Star, 26 January 2011

Star

IMO 9364722
Built 2007, Aker Finnyards Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 36 250 GT
Length 186,00 m
Width 27,70 m
Draught 6,50 m
Ice class 1A
1 900 passengers
520 berths
450 cars
1 981 lanemeters
4 MaK diesels, combined 48 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 27,7 knots

One of my goals for this winter has been taking more photographs of ship in the ice. There is however one major obstacle in the way of this plan: during the wintertime the sun raises late and sets early, meaning there is very limited daylight; furthermore clear skies are very rare, which means that days that would actually be well-suited for ship photography are rare indeed. Today however was such a day, and by further stoke of luck my lectures were cancelled and as such I could actually go and take photographs while it was still light. Not all worked as planned however, as Helsinki's public transport was failed to work properly (as it often does during the wintertime) and my original idea of photographing the morning depature of the Superstar was foiled by the fact I was still in the bus when I should have been on shore. No matter, I decided to wait for the afternoon arrival of the Star and did indeed get some rather nice pictures.

Star arriving at Helsinki's Länsisatama from Tallinn on 26 January 2011, photographed from Sisä-Hattu. Click on the individual images to view full size.

While it doesn't look like it from the light and the halo in the background, this photo was taken at 12:43 PM.

Although the shipping lane was free of ice, as the Star passed I could hear the ice moving and cracking (as the water underneath was moving). A rather scary sound, even if I was standing firmly on the solid ground of an island.

Turning outside Länsisatama before backing into the quay. Notice both the peeled paint on the bow (due to ice scraping away the paint) and spray of the aft thrusters below the ww.tallink.com -text near the aft.

Turning further, displaying both the peeled paint of the bow as well as frozen sprayed water above it.