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This is the 13th post describing an 'Expedition Cruise' with Noble Caledonia in 2020 under the title 'Across the Tropic of Capricorn'.
Events of Thursday 27th February 2020
I'd been to Port Moresby once before, in 2015, on my first trip aboard 'Caledonian Sky' under the title 'From the Coral Sea to the South China Sea'. All my posts on that trip (in reverse order of posting) can be found here.
In 2020, We sailed into the broad, natural harbour at Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, on a warm, sunny morning. After the disappointments of failing to visit any of the Solomon Islands and then being refused entry by the Provincial Authorities in Rabaul we were quite relieved to finally dock. The quay we moored at was a large, barren concrete expanse (with a number of apparently new road vehicles in store).
The quay we moored at was a large, barren concrete expanse (Port Moresby's Docks 2020)
At a nearby jetty was the 'SMS Tangguh'. A bit of research later revealed that this Landing Craft, 50m long 12m beam Indonesian-built in 2007, was one of the smallest ships operated by Wintermar Offshore Shipping based in Indonesia, which serves the offshore oil and gas industry in Asia.
Landing Craft 'SMS Tangguh', 50m long, 12m beam, Indonesian-built in 2007 (Port Moresby's Docks 2020)
In the opposite direction, another jetty was the home of three similar landing craft, in military grey.
Three Landing Craft in military grey, with new construction in the background extending the city (Port Moresby's Docks 2020)
I was initially surprised at the lack of on-shore activity, until I discovered that, in 2018, the international cargo terminal had been relocated further into Port Moresby Harbour, about 10 km away, at Mokutea Island. The safe waters of the harbour still provide an anchorage for ships awaiting berths, so I recorded what I could see.
General cargo vessel 'Vimaru Pearl' 101m long, 20m beam 8,889 Summer DWT, built Nishi Shipbuilding, Japan, operated by Eastern Dragon Shipping in Vietnam (Port Moresby's Docks 2020)
'Kmarin Jasmine' (with prominent external hawse pipes through which the anchor chains pass) is a bulk carrier operated by Kmarin Group in South Korea. The KMarin fleet of 66 vessels includes 10 Gas Carriers, 15 Tankers, 38 Bulk Carriers and 3 Container Ships.
Bulk Carrier 'Kmarin Jasmine' 180m long, 30m beam 37,430 DWT, built by Hyundai Vietnam in 2014 (Port Moresby's Docks 2020)
'Kumul Arrow' is a hard-working open hatch gantry crane vessel operated by Gearbulk which I first saw during my 2015 trip. It's 187m long, 29m beam, 41,619 DWT and was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1985. The two gantry cranes probably each have a capacity of 40 tonnes with 13 cubic metre grabs. The view below of her starboard side shows how the grabs discharge over the side via conveyors. She appears to be a regular on the China-Port Moresby run.
'Kumul Arrow' in 2020 - an open hatch gantry crane vessel operated by Gearbulk. 187m long with 29m beam and 41,619 DWT it was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1985. The two gantry cranes probably each have a capacity of 40 tonnes with 13 cu. metre grabs. This view of starboard side shows how the grabs discharge via conveyors. (Port Moresby's Docks)
Careful study afterwards showed that the vessel in the background (black hull, yellow funnel) is an oil/chemical tanker operated by Turkish K Tankering and Ship Management, part of the Kaptanoglu Group which, among other activities, builds ships. I found the brief family history here interesting. Further study suggested that this tanker is berthed on the opposite side of Port Moresby Harbour at an oil terminal forming part of the small Napa Napa oil refinery operated by Puma Energy. There's a Wikipedia article on Puma Energy here
Looking to the north, I could see the Poreporena Villages, built out over the waters of the harbour on stilts.
