Vessel Viewing from Under the Ravenel Bridge

 

My exploration of places to see the big ships of Charleston took me recently to Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park. 

I was hoping to see at least one huge container ship steam by on the Cooper River heading into port or going the other direction out to sea. 

It was a pretty day for photography, right? My plan was to first visit a store in Mount Pleasant and then go to the park. But as I drove on the bridge I could see a container ship heading my way. So I called an audible and hurried to park at the park. 

My hustle paid off as I arrived in time to see a Maersk shipping line vessel approaching the bridge. 

I’m interested in capturing images that show the massive scale of these ocean-faring ships that transport thousands of containers each voyage around the world. 

A container ship’s name and “flag” are normally written on the stern. This is Maersk Inverness and the name Singapore indicates where Inverness is registered. The flag or registry can change among such ships. There’s a term “port of convenience” that suggests registry places change based on lower costs, taxes, even safety standards. 

This is an interesting article on these matters titled "The Secret Language of Ships."

The Maersk Inverness nears the Charleston port, possibly the South  Carolina State Ports Authority’s Welch Wando Terminal, where its containers will be offloaded and new containers carefully placed for the ship’s next destination. 

Civilians like me can go to online ship tracking sites like this one that reveals that Inverness came to Charleston from Philadelphia and then took a weeklong voyage to the Port of Balboa in Panama. 

This summer marked the 20th anniversary of this amazing span, the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge that replaced two old bridges. See my recent post about this anniversary. It features equally scenic shots from the bridge’s pedestrian section. 

While photographing the passing Maersk ship, i saw that a fisherman had a nice catch. 

His name is Raymond Duenas and the name of the fish is Sheepshead, a common catch in Lowcountry waters. 

Raymond lives in Summerville. I asked for his number so I could send him my photos, and I did. I may yet send a few of my snaps to the Post and Courier, which runs area fish catches on Sundays. 

Raymond was having a good day! From what I read, Sheepsheads are tasty-eating with a mild flavor similar to flounder and cod. Fun fact: Sheepsheads are also called "convict fish" because of the black and white stripes. 

You can catch up to 10 Sheepshead if they meet the size limit, according to this sign at the pier.

Lots of other species are caught along this pier under the Ravenel Bridge.

When I next spotted this tugboat heading toward the harbor I thought maybe another big ship is coming.

Sure enough, steaming past the Yorktown aircraft carrier and the adjacent marina is an MSC container ship. Like Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company frequently visits Charleston’s port terminals.

The tugboat, named Elizabeth Turecamo, approaches the MSC vessel to help guide it safely to port. The big M on the tug, better seen a few photos ago, stands for Moran Towing, which operates two other tugboats in the Charleston area: the James A. Moran and the Wyatt Moran. 

I needed the container ship to go under the bridge before I could see the stern to read its name. 

A few other people watched with me at the end of the pier.

Love this wide angle picture! 

Docking in Charleston is the MSC Paris. It’s registry is Madeira, a group of islands in the North Atlantic owned by Portugal.

According to a ship tracking site, MSC Paris was in Savannah before arriving here on August 15. On August 24 it arrived in the Port of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain. 

I’m glad this photography venture became a fruitful adventure. Lots of good images captured from a Mount Pleasant treasure. 

Park the car, take the walk on the pier- time well spent!