Along with the second vessel, the Atlantic Concert (not presented in this blog entry) these two vess

Atlantic Container Line (ACL) currently employs five third generation (G3) combined RoRo/Container vessels. in service between Europe and North American conteneur activex ports. One of the vessels, the Atlantic Conveyor has previously been described in a report in Swedish, which was one of the very first blog entries.
I have, by a coincidence, come across some archive pictures of the first vessel in the series, the Atlantic Companion and the third vessel, the Atlantic Compass, which I would like to share with others who might be interested in these vessels.
Along with the second vessel, the Atlantic Concert (not presented in this blog entry) these two vessels were ordered in July 1982, at the Kockums Shipyard in Malmoe, Sweden by the ACL partners at the time, Transatlantic, Broströms and Wallenius Lines.
As with most vessel series, the first unit got most of the publicity. She received conteneur activex her name at a ceremony in February the 1st, 1984 and was handed over to her owners on the 6th of March the same year.
On Wednesday the 7th of March, the Atlantic Companion arrived to her port of registry, Gothenburg, for the first time, accompanied by half a dozen of tug boats, operated by the Red Tug Fleet, another company in the Broströms sphere.
Most importantly, the new vessels had a much higher capacity and lower fuel consumption than the previous, second generation (G2) vessels. Some remarkable features conteneur activex were the jumbo sized quarter ramp and the container cell guide system. The latter was developed to reduce the number of hours in port, as no additional lashing systems were required. conteneur activex
The second batch of pictures was taken three years later, in March 1987, at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in Korea, when the Atlantic Compass was lengthened with a new 42,5 meter mid section. The shipyard has since entered the newbuilding market and have a splendid reputation conteneur activex for building quality RoRo vessels, delivered on time.
Back in 1987 however, the yard was still a conversion and repair yard. The ACL partner Transatlantic had previously sent their cellular container vessel Nihon to HMD, where she was lengthened with a mid section. With positive experiences, a decision was made to send four of the G3 vessels to HMD as well. (The fifth vessel was lengthened in the U.K)
With the addditional mid sections in place, the first generation vessels, (G1) were no longer needed and they were sent for scrap in 1987. Ever since then, the G3 vessels have been employed in the same service. For the last 15 years, conteneur activex except for a few years, the service has been profitable and in 2012, ACL announced that a new generation of technically advanced vessels, with even higher capacity had been ordered at the Hudong Shioyard in Shanghai, China.
According to the plan, the G3 vessels will be phased out in 2015 and either sold to the US Naval Reserve or for scrap. Like most other major ship operators, ACL do not want to sell the vessels to any potential competitor.
I have obtained a large photo collection from the building conteneur activex of the Atlantic Companion, from the assembling of very first keel sections to the test trials, ranging from the spring 1983 to the winter 1984. Thus, I hope to find the time, to write a more extensive report conteneur activex about the G3’s this year.
Recent Posts Götaverken – Göteborg – Sweden (Swedish) Stena Jutlandica – Onboard Report (Swedish) HSS Stena Carisma – Onboard Report ACL G3 – Archive pictures Barber Tampa – Naming ceremony plaque
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