Mariella in Helsinki, 16 October 2012

The photographs in this entry are my last ship photos from 2012 (well, to date, but due to the poor lighting conditions in this part of the world for the rest of the year, it's very unlikely I will have a cance to take more). This is actually something of an accident. As I wrote in the previous entry, I was hoping to get some photos from my two-weeks-ago cruise to Stockholm on the Silja Symphony. Additionally, yesterday was supposed to be the date of last cruise call in Helsinki for 2012, with Fred. Olsen's Black Watch making a call during her Baltic Christmas Markets cruise. This was not to be, as the call was cancelled due to heavy winds (which have since developed into a still-continuing blizzard). For next entries after this one, we will probably move on to my archives. But now onwards to the point:

Mariella

IMO 8320573
Built 1985, Wärtsilä Turku New Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage 37 860 GT
Length 175,70 m
Width 28,40 m
Draugth 6,78 m
Ice class 1A Super
2 500 passengers
2 500 berths
400 cars
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 23 008 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22 knots

Very little to say about the Mariella, really. She is the faithful servant, having sailed on between Helsinki and Stockholm almost with interruption since 1985. The photographs below show her sailing through the Kustaanmiekka strait after departing Helsinki on the afternoon of 16 October 201. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

The lighting might not be very good, but just look at the sky!

More of the sexy sky...

The sun did clearly still shine a bit, judging by the reflections on the windows.

Entering the narrowest part of the strait.

Also notice the wee bit of autumn foliage on the left.