Spirit of Hamburg Comes to Baltimore September 13, 2020

Who owns this 254x32m (833×105ft) UK flagged container ship is a bit of a mystery. According to BalticShipping.com it is owned by Rickmers Shipmanagement. I last looked at their website after the Spirit of Auckland came to town in 2018 (I since saw her again in 2019) and the website was functional then but no longer is. From what I can tell the company may no longer be running and according to this Wikipedia article the company went bankrupt May of 2017. According to news articles which I will refer to later in this blog this ship is now managed by Zeaborn Ship Management. No owner has been identified.

She was built in 2007 by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Goeje, South Korea as the Bahia Laura when she was built for Hamburg Sud. When the name change occurred isn’t known to me but a video referenced below shows her with the new name in 2014. According to VesselTracking.com she can carry up to 3,630 TEUs.

Tragedy struck this ship on April 16, 2020 when Captain Myo Tun Zaw was found dead onboard while this ship was berthed at the Port of Cartagena, Colombia according to this American Shipper article. This press release issued by Zeaborn Ship Management on April 18 and updated April 20 addresses this incident. Authorities in Cartagena are apparently conducting an investigation.

However, according to this Maritime Executive brief any crime investigation aboard a ship is to be conducted by their flag state, in this case the UK, under UNCLOS or United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. If anyone is actually investigating this death I haven’t seen any sign of it since April of 2020. According to this World Today article the ship left after a 2 month detention on June 28, 2020.

I haven’t seen any other news items for this ship either under her former name or her current which is unusual for a ship of her age. I did find this 2014 video of her on the Elbe River. Check out this great video of the ship transiting part of the Panama Canal from aboard the ship in 2018.

I last saw this ship August 1, 2020 and most of this blog posting is copied from that entry.

In my 9 minute video below she can be seen approaching on the Patapsco River. Pilot boat Baltimore approaches and pilots can be seen boarding as she makes her turn. In a later scene a pilot can be seen climbing down the ladder to the pilot boat.

After passing under the Key Bridge tugboat Bridget McAllister can be seen alongside. In the next scene tugboat April Moran can be seen following ready to lend docking assistance. Both tugs can be seen pushing the ship to dock. The final scenes of this video show the ship docked under the big cranes at Seagirt Marine Terminal.

You can view my photography (more than just ships!) here and more videos here.