Freighters, Nauru

Date of Issue: October 11, 1982

This souvenir sheet issued on the occasion of ANPEX '82 National Stamp Exhibition at Brisbane, Australia celebrating 75 years of Phosphate Industry in Nauru, which is the primary economic activity since 1907 by exporting phosphate mined from the island.

Nauru was one of three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean (the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia); however, the phosphate reserves are nearly depleted.

MV. Eigamoiya: A bulk carrier named after Queen consort of Nauru, wife of King Aweida. Her current deployment is Melbourne-Nauru - Majuro - Tarawa – Nauru-Melbourne, where she delivers cargo on a monthly basis. This route provides Majuro (in the Marshall Islands, part of the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific) with its principal sea link with Australia.

MV. Kolle D: A bulk carrier, used in the phosphate trade from Nauru to Australia and New Zealand.

Card from China

Postcard with photographic image taken in winter at Xixi National Wetland Park in western part of China, in Hangzhou province, sent by Postcrossing member - Jade Zhong from Peoples Republic of China.

Centenary of HMS Challenger's visit

Date of Issue: October 15, 1973
Scott #: 181-184a

Souvenir Sheet issued by Tristan da Cunha commemorating centenary of HMS Challenger's visit to Tristan da Cunha during oceanographic exploration world trip, 1872 - 76.

Each stamp shows an instrument for deep sea soundings that helped to calculate the depth of ocean at different locations along the route. The map route which the ship traveled can also be found in one stamp.

HMS Challenger's figurehead is virtually all that remains of the ship. The figurehead is kept at the Southampton Oceanography Centre.

Click here to see the journey of HMS Challenger.

Click here to know in detail about HMS Challenger, its crew, purpose, and its voyage.

Polar Exploration Ships - Norway

On September 20, 1972, Norway issued a set of three stamps to commemorate Ships of Polar Exploration.

Denom. color - name of ship
60 ore - olive and green - Maud
80 ore - red and black - Fram
1.20 Krone - blue and red brown - Gjoa

Maud - The Maud was a ship built for Roald Amundsen for his second expedition to the Arctic. Designed for his intended voyage through the Northeast Passage, the vessel was specially built at a shipyard in Asker, Norway on the Oslofjord.

The ship now lies just off the shore in the Hudson bay in north Canada, 15 minutes across the frozen ice from Cambridge Bay's Hudson's Bay Store.

Fram - Fram ("Forward") is a ship that was used in expeditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912. Fram was probably the strongest wooden ship ever built. It was designed by the Norwegian shipwright Colin Archer for Fridtjof Nansen's 1893 Arctic expedition in which Fram was supposed to freeze into the Arctic ice sheet and float with it over the North Pole.

Fram is said to be the wooden ship to have sailed farthest north and farthest south. Fram is currently preserved at the Fram Museum in Oslo, Norway.

Gjoa - Gjøa was the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. With a crew of six, Roald Amundsen traversed the passage in a three year journey, finishing in 1906. She is now displayed in the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Bygdøy, Oslo. A bauta (memorial pillar) now stands at Gjøa's former home in San Francisco.

Card from Norway

Received this card from postcrossing member Mr. Joey from Norway. I also received three beautiful ship stamps issued in 1972. Thank you Mr. Joey for your memorable card with ship stamps.

The ship in the card is Henrik Ibsen carrying passengers and traveling in the Telemark Canal during summer.

Ships - Mauritius

Ships of Mauritius - Set of four stamps.
Date of Issue: September 30, 1996
Printing Process: Lithography

60CS - SS Zambezia
4R - MV Sir Jules
5R - MV Mauritius
10R - MS Mauritius Pride

Picture Postcard - India

Transporting coconuts in a small boat in backwaters of Kerala, India.

Card from Mauritius

This time received a postcard from Ms. Tasneem Tegally, Mauritius showing one of the famous beaches on the North coast of Mauritius with speed boats and fishing boats.

Danubian Harbours and Ships - Miniature Sheet

This is a Joint Issue between Romania and Serbia.

