It was the end of an era for timber vessel the Ahrenshoop recently when it made its last visit to Britain after more than 20 years of carrying cargoes from the Nordic countries.

Bill Rees, managing director of Bill Rees & Co Ltd, captured the moment on camera during the ship’s last stop at the Port of Ipswich.

The 2,000m3 capacity vessel, which had been operated by International Ship Brokers and prior to that by Renk and Hessenmulle, has been sold and is now operating in the Caribbean.

The Ahrenshoop’s joint captains and owners, brothers Heiner and Dieter Voss, were a familiar sight on the ship, which delivered softwood cargoes to a host of companies over the years, including Bill Rees & Co and Montague L Meyer.

“They [the Voss brothers] were great to deal with,” said Mr Rees. “They never lost any cargo and we never had any damage. It’s the end of an era for the ship.”