Polish tall ship Dar Mlodziezy passing by

The beautiful Polish sail training ship Dar Mlodziezy passed by this morning on its way from Lissabon to Rostock:

A NATO spy ship and the Russian tank landing ship Georgiy Pobedonosets within meters of each other in Øresund

The Georgiy Pobedonosets and Navigator facing each other in Øresund. A Danish
fishing vessel is observing the meeting.

This afternoon the Polish Navy's "spy ship" Navigator (its international call sign is SPWY!) and the Russian Navy's Ropucha class tank landing ship Georgiy Pobedonosets were within shouting distance from each other in Øresund, close to Helsingør.

The Navigator is slowly going southwards, while the Georgiy Pobedonosets (112.5 m x 15 m)
 is going "full steam" northwards.

A closer look at the Russian landing ship.

The Navigator most certainly had a great opportunity to test its brand new state of the art optoelectronic recognition and the integrated communication and navigation systems.


The Navigator in a foggy and rainy Øresund.

In January the Naval Shipyard Gdynia reported about the modernization of the
74 m x 12 m Navigator:

On January 29th 2013 the Naval Shipyard Gdynia completed the modernization and installation of the supplemental outfitting  on the vessel of radioelectronic recognition „Navigator”.

The modernization was a very difficult challenge for the Shipyard in hitherto realized projects.

The scope of work commissioned by the Customer included the execution of the vessel’s modernization in the entire range of the equipment ...All systems and devices from the vessel as well as its interior were dismantled and exchanged in 95% for the new ones.

It was necessary to execute technical and constructional documentation by the Shipyard which was indispensable to support new needs of the vessel as well as purchase of devices and materials in the full range of the systems and equipment’s exchange.

Modern systems of the optoelectronic recognition and the integrated communication and navigation system were installed.

The Georgiy Pobedonosets did not have its AIS on when it was going northwards in the Sound, which is why its destination remains unknown at this stage. A year ago the Georgiy Pobedonosets was one of the ships that Russia sent to the Mediterranean in connection with the crisis in Syria.

The Polish Navy's training ship Wodnik in Øresund

The Polish Navy's training ship Wodnik (251) was this afternoon going northwards in Øresund. The 72.2. m x 11.9 m ship, launched in 1975, has a complement of 56 (24 officers) plus101 midshipmen.


Wodnik approaching Helsingør.

Wodnik and Kronborg castle.

Wodnik with the Danish coast in the background.


PS
Here is a nice video of Wodnik in stormy weather:



The Polish Navy's landing ship/minelayer Lublin 821 in the Sound

The Polish Navy's landing ship/minelayer Lublin 821 in Øresund.

Yesterday a former Soviet Navy landing ship, the Minsk 127, was going northward in Øresund. Today, another landing ship from the end of the cold war era - the Polish Navy's Lublin 821 - was going in the same direction. 

The 95.4 m x 10.8 m Lublin was commissioned at an interesting time - in October 1989 - only weeks after the first Polish government led by non-communists was appointed. 

Tall ships Fryderyk Chopin and Brabander sailing in the Sound

Last night it was nice to watch two tall ships, the Polish brig Fryderyk Chopin and the Lithuanian schooner Brabander, sailing in the Sound. Both ships were heading north toward Aarhus, where the Tall Ship Races are due to begin today.

The 55 m x 8.5 m Fryderyk Chopin has since it was launched in 1992 been one of  the regulars at the Tall Ships Races.

At Helsingør the Fryderyk Chopin "raced" with this small cargo ship.

A minute or two later, it was clear which one was the "winner" ....

With (almost) full sails towards Aarhus ....

The Lithuanian schooner Brabander approaching Helsingør. It looks like it would be  squeezed  between two of the Scandlines ferries, but luckily the ship was still a little bit further away ....

The Brabander passing Hamlet's Kronborg castle.

The Klaipeda University acquired Brabander from its Dutch owner in 2006. The ship , which now serves as a training and research vessel, was built in 1977. 

Gdynia Maritime University's training and research vessel Horyzont II on its way to Spitsbergen

This is the Gdynia Martime University's training and research vessel Horyzont II this morning in Øresund. The 56 m x 11 m ship, which was delivered by Navimor International and Remontowa shipyard in 1999, is on its way to Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen). 

This is how the shipyard which built the Horyzont II describes the use of the ship: 

The vessel has obtained the ice class, which allows her to perform its regular sailings to Spitsbergen island in the Arctic Ocean. The purpose of these voyages is to supply the provisions and equipment to Polish research polar stations and at the same time to train on-board the students of Gdynia Maritime University

Occasionally the Horyzont II also accepts tourists as passengers:

Tourist – thanks to high standard of accommodation spaces, spacious mess room and club on-board “HORYZONT II” may be used for tourist escapades, depending on the availability of free accommodation.

The Polish Navy's Salvage Ship Lech returns to the Sound

The Polish Navy's salvage ship Lech (282) was on June 4 going northwards in the Sound. Early this morning it was heading in the southward direction, on its way back home to Gdynia:

The Polish Navy's Salvage Ship Lech in the Sound

The Polish Navy's salvage ship Lech in Øresund  this evening.

The salvage ship Lech (282) was the second Polish Navy ship today in the Sound. (The first one was the training ship Wodnik (251), which was on its way to Varna this morning.)

Lech with Kronborg castle and Helsingør in the background.

Like Wodnik, also Lech was built (1974) at the Gdansk Northern Shipyard, where Lech Walesa, the charismatic co-founder of the Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, worked as an electrician. I wonder, whether the name of the ship refers to Walesa? 

The Polish Navy's training ship Wodnik 251 in the Sound

Wodnik 251 passing Hittarp on June 4, 2013.

The Polish Navy's training ship Wodnik (251) today sailed through Øresund on its way to Varna. The 72.2 m x 11.9 m Wodnik's complement is 56 (24officers) and 101 midshipmen. The ship was built in 1975 by the Northern Shipyard in Gdansk - the birthplace of Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement. 

"Roman Abramovich's floating summer residence" in Øresund

Tonight, about twenty to eight, I noticed this interesting marine traffic approaching Helsingborg/Helsingør:

It was the Danish tug Frigga (34m x 12m) towing a huge load northwards in the Sound. I made a quikc check, and found out that Frigga had left Gdynia with the load two days ago, and is now on its way to Ulsteinvik in Norway.

The outlines of the load became somewhat clearer when Frigga approached Kronborg castle. We were all wondering, what the load actually could be. A friend of mine, noticing that there was a house, a panorama deck and something that looked like a huge "champagne tank", suggested that it might be Roman Abramovich's new, still unfinished floating summer residence.

Danish tugboat Frigga passing Kronborg castle.

When the "floating residence" was on the level of Hamlet's castle, it became obvious that Frigga towed a barge with several sections of a ship (Abramovich's new yacht? No, more likely a future anchor handling supply vessel or something similar). The ship will probably be finalized in a Norwegian shipyard. The "house" on the right is interesting. Maybe it is a more or less permanent part of the barge?

Here the the ship sections are already quite visible.

"The floating summer residence" in front of Hamlet's castle.