The Netherland issued in 2012 a set of 10 stamps for the 60th anniversary of Madurodam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurodam
Three stamps of this set which are made after real photo’s of the objects are interesting for the shipstamp collector.
The VOC stamp shows us the replica of the VOC ship AMSTERDAM.
The port of Rotterdam with a variety of ships, not one so far identified.
The other stamp is the dredger BARENT ZANEN seen rainbowing at the 2e Maasvlakte at Rotterdam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbowing http://www.isaris.nl/ppm/dredging/index ... bWvAmdzjbA

Built as a trailing suction hopper dredger (SHD) under yard No 1171 by the yard of IHC Smit at Kinderdijk for the Hollands Aannemersbedrijf Zanen Verstoep B.V. in The Hague, Netherlands.
28 August 1984 launched as the BARENT ZANEN.
Tonnage 9,773 grt, 2,932 nrt,14,335 dwt, dim. 133.58 x 23.13 x 10.00m. length bpp. 122.86m, draught maximum 7.95m.
Powered by two 9-cyl Stork Werkspoor diesel engines, 13,790 hp (10,150 kW), twin shafts, speed 15 knots.
Fuel capacity 1,285m³
Hopper capacity 8,116 m.
Maximum dredging depth 49 m.
08 January 1985 in service.

1989 Transferred to Zanen Verstoep NV, The Hague, not renamed.
1992 Transferred to Boskalis Westminster Baggeren NV, The Hague after a merger with Zanen Verstoep.
1995 Transferred to Baggermaatschappij Boskalis BV, The Hague.
2008 Under Cyprus flag and registry with homeport Limassol.

2013 In service, same name and owner and IMO No 8315504.

Netherland 2012 sg?, scott?

Source: Bureau Veritas. Scheepvaart 99 by G.J. de Boer. http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz.
Various web-sites.

By the issues of 2013 the French Post gives: In March 2013 the Urban Community of Bordeaux, will inaugurated a new vertical lift bridge the Jacques Chaban-Delmas.
The bridge will connect two Bordeaux districts across the River Garonne; the Bacalan district on the left bank and the La Bastide district on the right bank of the river.
The bridge is designed by architect Thomas Lavigne and is a technical feat as it is one of the largest bridges in Europe, with a length of 433 metres and a height of 77 metres, her middle span can be lifted in just eleven minutes.
From Wikipedia: The Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas is a vertical-lift bridge over the Garonne in Bordeaux, France. It was inaugurated on 16 March 2013 by President François Hollande and Alain Juppé, mayor of Bordeaux. Its main span is 110 m (361 ft) long. As of 2013, it is the longest vertical-lift bridge in Europe. It is named in honour of Jacques Chaban-Delmas, a former Prime Minister of France and a former mayor of Bordeaux.

The larger ship shown on the French stamp issued in 2013 is the BELEM built as a three-mast barque under yard No 430 by S.A. des Ancien Chantiers Dubigeon Shipyard at Nantes-Chantenay for Denis Crovan & Comp., Nantes.
10 June 1896 launched as the BELEM (Bethlehem), named after the Brazilian port Belem.
Tonnage 546 grt, dim.58 x 8.8 x 3.5m. (draught) Length bpp. 51.2m.
This type of ship was called in France an “antillais”.
30 July 1896 delivered to owners.

31July 1896 sailed on her maiden voyage from Saint-Nazaire under command of Captain Lemerle and a crew of 12 men in ballast to Montevideo before she headed to Brazil. Mostly in Brazil she loaded cocoa beans for the cocoa factory of Para at Paris.
On her twelfth outward voyage in 1902 she sailed loaded with maize to Martinique in the French West Indies, due to lack of space at Saint-Pierre she was diverted to Havre du Robert on the other side of the island.
Sunday 08 May 1902 Mount Pelée erupted, destroying Saint-Pierre and the ships in port and on the anchorage, killing at least 20,000 people including the crews of the destroyed ships.
The BELEM on the other side of the island escaped without any damage.
1906 Sold to Demange Fréres, who used her in the service between France and Cayenne.
When Féres wound up his business she was sold and came under the flag of H. Fleuriot & Co. (Société des Armateurs Coloniauxs),
Altogether she made 33 voyages across the Atlantic, but steamships took over the trade, and she was lucky that she not was scrapped.
11 February 1914 sold to the Duke of Westminster for £3,000 other source give £1,500 with the plan to convert her in a yacht. The conversion took place in the U.K. during World War I.
Her deck superstructure enlarged. The iron bulwark on the poop was replaced by a wooden banister.
Two Bollinder auxiliary engines built in each 250 hp. and fitted out with electric light.
After the war she was used as a yacht by the Duke of Westminster only for four years.
September 1921 sold to the Irish brewer Sir Ernest Guinness and renamed in FANTOME II.
Under his ownership she made an around the world cruise and visited the Arctic waters and the Mediterranean.
During World War II laid up at the Island of Wight.
When Sir Ernest Guinness died in 1949 the yacht was already for a number of years moored in Seattle, Washington, and she was inherited by his wife.
1951 She was sold to Centro Marinaro des Istituto “Scilla” of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, and she was renamed GIORGIO CINI.
Re-rigged as a barkentine and used as a school-ship with home port Venice, Isola di S. Georgio Maggiore.
Accommodation for 60 boys between the ages of 12 – 15 years.
Between 1965 till 1965 she made training voyages in the Mediterranean.
Thereafter used as stationary school ship at San-Giorgio Maggiore, she was considered to old for sailing training voyages.
1972 Was she donated to the Italian Carabinieris who would restore her, and she was moved to Cantieri Navali e pharmacy Meccaniche di Venezia (CNOMV).
Her old Bollinder engines were replaced by two 300 hp each Fiat diesel engines.
Her rigging was restored into a barque rig, and her wooden masts were replaced by steel masts.
1976 The carabinieris were running out of cash and could not more pay the invoices of the shipyard and the ship became the property of the yard.
27 January 1979 she was sold by the yard for 4.5 million francs to the French bank Union Nationale des Caisses d’Epargnes de France. Renamed again in BELEM with homeport Nantes.
15 August 1979 she left the yard and under tow went to Toulon, afterwards towed to Brest
17 September 1979 arrived at Brest where some restoration work was carried out.
08 September 1981the BELEM was then towed upstream the River Seine and moored at the feet of the Eiffel Tower at Quai de Suffren to service as a floating attraction.
She stayed in Paris for four years in which she was visited by almost a half-million of people.
Then was she given in the hands of a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire and mostly by the work of volunteers and the cost of 18,000,000 Fr she was restored to her former glory.

Her first voyage after completing restoration was across the Atlantic after her last crossing 72 years ago for the Celebration of Centenary of the Liberty statue in New York in July 1986.
From 1987 was she used as a training ship, managed by Foundation to the Société Morbihanaise and Nantaise de Navigation, and owned by Fondation BELEM, Paris.
Homeport Nantes.
Crew five officers, 11 sailors and 48 cadets.

2013 Still in service and you can see her in many Tall Ships Races.

France 1999 1Fr sg?, scott2736f and 2013 0.58 Euro sg?, scott?

From my Russian contact I got a few images more on the BELEM.

Guinea 2009 5000fg sg?, scott?, in margin of stamp.
Guinea 2009 29000 fg sg?, scott? in margin of stamp on the right.
And two photo’s of the ship.


http://3mats.net/belems-history/1896-19 ... nings.html Sail Training and Cadet Ships by Underhill. De Laatste Grote Zeilschepen, Blauwe Wimpel

Built as an oceanographic research vessel by the BOEL yard in Temse, Belgium for the Royal Belgium Navy.
Launched as the ZÉNOBE GRAMME (A 958).
Displacement 136 ton, dim. 28.15 x 6.85 x 2.80m. (draught)
One 6-cyl. auxiliary diesel engine 230 hp, speed under engine, 8 knots.
Bermuda ketch rigged, sail area 700m²
1961 Delivered to the Belgium Navy.

