Friday, May 27, 2011

Rotterdam port


A poster for the port of Rotterdam, not dated but circa 1914. Located at the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta on the North Sea and at the heart of a massive rail, road, air and inland waterway distribution system extending throughout Europe, it is no surprise that Rotterdam has become the largest port in Europe and was the world's busiest from 1962 to 2004, when it was surpassed by Shanghai in China. The third busiest port is Singapore.

The ship depicted in the poster seems to be the 32,000 grt Statendam built for the Holland America Line, by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Before the ship was completed during WW1 she was acquired by the British government and operated for them by the White Star Line. After several trips as a troopship she was sunk by submarines off the British Isles in 1918.

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