Shipbucket

Hello! I have returned once again with Super Obscure Japanese Local Ferries, this time the Vessels of the Shikoku Ferry Consortium (operators of the Tamataka, Shodoshima, and a few other brands) which is now known as "Olive Line" in Japan

first ship I am doing is...very out of order in a way, it is the First "large" Shodoshima Vessel built by them, the Shodoshima Maru of 1972.

this vessel was essentially a modified version of the older Tamataka ferries of the 1960s (which I'm gonna be working on soon), but with improved interiors

It was built in 1972 as "Shodoshima Maru" and was operating alongside the SUBSTANTIALLY OLDER 1965 Shodoshima No.11 (which possibly suggests older Unknown ferries but...probably not since I've yet to find any other proof)


then in 1976 she was Renamed and refitted as "Shodoshima Maru No.1" (first gen) following the Introduction of the slightly larger improved version of her, also named Shodoshima Maru (working on it too)


Due to the introduction of Newer MUCH larger vessels it was decided to sell the Shodoshima Maru No.1 in 1985 to a Chinese Government operator, who we know little about, and renamed her "Zhou Du 2". plenty of photos exist of OTHER vessels they operated at the time, but none have surfaced of the "Zhou Du 2" So this is purely (an educated) guess for now.


in 2002 she was put up for sale and sold to several Filipino companies (retaining the name Zhou Du 2 during that time) but was eventually bought by the up and coming "Lite Shipping" Company and Rebuilt in 2003 as "San Ramon de Bohol"


in 2011 she was given ANOTHER major overhaul, this time chopping her old bow off and replacing it with an entirely new "conventional" type with no Doors (as well as increasing passenger capacity slightly)


but only a year later in 2012, she was renamed "Lite Ferry 7" to better fit in with the fleet which had largely been renamed, this is also how she would remain until 2019


in 2019 she was sold to the newly founded KHO Shipping Lines who renamed her "Kho Ferry 3" but during this time she would only be slowly worked on, and largely remained laid up


Finally last year in late 2021 she entered service under the name "Cataingan" and since then has been operating out of Masbate in the Philippines alongside several other old Japanese built Vessels


as for the class I would call it "Shodoshima Maru (1st Generation)" as there were many ships with the exact same name, and most Japanese People I've spoken with call them by their "Generation"

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

Next is...unfortunately for now gonna go on the back burner, I just don't have enough Reference for it regarding what it looked like after sold in the Philippines as "Immaculate Concepcion"

so, so far I just have the Japan era completed digitally

as built she was essentially a slightly larger version of her precursor of the same name, but as a result of this vessel entering service in 1976 her "half-sister" was renamed "Shodoshima Maru No.1"


in 1984 with the Layup and eventual sale of her older fleetmates and the introduction of the THIRD generation "Shodoshima Maru" she was then renamed..."Shodoshima Maru No.1" sooo yeah this project is gonna get confusing, hope you like repeat names! (date depicted is 1984 to 1990)


For now the 1990-???? Era with Viva Shipping in the Philippines is still up in the air as the only alleged photos I have may not even be her, but another similar ferry called "Viva Penafrancia"

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

Next another (for now) Finished set!

the Tamataka Maru No.31, which was the first ferry to use this basic hull design which was kept well into the 1970s

note: The earlier ships of this "type" had noticeably more sheer than the Later Shodoshima Maru's and an overall more "compact" look (also no the Lack of Railings on the top deck is not a mistake, the 31 and her sister 32 had that area for crew only)

as built (1969-1976)


in 1976 (alongside several other Shikoku Ferries) she was given several small improvements, mainly in the way to the life saving gear and its placement, also around this time the "FERRY BOAT" logo on the stern which was shared across many companies operating in the region was painted over


in 1980 she was sold to "Arrel Traders" of the Philippines and renamed "Queen Helen" but her fate is unknown (almost certainly scrapped or sunk) and no photos or descriptions of how she looked are known to exist