Poreporena Villages (Port Moresby's Docks 2020)
I'm afraid it was little consolation that the national government in Port Moresby had confirmed that the actions of the provincial authority in Rabaul in preventing our landing was not lawful. The expedition team displayed copies of correspondence between the Governor of the East New Britain Provincial Government and the Hon. Jelta Wong MP, Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS based in the National Capital District of Port Moresby on the ship's notice board. The Minister's letter is below:-
Minister's reply to Governor, page 1
Click for larger size
Minister's reply to Governor, page 2
Click for larger size
The additional sailing time from Rabaul to Port Moresby meant that all the passengers were being transferred directly to Port Moresby Airport to catch the charter flight to Cairns which had been part of the original programme. There was time for breakfast on board, although not quite in the leisurely fashion we'd previously enjoyed, before a convoy of, I think, three rather run-down coaches arrived to collect us all. After we'd confirmed that our heavy luggage was on the dock, it was bundled into the luggage hold of the appropriate bus and we clambered aboard for the drive to the airport. I found a seat near the back of my bus and after a few extra checks that we had everybody, the buses set off. We had two local guides on the bus who told us a little about the city but with a noisy engine, windows open for ventilation (there was no air conditioning and the electric fans weren't working) and no public address system, their commentary was completely inaudible beyond the first few rows of seats.
Our bus to the airport: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 2020
Our route to the airport took us by a modern dual carriageway through undulating terrain and suburban sprawl.
View from bus to the airport: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 2020
On arrival at Jacksons International Airport, each guest had to retrieve their heavy luggage from the hold and drag it into the airport terminal. A check-in desk was opened to deal with our charter and I found myself near the end of a queue with my fellow guests. The first two passengers were quickly checked-in and issued with boarding passes, allowing them to take the escalator up to Departures. Check-in continued, with heavy luggage taken away by conveyor, but no more board passes were printed, so as each passenger was dealt with, they were asked to wait nearby. There weren't many seats in the check-in hall but, fearing a protracted wait, I secured one. Nothing happened for some time, except that the building became much busier as passengers arrived for other flights, were issued with boarding passes and continued to departures. Then, one of the Expedition Crew travelling with us announced that the problem had been sorted. We'd supposed to have caught an aircraft at Rabaul on the original schedule and transited through Port Moresby. Apparently, the airline had not cancelled the bookings for the Rabaul-Port Moresby leg, so the airline computer would not issue boarding passes for Port Moresby-Cairns because we'd not checked in a Rabaul. If that was the case, I wondered, why had two boarding passes been printed and why were we able to check-in our heavy baggage? However, I waited as patiently as I could and, eventually, about six named printed boarding passes arrived and were distributed to the lucky passengers. Thereafter, every five or ten minutes, further small batches of boarding passes appeared until there were just three of us, including the writer, disconsolately waiting for boarding passes. Finally, these arrived and at least security and immigration were fairly painless. The airport's Duty Free was very modest by modern standards and I found my fellow passengers waiting in the restaurant and bar area. By this time, I'm afraid, I was just keen to board the aircraft - I'd found the transfer from the ship particularly tedious.
At last, we boarded the Air Niuguini Boeing 737 which took us the 522 miles to Cairns in around 1 hour 35 minutes. Simple, but welcome, refreshments were served during the flight.
Related posts on this website
This post is in the series labelled 'Tropic of Capricorn’. The first post is here.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will display the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Tropic of Capricorn reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Tropic of Capricorn reports
I'd made an earlier visit to Papua New Guinea in 2015. The short time I was in Port Moresby during that trip is described here.
My pictures
'Caledonian Sky' 2020
'Caledonian Sky' Bridge 2020
Port Moresby's Docks (2015 and 2020).
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (2015 and 2020).
On Saturday 14th March 2020, I made a brief trip to Liverpool by train, no doubt encouraged by using the internet a few days earlier for 'remote ship viewing' of the Mersey.
Remote Ship Viewing
I've talked about the possibilities for remote ship viewing in the post Watching The Ships Go By. Prior to my trip on 14th March, I'd looked at the webcams operated by 'www.wirralcam.org' and spotted an MSC container ship berthed at the deepwater quay 'Liverpool 1'. A few moments on the excellent ShipAIS site confirmed the ship's identity as 'MSC Santhya'. At the same time, I'd noted the ships which ShipAIS indicated at Cammell Laird's shipyard in Birkenhead - a couple of Royal Fleet Auxiliaries and RMS 'St. Helena'. The RMS 'St. Helena' was the vessel I'd sailed on in 2011 (my posts on this memorable voyage are here).
As I've explained in earlier posts, Liverpool has fascinated me since my first visit as a child, so periodically I'm drawn back. I usually visit the Museum of Liverpool to inspect 'Lion', the first locomotive I ever drove before she was finally 'stuffed and mounted', take a trip on the Mersey Ferry which still delights me, and look for changes on the railways to and around Liverpool.