The Sail Training Ship Zénobe Gramme was originally designed as an
oceanographic research vessel by the naval architect Van Dijck and was built in
1961 at the former Boel shipyards in Temse, Belgium. She is named after the
scientist Zénobe Gramme, the inventor of the dynamo (1869). She was used as
a research vessel until 1970, since then she has exclusively been used as a
sail training and public relations vessel.
BNS Zénobe Gramme, a 29 m (92 ft) Bermuda Ketch, is owned and operated by
the Belgian Navy.
The ship has been adopted by the Bruxelles Royal Yacht Club. Her home port is
the Belgian Naval base in Zeebrugge. The crew consists of 1 Officer, 6
crewmembers and 10 trainees.
She participated in The Tall Ships Races for the first time in 1972 has been a
regular participant ever since. She won the Cutty Sark Trophy in 1976 and the
Hans Reith Memorial Trophy and the Sail Training International Ince Trophy in
2003. She has covered 300.000 Nautical miles (557.000 km) since 1961 till September 2008.
Total of sailing hours since commissioned, 30,061 hours till September 2008.

Belgium 2012 sg?, scott?

Source: http://www.yachtweb.be/yachting/zenobegramme.pdf. Belgium Navy web-site.

Built as a tug/supply vessel under yard No 208 by Chantiers de l’Atlantico yard in Santander for Campina-Hispano-Americano de Offshore S.A., Santander, Spain.
Launched as the SOMIEDO.
Tonnage 599 grt, 791 dwt, dim. 41.2 x 11.6 x 5.08m., draught 6.10m.
Powered by two 16-cyl. AESA/Sulzer diesel engines, 7,744 hp, twin shafts, speed 13.5 knots.
1978 Completed.

1981 Sold to the Spanish Navy.
30 July 1981 commissioned and renamed LAS PALMAS (A-52).
Under navy command got a crew of 36.
Used by the navy as a rescue and maritime patrol vessel for pollution of the Spanish coastal waters.
1988 Was she converted to an Antarctic research vessel, was ice strengthened, and fitted out with a modern satellite communication system.
Fitted on deck three containers one used as a reefer store.
Accommodation for 36 crew and 20 scientists.
She was the first Spanish ship that participated in scientific missions in Antarctica.

1989 She rescued the crew of the Argentinean ARA BAHIA PARAISO (B-1) which went aground in the Bismarck Strait, Antarctic on 28 January 1989.
1999 Underwent modification work to comply with the environmental protection as given in the Antarctic Treaty.
27 November 2006 the Russian passengership LYOBOV ORLOVA ran aground on Deception Island, she was towed off by the LAS PALMAS, after which the LYOBOV ORLOVO under her own steam proceeded to Ushuaia.
Every year during the Southern summer she proceeds to the Antarctic waters for the transport of scientific and technical personnel from Argentina and Chile to the two Spanish Antarctic bases.
2013 In service.

Spain 1991 55p sg3139, scott2666.

Source: Marine News. Log Book. Watercraft Philately

Built as a V/STOL carrier by Bazan, El Ferrol, Spain for the Royal Thais Navy.
27 March 1992 ordered.
12 July 1994 laid down.
20 January 1996 launched as the HTMS CHAKRI NARUEBET, named in honour of the Chakri Dynasty.
Displacement 10,000 ton standard, 11,486 tons full load. Dim. 182.65 x 22.5 x 6.12m. (draught) Length bpp. 164.1m.
Powered by two GE LM2500 gas turbines, 44,240 shp. and two Bazan-MTU 16V1163 TB83 diesel engines 11,780 shp, twin shafts, speed 25.5 knots.
Range by a speed of 12 knots, 10,000 mile.
Armament: 2 – 0.5 inch MG, 3 – sextuple Sadral launchers for Mistral surface-to-air missiles.
Aircraft carried when built 6 AV-8S Matadors, 4 -6-70B Seahawk helicopters and up to 14 additional helicopters when required.
Crew 457, 146 aircrew and up to 675 soldiers.
27 March 1997 commissioned.

