S.A. VAAL final departure from Cape Town

Two great images of the passenger liner S.A. VAAL leaving Cape Town for the final time in October 1977 ending the famous Union-Castle / Safmarine Cape Run. 

Original photographs by Trevor Jones of Durban.

S.A. VAAL and her running mate WINDSOR CASTLE were the last Cape mail liners and their demise in late 1977 resulted from increasing operating costs and the advent of containerization on the Europe - South Africa line. 

Emerging passenger ship owner Ted Arison of Carnival was very interested in both ships for conversion into Caribbean tropical cruising ships, but in the end only purchsed the S.A. VAAL, later converted in Japan into the FESTIVALE, Carnival Cruise Line third ship. He intended to purchase the WINDSOR CASTLE later but it was not to be so as the Greek tycoon Mr. John Latsis bought the final Union-Castle flagship and this fine liner became the MARGARITA L.

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 

Union-Castle Safmarine mail ships

The late fleet of mail ships on the Southampton to the Cape run as depicted on a poster issued by Safmarine and UCL in about 1970.

In this artist's impression the final five passenger mail ships sail together: from left to right, the WINDSOR CASTLE, PENDENNIS CASTLE, EDINBURGH CASTLE, S.A. VAAL and S.A. ORANGE. By 1977 all were gone...

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

S.A. VAAL ex-TRANSVAAL CASTLE underway

The proud flagship of the South African merchant navy, the passenger and mail liner S. A. VAAL (1965-1977) photographed underway at sea. Image scanned from an original poster issued by Safmarine in about 1970.

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

South Africa without merchant ships

Passenger liner S. A. VAAL photographed arriving at Cape Town in 1968 in another magnificent original photograph by Professor Trevor Jones, of Durban.

S.A. VAAL was the final Union-Castle passenger liner, built in the Clydebank yard of John Brown as TRANSVAAL CASTLE in 1961. She was sold to Safmarine in 1965 and sailed as the flagship of the South African merchant navy until sold to Carnival in 1977.

A recent report has just stated that there are no deep sea ships at present in the register of merchant ships of the Republic of South Africa. Safmarine still exists but was taken over by Maersk, and the more recent container ships in the fleet of Safmarine sail under the Hong Kong Chinese ensign. Today shipping is an economic activity totally international in its global scope and a lot of traditions have been lost in this process towards maximum profitability at sea...

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

SAFMARINE PALANCA off Lisbon

The cargo liner SAFMARINE PALANCA leaving Lisbon on 16 May 2008 looking very classic with her old style design...
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

SAFMARINE PASSENGER MAIL LINERS

Safmarine operated two beautiful passenger mail liners, the S.A. ORANGE ex-PRETORIA CASTLE of 1948 and S.A. VAAL ex-TRANSVAAL CASTLE of 1961 on the Cape Run from Southampton, one of the most famous lines of the past when ships were the best way to cross.
They were purchased from Union-Castle in 1965 and transferred to the South African registry in 1969. When the mail ships were replaced by new container ships in 1977, it was the end of an era. The S.A. ORANGE was sold to Taiwan in 1975 and broken up, while the S.A.VAAL was purchased in late 1977 by Carnival Cruise Lines and became their third cruise ship, the FESTIVALE.

Uma das linhas de navegação mais famosas do século XX foi a carreira Southampton - Cape Town mantida até 1977 com navios de passageiros e transporte de correio e carga pelas companhias Union-Castle Line e Safmarine.
Neste serviço a Safmarine de Cape Town operou entre 1965 e 1977 com os navios S.A. ORANGE, ex-PRETORIA CASTLE de 1948 e S.A. VAAL, ex-TRANSVAAL CASTLE de 1961, ambos comprados em 1965 à Castle e transferidos para registo da África do Sul em 1969. Eram navios lindíssimos, rápidos e elegantes, cujo fim foi ditado pela contentorização da carreira em 1977.
Como os paquetes eram mistos, retirada a componente da carga e correio, deixaram de ser rentáveis. O S.A. ORANGE foi desmantelado na Formosa em 1975. O S.A. VAAL foi vendido à Carnival Cruise Lines e reconvertido para cruzeiros no Japão, tendo navegado muitos anos com o nome FESTIVALE.

Text by L.M.Correia. Photos from the LMC collection. 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