Getting there
I caught the 09:22 from Wolverhampton to Liverpool Lime Street, armed with the Railcam.UK 'app' on my mobile phone (which is briefly described in my post Watching The Trains Go By) to provide live signalling information. West Midland Trains were operating the service with an 8-car train formed from two 4-car Electric Multiple Units, resulting in only the front four coaches being alongside the platform at certain stations, like Penkridge. Before arriving at these stations, the Guard (using the public address) advised passengers wishing to alight to move forward to the front four coaches and, of course, he selectively opened the doors. After our Stafford stop, we took the Fast Line to Crewe, where we arrived at platform 11. The very smart-looking 'Statesman Rail' set of coaches (all in Pullman-style livery with each coach named after a British mountain) stood in the adjacent platform 12, headed by an unidentified 'vintage main line diesel'. A few moments on the internet showed that this train was the 'SETTLE & CARLISLE LUNCHEON CIRCULAR'.
We left Crewe, routed on the Down Fast, made our scheduled stops at Winsford, Hartford, Acton Bridge, Runcorn and Liverpool South Parkway, and completed our journey, unusually, in platform 10 at Lime Street.
Around Liverpool
As usual, I purchased a 'Saveaway' day ticket and descended to the Merseyrail underground platform at Lime Street, taking the train to the next-but-one stop at James Street. When I emerged at street level, the weather was overcast with a fair breeze coming from the river but I enjoyed the walk to the Museum of Liverpool to check on their railway exhibit 'Lion', the exhibits relating to the long-defunct Liverpool Overhead Railway (which I travelled on as a child) and the new 'Liverpool on Wheels' exhibition.
'Lion'
I then walked to the modern Mersey Ferry building on the Waterfront, which vies in architectural awfulness with the nearby 'dented shoebox' design of the Museum of Liverpool. I obtained a 'boarding pass' to Birkenhead Woodside for the ferry with my 'Saveaway' and boarded 'Royal Iris of the Mersey'. This ferry, built in 1959, was originally 'Mountwood' but was rebuilt in 2001 with Wartsila twin diesel engines and renamed 'Royal Iris of the Mersey' to perpetuate the famous name of another Mersey Ferry named 'Royal Iris' now lying derelict on the Thames. Wikipedia has articles on both Royal Iris of the Mersey and Royal Iris.
The electronic chimes in the famous Liver Building struck noon, but I was disappointed to see that the huge, 25-foot diameter clock face visible from the river displayed the wrong time. There's a Wikipedia article on the Liver Building here.
The Liver Building, Liverpool, in 2017
After waiting for a few tardy passengers to join the ferry, the hydraulic gangway was raised and the mooring ropes released a few minutes late. The Mersey has a very wide tidal range and strong currents so good seamanship is needed by the ferry 'skipper'. With the tide coming in, the ferry had moored with the bow towards the sea. When the tide is going out, they moor bow upstream. Presumably, more positive rudder effect is obtained in this way. Certainly, the water between the hull and the pier pushed the bow out and, with black smoke from the hard-working engine, we powered towards the sea whilst the familiar recorded commentary outlined the various landmarks on the Liverpool side. We seemed to turn 'cross river' earlier than I remember - perhaps as well, since I normally prefer to travel on the open upper fore deck and the the wind was quite strong and only a few hardy souls were with me out of the 111 who had boarded. It also started to rain, but I continued to brave it out. Visibility was poor, so only the outlines of the huge Chinese-built container cranes at the deepwater quay called 'Liverpool 1' could be seen, with a moored container ship marked 'MSC' which I knew to be 'MSC Santhya', as described in 'Remote Ship Viewing' above. In the days after my trip, I checked the internet to note that 'MSC Santhya' left Liverpool two days after I saw her, bound for Antwerp.
View from Mersey Ferry in the rain, showing Liverpool 1 Quay with MSC 'Santhya' and container cranes (Return to Liverpool, 14-Mar-2020)
I watched our approach to Seacombe before noticing that chemical tanker 'Amethyst' had slipped past, on her way to the Irish Sea.