HTMS CHAKRI NARUEBET, meaning "In honour of the Chakri Dynasty") is the flagship of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN), and Thailand's first and only aircraft carrier. Based on the Spanish Navy’s PRINCIPE DE ASTURIAS design and constructed by Spanish shipbuilder Bazán, CHAKRI NARUEBET was ordered in 1992, launched in 1996, and commissioned into the RTN in 1997.
The aircraft carrier is designed to operate an air group of V/STOL fighter aircraft and helicopters, and is fitted with a ski-jump. Initial intentions were to operate a mixed air group of Matador V/STOL aircraft and S-70B Seahawk helicopters. However, by 1999, only one Matador was operational, and the entire V/STOL fleet was removed from service in 2006. Although CHAKRI NARUEBET was intended for patrols and force projection in Thai waters, a lack of funding brought on by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis means that the carrier has spent much of her career docked at the Sattahip naval base.
CHAKRI NARUEBET has been deployed on several disaster relief operations, including in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and in response to separate flooding incidents in late 2010 and early 2011. Outside of disaster relief, the carrier's few other departures from port are for a single training day per month, and transportation of the Royal Family of Thailand, leading to claims by some naval commentators that the ship is merely an oversized royal yacht.
When Typhoon Gay hit Thailand in 1989, the Royal Thai Navy, as the main unit responsible for search and rescue missions, found that its ships and aircraft were unable to withstand the rough weather at sea. Moreover, the Royal Thai Navy needed a new, high-technology ship to modernize its fleet. The original plan was to acquire a 7,800 ton vessel from Bremer Vulcan, but the Thai government cancelled the contract on 22 July 1991. A new contract for a larger warship to be constructed at Bazán's shipyard in Ferrol, Spain, and was signed by the Thai and Spanish governments on 27 March 1992.The proposed vessel was based on the design of the Spanish Navy aircraft carrier PRINCIPE DE ASTURIAS, which in turn was based on the United States Navy's Sea Control Ship concept. Some defence industry websites refer to the ship as an "Offshore Patrol Helicopter Carrier".
CHAKRI NARUEBET is the smallest aircraft carrier in operation in the world.
CHAKRI NARUEBET is fitted with two 0.5-inch machine guns, and three Matra Sadral sextuple surface-to-air missile launchers firing Mistral missiles. The missile launchers were installed in 2001. The vessel is also fitted for but not with an 8-cell Mark 41 Vertical launch system for Sea Sparrow missiles, and four Phalanx close-in weapon systems.
The carrier was designed to operate an air group of up to six AV-8S Matador V/STOL aircraft, plus four to six S-70B Seahawk helicopters. CHAKRI NARUEBET is also capable of carrying up to fourteen additional helicopters; a mix of Sikorsky Sea King, Sikorsky S-76, and CH-47 Chinook. There is only enough hangar space for ten aircraft.
The Matador is a first generation export version of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, acquired secondhand from the Spanish Navy in 1997. The nine Spanish aircraft (seven standard version plus two TAV-8S trainer aircraft) were refurbished by Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA firm before delivery. By 1999, only one aircraft was operational, and the RTN was looking for other first-generation Harriers to cannibalize for spares. In 2003, the navy attempted to acquire several second-generation, ex-Royal Navy Sea Harriers FA2 aircraft from British Aerospace, but the deal did not go ahead. The inoperative Matadors were finally eliminated from service lists in 2006. Thailand was the last remaining government using first generation Harrier airframes.
The flight deck measures 174.6 by 27.5 meters (573 by 90 ft). A 12° ski-jump assists V/STOL aircraft to take off. There are two aircraft lifts, each capable of lifting 20 tons.
She arrived in Thai waters at the start of August 1997, and formally entered service on 10 August.
CHAKR NARUEBET cost US$336 million to build.
CHAKRI NARUEBET is the first aircraft carrier to be operated by a Southeast Asian nation She is assigned to the Third Naval Area Command, and her intended duties include operational support of the RTN's amphibious warfare forces, patrols and force projection around Thailand's coastline and economic exclusion zone, disaster relief and humanitarian missions, and search-and-rescue operations. However, at the time the carrier entered service, the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis prevented the necessary funding to operate the ship from being available. Consequently, CHAKRI NARUEBET is usually only operational for a single day per month for training, with the rest of the time spent alongside as a "part-time tourist attraction”. The ship rarely leaves the proximity of the Sattahip naval base, and when she does, it is usually to transport and host the Royal Family of Thailand. Naval commentators consider CHAKRI NARUEBET to be less an aircraft carrier and more the world's most expensive royal yacht, while the Thai media have nicknamed the ship "Thai-tanic", and consider her to be a white elephant.
Between 4 and 7 November 1997, CHAKRI NARUEBET participated in disaster relief operations following the passage of Tropical Storm Linda across the Gulf of Thailand and the Kra Isthmus. The carrier's main task was to search for and assist any fishing vessels affected by the storm.
Flooding in the Songkhla Province resulted in the carrier's mobilization in late November 2000. CHAKRI NARUEBET was anchored at an island marina off Songkhla, and used as a base for helicopters and small boats transporting food, supplies, and wounded.
In January 2003, anti-Thai riots were sparked in Phnom Penh by incorrect news reports of a claim by a Thai actress that the Angkor Wat temple complex belonged to Thailand, not Cambodia. CHAKRI NARUEBET was sent to help with any evacuation of Thai citizens from Cambodia.
Following an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean, tsunamis struck multiple regions around the Indian Ocean, including the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand. The personnel of CHAKRI NARUEBET were part of a 760-strong response by the Thai military to the disaster. This task force was involved in search-and-rescue around Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands, treatment of wounded and handling of dead, and repair work to schools and government facilities.
During the August 2005 filming of Rescue Dawn, a dramatized biographical film of US Navy pilot Dieter Dengler and his capture during the Vietnam War, the flight deck of CHAKRI NARUEBET was used to represent the carrier USS RANGER.
In November 2010, the ship was involved in flood relief operations following the 2010 Thai floods; anchored off Songkhla Province, relief supplies and food were airlifted to people in the region, while hospital patients were evacuated by the ship's helicopters. CHAKRI NARUEBET was...

