Åland passenger ferry series

Two new stamps in the Åland passenger ferry series will be issued in February 2011. M/S Alandia and M/S Apollo are featured by artist Håkan Sjöström. 

Alandia was built in 1939 as M/S Bastø in Moss, Norway. The ship had been in Norwegian service for many years and even been used by the German army for troop transportation in 1944, when she came to the newly established company Rederiaktiebolag Eckerö in 1961. During her first year of operation, Alandia ran under the name Alpha and was the first roll-on/roll-off car ferry operating in Åland ferry service. In November 1961, the ship met with trouble when she capsized and was waterlogged upon arriving in Grisslehamn. Thanks to resolute intervention, everybody onboard was saved. Alpha was soon to be nicknamed "Round-trip Åland" after that.

Apollo was delivered in 1970 from Jos. L. Meyer Schiffswerft in Papenburg, West Germany. Both M/S Viking 1 and M/S Marella were delivered to Viking Line the same year. Apollo served for Viking Line from May 1970 until March 1976, when she was sold to a Danish shipping company. Today, Apollo operates in Canada where she provides service for the Woodward Group under her original name Apollo. 

Source : www.posten.ax

New Issue- German steamers on stamps

This set issued on the 12th of August 2010 by German Post and dedicated to steamers proceeds the special series of stamps "for the youth to flow" by the Foundation for German youth. This Foundation promotes youth welfare and national youth education.

The stamps are dedicated to the four famous German steamers.

The DEUTSCHLAND made a voyage from Cuxhaven to New York in 1900, crossing the North Atlantic.

The IMPERATOR was the largest ship in the world in 1914. After the First World War it was steaming under British Flag from Southampton to New York.

The ALLER was one of the steamers of the River-class and was used in the North Atlantic circulation. It was the first steel vessel of a Bremen shipping company.

The COLUMBUS was completed in 1923 and ran in 1924 from Bremerhaven to New York. The 32,354-ton passenger ship quickly gained an excellent reputation. The Columbus was used as a cruise ship in the North Atlantic. 

Source: PHILATELIE.DEUTSCHEPOST.DE

German - Stamps in honor of German rock musician Udo Lindenberg

Stamps in honor of German rock musician Udo Lindenberg 

German Post has issued a series of stamps in honor of the famous German musician Udo Lindenberg and his two songs "Andrea Doria" and "Special train to Pankow".

Udo Lindenberg was born in 1946 in Westphalia, Gronau. Lindenberg writes German rock music texts and in 1959 he assembles his first band.

In the first year of his international breakthrough with the single "All clear on the Andrea Doria" Lindenberg creates parallels to life on a sinking luxury liner. 

SS Andrea Doria was an ocean liner for the Italian Line, most famous for its sinking in 1956, when 46 people died. Named after the 16th-century Genoese  admiral Andrea Doria, the ship had a gross register tonnage of 29,100 and a capacity of about 1,200 passengers and 500 crew. For a country attempting to rebuild its economy and reputation after World War II, Andrea Doria was an icon of Italian national pride. Of all Italy's ships at the time, Andrea Doria was the largest, fastest and supposedly safest. Launched on 16 June 1951, the ship undertook its maiden voyage on 14 January 1953.

On 25 July 1956, approaching the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, bound for New York City, Andrea Doria collided with the east-bound MS Stockholm of the Swedish American Line in what became one of history's most infamous maritime disasters.