MASTS, SAILS AND A FUNNEL, BUT NO STEAM

Last Saturday, the 11th November 2006, the river Tagus was graced by four cruise ships: in NAVALROCHA YARD dry-dock nº.01, the German-owned, Malta registered SEA CLOUD II, alongside the Rocha terminal, the SAGA RUBY and the WIND STAR, while the BRILLIANCE OF THE SEAS docked in Alcântara. Inside the Alcântara dock, the new PRINCIPE PERFEITO was being refitted...
It was another beautiful Indian Summer evening and my camera was particularly busy: here they are two shots taken from the Art Museum, depicting an image of days long gone, when sail and steam were part of daily shipping scenes in all waterfronts. Now sails are just retro images for nostalgic cruise "guests", and the SAGA RUBY is a motor ship, although her classic profile may mislead someone less informed. It was the case with that old man looking into the ships in an unusually familiar way. He had been a crew member of Cia. Colonial twins SANTA MARIA and VERA CRUZ in the late fifties, and now somehow one of his long-gone beauties was back in port. I told him this was not one of his ships, just the final flagship of the famous Norwegian America Line. But he was not so shure about that. In the end even I could see the SANTA MARIA at the very same place gleaming in new paint about to depart for Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It was June 1973, and I never saw my SANTA MARIA again...

Words and copyright photos by Luís Miguel Correia - 2006