As mentioned last week, MSC Palermo, completed in February 1992, was among the last ships to be built at the Vegesack, Bremen, yard of Bremer Vulkan AG Schiffbau u. Maschinenfabrik, to give the company its full title.
The yard was founded on October 12, 1893, when a group of investors bought the Johann Lange shipyard that had opened on September 23, 1805.
Bremer Vulkan became part of the Thyssen Bornemisza group in 1972 and in 1984 merged with Lloyd Werft.
In 1993, the former East German yards Neptun Werft (Rostock) and Volkswerft (Stralsund) were acquired, then, in 1994, the name was changed to Bremer Vulkan Werft GmbH.
Two years later, the facility, the largest shipyard employer in Germany, with a workforce of more than 22,000, went bankrupt.
The yard closed in August 1997, with the completion of the 31,730gt container ship Hansa Constitution. However, the largest Bremer Vulkan-built vessel afloat today is the 77,104gt, 2450-berth cruise liner Norwegian Sky.
This vessel, ordered by the Costa Cruise Line, was launched on November 2, 1996, as Costa Olympic.
Subsequently, with the yard's collapse, it was bought by the Norwegian Cruise Line and was completed in July 1999, as Norwegian Sky by the Lloyd Werft yard at Bremerhaven. Renamed Pride of Aloha in 2004, it reverted to Norwegian Sky last year.
The yard built more than 1100 naval and merchant vessels.
Of the 41 BV-built ships that have called here in the post-war years, more than half were ordered by operators in the Australia/New Zealand trades.
The Shaw, Savill Line took delivery of Afric, Aramaic, and Arabic in 1956-57, then Amalric in 1960, from these builders.
Bremer Vulkan additions to the Blue Star fleet were Canberra Star, Gladstone Star, Hobart Star, Newcastle Star and Townsville Star in 1956-57, then New Zealand Star and Southland Star in 1967.
Enter the container era and from 1969-72 the yard delivered the first generation vessels ACT's 1-6, Australian Endeavour and Australian Exporter, all steam turbine vessels.
Then, in 1977-78, the larger second generation ships, ACT 7, Australian Venture, Mairangi Bay, Resolution Bay and New Zealand Pacific, were completed.
Of the container ships seen here over the years, Bremer Vulkan built more than any other yard.
In addition to those mentioned above, the others were Contship Romance, Hansa Clipper, Melbourne Express and the 1971-built sisters California Star and Mandama.
These builders also had an earlier link with this harbour through the Federal Line's Cumberland, Hertford, Huntingdon and Norfolk.
The four, 10,900gt 13.5-knot, twin screw steamers had all been laid down for the Hamburg-Amerika Line, but due to wartime were not completed until 1920.
Later that year, they were handed over to Britain as war reparations and were allocated to the Shipping Controller, London.
In turn, they were sold to Federal the following year. These rather imposing-looking vessels all became war losses between 1940-42.
