Rickmers-Linie, the Hamburg based global breakbulk,
heavylift and project cargo specialist, is well known for special and extraordinary cargoes being shipped on its multipurpose vessels. While floating craft are already a regular sight on Rickmers-Linie vessels, the company has now added a submersible craft to its portfolio of cargoes carried.
A yellow tourist submarine, to be used for underwater excursions on the coast of Cheju Island, Korea’s biggest island, was lifted onboard the 17,850 tonnes deadweight charter vessel Oasis in Honolulu, Hawaii. Weighing 100 tones, the 22.3 m long submarine was lifted aboard Oasis using the ship’s own 125-tonne derrick. After overhaul at a dockyard, the submarine will be based at Seoguipo on Cheju Island.
Together with the submarine, a tender and spare parts were also loaded in Hawaii. The shipment was managed by AP Shipping, Gardena, California and operations were supervised by the Houston office of Rickmers-Linie, explains Steve Garifalos, General Manager Sales & Customer Service, Rickmers-Linie America Inc:
“For those of us directly involved with this shipment, it has been quite an enjoyable experience. Although by Rickmers standards, the load was not extraordinary, the simple fact that it was a yellow submarine reminded many of us of the 1960s Beatles song and movie Yellow Submarine. It’s hard not to have a smile on your face when you are thinking of that song and those far-off days.”
Oasis was sailing on Rickmers-Linie’s westbound service from North America to Asia and in this case, the vessel had loaded in Tampico in Mexico and Houston in the US Gulf prior to arrival in Honolulu. Discharge ports in Asia were Busan, Xingang, Hong Kong and Zhanjiang. Rickmers-Linie is well-known for its fortnightly eastbound Round-the-World Pearl String Service, offering regular sailings from Houston, New Orleans, Camden and Newport News to Europe, the Far East, Middle East and India.