Thanks for your answer Davidships. There is a lot lot of water gone under the bridge since then and the old brain is not what it used to be!!!.

Best regards,

Frank

It was URSULA DELMAS ex-ÉTIENNE DENIS (IMO 8124395) that became SHERBRO. That was for a 3-year Elder Dempster charter in 1991 - see http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1533216
Before that she was indeed NEDLLOYD ZAANDAM for a year

Interesting comments from everybody. Denis I remember that issue of the Motor Ship published during the 80s. Form 1979 and for about 10 years I suscribed to the Motor Ship. I was on the Veronique Delmas in Le Harve on time and I fouund them top class vessels, well ahead of their time and well maintained. I remember the food was excellent, even better than in the hotel I stayed in!. I think later that the Veronique Delmas was charted to or sold to Nedlloyd Line and renamed Sherbro?. Was Delmas taken over by CMA CGM ?. Also I seem to remember that Delmas got in some trouble with the EEC over abuse of its monopoly on the West Africa service and received a hefty fine fome them. Delmas also had nice series of similar vessels built in Croatian Yards. Great photo. Thanks a lot for sharing. Brings back memories!!!.

Regards Frank
?

Jadran, will do. I have no clue who take the pictures, most likely one crew member. Got them from Delmas Agency in Ivory Coast, hope the moderator will not delete them.
Roland

Please, Roland (rgr004), if it's not a problem for you, do post the photos you've mentioned !! they might be interesting to "circle the history" of this ship and her sisters.... :-)

Hi Dennis Jadran,
These ships were tailor designed for West Africa which used to be the main Delmas trade area for over a century. Regarding the previous serie (Nathalie and sisters) if i recall correcely the storage area below the accomodation was used to load saw timber. I was working in west Africa at the time Veronique Delmas was sold to breakers and received some photos of the the two sisters after beaching. If you are interested, let me know.
Roland

Btw, what's the reason for that "tunnel" under the superstructure on those Nathalie/Patricia/Renee/Suzanne Delmas ships? Not a RoRo & no stern ramp there too.

I remember I first saw such Delmas ship on photo in some 80s issue of the MotorShip - I guess it was one of the Nathalie/Patricia/Renee/Suzanne Delmas series. Big & somewhat beautiful, but what caught the attention was an enourmous box-like superstructure which was making these ships very distinctive from anything else. I thought it could be some cargo-passenger vessels...

Hi Roland (rgr004),, I guess,, it must have been a real pleasure for the crew to sail & work on these eight (8) Delmas vessels you've mentioned in your below comment; thank you for this indeed much interesting "inside" info,, best regards /Jadran

Very nice photo Mike.

Jadran, this serie (Veronique, Ursula, Yolande Delmas and Etienne Denis) were fitted with the "place du village concept", it was aimed to ensure crew members would socialise instead of being isolated in their respective cabins. The swimming pool was indoor at the centre of the "place du village". This concept was initiated on the previous serie (Nathalie, Patricia, Renee and Suzanne Delmas) which were also delivered by Chantiers de l'Atlantique.

Roland

Thanks jadran.
French designed ships often have a distinctive style about them!

A beautiful ship of a once highly reputable shipping company... the Delmas;
Actually, the Delmas fleet consisted of all very, very nice ships, in general.

Superb photo, Mike, of this indeed *special looking and eye-catching* Delmas ship; thank you very much for sharing this wonderful photograph!
Kind regards /Jadran