First Time for Everything

There's always a first time for EVERYTHING! This week I got to photograph the christening of a brand new Oil Tanker for Stena Bulk/Concordia Meritime. I have never done that before. I must say, it was a pretty cool affair. The ship had been built in Sweden and had already completed it's maiden voyage over here to Charleston. Once in dock, the crew cleaned it up like new. Then there was a beautiful ceremony, complete with dignitaries and Honor Guard, where the ship's "Grandmother" broke the ceremonial champagne bottle over the bow as thousands of red, white, and blue balloons were released into the sky. (I found out later that an environmentalist group called to complain about the balloons.) The lady that had been selected for the honor of Grandmother was the wife of Captain Douglas Uhles of the Hess Corporation. After the ceremony there was a wonderful luncheon at the famous Charleston Place Hotel. Of course there were a lot of big-wigs present...company CEO, captain of the ship, head of the Coast Guard, etc. Anyway, it was very exciting for me to be able to preserve this historic occasion.