Blue Star Line cargo passenger liners to South America

I always loved passenger cargo liners and the for Blue Star South American sisters ARGENTINA, BRASIL, PARAGUAY and URUGUAY STAR were really smart looking ships with one of the very best liveries ever created for ships. In the 1960s it seemed they were always in Lisbon. These turbine steamers were all built in 1947 ans 1948, with passenger facilities for about 50 passengers in first class. They lasted until 1972 except PARAGUAY STAR that was broken up in Germany in 1969 following a fire in London. The final trio ended in Taiwan, the final end for so many passenger ships in the late sixties and seventies...

Photograph from the collection of Trevor Jones, taken in the London Docks.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

ARANDORA STAR in Norway

Classic image of a cruise ship in Norwegian waters: a post card issued by Blue Star Line Cruises deicting their handsome ARANDORA STAR in the 1930s
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

ARANDORA STAR in Malta

The British cruise ship ARANDORA STAR at anchor in Valleta, Malta during a Mediterranean cruise in the 1930s as seen from a company's original post card from my collection.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

The world's most delightful cruising liner

Blue Star Line's only cruise ship, the ARANDORA STAR was advertised by the company as the world's most delightful cruising liner. She was indeed very successful as a cruise ship in the 1930s. Her career was stopped in a dramatic way during WW2 when she was sunk by the Germans.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

NEW ZEALAND STAR in Lisbon 1975

Em 1975, durante o processo dramático de descolonização e regresso de 1 milhão de portugueses à Metropole, foi necessário recorrer ao afretamento de navios de carga estrangeiros para transportar bagagens e viaturas, especialmente a partir de Angola.
O cargueiro inglês NEW ZEALAND STAR, da companhia britanica Blue Star Line foi uma das unidades afretadas pela Companhia Nacional de Navegação, cuja bandeira o navio tem hasteada no mastro principal.
Esta imagem, tirada de cima da varanda da Estação Marítima da Rocha mostra o navio a sair da Doca de Alcântara, após descarregar.
Repare-se nos rebocadores da AGPL em primeiro plano, com destaque para o CABO DA ROCA, que na época era o melhor que havia em Lisboa e actualmente opera em Setúbal.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

Blue Star Line:The best way to go to London

Company photo post card of the passenger cargo liners of the ARGENTINA STAR-class.
The ARGENTINA STAR and her three sisters were built in 1947-1948 for the London - Lisbon - Brazil - River Plate service of the famous Blue Star Line. They were combi-liners transporting general cargo southbound and refrigerated meat homebound. All four had very good accommodation for about 52 first class passengers.
They always called in Lisbon on both ways, South and North and were very popular with local passengers traveling to London, specially the shipping enthusiasts. While the Royal Mail Line would disembark their passengers in Southampton, the Blue Star Liners went directly to the London docks and most of the times they had to anchor in the river Thames waiting for a berth or the right tide. This would be the highlight of the trip, as in the fifties and sixties London was one of the major ports of the world and there was a constant flow of shipping up and down river. For a ship enthusiast on the decks of the anchored ARGENTINA STAR that could mean hours of endless pleasure... It all ended in 1972 when the last three ships were withdrawn and sold to Taiwan for scrap.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia