Passengers are carried as part of the following types of shipping operation :

• Point-to-point passenger services
• Cruise Ships

Point-to-point passenger services

These services involve passenger ships operating from designated ports to other designated ports. In the South African context, the Union-Castle Line (officially known as Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company) was the best-known as the company held the contract to carry the mail from Britain to South Africa. Although its service stopped in 1977, it serves as an example of the changes that have occurred in point-to-point shipping over the years.

The mail service was characterised by strict punctuality of sailings from and arrivals at ports, and, as maritime technology improved and ships could steam faster, the time of the voyage from Cape Town to Southampton (UK) decreased over the years from 44 days to 16 days, then 14 days and then finally (1965) to 11.5 days.

A brief history of the Union-Castle Line follows :

• 1853  Union Steamship Company was formed in Britain.
• 1857  Union Line was awarded the contract to carry the mail from Britain to Cape Town. Their steamer Dane was the first to sail from Britain on the mail contract.
• 1872 Another British company, Castle Line (officially called Castle Packets Company), began trading between Britain and the Cape. This company was a rival to Union Line and began building faster and bigger ships than Union Line which had to do the same to compete with its rival.
• 1876 Union Line and Castle Line were given the joint contract to carry the mail between Britain and South Africa.
• 1900 Union Line and Castle Line combined to form Union-Castle Line (officially called Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company).
• 1955 Union-Castle Line was taken over by the owners of another British company Clan Line and became part of the British & Commonwealth Shipping Group.
• 1960 The largest ship built for the mail service, Windsor Castle, entered service.
• 1965 The voyage time between Britain and Cape Town was reduced to 11.5 days. Jet aircraft began attracting more passengers, and the number of ocean passengers declined. Because of this trend, Union-Castle replaced two passenger mailships with two fast cargo mailships.
• 1966 Safmarine (South Africa’s largest shipping company at the time) bought two mailships from Union-Castle and a joint Union-Castle – Safmarine mail service began.
• 1971 The first Boeing 747 (Jumbo Jet) arrivesd in South Africa. One jumbo jet could carry about 300 passengers, and immediately large numbers of people changed from traveling in ships to traveling in aircraft for long distances. Shipping lines, including Union-Castle began to struggle as the number of ocean passengers declined.
• 1975 The oil price was increased by the oil producing countries, increasing the cost of bunkers. Because the mailships used a lot of fuel, their operating costs increased, forcing the company to increase passenger fares. As the older ships had become expensive to operate, and as more people were using aircraft rather than ships to travel between South Africa and Britain, some of the older mailships were scrapped.
• 1977 Containerisation of the South Africa-Europe-UK service began. Not designed for carrying containers, the mailships were withdrawn, the last one (the cargo mailship Southampton Castle) sailing from Cape Town in October 1977.

Union Castle Line Slide 1 of 8

Royal Mailship Dane, off The Needles, Isle of Wight, England, on her way to Cape Town in 1857 to start Union Line’s mailship0 service.  Painting by Peter Bilas

Union Castle Line Slide 2 of 8

The Castle Line mailship Roslin Castle alongside in Cape Town. In the background in Union Line’s mailship Norman.

Union Castle Line Slide 3 of 8

The mailship Warwick Castle, built in 1931. She and two near-sisterships were modified in the late 1930s by refitting their engines to enable them to steam faster.

Union Castle Line Slide 4 of 8

The largest mailship, Windsor Castle. She could carry over 780 passengers and had 475 crew.

Union Castle Line Slide 5 of 8

Southampton Castle was one of two “cargo mailships” built in 1965. She had accommodation for 12 passengers, and a deadweight of 11034. She and her sistership could maintain a service speed of around 25 knots

Union Castle Line Slide 6 of 8

Riebeeck Castle, one of the refrigerated ships operated by Union-Castle to carry export South African fruit in her refrigerated holds.

Union Castle Line Slide 7 of 8

Union-Castle’s Intermediate liner Garth Castle off Cape Town in about 1930. She was built in 1910 to carry about 5000 tons of cargo and 379 passengers.

Union Castle Line Slide 8 of 8

Rhodesia Castle was one of the Intermediate ships that Union-Castle operated on a Round-Africa service between UK and South Africa, carrying 526 passengers.

Union Castle also operated cargoships (including a number of refrigerated ships for South African fruit exports) and the so-called Intermediate Ships. Initially, these Intermediate ships were passenger ships that were not built for the fast mail service (or were old mailships that could not keep to the fast mail schedule) and called at more ports en route between Britain and South Africa. Later, special ships were built for the Intermediate service. Some traded on a Round-Africa service, some going from South Africa to Britain via the Suez Canal, and others coming from Britain via the canal and returning to Britain via the Atlantic Ocean.

Union-Castle’s Intermediate service ceased in 1967 when the last Intermediate ship, Kenya Castle, was withdrawn. This was because of

• declining numbers of passengers traveling to and from former British colonies in East and West Africa,
• the closure of the Suez Canal in 1967,
• the operation of large passenger aircraft on London-Africa routes,
• the high fuel price,
• the high wages being paid to British seafarers, and
• the introduction of containerised shipping to African countries.

Union-Castle ceased to exist as an operating company. Similar fates befell most other point-to-point passenger shipping lines, including the famous British company P&O that used to operate regular passenger services between Britain and Australia, India and eastern Asia. Although it transformed into a containership company, it joined the Dutch company Nedlloyd to form a huge containership company P&O Ledlloyd that later was absorbed into the giant Danish company AP Moller Group (Maersk Line).

