Red Ensign gains fifth Wilhelmsen ship

The pure car and truck carrier `Topeka’ (IMO No: 9310109) was flagged to the Red Ensign on Saturday 12th August as part of the vessel’s naming ceremony – making it the fifth vessel in the Wilhelmsen Lines Car Carrier fleet to come under the UK Flag in recent months.

The ‘Topeka’ joins its sister ships ‘Toronto’, `Toledo’ and `Torrens’, along with the ‘Morning Concert’, which was flagged-in at the end of July.

The 61321GT ‘Topeka’, was constructed at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Japan, under Norwegian and DNV regulations. The pre-flagging survey and inspection was undertaken by a senior MCA Surveyor in Southampton where the crews’ competency and ability to work with the vessel’s life saving and safety equipment was tested.