Unibaltic chemical tanker 'Amethyst' bound for Fawley heads towards the Irish Sea (Return to Liverpool, 14-Mar-2020)
We approached the Landing Stage at Seacombe from upstream, using power to move against the current and very delicately coming closer, slowly turning to port until the hull near the bow gently squeezed against the massive tractor tyres chained to the face of the landing stage, producing a squeal of protest as the tyres distorted. The crewman near the bow tossed a thin 'messenger line' to the shoreman, who picked up the end and hauled first the messenger line then, attached to it, a loop of the heavy mooring line which was slipped across a suitable bollard on the landing stage. The crewman on the ferry then tightened the loop of mooring line and made it fast, so that the ferry was pivoting on the mooring line. The 'skipper' then brought the stern towards the landing stage until a crewman at the stern was able to toss a similar line ashore so that the stern could be secured. The heavy, sliding gate in the gunwhale near the stern was slid open as the shoreman rotated the gangway to line-up with the aperture. The shoreman then used his bodyweight to tip the counterbalanced gangway from the 'upright' to the 'landing' position (there's no hydraulics at Seacombe or Woodside) and, within seconds, passengers were leaving the ferry, before 'joining' passengers were allowed onto the ferry. More exertions by the shoreman raised the gangway, the crewman at the stern closed the sliding door and retrieved the stern line. The shoreman moved along the landing stage to release the mooring line at the bow and, with a surge of power, the ferry moved away from the landing stage and executed a 180 degree turn to starboard until we were heading upriver, largely carried by the incoming tide.
'Royal Iris' passed the two berths at Twelve Quays, both unoccupied, but I noticed that, since my last visit a year earlier, the upriver berth had acquired a new, higher-level vehicle loading ramp served by a new access lane. Back home, a bit of research showed that this was to serve a new class of ferry, called 'E-Flex', introduced in 2020 by Swedish-operator Stena Line on the Belfast service. 'Stena Edda', built in China, is 215m long, 28m beam with a gross tonnage around 42,400. Capacity is 1,000 passengers, 120 cars and around 210 freight vehicles. More information can be found here, on the excellent site for ferry enthusiasts 'NI Ferry'.
The method of arriving at Birkenhead Woodside Landing Stage was similar to that adopted at Seacombe. We made a 180 degree starboard turn so that we faced the incoming tidal current and used power to creep towards the landing stage, finally mooring as described for Seacombe. Seeing a crowd of passengers waiting by the port side bow gate, I initially joined them, temporarily forgetting that unloading would be via the port side stern gate. We all had a brief scramble through the saloon following the realisation that passengers were already disembarking at the stern!
Fortunately, the rain had stopped, so I set off cheerfully on the walk past the remains of Birkenhead Woodside railway station on my left and the modern, windswept bus terminus on my right towards Hamilton Square underground station. My temptation is always to 'go to the seaside' at New Brighton but I decided, instead, on a shorter journey just two stops to Green Lane, to clarify the station construction. The railway is below ground level with a tunnel to the north leading towards Birkenhead Central and a short tunnel to the south, leading towards Rock Ferry. The station is set in a rectangular excavation which we'd now call a 'station box' but the retaining walls forming the 'box' are not concrete but beautifully-executed stonework. A series of plate girders span the station and the spaces between these girders are partially infilled by brick arcading but only above the southbound track, giving the station a rather 'lopsided' appearance. I presume this was to support features associated with the long-gone LNWR/GWR Joint Line from Chester to Birkenhead Woodside which ran slightly to one side of Green Lane above ground level. The track leading north, towards Birkenhead Central, is more exposed to the weather so a practical, but ugly, modern canopy has been erected on that platform only.
Green Lane station, Merseyrail, showing footbridge and tunnel towards Birkenhead Central.
Green Lane station, Merseyrail, showing stonework, overhead plate girders, partially infilled by brick arcading, and short tunnel at south end towards Rock Ferry.
I didn't spend long at Green Lane because I'd decided to return to Woodside Ferry Landing Stage in time to catch the next ferry back to Liverpool. Leaving Woodside for Pierhead offers reasonable views of the vessels in the dry docks and wet basins at the Cammell Laird shipyard on the Birkenhead side.