Cruise Ships

These ships carry passengers on short or longer cruises. Their ports of call are usually places of great beauty and/or places of historical interest.

Cruise Ships Slide 1 of 4

The cruise liner Queen Mary during her call at Cape Town as part of her annual long distance cruise from Australia-Singapore-Mauritius-Durban-Cape Town-Walvis Bay-Azores-UK.

Cruise Ships Slide 2 of 4

The Dutch cruise ship Statendam alongside the cruise passenger terminal in Vancouver, Canada. She was engaged in cruising from Vancouver to the Alaskan coast. The terminal can accommodate four cruise ships at a time, but during the winter when the Alaskan weather is cold, the building is used for a number of other functions.

Cruise Ships Slide 3 of 4

A cruise ship in Cape Town.

Cruise Ships Slide 4 of 4

The promenade deck on a cruise liner.

Because North America has a large number of people who are retired and have enough money for the high cost of travel aboard a cruise ship and because of the attraction of many nearby tropical West Indian islands, Miami/Fort Lauderdale is a major centre for cruise ships.

Its warm climate, the presence of many historical sites in or near ports of call, and many passengers in Europe who can afford the fares make the Mediterranean Sea another major centre for cruise ship operation.

Typical Schedule for a Cruise Ship in the Mediterranean

Dates,  Port,Country: Places of Interest for Passengers

• 06-07 Sept,  Genoa, Italy: Florence (nearby) with its art galleries, museums
• 08-09 Sept,  Civitavecchio, Italy: Rome with its ancient history and the Vatican (important to Roman Catholic people) are a short drive away.
• 10-11 Sept,  Naples, Italy: Vesuvius (volcano), Herculaneum and Pompeii (once buried by Vesuvius’s eruption).
• 12 Sept,   Sorrento, Italy: Isle of Capri and Blue Grotto; beautiful coast
• 15-16 Sept,  Venice, Italy: Unique canal system, St Mark’s Square, unique urban architecture; Pisa and its famous Leaning Tower.
• 17-18 Sept,  Split, Croatia : Beautiful coastline, with many islands
• 19-20 Sept,  Piraeus, Greece: Athens with its ancient buildings, museums is a short drive away
• 21 Sept,  Santorini Island, Greece: Unique village atop the rim of an ancient volcano, situated in an ancient caldera.

Alaska with its beautiful glaciers, fjords and mountainous coastline presents cruise ships with a summer destination for cruises from the west coast of USA (from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and from the Canadian port of Vancouver. Australia with its warm climate and islands within a few days’ steaming from Sydney is a growing cruise centre, as are Singapore and Shanghai, especially as many Chinese tourists are seeking cruises to new areas.

Some cruise ships operate on long voyages, some even going on around-the-world cruises. While some rich people with a lot of time available can afford to travel in the ship for the entire voyage, others join the ship for one of the legs, such as from Singapore to Cape Town or from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro.

Test Yourself

Look at the cruise liner schedule given above.

1. How many days is the voyage from departure at Genoa to arrival Split?

2. If the passenger fare is US$200 a day, what is the total cost in US dollars from Genoa to Split?

3. What is the cost of that voyage in South African Rands (assume US$1 = R13.9)?

4. At how many ports does the ship call during the voyage from Genoa to Santorini?

5. How many countries will passengers visit during voyage from Genoa to Santorini?

6. At Naples, 500 passengers want to visit the historic cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii.

6.1. If a tour bus can carry 45 people, how many buses will be needed to take those passengers to the historic towns?

6.2. If the tour bus company needs to earn US$45000 from the tours to make a reasonable profit, what fare will be charged for the trip to the ancient towns?

7. The cruise ship Sea Star (2435 passenger berths) sailed from Singapore to South Africa, and her schedule is as follows : (ETA = Expected time of Arrival; ETD = Expected time of Departure)

• Singapore:  ETA 13/11 – ETD 15/11
• Mauritius:  ETA  20/11 – ETD 20/11
• Durban:  ETA 23/11 – ETD 24/11
• Port Elizabeth:  ETA 25/11- ETD 25/11
• Cape Town:  ETA  27/11 – ETD  28/11
• Rio de Janeiro (Brazil):  ETA 07/12 – ETD 08/12

7.1 Which voyage is longer – Singapore to Mauritius or Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro?

7.2 Through which strait will she pass when she sails from Singapore?

7.3 Once she has passed through that strait and is heading for Mauritius, in which ocean will she be?

7.4 Assume she takes the shortest possible route from Mauritius to Durban. Will she pass to the north of south of Madagascar?

7.5 At Cape Town, she is scheduled to arrive with 2100 passengers. 1324 are due to disembark in Cape Town and 1467 passengers will board the ship in Cape Town.

a How many empty berths will she have when she sails from Cape Town?

b  A travel agent emails the ship’s operators to make a booking for 431 passengers who want to sail from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro. Will the hsip be able to accommodate all those passengers for the voyage from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro?

7.6 List four places that passengers on a cruise liner would visit while their ship is in Cape Town.

7.7 When the ship sails from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, through which ocean will she pass?

7.8 Which important line of longitude will the ship cross on the voyage from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro?