Tamesis - two point landing

Wallenius Wilhelmsen's Tamesis sailed today (September 6) after calling at two different berths in Halifax. The ship arrived on Tuesday, September 5 and went first to Pier 9C to off load RoRo cargo.

That cargo included the usual variety of wheeled machinery for construction, agriculture, forestry and mining. It also included some shrink-wrapped boats. In mid-afternoon the ship shifted to Autoport to off load cars.

The Tamesis was built by Daewoo Heavy Industry Co Ltd in Okpo, South Korea in 2000. It is a 67,410 gt, 39,516 dwt vessel with a 380 tonne capacity stern ramp and is rated for 5,496 RT43 size cars.

As a Wilhelmsen ship, its name begins with the letter "T" and is most likely derived from the Roman name for England's Thames River - Tamesis - which in turn is believed to have originated from the Old Celtic word Tamesas (which explains why we still pronunce the "Th" as "T" in Thames) and may mean "dark". [Presumably there are no Old Celts around to translate.] (There is also a place called Tamesis in Colombia, but it is well inland in the Antioquia department and seems an unlikely choice for a sihp's name.)

The ship sailed early this afternoon (Wednesday September 6) for New York, into a very stiff nor'easterly breeze, but warm temperatures in the high 20s C.

The wind was whipping up spindrift creating a haze offshore despite bright sun onshore. The photo was taken from Portuguese Cove.

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