V.N.S. - Holland Africa Line - The Fontein Ships
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Reuben Goossens
Maritime
Historian, Cruise‘n’Ship Reviewer, Author & Maritime Lecturer
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having completed over 700 Classic Liners and Cargo-Passengers Ships features I
trust these will continue to provide classic ship enthusiasts the information
the are seeking, but above all a great deal of pleasure!

Above
we see the M.S. Jagersfontein (3) sailing at full speed ahead, bound for South Africa
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Page Two
Holland-Africa Line
VNS - Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaart Maatschappij
The
Visser Family Sails to Cape Town
on the
M.S. Jagersfontein in 1965

An excellent colour photograph of the M.S.
Jagersfontein
From Reuben
Goossens’ personal collection
Please
Note:
All Photographs on this page (except for those images marked otherwise) were
provided by Mr. Bob Visser and are Copyright ©. These images may not be copied,
be it for private use or any other media!
My wife, Tjik and I,
as well as my two daughters Cunera (6 years) and
Carmen (4 years) as well as son Roland (2 years) boarded the Holland
Africa Line ship, MS Jagersfontein in Amsterdam in the afternoon of December 17, 1965,
as we were heading for Cape Town South Africa.

The two ladies, with black coats & one
waving, on the front left, are out mothers
My wife’s brother is standing closest to
the ship in a grey coat

This is one of our Baggage Room labels, but was
accessible during the voyage
We were very lucky because we were upgraded to
a large First Class cabin, courtesy Mr. Ian Smith of Rhodesia. This gentleman had decided to declare unilateral independence in
his British Colony, shortly prior to our departure. This act is well
known as Smith's “UDI.”
This frightened many would be travellers and quite a few cancelled their
bookings, to our advantage of course!
I remember as the ship departed Amsterdam we slowly sailed through the North Sea Canal, and whilst we were having supper we reached the Ijmuiden Locks.
Then having gone through the locks we finally entered the North Sea being our
last contact with Holland, although by then we had already gone to bed and had
fallen asleep after a long and tiring day.

Bob Visser’s postcard of the M.S.
Jagersfontein obtained on the ship
Early the next morning we arrived in Southampton where a large contingent of Rhodesian civil servants and company
representatives boarded the ship. Apparently they had been expelled by the
British Government. However, later in the voyage they proved to be excellent
companions, for they prepared us admirably for our future life in Southern Africa.

A 1965 Sailing & Fare Schedule
Provided by: timetableimages.com
The next two days were rather miserable for
many on board, due to stormy seas on the Gulf of Biscay that caused most of the passengers to be rather seasick, something
that thankfully did not affect me or my boy. But the girls did suffer for day
or so, just like many others on board. However, once we reached the
trade-winds, life certainly became very pleasant indeed.

Our children from left to right: Cunera, Carmen and Roland during Boat/Life Drill
Apart from the
Rhodesians who I already mentioned before, we made friends with an employee of
the Holland Africa Line, being a Mr. George Wustefeld,
and his wife Leny and their three daughters who were
much the same age as our children. They had spent their 6 months “tropics”
leave in The Netherlands and were returning to the HAL offices in the Republic.
Another delightful person we met
was a Mr. Troostwijk (I am sure that was his name).
He was a retired trader from Amsterdam. Being somewhat elderly and had no company of the same age on
board, he frequently joined us, especially early in the morning when I and the
children were swimming. He would be waiting for the daily "newspaper"
to be published, for his main interest was the stock exchange page, and during
the voyage he taught me a little about investing, which proved to be helpful!
Our on board circle of friends was also mage
up of the ships doctor, and the wife of a Rhodesian farmer who was travelling
alone with her daughter, and these are the special people that I will always
remember from this voyage, even though I may not remember all their names.
In the evenings there was a variety of
entertainment, including races, which we as passengers partook and it was a lot
of fun and laughter. Dancing was always popular, as well just enjoying a drink
with your friends in the lounge or bar.

There were always games in the lounge at night,
and it was a lot of fun!
Whilst on board we
celebrated two festive occasions, Christmas and New Year and if you have never
enjoyed such occasions at sea you just have to go on a cruise to experience it,
it was a wonderful and such a festive experience!

Above and below: Our Christmas menu, containing
fellow passengers autographs



Little Cunera was not
overly impressed with Santa
Our next port of call was Las Palmas in the Canary Isles, where we went to town and visited a
museum, but our port stay there was not very long, thus soon it was back to the
ship.

Here am I enjoying our arrival at Las Palmas
From there we sailed south and on
the 27th.of
December, crossed the Equator when there was a great ceremony with King Neptune
and some of those who had never crossed it before received their punishment and
were covered with all sorts of slops. But it is a great time and everyone
enjoyed it greatly!

Its time for fun and frivolity at the Crossing
of the Equator ceremony

The children on board all enjoyed the fun
of the ceremony

This is part of the certificate presented to
myself, written in Dutch of course
Now we were in warmer waters we spent more and
more days our on deck enjoying the pool and playing various games. However, the
children simply loved the pool and in the morning it was their allocated time in
the pool. Most mornings Mr. Troostwijk would also
join us, as well as a group as other children.

The children enjoying the ocean views and are
about to have a swim

Myself and the children in the pool

This is Mr. Troostwijk
and our as well as some other children, poolside

A charming shot of Cunera
and Carmen out on deck
As we continued
hugging the African coast we soon passing close by Dakar, not seeing land again until entering Table Bay Cape Town on the
Sunday morning of January 2, 1966.
We were welcomed by the famous “Table Cloth” covering the top of Table Mountain and since then we never looked back and lived in this country.

Postcard of the M.S. Jagersfontein seen
arriving in Cape Town
From
Reuben Goossens’ personal collection
We certainly have a most pleasant
memory of our voyage on this fine ship and as a result, established a
very good relationship with the Holland Africa Line. After living in Cape Town for a couple of months, I was transferred to Durban and whenever a Fontein ship was in port, we would visit. The last
such encounter was with the Randfontein, probably in 1971 as I was transferred
in 1972 to Johannesburg. The Holland-Africa Line had by then been absorbed by the Royal Inter
Ocean Lines (RIL) and it was clear that passenger liners no longer could earn
their keep.
Bob Visser.
Johannesburg,
South
Africa.
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V.N.S. & Fontein
Ships Index:
Page One: The Fontein Trio of Ships history of the M.S. Klipfontein
trio of ships
Page Two: Visser Family Voyage to South
Africa
on the Jagersfontein in 1965.
Page Three: M.S. Randfontein
(2) of 1958
page.
Page Four: Fontein ships
Photo Page memorabilia and brochures, etc.
Also Read … V.N.S. Freighters from 4 to 12
passengers.
. SS Abbekerk a delightful V.N.S. 8,336-ton
passenger-cargo ships.
“Blue Water Liners sailing to the
distant shores.
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them die.”
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