Sunflower Daisetsu Retires from Oarai Route The new LNG-fueled Sunflower Kamui debuted on January 21 on the Sunflower route between Tomakomai Port in Ibaraki Prefecture and Tomakomai Port in Hokkaido. Meanwhile, the existing ferry “Sunflower Daisetsu” will cease regular service and leave the route in place of the “Kamui. The “Daisetsu” has long been in service on the late-night service, departing at 1:00 a.m., of the two round-trip passenger services on this route. However, this ship was built by a different company, not Sunflower, and has had a strange fate: the company went bankrupt the year after it entered service, and the operator changed several times. The Daisetsu, which has been in service for 24 years since its construction in 2001, is said to have some remains on board that remind us of its history. Let’s board the Daisetsu, which departs from Oarai Port in Ibaraki Prefecture late at night, and search for the remains during the 18-hour trip.
Is the inside of the Daisetsu ship “smelling like the early Heisei period” instead of the Showa period? The old name remains inside the ship. The Daisetsu Oarai Port departs at 1:45 am. We are glad that we don’t have to wait at the ferry terminal, rubbing our sleepy eyes, because we start boarding a little earlier, at around 10:00 p.m. As soon as you step onto the ship, you will notice rusted iron and peeling paint, which cannot be hidden by the fact that the ship has aged over its 24 years in service. In addition, the ship has a large smoking room space, few barrier-free facilities, sleeping berths separated only by curtains, and a heroic engine noise. …… The specifications of the ferry are like those of a “ferry from a generation ago. However, there seem to be many people who want to experience a ferry that has the scent of the early Heisei era, not the Showa era, and not only truck drivers but also tourists are seen, and the “Gosenin” (commemorative boarding certificate) is selling like hotcakes. Now, let’s look for traces of the ship before it became the San Juana in the free space marked “Hall” at the entrance. When this ship debuted in October 2001 as the Kyuketsu Ferry “New Reinborabu”, this place used to be the restaurant “Rainbow Hall”, and inside the space, the window where meals were served and dishes were collected remains blocked. The “hall” sign at the entrance is also extremely close to the right side of the glass window, suggesting that the “rainbow” was placed in the empty space on the left side. Also, the current operator, Mitsui O.S.K. Sunflower Ferry Co., Ltd. is covered throughout the ship with white tape, perhaps to hide the former company name, Mitsui O.S.K. Ferry Co. In some places, what looks like the logo of “Kyuketsu Ferry,” which has already disappeared as a company, shows through under the tape. …… There is no way to confirm this any more, though. The Daisetsu, which now operates off the Pacific Ocean between Honshu and Hokkaido, was in service on a route that ran the length of the Sea of Japan from Muroran, Hokkaido, to Naoetsu, Niigata, to Hakata, Fukuoka, when it was built as the Reinboraubu. Why did the Reinbo Labu become a large ship and transfer from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean?
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