Shipping Lines - Port hosts visit of North Atlantic ro-ro cargo ship

Several of her ‘fleetmates’, such as Prima Ballerina and Prima Donna, have called in on previous annual occasions.

Arriving from the upper Baltic and the port of Naantali their port of registry is usually Borga, also known as Porvoo. Their bright blue hulls add a splash of colour to an often grey background of dockside sheds. On the South Quay was noted a James Fisher-owned, 95-metres-long Chinese-built, coastal tanker Speciality, owned at Barrow-in-Furness and completed at the Quinshan Shipyard in China in 2006.

The coasters Truffaldino and Sylvia also arrived in the port. The first-named was flying the rarely seen flag of St Vincent & The Grenadines and registered at Kingstown, while the Sylvia flew the regular colourful “flag of convenience” of Antigua & Barbuda, being registered at St. John’s

Now to the details of the Link Polaris the Norwegian-owned ro-ro container ship, a unit of the 11-strong NORWEST cargo fleet of multi-purpose vessels which trade between Iceland, Faeroe Islands, Norway, Sweden and Poland with additional calls such as the UK, subject to inducement.

The Link Polaris, port of registry Akerhamn, was built by the Bergen Group Fosen at Rissa, Norway in 1980 being 103 metres in length, 4380-ton deadweight, fitted with a conspicuous stern ramp and a container capacity of 86 teus. She loaded bagged fertiliser in Montrose and departed for Reydarfjordur and other additional ports in Iceland.

The town is at the head of the largest of the fjords on the east coast of Iceland. Like other towns in similar locations it is surrounded by mountains. The climate is damp and foggy but by Autumn it can have the highest temperatures in Iceland. In the early 20th century it was a trading port in addition to being a busy fishing harbour.

It was the second most important location in Iceland for Allied base operations during World War Two.

After 2000 Alcoa decided to construct an aluminium smelter in the area bringing in a large number of foreign workers making it the largest overseas community in Iceland with many of the construction workers coming from Poland. This may account for the present day shipping connection with the Link Polaris fleet.

Here now is an update of the refit of the preserved steam tug Kerne. Following meetings with management of Cammell Laird, a window of opportunity appeared to allow the underwater work on the hull to be undertaken in No.6 Dock at Birkenhead on the River Mersey. Every piece of movable equipment would have to be taken ashore and stored as she would have to be towed unpowered. The tow was undertaken by an active tug of the Svitzer fleet. For a few weeks the veteran Montrose-built vessel shared the dry dock with the Polish-built Calmac ro-ro passenger/vehicle ferry Finnlaggen. The work included scraping, painting and NDT testing for hull plate thickness. After almost four weeks, the hull was refurbished for another four or more years.