The Winds of Change blow Over the Sea...

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I’m still taking you on a tour of Rotterdam via my archive photos taken last summer.

This post completes our short visit to the Rotterdam Maritime Museum… Yesterday I focused on artworks and a little of how ships looked inside, but today’s photos are more about the evolution and revolution of style and technology that has taken place, especially over the last one hundred years.

Long gone are the days when almost everything on board was made of wood, live animals were kept on deck as a food source for long voyages and cases were winched on board with ropes.

Electricity makes visibility, navigation and living on board a comparative luxury, safety features have been introduced and more fundamental changes like the massive size of container ships today and the speed at which they can travel the oceans would make any time travelling sea-farer of old, quake in his boots at the sight.

Looking at several photos in particular,  it’s clear that these days sailors are highly unlikely to have a stone carving on board to bring them good luck and save their souls whilst at sea, and luckily their clothing choices are vastly more suited to the conditions they live and work in at sea today too. Present day seamanship is vastly different to that of a century ago, it might have less “character” but it’s certainly safer.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)