Smaller ships have an attraction

• Published date: 29 March 2023
• Publication title: Cape Times, The (Cape Town, South Africa)

SH Vega completed her season of Antarctic cruises and is repositioning to Europe via West Africa, offering her passengers interesting ports of call en route, including Luderitz and Walvis Bay

After calls at several other West African ports and islands, she will begin her northern hemisphere summer cruising programme that includes voyages to Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard. In October, she begins her southern hemisphere odyssey to Brazil before operating in polar waters out of Ushuaia. She will retrace Shackleton’s epic journey and enter the Weddell Sea while calls at paleo-Antarctic islands, including Tristan da Cunha, precede her scheduled return to Cape Town in March next year.

Although many enjoy the go-go glitz of larger cruise ships, the more sedate life aboard some smaller vessels, especially those undertaking specialised cruises such as SH Vega, appeals to others.

That was the secret of the success of RMS St Helena that usually had a full complement of around 130 passengers travelling to the mid-Atlantic island. Pleasant, interesting exchanges between passengers with a variety of backgrounds – some commissioned to undertake special projects on the island – were hallmarks of those leisurely voyages to that remote and unique island.

Greeted by Ghurkha security officers at the gangway, I visited the luxurious 90m Hebridean Spirit during a call here some years ago. I was received warmly by the master who showed me around the vessel that was the epitome of luxurious comfort for her relatively small passenger complement. The style with which the steward served our tea and delicious cake was indicative of the elegance enjoyed by passengers in that pocket cruise ship.

She had left her usual area of operation among the Scottish Isles to convey affluent folks along the South African coast and to the Indian Ocean islands. Her consort, Hebridean Star, was chartered occasionally by the Royal Family for a few weeks in the northern hemisphere’s summer to show them the delights of the Western Isles.

Although life is more comfortable aboard larger ships, many seafarers reflect with nostalgia on time spent aboard smaller ships – Thesens coasters and several independent vessels – that could enter shallower ports or those with other restrictions. “Far more interesting than the bigger vessels,” commented a seasoned coaster officer, “and, as the ships were in and out of ports every few days, you quickly

became adept at ship-handling in confined spaces without a tug or...