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

The Next and final post for tonight, the Tamataka Maru No.32, sistership to the 31 (though with a re-designed superstructure)



in 1980 she was sold to SKT Shipping of the Philippines and renamed "Dona Isabel" but her appearance is completely unknown as well as her fate (Likely scrapped or sunk)

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

Next up is Tamataka Maru No. 51 of 1972.

there isn't that much to say about this one aside it (as per usual with these ships) shared the same hull as the previous vessels but had the superstructure re-designed

as built:


in 1980 she was sold to Utaka Kokudo Ferry and renamed "No.2 Sakaide Maru" but nothing is known of this period, and eventually in the 80s at some point she was sold to Kosaka Ferry and (again) no photos are known to exist during this period, BUT I do have photos of a fleetmate (which appeared to be all white with a black or dark blue aft-mast/funnel combo)

eventually in 1988 she was sold to the Filipino firm "Arrow Transportation Co." and renamed "Golden Arrow", her appearance and fate are unknown

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

AND NOW...the "Final" Tamataka/Shodoshima of this early generation, just before the "Jet-plane Funnel" era of the 1970s till today

The Tamataka Maru No.52 of 1973 (the ONLY early Tamataka of the "sheer-less" variety like the Shodoshimas of this time) also Note the slightly "taller" Bridge Deck


in 1976 (like many other ships owned by Shikoku Ferry Co.) they gave her a minor refit, almost entirely relating to the arrangement of lifesaving gear


in 1980 (unlike her sisters) she was Repainted White, to better match the newbuilds of the late 1970s and early 1980s


eventually in 1985 (or 1983 according to the Japanese Wikipedia and nowhere else) She was sold to the Philippines and Renamed "Viva Peñafrancia" for the Viva Lines and given a small but noticeable refit (image depicts how it was seen in 1986 according to a photograph)


in 1989 Viva Lines rebranded their fleet, changing the colors to resemble that of the Japanese "Higashi Nihon ferry co."


Her exact Fate is a bit of a mystery, but its possible she served well into the 1990s, as there are photos which could either be Her or the Second Gen Shodoshima Maru of 1976 at Keppel Batangas being rebuilt in 1994 (images here in Flicker taken by Edison.SY) but I am unsure of the exact ID so I have for now decided to not illustrate it until further info is acquired

https://www.flickr.com/photos/51216970@ ... ateposted/

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

Next Post and First of the "Modern" style of Tamataka/Shodoshima Ferry! (that being it has a large "airplane style" funnel, or at least in this case, a structure that looks like one)

This ship is reasonably well known in the Philippines and it is still operational there (though at this time is undergoing a large overhaul)


the story of this ship begins in 1984 when a new Ferry was built heavily inspired by the (yet to be drawn at the time of me making this) Tamataka Ferries of the 1970s operating in the Sister Company of the Shodoshimas, this ship was to be named (as in so far in Tradition) "Shodoshima Maru" and it would as a result require the renaming of the older Shodoshima Maru from 1976 into "Shodoshima Maru No.1"

as built it looked like this:

(note: the "Funnel" is just decoration, the Exhausts are located on either side of the stern ramp embedded just above the ships "bumpers", making it the first of the ships to have a fake funnel, but far FAR from the last in the Shikoku Fleets)

in 1994 she was sold to China and renamed "Mingyue No.1" for the Qingdao Route, despite her similarities with the previously illustrated "Zhou Du No.2" they had completely different (albeit both governmentally owned) operators


in 2012 she was sold to the Philippines, specifically the "Marina Ferries" Company (a Subsidiary of Montenegro Ferries) and renamed "Reina Immaculada"


later in 2016 she received a refit which totally overhauled her passenger spaces


at some point (either 2017 or 2018, dates are spotty) she was refitted, and as a result the cutouts on her car deck changed, and her motorboat launch was removed (as of 2022 she still looked like this, but due to her refit currently underway it may be out of date soon)


I may be a while between this and my next post as for the next sets of ships I Will need to do some more research, wish me luck!

