WIND AMBITION aka PRINSESSAN BIRGITTA is one of the few remaining samples from the bunch of sixties- and seventies-ferries, which once awakened my fascination of ferries and passenger ships in my childhood.
Sailing mainly between Gothenburg and Travemünde and later to Kiel in the seventies and the first half of the eighties placed the ship out of my reach in that period, with a childhood habitat limited to the summer holidays ferries out of Grenaa and Frederikshavn.
I first managed to travel on the ship as KING OF SCANDINAVIA in 1995 between Esbjerg and Newcastle. And after further more than twenty years I revisited the ship in Esbjerg in her present role as an accommodation vessel for the offshore wind industry.
The visit was arranged by the ship’s Danish owner and involved a complete on-board tour inclusive “digging” in all the archaeology layers of interior from the past four decades; From the latest interior additions made by C-bed to the remaining original psychedelic orange patterns in the former luxury cabins.
Photo session in Odense
The other day the weather provided the condition for a perfect “blue hour photo session” at WIND AMBITION’s present lay-up location in Odense’s inner city harbour. Here the ship waits for the next charter after a major overhaul at the nearby repair yard Fayard.
I spent two hours between 15:15 and 17:15 with my camera and tripod while the clear cold winter afternoon light went from golden to deep cobalt blue in the hour after sunset. With the exception of an extension of the aft accommodation made by Norway Line in 1989, the profile of the nearly 44-year-old ferry is amazingly still intact.
PRINSESSAN BIRGITTA was a one-off-ship with a beautiful distinct streamlined profile created by the Wärtsilä shipyard in Finland. Design-wise she was a product of a further development of the seven years older FINLANDIA.
External links:
WIND AMBITION passes the narrow Odense Canal(Søfart.dk)
PRINSESSAN BIRGITTA’s life so far (Faktaomfartyg.se)
FINLANDIA, the older half sister ((Faktaomfartyg.se)
paxpix - maritime photography 