Date of Issue: November 11, 2007
Design: Livia PENDA (Harbour and Ship ORSOVA); Marina KALEZIC (Harbour NOVISAD and ship SIRONA)
Value: RON 2.10 + RON 2.10 and two labels (emblems of Orsova and Novi Sad ports)
Sheet size: 136 mm x 106 mm
Printing Process: Offset, 4 color, on chromo paper - UK origin
Miniature Sheet quantity issued: 25,500

Over the centuries, Romania and Serbia, both countries predominantly orthodox, have created an amiable neighbourhood environment along the natural boundaries of the Danube River.

Orsova, town hall in the county of Mehedinti, belonging to the geographical and historical area of the Romanian Banat, is located on the shore of the Portile de Fier I basin at the Danube´s confluence with Cerna. As a result of the building of the water storage dam at Portile de Fier I, the old precinct of the town was flooded while indigenous people were dislodged to a new place, including the Delta and Cerna terrace and the Southern slopes of Almaj mountain chains, where they set up a new town (1966-1971), that ultimately incorporated the villages of Jupalnic, Tufari, and Coramnic.

Orsova was part and parcel of the Roman province Dacia Malvensis, the Romans having set up here a camp, Dierna. In the area surrounding the establishment researchers have ultimately discovered remnants of Daco-Roman establishment bearing the same name which, in 193 AD was finally upgraded to municipality. In 1524, the citadel of Orsova (including the locality) was conquered by the Turks which took it over until 1688. Starting with 1664, Orsova became administrative center of a "sangeac"(ancient Ottoman territorial administrative unit). In 1688, the locality was conquered by Austrians. In 1916, the establishment was liberated by the Romanian Army and on December 1st, 1918 it was released to Romania being integrated as part of the Banat region.

Novi Sad, located in Northern Serbia is the administrative center of Vojvodina.

Important Danubian harbour with a well known naval ship construction site, the town has a population of around 300,000 inhabitants amongst which approximately 1,000 Romanian citizens live their lives.

The first records on Novi Sad date back to 1526, the establishment being well known for its importance as a fortress during the 13th-17th centuries, the Petrovaradin stronghold. Prince Eugeniu de Savoia had gloriously defeated the Turks in 1716 there.

Tourists will also commonly identify the town as "Yugoslavian Athens" (Srpska Atina).

The postage stamps of the perforated miniature sheet depict the images of two passengers ships: "Orsova" and "Sirona".

Edinburgh Castle - Union-Castle Line

Received this ship stamp on postcard from Ms. Sandy, South Africa.

Date of Issue: December 05, 2007
Printing Process: Offset Lithography
Printed by: Southern Colour Print limited, New Zealand
Design: Painting by Peter Bilas

Edinburgh Castle is one of the ships of the famous Union-Castle line. The Union-Castle Line, famed for it’s lavender hulled liners that ran on a clockwork timetable between Southampton and South Africa, began as two separate companies: Union Line and Castle Line. The two amalgamated in March 1900.

The Edinburgh Castle (III) was built in October 16, 1947, by Harland & Wolff at Belfast. for the Union-Castle Line in London, and was christened by Princess Margaret.

She was the second mail steamer built by the company after World War II, and she was a replacement for a vessel lost during the war.

She was built for the mail ship service between Southampton and Madeira, Cape Town, Port Elisabeth, East London and Durban with occasional calls at Las Palmas on the return voyage.

09 December 1948 she sailed for her maiden voyage from Southampton to Cape Town and Durban.

12 April 1976 she arrived for the last time in Southampton. After loading cargo and without any passengers she sailed from this port bound for Durban where she arrived on 10 May. After discharging there she sailed in ballast to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where she arrived on 03 June 1976 for breaking up.

Cover from Romania

Many thanks to Mr. Kallai Laszlo from Romania for his cover with Souvenir Sheet on "Danubian Harbours and Ships" issued on 2007 and a nice bear stamp and the same Souvenir Sheet in mint condition inside the cover.

Card from Germany

Thanks for the postcrossing member Sandra from Germany for sending this card with a fishing trawler that catches shrimps on the North Sea.

Port of Hong Kong - Past and Present

(Click Image to view larger picture)

Date of Issue: January 12, 1982

The theme of this special stamp issue is illustrated in the four stamps issued by scenes of bygone years and one of more modern times.

Hong Kong was a regular port of call for vessels of many flags even before Captain Charles Elliot took formal possession of the island early in 1841.

