Nopal Camille, November 1976 in Vyborg : Photo : Manfred

In November 1976 I was asked to go to Vyborg for Germania Schiffahrt to pick up a new ship and help to bring it to Kiel. It was the "Nopal Camille" which should have been ready. The whole ships crew went by airplane via Stockholm to Helsinki and from there through plenty of snow by bus to Vyborg. When we arrived there the ship was not ready, we had to stay in the shipyard for 4 weeks because all the ships equipment like linen, matrasses, plates, cutlery, pots and pans etc. was stuck somewhere at the customs. The ship was empty. So 4 weeks shipyard food ! Plus a "free" visit to the October Revolution Celebration of whole Vyborg. Finally when the money arrived in the russian bank account the delivery took place. It was a big celebration on the aft deck with plenty of speeches and vodka because it was the first ship from this yard for export. We then left the next day for Kiel. It was stricktly not allowed to take fotos but I managed to take a few secretly. The quality is very poor because it was a dia slide film and the temperature was very below minus. Manfred