# Marseilles port - Wind deflector



## tom e kelso (May 1, 2005)

As well as occasional previous calls, from 1978 to 1982, from October to April, my ship berthed at Mole Cap Janet in Marseilles port, every fortnight, during a time charter to the Israeli agricultural organisation AGREXCO. At that time, there was in position a substantial structure of steel atop the cargo shed/hanger. This consisted of a series of horizontal deflection plates similar to that seen at airport maintenance areas where aircraft jet engines are tested in situ. I understood that this was erected post- WW2,to reduce the effects of the Mistral when P&O mail ships of Himalaya-class, were berthing at this, their regular berth. While my own relevant ships (VOSGES and VENDEE) did not have the "windage" of such passenger vessels , it was quite obvious , when the Mistral was blowing fiercely from the north-west, that this superstructure sheltered the adjoining basin, much to the advantage of the berting operation.

I would be grateful if any reader can tell me whether this wind-deflecting structure is still in position, and better still, if anyone else has experience of the sheltering effect when berthing. A photograph of the structure would be most welcome, too.

I ask this question, as such a structure , on perhaps a smaller scale, might be the economical and practical answer to problems at a ferry port on the west coast of Scotland, where wind effect not infrequently interrupts the scheduled sailings, not least, on account of increasingly larger vessels *** high superstructure blocks being there, positioned

Tom


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