BTJ 5/2011 - Baltic Press

Caravelle of the jet eraPostcards fromthe early 1960sseem to be almostpainted (rather thanbeing made fromphotographs), butlet’s not split hairs.We have a Frenchmademasterpiecein colours of theSwiss company but,actually, SAS wasthe first airline suppliedwith the Caravelleand the firstcompany whichstarted operating this aircraft in 1959 (before Air France!); on the other hand, the Caravellewas SAS’ first jet. Also, Finnair joined the jet technology with Caravelles delivered in1960. A total of 282 units were built including 21 for SAS and 12 for Finnair.Postcard to rememberPhoto: Marek Błuś collectionTen years ago the well-known liner of the famous Swedish America Line, Gripsholm, sank.We don’t know the detailsof the accident, becausewhile the ship was undertow on its way to breakers inIndia, it came under waveswithout fatalities and withoutwitnesses with cameras.It served the transatlanticservice between 1957 and1971, later sailed as a cruiser,but each of its subsequentowners went bankrupt. Thepostcard is as great as theship – you see it against thebackground of the townscapeof Hamburg.From Åland? Unbelievable!This is not a supplement to the Collector’sCorner, but a voice speaking aboutsafety at sea and training in navigation.Posten Åland edited two franking labelsdepicting the cardinal system of buoyage,but containing serious mistakes. In bothpictures lines between the joining pairs ofmarks N – S and E – W don’t cross over asubmerged danger in the middle, like theyshould (close to our eyes are marks E andW, next N and further S). The latest edition,presented above, is even worse becausethe depicted cargo vessel has sailedSource: Posten Ålandbetween both pairs, which have to be cleared off on a safe side… “Hey, Master, howis the bottom of your ship?”Photo: Marcin Błuś collectionTransport miscellanyCompetitor to SampoCruising aboard an authentic servicevessel is possible only at extreme ends ofthe Baltic and in opposed seasons. In winterone can take a tour onboard the retiredicebreaker Sampo in Kemi, and in summer,since 2011, on the former anti-submarineboat of the Polish Navy in Kołobrzeg (ithas no name, only pennant number KP-172). As the picture shows, guns and torpedotubes are still in place. The deck isnot crowded because the ex-chaser is certifiedfor 17 passengers only. Seems likeonly the comfort of a small company ofpeople can be found on its deck.Overnight ferryon wheelsPhoto: Tomasz GrotnikPhoto: Leif Rosnell/VRDouble-deckers have returned tothe stocks of railways in the BSR – theyare again on tracks in Denmark, Swedenand Lithuania, mostly for commuters.Finland alone has introduced doubledeckersas sleeping cars – 38-bed coacheshave been serving the longest route fromHelsinki to Rovaniemi since 2006. Eightcabins are situated on the upper deck,each has its own toilet and shower. Thelower deck houses contain 11 cabins withshared facilities. The cars are equippedwith all gadgets of the electronic era, butthe question is: what about the spirit ofovernight vehicles from the steam era?5/2011 | Baltic Transport Journal | 57