I took the next train back to Hamilton Square, travelled back to the surface in one of the huge electric lifts and walked back to Woodside Landing Stage. As I neared the Ferry Terminal, I noticed a tug 'hovering' nearby and wondered if it was about to begin a 'towage job' . I was curious because tugs I'd seen at Liverpool were normally black-hulled with cream superstructure, but this one was red-hulled with white superstructure. Once on the landing stage, I saw that a Chemical/Oil Tanker had emerged from the docks on the Liverpool side and the waiting tug moved quickly to assist in the manoeuvring. After my visit, a little detective work revealed that the red-hulled tug was the 'Donau'. The off-centre name on the stern gave the clue that she had previously been the 'Smit Donau' and that led to the realisation that the the red and white livery is that of the Boluda Towage Group. Their interesting 'Heritage' page here charts the various amalgamations back to the Alexandra Towing Company formed in 1887, with a picture of a steam tug of the pattern I remember from childhood. Alexandra Towing had been acquired by Adstream and became part of Smit in 2010. Smit joined with Kotug in 2016 and, as recently as August 2019, Kotug Smit Towage became part of Boluda Towage Europe.
Having emerged from Liverpool Docks, Chemical/Oil Tanker 'Habip Bayrack' is assisted by a tug before setting off for Rotterdam (Return to Liverpool, 14-Mar-2020)
'Royal Iris of the Mersey' approached from Seacombe, making a 180 degree starboard turn and using power against the current to move towards the landing stage.
After executing a rapid 180 degree to starboard. 'Royal Iris' powers towards Woodside Landing Stage against the tide (Return to Liverpool, 14-Mar-2020)
The familiar routine saw the ferry dock, the gangway lowered, passengers disembark, joining passengers (including the writer) board and in minutes the ferry was on its way, turning to starboard again to head briefly up-river and our closest approach to the Cammell Laird shipyard.
Cammell Laird shipyard
The picture below gives an idea of the present extent of this famous shipyard.
Aerial view of dry docks and wet basin at Birkenhead (Photo: Cammell Laird Ltd)
Two of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary 'Tide' class tankers, 'Tidesurge' A138 and 'Tiderace' A137, were in the wet basin, together with floating crane 'Lara 1' (which I'd previously seen in Canada Branch Dock No. 3 in Liverpool socks. There's a little about 'Lara 1' in the post here).
Two of the four 'Tide' class Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers in Cammell Laird's wet basin, left 'Tidesurge' A138, right 'Tiderace' A137, with (Return to Liverpool, 14-Mar-2020)
The following picture is rather cluttered (but there are similar views in the album here taken from other angles as the ferry made its crossing to Pierhead). On the left is the grey-painted bulk of RFA 'Tiderace' with the raised jib of floating crane 'Lara 1' just to the right. In front are the twin red-painted funnels of a Caledonian McBrayne Ro-Ro ferry which from its configuration appears to be the Polish-built MV 'Finlaggan', formerly operating the service to Islay (but the AIS return claims to be the 'Hebrides'). Next is the distinctive, yellow funnel of RMS St. Helena. After decommissioning from its role as the lifeline to the island of St. Helena, the ship (less its 'RMS' prefix which denoted a Royal Mail Ship) served for a time as a Vessel Based Armoury (VBA) supporting anti-piracy activity in the Gulf of Oman before being sold and appearing in London for the launch of 'Extreme E', a new 'electric SUV' concept for motor racing. The Extreme E website has links to their Facebook and Twitter pages, but I didn't find confirmation that the work at Cammell Laird is in support of the proposed use of 'St. Helena' as a 'mobile race headquarters'. There's a Wikipedia article on the ship here. Dominating the scene is the massive superstructure of the new polar research vessel 'Sir David Attenborough' still being fitted-out. Wikipedia have an article here about this ship.
Cammell-Laird shipyard, L-R: RFA 'Tiderace', MV 'Finlaggan', RMS 'St. Helena', RRS 'Sir David Attenborough' (Return to Liverpool, 14-Mar-2020)
A little further upstream, at Tranmere Oil Terminal, the shuttle tanker 'Karen Knutsen' was berthed. Following my previous visit to Liverpool in March 2019 (see report here), I'd found out a little about Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers. There were three tugs were 'nudged' against the tanker's port side, so I assumed she was about to sail, empty, to collect another consignment of offshore oil. Incidentally, all three tugs were still in the 'old' livery of the former Smit fleet - black hull and cream superstructure. I discovered that the ship's destination was the Jubilee Offshore Field in Ghana. There's a map of this field here.
