Atlantic voyage - part one

I returned home Monday after a three week, round trip voyage from Montreal to Liverpool and Antwerp - 6661 nautical miles. Took a small, German flagged container ship - the Eilbek - named for a Hamburg neighbourhood.

Although not on the scale of my 'around the world under the capes' of a few years ago, the trip allowed me to see how ships are changing. The Eilbek was built last year and designed for the Baltic 'feeder' service. That is, she would normally carry containers to a main 'hub' port, where they are loaded on much larger ships for intercontinental transport. However, there was no business in the Baltic and, since she is ice strengthened, she was shifted to the Canada-Europe run. She carries all the latest electronic gear and the bridge has more than a passing resemblance to an aircraft cockpit. There was a cadet on board who'll not learn how to use a sextant and, soon, even paper charts will phased out.

The Eilbek has German and East European officers, and Filipino ratings, and all were most welcoming. My cabin was cozy, the food good, substantial German fare of the meat and potatoes variety and wine duty-free with a decent bottle costing about six dollars, so I was quite content.

I decided to go all the way without once resorting to an airplane and so took the train to Montreal. I also thought (and I assure you that I can afford a taxi!) that it would be fun to go to Europe or, more accurately, Union Station in Toronto by using the subway near my condo. So, here, on lovely summer morning are my bags, ready for a transatlantic voyage.

Somewhere, beyond all those containers at the Montreal dockside, is my ship.

Here's the Eilbek, taken in Liverpool not Montreal. Container terminals aren't the easiest (or safest) places to take pictures and it's sometimes difficult to get a decent perspective.

This is the 'accommodation', housing bridge, cabins, lounges, dining areas, galley, ship's office and so on. No elevator, so a good walk up and down.

To give a better idea, below is a company photo showing one of the Eilbek's sister ships in the St. Lawrence during the winter.

Here we are on the St. Lawrence - quite lovely in places - showing traffic heading upriver just above Quebec City. Having left Montreal about 0800, we're getting towards the end of the first day.

In the Gulf of St. Lawrence we saw lots of whales and, north of Newfoundland, a number of icebergs. Below is the captain on the bridge. Out the window on his left you can just see one sizable berg. Clicking on the picture gives a better idea. Summer sees the most icebergs on the route the Eilbek takes. I was amused to note that on one of the navigation charts an officer had inked in where the Titanic went down.

This was a splendid berg with, as you can see, a mysterious blue strip.

Clicking on this shot will give you a better idea.

I rather like this picture of the first mate and chief engineer on the starboard side's narrow walkway. This allowed for an exhilarating stroll to and from the bow, although it wouldn't be such fun in bad weather as it's quite close to the water. Passengers were welcome when conditions were fine, but otherwise only crew.

Even on a small ship the canyons of containers are impressive.

Most of the crew's time is spent battling salt and rust.

Next stop, Europe.