I sailed past the Thamesborg yesterday (THAMESBORG (MMSI: 246887000) Ship Photos | AIS Marine Traffic) and was quite intrigued about what was going on. The ship looks pretty new and has the best paint job in the anchorage by far. What was odd is she seemed to have old-fashioned deck hatches like an old Liberty ship or something. They appeared to have two hatches open and were maybe moving something in or out of the hold. I did not think this kind of ship still existed, or if they did they were all 60 years old, but it seems like I was wrong. Is general cargo still a thing? Do the longshoremen get to climb in the hold and arrange crates like their grandfathers did?
Details on Wagenborgâs website:
https://www.wagenborg.com/ships/thamesborg
Thamesborg has also transited the Northwest Passage in recent years:
For really large things that need to be protected from the elements or things that dont do well in cargo boxes like chain and wire.
Also grain and coal.
I noticed it said âGeared Engineâ. Does that mean it shifts from forward to reverse with a transmission instead of shutting down and starting in reverse?
Thamesborg is what is known as a Multi-purpose Vessel (MPV)
She has box shaped holds with pontoon tweendeck, open hatch and strengthened tanktop (20 t/Sq.m.) to carry heavy cargo.
âGearedâ means that she has her own cargo gear (cranes)
The engine is NOT geared (or at least no data stated :
Engines
| Main engine | Wartsila 6L46F , 7500 kW at 600 RPM |
|---|---|
| Reduction gear | |
| Propeller | Wärtsilä/ Lips, 4 blades, à 4800mm |
| Bow thruster | 750 kW |
No. Theyâre usually CPP ships.
Thanks. Wartsila has a big office building around here, I guess I could have wandered in and asked them. That ship looks like a fun ship to work on compared to some, they probably arenât doing the exact same thing 24/7/365. Besides for that, they can unstick themselves from sandbars, just rent a barge, unload themselves, and be free 
Reading their website, It seems like the charterer of the ship is on the hook for fueling it correctly, I take it that can be an expensive mistake to make. Total thread creep, but who carries around the gear you need to test fuel?
All you ever need (or want) to know about CCPs from Wartsila LIPS:
Nobody. You send it off and get it tested.
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And hopefully the results come back good before you need to burn it.
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Hey itâs as good as the BDN says it is, right?
To respond to the spirit of the question rather than this vessel in particular:
There are still plenty of foreign flag ships that load palletized cargo, which can be stacked by hand in the cargo holds. You see them in Dutch Harbor all the time, loading seafood for ports all around the world, but mostly in Asia.
Cranes, cargo gear, cargo elevatorsâyou see all types of cargo handling equipment on these foreign-flag trampers. And they arenât old ships either. Itâs just there are still oddball parts of the world that donât use containers for whatever reason.
There are some fish production plants in South Korea and China that donât have space for containers, and donât even want pallet-boards, because they donât have the space to store them. So they handle the cargo the way it was done a century ago.
Wagenborg is a great fleet with well maintain vessels. I have been providing their Fire fighting and LSA services for the past couple years. Great fleet, great crew, great managers.
I serviced this vessel a couple months back