Shuttle Tanker 'Karen Knutsen' at Tranmere Oil Terminal with 3 tugs in attendance to assist her departure for the Jubilee Offshore Oilfield in Ghana (Return to Liverpool, 14-Mar-2020)
The ferry crossed towards the Liverpool shore and sailed downstream towards Pierhead landing stage as Chemical/Oil Tanker 'Amur Star' overtook us heading downstream from Stanlow at the start of its next journey to Antwerp.
Chemical/Oil Tanker 'Amur Star' heads downstream from Stanlow at the start of its next journey to Antwerp (Return to Liverpool, 14-Mar-2020)
Happy with what I'd seen, I walked to James Street Merseyrail Station and descended to the platform. Two stops took me to Lime Street Station, where I took the next service back to Wolverhampton after a short, but enjoyable, trip.
Related Posts on this Website
There's a 'Label' to find everything I've written relating to Merseyside (there are over 40 posts at the time of writing). Your can display all these posts, in reverse date-of-posting order, by selecting Label 'Merseyside' (or click here).
The following post describes my most recent prior visit:-
New Brighton by Rail.
My pictures
Where necessary, clicking on an image above will display an 'uncropped' view or, alternately, pictures may be selected, viewed or downloaded, in various sizes, from the albums below:-
In making my (often quite poor) pictures available on the internet, I have divided them into various albums each covering a roughly-defined geographical area. Within each album, photographs are normally arranged by date taken. Thus, by searching through the appropriate album, you can find changes through time. So, this trip to Liverpool added pictures to a number of albums as I moved through various areas.
The journey:
West Midland Railways (Wolverhampton).
Stafford Area rail.
Crewe Area rail.
Liverpool area rail.
Merseyrail.
The destination:
Museum of Liverpool.
Liverpool.
The Wirral (pictures from previous visits).
This is the 12th post describing an 'Expedition Cruise' with Noble Caledonia in 2020 under the title 'Across the Tropic of Capricorn'.
Friday 21st February 2020 - Thursday 27th February 2020
On Friday morning, we had made a very pleasant visit to Ureparapara (as described here) but we were back on board in time for lunch.
With all our planned landings to various destinations in the Solomon Islands cancelled because of emergency measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection, we were now faced with over five days at sea to cover the 1,000 nautical miles to reach our intended destination at Rabaul in Papua New Guinea.
Whilst we enjoyed lunch on board, the ship started the long journey in very calm sea conditions, making around 13.5 knots. At 5 p.m. guest lecturer Roy Clare gave another well-received lecture talking about some of the historical explorers who sailed these waters before another splendid dinner.
During Saturday 22nd, the expedition team laid on a variety of ship-board entertainments with lectures, yoga and whisky-tasting on offer. Various islands of the Solomon Islands chain were a hazy presence a few miles away on the starboard side. The picture below is the best image I managed to snatch of the Solomon Islands!
View of the Solomon Islands, and unidentified ship, from 'Caledonian Sky' (Crossing the Solomon Sea)
The in-cabin entertainment provided further distractions, when required. My cabin (or 'suite' as Noble Caledonia not unreasonably prefer) had a large, wall mounted flat-screen television facing the two armchairs. In addition to a handful of satellite television channels, the live 'Ship Channels' offered a view ahead of the ship, commentary and slides when lectures were being delivered and a ship position display, derived from the ship's Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). ECDIS integrates electronic charts, radar, ship position derived from GPS, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and other ship systems. There's a post with a description of the use of AIS and ECDIS here. The ship position channel was a favourite of mine, allowing me to monitor our progress. It became apparent that our this part of the Solomon Sea was used by a fair amount of shipping, as shown by the picture below with our ship (red icon) heading more-or-less north west towards the green island on the left called New Britain and our intended destination Rabaul. Two ships on similar tracks were, to port, 'Nol Genesis' and, to starboard, 'Sunrise Serenity' whilst heading south east was 'Sevilla Knutsen'.
