[Leica] Port of Oakland

[oliverbryk at iqmail.net (Oliver)]

Gerry wrote:
"I spent a lot of my previous working life in shipping, and in particular in
containers, at the port of Southampton (one of the largest in Europe) and
found the photos very interesting. Of particular interest was the white
vessel which is a combined container carrier and a car carrier. I have been
on board hundreds of vessels here ranging in size up to 300,000 tonnes but I
have never come across one of these hybrid vessels before, which is rather
surprising when you consider the port here handles some of the largest car
carriers and container ships in the world. The two cargos are so
logistically different that here they would have to move berths to handle
each cargo in turn."

Gerry, as you may know only US bottoms may carry cargo between American
ports. The Matson  www.matson.com  "Lurline" calls at Hawaii, Guam, Seattle,
Los Angeles, and Oakland. AFAIK the automobile decks are for personally
owned vehicles. The purpose-built car carriers do indeed look vastly
different. This "Lurline" is not to be confused with the luxurious cruise
ship by that name which is no longer in service.
The arrival of the big white cargo handling cranes shown in some of my
photos caused quite a stir a few years ago. Their ship's passage under the
Golden Gate Bridge was timed for a minus tide, the vessel took on water for
extra ballast, and all bridge traffic was halted. The cranes cleared the
bridge with inches to spare, if memory serves right.
Thanks for looking, Oliver