolphin on the ship’s foredeck is from her immediate predecessor, Rainbow Warrior (2), which was built in 1957 in Yorkshire as the deep-sea trawler Ross Kashmir, and was later named Grampian Fame.

Meanwhile, the new flagship’s bell is a direct connection with the first Rainbow Warrior, which was built as the trawler Sir William Hardy, and was controversially bombed by French secret agents in July 1985. The bell, salvaged following the bombing, was rung as the new Greenpeace flagship visited the resting place of the original ship in Matauri Bay in January.

Kingswear Castle on the Medway.

After 27 years on the Medway, the paddle steamer Kingswear Castle, built in 1924 and powered by a compound diagonal engine dating from 1904, has been towed back to the river Dart to commence a 15-year charter for a summer role, including the ‘Round Robin’ pleasure trips linking Paignton, Kingswear and Totnes with travel by steam train, bus and steamer.

Confirming the news, the Paddle Steamer Kingswear Caste Trust, vessel owners on behalf of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, said in a statement: ‘From 2013 Kingswear Castle will be taken on long-term charter by the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Co and returned to service on the river Dart. As a result, the business on the Medway will close. We believe the package offered is in the best long-term interest of Kingswear Castle, not only because she will be going home, but also because the Railway and River Boat Company have long experience of, and are skilled in, the operation of both passenger vessels and steam engines, a combination not found elsewhere.’

A series of new open-hatch bulk carriers entering service for Norway’s Saga Forest Carriers incorporate high-capacity twin rail-mounted gantry cranes for cargo handling. (Port of Vancouver (USA))

Tønsberg, Norway-headquartered Saga Forest Carriers, part of the Hesnes Group, has taken delivery of the 55,596dwt Saga Future, the first in a series of eight 200m by 32.2m open-hatch bulk carriers it is having built in Asia by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Japan’s Oshima Shipbuilding Ltd. Known as the ‘Future’ class, the ships have been fitted out to use shoreside electrical power while at berth and all carry advanced ballast water treatment systems.

In addition, fuel tanks have been protected with cofferdams to provide extra protection against oil spills. All eight ships are expected to be in service by the end of this year, with Saga Fortune and Saga Falcon following Saga Future from the Daewoo yard.