Term frequently describes a very narrow single-outrigger canoe of western and southern Sri Lanka that engages in several types of fishing, going as far as 40km from shore. Dugout base to which a vertical or tumble home washstrake, ca. 38cm deep, is sewn to each side; replaced by fiberglass hulls. Washstrake extends beyond the dugout and continues the raking line of the ends for ca. 61cm; closed at the ends; bow slightly fuller than the stern; gunwales beaded with shells. Since the opening at the top is only 27-38cm wide, the paddlers may sit on a bamboo platform outboard with just one leg inside the boat. Strengthened by stout battens toward the ends and by rods that serve as thwarts and as tacks for the sail. Two down-curving, flexible booms connect directly with the cigar-shaped float, which is about half the length of the boat; one boom set toward the bow, the other roughly amidships and on the outer end, a raised piece serves as a foothold for 1-2 men who may ride the boom as ballast. Also has 2-3 leeboards. Waterproofed with a black gum; protective coating of coconut oil applied weekly. Steered by foot with a heavy oar that may pass through a hole in the gunwale. Sets a square sail to a single mast stepped amidships or a rectangular sail supported at the top corners by 2 light masts; one forward of the sail, the other aft; one mast fitted into a thick ring of coir while the other steps into a wooden shoe. The outrigger remains on the same side and the V-mast is twisted around, the backstay shifted, and the sail moved to the other side of the mast when sailing in the opposite direction. Sails usually tanned. Rowed when wind fails. Crew of 4-8. Reported lengths 4.6-5.9m
Benin 1999;135f;SG?
Source : A Dictionary of the world’s Watercraft from Aak to Zumbra.