In-cabin ship position display showing 'Caledonian Sky' (red icon) heading 308 degrees at 13.4 knots, with 'Nol Genesis', 'Sevilla Knutsen' and 'Sunrise Serenity' in the vicinity (Crossing the Solomon Sea)
Click for larger view
'Sevilla Knutsen' was close enough for me to attempt a picture through my cabin portholes and, after the trip, I confirmed the details of this Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker.
'Sevilla Knutsen' LNG tanker of Knutsen OAS: 290m by 45.8m 97730 DWT built DSME (Daewoo, S. Korea) in 2010 (Crossing the Solomon Sea)
Because our course was roughly north-west, at 2.0 a.m. on Sunday 23rd the Ship's Clocks moved back another hour and, during the day, in addition to Holy Communion by the Reverend Sarah Clare, more lectures and entertainments were available. The Captain, Ulf Peter Lindstrom, invited all passengers to a Cocktail Party at 6.30 p.m. followed by the Captain's Dinner in the Restaurant on deck 2.
Monday 24th followed the now-familiar pattern but with the anticipation that we should arrive in Rabaul Harbour around 6.0 p.m., so passengers were encouraged to congregate on deck to watch our entrance to Karavia Bay, with its Bee Hives island rock formations and surrounded by currently-dormant volcanoes.
Approaching Rabaul, Papua New Guineau, from the sea. The Bee Hives island rock formations are just visible far left.
Passengers expectantly watch our approach to Rabaul, Papua New Guineau.
Rabaul, Papua New Guineau, from 'Caledonian Sky', at sunset as 1- and 2-man canoes fish.
The ship remained in Karavia Bay awaiting clearance to dock whilst the passengers went to dinner, held in the open air on the Lido Deck as the 'Caledonian Sky BBQ' with a wide range of food on offer buffet-style.
Caledonian Sky BBQ, 2020: the amazing buffet table.
Caledonian Sky BBQ, 2020
After the splendid meal, some of the staff demonstrated their singing talents and then the tables on which the buffet food had been laid-out were cleared away to leave a dance floor for the guests to use.
Caledonian Sky BBQ, 2020: Staff demonstrate their vocal talent.
Caledonian Sky BBQ, 2020: Passengers enjoying dancing.
Sadly, we were not welcomed by the Provincial Authorities in Rabaul and, after some hours of wrangling, at 11.30 p.m. the Captain decided that we would leave Rabaul and sail for another two and a half days to the capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby. So we remained at sea on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th, finally arriving at Port Moresby on a warm, sunny morning on Thursday 27th February 2020.
Related posts on this website
This post is in the series labelled 'Tropic of Capricorn’. The first post is here.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will display the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Tropic of Capricorn reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Tropic of Capricorn reports
My pictures
Crossing the Solomon Sea
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, from the sea in 2020
'Caledonian Sky' 2020
'Caledonian Sky' Bridge 2020
Lectures aboard 'Caledonian Sky' 2020
[Text added & pictures embedded 29-Mar-2020]
This is the eleventh of a group of posts describing an 'Expedition Cruise' with Noble Caledonia in 2020 under the title 'Across the Tropic of Capricorn'.
Events of Friday 21st February 2020
The visit to Ureparapara was added to the programme only two days previously, when Noble Caledonia decided that the planned visits to the Solomon Islands were no longer viable. Overnight, the ship had sailed from our previous mooring off Ambryn Island around 170 nautical miles to Ureparapara.
The island is a large, volcanic caldera which has collapsed on one side, allowing the surrounding sea to flood the cone, producing a horse-shoe shaped island. Deception Island in Antarctica (which I’ve visited a couple of times in 2007 and then 2016) has similar origins.
Many of the passengers were on deck as the ship made its entrance to the caldera at Ureparapara.
View from 'Caledonian Sky' as we approach the flooded caldera: Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
View of open sea from 'Caledonian Sky', inside the flooded caldera: Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
At 08:45, the ship started taking passengers ashore by Zodiac for a wet landing into the shallows of a narrow beach area of black, sticky mud-like volcanic sand.
View from Zodiac as we go ashore at Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
A group of impressive male dancers welcomed us, moving to the beat of a hand-held percussion bamboo instrument. All the men were painted all over in black with white rings around torso, arms and legs. They wore grass skirts and large clusters of sea shells around each ankle, producing a distinctive accompaniment as they stamped the ground. Young children from the village nearby watched the proceedings with interest.