For over a century, the port of Hong Kong was principally engaged in entrepot activities - a warehouse for other peoples' products. After the Second World War, this changed and Hong Kong has now become one of the world's largest exporters.

The Port of Hong Kong, located by the South China Sea, is a deepwater seaport dominated by trade in containerised manufactured products, and to a lesser extent raw materials and passengers. A key factor in the economic development of Hong Kong, the natural shelter and deep waters of Victoria Harbour provide ideal conditions for berthing and handling all types of vessels. It is one of the busiest ports in the world, in the three categories of shipping movements, cargo handled and passengers carried


View Larger Map

Designer: Mr. Redge Solley
Printer: Questa Colour Security Printers Ltd.
Process: Lithographic
Denominations: 20c, $1, $1.30, $2.00

Scott: A75 380-383

Vikings Voyages on the Atlantic

(Click Image to view larger picture)

Date of Issue: February 11, 2002
Value: DKK 19,50

According to an old saying, “The Faroeman is born with an oar in his hands”. Boats have always been essential for these eighteen small islands in the middle of the changeable North Atlantic. In former times, the boat was the lifeblood of society itself. Faroese boats are specially designed for these waters. The wind is often erratic in the narrow straits between the high mountains.

There are descriptions of sailing, weather and wind in the Icelandic sagas of the early middle ages, but very little about navigation itself. The magnetic compass did not reach Europe until the 1200s. So how did seafarers navigate before the compass reached Scandinavia? The Vikings waited for known types of weather and suitable winds for their voyages. They made use of all conceivable natural phenomena and formations to guide them. They might have used an island, a rock, a river mouth or a forest and particularly conspicuous fallen trees. They observed the flight of birds and the movements of sea creatures, as well as the appearance of whales and seals. The observed the colours of the sea and its changes. Smells and sounds, as well as cloud formations, swells and currents also provided helpful clues. To be able to sail for long periods without sighting land, however, required some form of navigation. The course must be held by reference to the celestial bodies and the points of the compass. A simple bearing compass may have been used. Using the shadow cast by a stick onto a slab, the height of the sun could be found and the course determined. Another aid possibly used was so-called sunstone. This is a kind of quartzite that breaks up the rays of the sun and made it possible to locate the sun even in cloudy conditions.

The Vikings were experts at interpreting nature and gleaning valuable information from it. This is an orientation skill that has unfortunately been lost by today’s technologically dependent society. The oldest preserved Icelandic map of the North Atlantic is the Skalholt Map, which dates from 1590 and was made by Icelander Sigurdur Stefansson. It shows the North Atlantic with its shorelines and islands.

Traditional Viking ships can for most practical purposes be divided into two groups: the longship/warship and the trade vessel/knarr. But of course there were many other types. The appearance of the ship was always a reflection of the resources available locally, the quality of the waters and the needs, experiences and imagination of its builders. A ship is a product of a society and its social and economic structure, traditions, technology, aesthetics, changes and development.

The Viking ship was a sharp-sterned ship with high, raised prows. The prow and stern were very similar in design. The Viking ship was a clinker-built sailing ship with a rudder, mast, and rigging with a square sail made from wool. The archaeological finds that have provided us with this information are first and foremost the Oseberg and Gokstad ships from Norway, and the Roskilde ship from Denmark. Examples have also been discovered on Swedish soil. The longships in question have been between 16 and 36 metres in length and the largest could be manned by a crew of around 100, of which, 78 manned the oars. The trade ships sailed at the front and had much smaller crews of 6-12 men. When the Norwegian Vikings voyaged westward in their ships – similar for instance to the Skuldelev ship – to the Faroes among other places, they were also carrying a cultural burden in the form of their language and handicraft traditions, and these can still be seen today. The Viking Age ship has always drawn and fascinated people and has been praised for its appearance, construction and awe-inspiring voyages.

Navy Ships - New Zealand

(Click image to view larger picture)

Date of Issue: November 06, 1985

This FDC with neat cancellation with the Souvenir Sheet showing ships that served over years for The Royal New Zealand Navy with its emblem on the cover and the souvenir sheet with map showing the route in which the ANZCAN (abbreviation for Australia-New Zealand-Canada) Cable laid.

