Having mentioned last week that the container ship Zrin, here on April 5, 2008, is fulfilling a new role as the livestock carrier Nada, its only sister ship to call here arrived at Alang, India, on May 10, and was beached for demolition 11 days later.
Owned by a Sierra Leone company, it ended its career as Cape R, its 11th name. And over the years it had carried the name Cape Race on three occasions and Jean Bosco twice, names linking it to calls at Port Chalmers.
Like Zrin, it was built at Rijeka by the 3 Maj yard but entered service eight months earlier than Zrin, in April 1993.
When it came here, once, on August 24, 1994, as Jean Bosco, the 29,912gt vessel was owned by SCAC- Delmas Vieljeux and was registered at Dunkirk.
On its three visits as Cape Race in 2006, it was operated by Dr Peters GmbH of Dortmund under the Liberian flag.
Seems like ship-breakers had a field day in May when four other container ships known locally passed into their hands.
Ocean, sailing under its 10th name and the Comoros flag, arrived at Alang where demolition started five days after it arrived there on May 18.
This 24,836gt, 1377teu had been in service since September 1999.
It became a regular visitor from January to September 2009, with 14 visits while employed in transtasman trade while on charter to Mediterranean Shipping as MSC Kiwi.
It was the last British-flag container ship to berth here.
Also beached at Chittagong, Bangladesh, on the same day after arriving there 13 days earlier flying the flag of Tuvalu was Jupiter.
Up to earlier this year, it had been known as the Hong Kong registered Sky Jupiter.
As such, this 37,814gt, 2686teu vessel was seen here in September and November 2010, on MSCs Capricorn service.
The ship had had 10 names since it entered service in November 1985.
The company-owned MSC India (eighth name) arrived at Alang on May 30.
Dating from 1991, this 13,258gt, 902teu vessel called here nine times in 2000 under its fifth name, Niugini Chief.
At the time, the ship was employed in the Swire groups Chief Container Service to the Far East. This short-lived link, inaugurated in December 1999, ended when Niugini Chief called for the last time on August 8, 2000.
Sailing under its ninth name, Indonesian-owned Umbul Mas arrived at Chittagong on May 21 to be broken up.
Launched as Tristan, the vessel was completed in April 1974 as the 8413gt, 422teu Columbus Caribic on charter to Hamburg-Sud.
It made nine visits, the first on its maiden voyage on June 6, 1974, and the last on October 11, 1979.
For the German company, June 26 and 27 are dates of significance in relation to their container ship fleet over the years.
On June 26, 1971, their first container ship, Columbus New Zealand, arrived here on its maiden voyage to introduce containerisation to this part of the world.
And on June 27 last year, Bahia was here to mark the important 40th anniversary.
Recently, on that same date, Santa Ines was christened at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) yard at Geoje City, South Korea.
Due for delivery on July 29, the ship is the last of 10 sisters built for Hamburg-Sud by DSME since last year.
These 85.676gt, 93,430dwt ships have an overall length of 299.95m, a breadth of 42.8m, a loaded draught of 13.5m and a speed of 22.2 knots.
Their slot capacity of 7100teu includes 1600 reefer plugs, which makes them the biggest refrigerated container ships in existence.
The new ship will enter service between Asia, South Africa and the east coast of South America.
The ship completes the group of more than 30 ships of the Bahia, Cap, Monte. Rio and Santa classes built for the company by DSME since 2004.
