ACT 6
Date1989
Object number00039803
NamePainting
MediumOil painting, canvas, wood
Dimensions14950 x 2000 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Maersk Australia Pty Ltd
DescriptionA framed painting by Ian Hansen depicting the container ship ACT 6, Blue Star's MV QUEENSLAND STAR 2 berthed and loaded. This was Ian Hansen's entry into the inaugural ACTA Maritime Art Award in 1985.HistoryACT 6 / QUEENSLAND STAR was built in 1972 and was "one of the second generation of container ships built for Associated Container Transportation Ltd., an amalgamation of Ellerman (City Line), Cunard (Port Line) and Blue Star Line. Originally mix-manned with a mix of officers from the three companies, this was found not terribly satisfactory and they eventually reverted to single company staffing." [Blue Star Line on the Web]
In 1991 ACT 6 was transferred to the Blue Star Line fleet and renamed QUEENSLAND STAR. It continued in service as one of the last four remaining vessels to carry the Blue Star livery, all be it as part of P&O Nedlloyd group.
ACT 6 was demolished in 2003.
Ian Hansen is one of Australia's foremost artists of maritime subjects. He was born in South Australia in 1948 and raised in Hervey Bay, Queensland where he found his love for ships and the sea and began painting at the age of eight.
Hansen served in the Royal Australian Navy for 12 years and the skills he learned there are translated in the technical accuracies of his maritime subjects. In 2000 Hansen was one of the official artists with the Royal Australian Navy in Timor with INTERFET (International Force East Timor).Significance"Our ports and harbours are no longer a part of our teeming inner city industrial scene. With the establishment of container terminals outside city limits we have lost a certain romantic aspect of sea-going life. It is this changing scene we want to help record for all times. We would like Australian artists to revive what was once a major subject for
their art, the Australian ports, harbours, ships and people."
Mr Christopher Cullen
Managing Director, ACTA Shipping
1985 ACTA Maritime Art Award