Denom. - Name of Ship - Period of service in Navy
25c - HMNZS Philomel - 1914 - 1947
45c - HMNZS Achilles - 1936 - 1946
60c - HMNZS Rotoiti - 1949 - 1965
75c - HMNZS Canterbury - 1971 - 2005 (source: wikipedia)

The ship found in the Souvenir Sheet was HMNZS Monowai 1978 - 1997 (Source: Wikipedia)

Note: HMNZS - Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship

Scott catalogue number for this Souvenir Sheet: 842 a

Click here for more details on ANZCAN Cable.

HMNZS Rotoiti (F425) was a Loch class frigate of the Royal New Zealand Navy.

Interesting Facts:

HMNZS Achilles
Achilles was originally built for the Royal Navy, and was commissioned as HMS Achilles on 10 October 1933. She served with the Royal Navy's New Zealand Division from 31 March 1937 up to the creation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, into which she was transferred in September 1941, renamed as HMNZS Achilles.

Achilles was returned to the Royal Navy at Sheerness, Kent, England on 17 September 1946. She was then sold to the Indian Navy and recommissioned on 5 July 1948 as INS Delhi. She remained in service until decommissioned for scrap at Bombay on 30 June 1978. As part of the scrapping, her Y turret was removed and presented as a gift to the New Zealand Government. It is now on display at the entrance of Devonport Naval Base in Auckland.

HMNZS Monowai
HMNZS Monowai (A06) was a hydrographic survey vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN).

During her naval service she was known as the "ghost of the coast", as she quietly remapped most of the New Zealand coastline including the Chatham, Cambell, and Auckland Islands, as well as the many sub-Antarctic islands in New Zealand's responsibility. She also acted as a resupply vessel to Campbell and other sub-Antarctic island, served as an "official residence" for VIPs and dignitaries at Pacific Island conferences, monitored Chinese missile splashdown tests, stood by Fiji after military coups with a platoon of naval gunners to assist in possible NZ civilian evacuations, participated in the ANZCAN cable route survey and in international searches for sea mounts and shoals. She carried a helicopter and undertook rescue or aid missions, saving the lives of eight people during the New Zealand to Tonga Yacht Regatta.

50 Years of Gorch Fock

Celebrating 50 Years of service of sail training vessel of the German Navy - Gorch Fock.

Date of Issue: August 07, 2009
Value: 0.55€

Launched on August 23, 1958, as the GORCH FOCK (A60) named after the German story and play writer Johann Wilhelm Kinau (1880 – 1916) who wrote under the pseudonym Gorch Fock.

Till now more than 11,000 cadets have been trained, and over the last 50 years at least six sailors have died during accidents on board, mostly falling overboard or out of the rigging.

The ship is still in service in the German Navy.

Cover from Mauritius

(Click Image to view larger picture)

I am thankful to Ms. Tasneem Tegally, Mauritius for sending this cover with ship stamps issued on 1996.

Affiliation of INS TRISHUL with JAT Regiment

(Click Image to view larger picture)

Date of Issue: January 20, 2009

Indian Naval Ship Trishul, a state-of-the-art multi-role Stealth Frigate, was affiliated to the JAT Regiment, one of the most decorated infantry regiments of the Indian Army, in a splendid ceremony held onboard INS Trishul at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on January 20, 2009.

A few previous instances of such affiliations between units of the Army and the Navy include the affiliation between INS Viraat with Garhwal Rifles, INS Rajput with Rajput Regiment, INS Mumbai with Maratha Light Infantry, INS Talwar with 16 Cavalry and more recently the INS Beas with Grenadiers.

INS Trishul was commissioned on Jun 25, 2003, as the second of the three 4000 tonne stealth frigates acquired by the Navy.
The ship, with an impressive array of 21st century weapons and sensors, remains a frontline man-of-war of the Navy.

I am thankful to Mr. Jigar Desai, Mumbai for sending me this Special Cover.

Card from Slovakia

I got this postcard from Slovakia yesterday (February 02, 2009) through postcrossing from Ivan. This is a tourist ship for sightseeing in the river Danube. This ship travels from Austria to Bratislava at the border of Slovakia - Austria border. This ship MS Mozart is 120.6 m in length, 22.8 m breadth, with speed of 14 miles per hour and has 108 cabins and passenger capacity of 224 and 20 crew members and 60 hotel crew members.

View Larger Map