EDIT: 2022-11-26 Fixed major template issues (and recently photos have begun to appear showing how she looks with the new rebuild, not enough for a render yet, but it seems they FINALLY re-routed her exhausts to two tall pipes just behind the aft passenger deck

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

I HAVE RETURNED WITH THE NEXT SERIES

Though...very out of order...sorry about that (started with the one which had the best information and material available)

Built in 1979 she would be the last Shodoshima/Tamataka built with a "conventional" bow, as after her all other ships of this company would be built with bulbous bows

as built (1979-1989) Tamataka Maru No. 75


in 1989 for a few months she briefly served as "Shodoshima Maru No.1" (that's the 4th one with the same name...)


in 1990 she was sold to the Chinese and began operating out of Qingdao (and like the last few which went to china that I've done...it was a completely unrelated owner again lol)

she had been Renamed "Lu Jiao Du No.3" and given a pretty notable refit (fully enclosing the passenger deck below the "igloo/bridge deck")

in 2010 she was sold to the Filipino Company "Marina Ferries" (owned by Montenegro Shipping Line) and Given a refit, "Re-opening" the aft passenger decks and renaming her "Reina Genoveva"


finally in 2018 she was Given her most drastic rebuild, entirely gutting her passenger deck and converting the majority of it to close seating banks, with a small food counter at the front of the deck


as of 2022/11/24 the 2018 design is still accurate (minus the growth of rust here and there)

EDIT: 2022-11-26 Fixed Template Error

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

Next up is the 1979 Built "Tamataka Maru No.72" a bit of a mysterious one as you will soon see

EDIT (2022-11-26) turns out the length was wrong...info I was using was bad, recently discovered she (and 71) were actually shorter (59 meters instead of 60 like the rest of the ships) so I have adjusted accordingly

EDIT 2(same day as above) Fixed Template

As built (1979-1989 era)

(essentially Identical to the later ships externally)

and a Half Speculated render of how she looked after her sale to Ryobi Transportation in 1989


I say half-speculated as we DO have a photo of her taken from about the mid-section forward which clearly shows the bow, but everything aft of it is covered

It's based however on their other ships at the time (which at least in the case of the second hand ones like No.72 received substantial changes similar to depicted)

if new material surfaces I will edit the post and change the render to be more accurate!

in 1999 she was sold to a panama registered company and renamed "Rising Star 6" but nothing else is known (likely either scrapped or sold to china where it was also...likely scrapped eventually)

_________________
Current Projects:

MV Sewol (1994-2014)
MV Sea Venture (1985-2004)
KMP Windu Karsa (1980-2011)
KMP Jatra I and II (1980-2021, 1980-)
MV Cassiopea (1972)

Future Projects:
Ferry Nankai No.1 (1972-)
Hayabusa No.1 and No.2 (1972)
MV Regent Sky (1989-2011)
MV Pride of al-Salam 95 (1996-2005)
MS Willem Ruys (1947-1965)
MS Royal Pacific (1992)
MV Sunflower 11 (1974-1998)
Awaji Ferry Classes (1968, 1970, 1974, and 1989 series)
MV Chrissi Avgi (1970-1983)

many boats! at first glance they look good, but watch out for random shading error (I can't see any), another thing is in "SB" it is standard that windows have black outline, on some of the drawings, your windows on car deck have an extra color around windows, we don't do that (think about your drawings as a photo taken at a distance, what can you see)

for portholes, you can use 3 pixel portholes instead of 4 pixel, unless those portholes is massive. Also hatch that is flush with the hull, you can use a dark grey color (very dark shading color) but black do work as well.


for my personal preference, I would use a different color for ropes then antennas so they differentiate a bit more, same with railings (railings can have same color as the hull, but just darker), normal distance between railing foot, is 7 pixels (from the old days)