Three vessels of particular interest made their maiden visits
to the harbour last week. The log ship Port Phillip
brought back memories of a well-known Port Line cargo liner,
Aetos also called to load logs, and Araon is the first
ice-breaker to come our way for almost 39 years.
The latest visitor, to Ravensbourne last Saturday, the
Chinese-built Montauk Maiden, may have a similar
appearance to bulk carriers that have turned up here over the
years.
Another two cruise-ship names will be recorded here for the
first time this week, with the arrival of the 2009-built
Silver Spirit on Wednesday and the 22-year-old
Balmoral on Saturday.
Further to Hamburg-Suds' 50-year association with this port
and the introduction, during the past few years, of larger
vessels into the fleet, mentioned last week; I have found
even bigger ships have joined the fleet since last October.
It all began on January 19, 1961, when the 4106gt Cap
Corrientes berthed at Dunedin, representing the Hamburg-Sud
group in this harbour for the first time.
The year 2010 was an interesting one. Compared with 50 years
ago, when most of our overseas import and export trades were
handled by cargo liners flying the British flag, they are now
the domain of foreign-owned interests.
The run of vessels making their first visits to this harbour
continues for the rest of this year with Hanjin Bombay
and SJN Nordic visiting the upper harbour and BC
San Francisco calling at Port Chalmers.