Iraq issued a stamp with a picture of the ancient afloat rafts. Quffa.Iraq. In front of stamp image round basket boat,other name “quffa”.This boat still seen occasionally on upper parts of the Tigris and Euphrates. The craft has had at least a 2,500-year history. An all-purpose boat for carrying produce, merchandise,minerals, passengers, and livestock, and for use ferryboat, lighter, or tender. Formed by concentric of interwoven layers of straw and palm fronds bound with palm-fiber rope; strengthened by curved, closely spaced ribs of split withes sewn to the walls. Large boats coated with hot bitumen outside and on the inside to level the floor; to ward off the "evil eye," cowrie shells and blue beads may be pressed in before the bitumen hardens; small boats not coated. Originally leather-covered. Bottom nearly flat; tumble home to sides; stout, cylindrical gunwale; short, wooden bars spaced along the inside on which the paddler may kneel. Paddled in deep water, stroking to left and right; poled in shallow water; going downstream, straw bumpers may be placed at the "bow," and a stone may be dragged behind to keep its head-ing. Crew of 1-2. The large class (the hessan) is 4.9-5.5m in diameter and has a capacity of 12-16t; the medium size ranges between 2.1-4.6m in diameter; the smallest (the qishir), used mainly for fishing, is 0.91-1.8m in diameter and 0.76m deep.
Chalabiya.Iraq.S. In middle of stamp image reed canoe,other name-“chalabiya”.This boat of the Marsh Arabs. Con¬structed of long bundles lashed separately and then together to form the flattened bottom. Sides created by reeds bent U-shaped, reinforced by willow wands. Upper half of the sides "planked up" inside with long bundles. Ends sharp; several stout thwarts fixed in with softened bitumen. Exterior coated with succes¬sive layers of bitumen. Last about a year. Length ca. 3.1m, beam 0.76m. Note also chalabiya.
It is cigar-shaped reed raft that is poled or paddled in the marshes of the lower Tigris River.Used mainly for hunting and fishing by 1-2 men. Reported lengths 2.44-3m; a larger type is called an 'abadije.

Kelek.Iraq
Behind of stamp image raft,other name-“kelek”.
Square or rectangular raft of inflated goat, and sometimes camel, skins. Found mainly on the Tigris River,but also on the Euphrates. In use for at least,2700 years, carrying produce, firewood, grain, pottery,wool and people. Also used in eastern Turkey,sometimes to transport military personnel and equipment. Range from 1-family rafts of 4-6 skins to larges rafts of as many as 1,600 skins that plied the Tigris between Mosul and Baghdad. Usually dismantled upon completing a trip, the poplar framework sold for lumber or firewood, and the skins deflated, retanned, and transported back upstream donkeys might be carried on board to serve as transportation home. Skins lashed to a poplar pole platform or layers of crossed branches on top of which are placed straw mats or a wooden floor. A hut may be constructed for the crew or when carrying special passengers. Skins positioned so they can be re-inflated en route by means of a reed pipe. In hot weather, the skins must be constantly splashed with water to keep them from bursting. Steered with long sweeps. Oars of split willow.Crew of 2-4. Average 3.6-4.6m long, 4.4-4,9 wide;one with 200 skins would be ca. 9m by 6m.

Iraq 2002;150dinar;SG?
Source : A Dictionary of the world’s Watercraft from Aak to Zumbra.