Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Fish brewhouse in trans-Atlantic voyage

Charging across the pond at this very writing, aimed at the port of New York, are a pair of freighters carrying Flying Fish's new brewery equipment.

That's the brewhouse being loaded at the port for the nearly two-week trans-Atlantic voyage (all photos courtesy of Flying Fish).

Ludwigshafen Express, a German-flagged vessel, departed Hamburg, Germany, last Friday. It has passed through the English Channel, heading into the Celtic Sea, from whence it will make way toward the open waters of the North Atlantic.

Steaming along at 19.4 knots (22 mph), Ludwigshafen has an expected arrival of this Sunday.

The other freighter, Atlantic Compass, flying the flag of Sweden, recently departed Liverpool in the UK and is cruising through the Irish Sea at 16.1 knots (19 mph), en route to the North Atlantic, with an expected arrival in New York of a week from today.

You can track the vessels here and here.

In case it's lost on anyone, there's a coincidental Beatles connection here (if you don't mind dated references).

Liverpool is where John, Paul, George and Ringo were from and got their start at the Cavern Club; they sharpened their act gigging at clubs along Hamburg's famed Reeperbahn nightlife and red-light district.

Not a bad little musical tangent for shipping brewery equipment that is destined to go into a building in Somerdale where LP records used to be pressed.

Meanwhile, of course, in anticipation of the 50-barrel brewhouse's arrival, the concrete pad for the equipment has been poured.