Male dancers painted all over in black with white rings around torso, arms and legs on Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
A group of children on Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
Nearby, a group of more modern musicians were playing and singing. There was one bongo drummer, three acoustic guitars and one small 4-string banjo-like locally-made instrument. Like almost all the men, they were dressed in colourful tee-shirts with shorts but the musicians were also adorned with headbands carrying hibiscus flowers.
A group of modern musicians playing and singing on Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
There had been a ‘USAID’ project here for a large sign carried the project title ‘Land and Vegetation Cover and Improving Food Security for Building Resilience to a Changing Climate in Pacific Island Communities’. The rest of the sign was in Bismala, the Pidjin language widely understood in Vanuatu. There's a list of English-based Pidjins on Wikipedia here and Bislama is discussed in the interesting Wikipedia article here.
We walked towards the village, where the most buildings were timber framed, with woven bamboo walls and thatched roofs, either erected on a small plinth of flat stones or lifted a few inches above the ground.
House under construction, Ureparapara, Vanuatu
Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
The church of Saint Barnabas was a slightly more substantial construction with a sawn timber frame and corrugated sheet roof but still retaining woven bamboo panels for the walls. A large gas cylinder standing vertically nearby served as the church bell.
A group of kneeling young boys in grass skirts were playing a pebble-tossing game in a small, square area marked-out by four straight poles.
Young boys playing a pebble-tossing game on Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
All the visitors were seated in wooden stands around a performance area. The end bench seat quite near me suddenly collapsed as people tried to sit.
Collapse of bench seat, Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
Various locally-made benches and chairs quickly appeared and everybody was successfully seated. I couldn't resist the suspicion that this minor incident was symptomatic of a laid-back approach to life by the hospitable islanders.
First, a group of nine ladies in grass skirts danced for us.
Female dancers, Ureparapara, Vanuatu
Next, three men formed a percussion band. The hand-held bamboo instrument we’d seen as we arrived was now fixed between two waist-high poles and supplemented by two other musicians - one with what looked like some sort of gourd with seeds inside which was shaken and the other with a long pole held upright and struck against a baseplate laid on the ground. In the meantime, the ladies had each armed themselves with bamboo staffs.
Lady dancers chat as three musicians prepare: Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
Ten male dancers then performed, all wearing grass skirts with a thin cloak made from long plant fronds and with clusters of sea shells around each ankle. Each wore distinctive headgear, representing different aspects of life on the island.
Ten male dancers, each with headgear representing different aspects of life on Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
The ship's passengers then continued to explore the village. Another band started to play. The musicians were in modern dress but plus the thin cloak made from plant fronds. The line-up was drummer, two men each playing a sort of Pan-Pipe with four notes and four men each playing an instrument similar to a xylophone comprising ten bamboo pipes, each a different length, assembled together on an inclined frame. The note was struck by striking the open top of the desired bamboo pipe with a paddle. The overall effect was splendid.
The Band: Drum, Pan Pipes and four bamboo xylophones: Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
At a shelter next to the band, fruit and fresh coconut milk was offered to the visitors. A couple with a child, all in traditional dress, prepared a local dish, inevitably involving coconut, which was then offered to the ship’s passengers.
A couple with a child offered local food to the visitors: Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
Near the sea, an elaborate diagrammatic map of the village had been created with pebbles set in clean sand, decorated with hibiscus and other blooms. I presume the 'Store' is what the the english call a 'Shop'. The 'Nakamal' is the men's hut where men relax and drink Kava. I assume 'Keeping House' refers to a store house.
A diagrammatic map of the village had been created with pebbles set in raked sand: Ureparapara, Vanuatu.
It was a very friendly, relaxed visit and we spent some time just chatting to the villagers and listening to the live music. Eventually we moved towards the Zodiac landing place and, by noon, we had transferred back to the ship after a very enjoyable visit to Ureparapara.
Related posts on this website
This post is in the series labelled 'Tropic of Capricorn’. The first post is here.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link will display the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Tropic of Capricorn reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Tropic of Capricorn reports
My pictures
This blog post was first published on the ship via a satellite link with limited capacity so the link to my pictures was added later.
Ureparapara, Vanuatu
[Link to pictures added 11-Mar-2020: Pictures embedded 31-Mar-2020]
