Seldom do we see three tankers arriving at Dunedin within four days of each other.
However, last week was an exception, with the foreign-owned overseas vessel STX Ace 7 berthing on Monday, Cilaos on Thursday and the New Zealand, Polish-built coastal tanker Kakariki on Friday.
STX Ace 7 (mentioned last week) and Cilaos are both products of South Korea's shipbuilding industry.
And while STX Ace 7 is the first tanker from the STX Pan Ocean fleet to call, Cilaos is the first Luxembourg-flag tanker to berth here.
This flag has not been seen here for almost 14 years.
It first appeared here when Cornelis Verolme berthed at Port Chalmers on April 1, 1991.
The vessel was one of six Belgian-flag, bulk/container carriers employed in a round-the-world service by the ABC Containerline NV of Antwerp.
In 1991, these ships were all transferred to the Luxembourg registry .
The ABC Containerline started calling here in October 1984, but after Brussel berthed on June 6, 1994, its South Island operations were switched from Port Chalmers to Lyttelton.
The ship returned to Port Chalmers on April 7, 1995, after the Lyttelton container crane broke down.
Even then, the vessel had to wait for two days outside this harbour because of northeasterly weather conditions.
Incidentally, ABC went into receivership in 1996.
Cilaos is 29,083gt and 44,885dwt, built by Halla Engineering and Heavy Industries Ltd.
The tanker was among the last of a series built at its Inchon shipyard before production was shifted to the Samho yard, which completed its first ship in 1996.
In March 2002, it became the Hyundai Samho shipyard. Sister ships seen in Otago are Hastula, Nedimar and Bro Caroline.
The latter vessel, completed in January 1996, berthed at Dunedin on April 5, 2007.
With Port-Aux-Francais as its port of registry, it was the first Kerguelen Islands' registered vessel to call here.
Delivered on February 28, 1996, Cilaos was also registered there originally, under the name Port Christine.
The tanker was given its present name when purchased by Union Maritime de L'Ocean Indien (Umoil) in 1998.
At the same time, its port of registry was transferred to Saint-Denis on Reunion Island.
So, after spending most of its life registered in French territories, Cilaos is on its first voyage under the flag of Luxembourg.
It was transferred to this register on February 9.
On Wednesday, the largest cruise ship to visit Dunedin makes is maiden visit to this harbour.
The 15,067gt, Nassau-registered vessel is operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and carries the name c. Columbus.
Photos of the vessel show that the first c in the name appears in the lower case.
The ship was designed to carry 423 passengers in 205 cabins and has a crew of 170.
It has an overall length of 145m, a breadth of 21.5m and a loaded draught of 5.100m.
A twin-screw motor ship having a service speed of 18.5 knots, c.
Columbus was constructed at Wismar, Germany, by MTW Schiffswerft GmbH.
Keel-laying took place on September 5, 1996, launching on October 30 and delivery in June 1997.
It is the fourth Hapag-Lloyd cruise ship to call here.
The Europa of 1981 made four visits, while the Europa of 1999 and the 1990-built Bremen have each made two.
