Ship letter and sea mails were letters that were brought by a ship from one country to another and were stamped to indicate its passage.
But with the introduction of aeroplanes and subsequently the development of Airmail, the transport of mails by sea started declining. Surface mails are still but rarely used.
In modern world, there still exists post offices in ferries and ships that sail the waters of the Northern Europe. My interest in mails through these modern ships have been triggered after I received an array of postcards sent by a dear friend !
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig. Its capital city is Kiel.
MS Schleswig-Holstein was built in 2011 at the Neptun shipyard in Rostock. The keel was laid on 2 May 2011 and the transfer on 1 December 2011 in Rostock. The baptism took place on December 30, 2011 in Wyk. Since December 20, 2011, she connects the mainland port Dagebüll with Wyk on Föhr and Wittdün on Amrum. It is the 29th new construction of the shipping company since 1885.
The postmark indicates German Seamail and the route of the MS Schleswig-Holstein and the postcard also carries the cachet of the ferry.
Scandlines is a ferry operator owned by a consortium consisting of First State Investments, Hermes Investment Management, and equity investor 3i Group. Scandlines operates two lines for passenger and freight in and between Denmark and Germany (Rødby–Puttgarden and Gedser–Rostock).
This postcard has been mailed via the Scanlines ferry between Rødby ( Denmark ) to Puttgarden ( Germany ) with postage stamps of Germany.
The Helgoland is a German seaside resort. The ship, which is built for around 31 million euros at the Fassmer shipyard, is operated with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and has been used by the shipping company Cassen Eils since December 2015 in the Heligoland service. The Helgoland is the first new German-flagged construction, whose internal combustion engines are operated with LNG, sailing between the ports of Cuxhaven and Helgoland.
The postmark indicates that it’s German Ship Post ( Deutsche Schiffspost )
MS Color Magic is a cruiseferry owned and operated by the Norway-based shipping company Color Line on its route connecting Oslo, Norway, with Kiel, Germany. She was built at Aker Finnyards Rauma Shipyard, Finland in 2007 and has been the largest ferry in the world ever since.
The postcard has been mailed with stamps of Norway
The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was established in 1945 after World War II through the merger of the historic regions of Mecklenburg and the Prussian Western Pomerania by the Soviet military administration in Allied-occupied Germany. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern became part of the German Democratic Republic in 1947, but was dissolved in 1952 during administrative reforms and its territory divided into the districts of Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was re-established in 1990 following German reunification, and became one of the Federal Republic of Germany's new states.
Two ferries are operated by Stena lines, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Skåne, operate on the route Rostock ( Germany ) – Trelleborg ( Sweden ) , with up to three departures per day. The port of registry for the ferry is at Rostock ( Germany )
The stamps of Sweden on the postcard has been defaced with the cancelation “ invalid postage” and a postage due postmark ( T ) has been placed with postage due of 90 cents ( the international Airmail postage of Germany ). Quite an interesting postcard with philatelic value :)
MS Amorella is a cruiseferry operated by the Finnish ferry company Viking Line on the route Turku–Mariehamn/Långnäs–Stockholm. She was built in 1988 by Brodosplit in Croatia, then Yugoslavia.
The cover with Åland Islands stamp has been postmarked with Mariehamn (navire - ship ) date postmark
MV Isle of Mull is one of the larger Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited ferries operated by Caledonian MacBrayne from Oban on the west of Scotland. She has been ferrying since 1988.
The MS "Adler-Express" will punctually, comfortably, and quickly take the passengers to Hallig Hooge and the islands of Amrum, Sylt, and Heligoland from Nordstrand/Strucklahnungshörn harbor. En-route, one can enjoy the unique island- and Hallig panorama, either on the open deck or through the generous panoramic glazing in any weather conditions.
Thanks Tom for these array of wonderful sea mail postcards :)
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