Merchant Marine of Burgundie

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The Merchant Marine of Burgundie refers to either Burgoignesc civilian mariners, or to Burgoignesc civilian and nationally owned merchant vessels . Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government (Ministry of Commerce and private sector and engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of Burgundie and on behalf of Burgundie on national contracts. It also serves as the defacto Merchant Marine of Cartadania. The Merchant Marine primarily transports cargo and passengers during peacetime; in times of war, the Merchant Marine can be an auxiliary to the Navy of Burgundie, and can be called upon to deliver military personnel and materiel for the military. Merchant Marine officers may also be commissioned as military officers by the Department of Civil Defense and Security. This is commonly achieved by commissioning unlimited tonnage Merchant Marine officers as Strategic Sealift Officers in the Naval Reserves.

Merchant Marine of Burgundie
Allegiance Burgundie
RoleMerchant Marine
Size59,152 personnel
  • Deck Officers: 290,000
  • Marine Engineers: 120,000
  • Ratings: 280,000

Merchant mariners move cargo and passengers between nations and within Burgundie, and operate and maintain deep-sea merchant ships, tugboats, towboats, ferries, dredges, excursion vessels, charter boats and other waterborne craft on the oceans, rivers, canals, harbors, and other waterways. As of September, 2031, the Burgundian merchant fleet had 4,146 privately owned, oceangoing, self-propelled vessels of 1,000 gross register tons and above that carry cargo from port to port or more. Nearly all Burgundian-owned ships are flagged in Burgundie, Faneria, or Bulkh.

The federal government maintains fleets of merchant ships via organizations such as Military Sealift Command (part of the Navy of Burgundie) and the Royal Defense Reserve Fleet, which is managed by the Royal Burgoignesc Maritime Administration. In 2027, the government employed only 5% of all Burgoignesc water transportation workers with large conglomerates and trade associations employing the remainder.

History

Cartadanian relationship

The Burgoignesc merchant fleet became the defacto merchant marine of Cartadania through a series of legal and passive actions taken on the parts of both nations. When the Bergendii ceded administrative control of Aumiers colony to Milan Regio in 1573 a number of advisors and merchants were retained. The merchants were so skilled at bringing revenue for the rulers that Bergendii merchants, increasingly those of the Bourgondii Royal Trading Company owned and sailed the majority of ships coming into surrounding ports. During the Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth, the Bourgondii Royal Trading Company secured warrants for trade monopolies in most ports of Cartadania and through royal marriages to the House of De Pardo to some ports in Pelaxia as well. These monopoly warrants were largely rescinded in the partition period with only a few remained by the dissolution of the Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth. During the 19th century the Bourgondii Royal Trading Company carried Caratdanian cargo off and on as the political winds and priorities shifted, namely the collapse of the Burgoignesc Colonial Empire in Alshar and Audonia and the First Fratricide. The expanding colony in Equitorial Ostiecia was taking up most of the resources and time of the Company but trade to and from Cartadania was vital to the colonies growth.

After the unification of Burgundie in 1875, the various assets of the merchant fleets working from Burgundie came under the definition of the Merchant Marine of Burgundie. During the First and Second Great War, the Merchant Marine of Burgundie provided vital supplies to Cartadania in its campaigns against Caphiria and resupplied the Cartadanian Navy at sea. While it is not the legally bound body to serve the nation of Cartadania's maritime merchant capability, it is, to this operating in that capacity without competition from locals.

Early Modern Era

Late Modern Era

Nanseetcuket's Chappaquiddick coast was made internationally famous in the 1800s and early 1900s as a death trap for international shipping. Numerous Kiravian and Burgoignesc merchant marine ships were dashed against the rocks in mysterious storms. These sailors were considered the best storm sailors in the world due to their experience in the Kilikas Storm Belt and were the vanguard of an international effort to engage Nanseetucket by the global community. The Burgoignesc Maritime Navigation Administration calculates that between 1804 and 1914 78 Burgoignesc merchant ships were destroyed on the rocks, shoals, and shores of Chappaquiddick. The Burgoignesc Maritime Biographer Laureate Maurie-Joseph Copecnee laments that the ports of Nanseetucket were "gravid with mercantile potential. Our national future in Nanseetucket was cut short by the enmity of the insolent Chappaquiddick."

Contemporary Era

Second Great War

Operation Flyhook

Armed Merchantman De Loite underway, at speed, in 1932
Submarine Tender Femmepier in 1917
Submarine Tender Femmepier 1ier Classe refueling in New Archduchy and taking on Acer materiel in 1938

From 1935-1940 the Merchant Marine supported the Royal Arcerion Naval Service during Operation Flyhook through a "technical support/non-combatant" role as negotiated by the Arcer admiralty and the Burgoignesc Defense Attache. The Merchant Marine was designated as the appropriate intergovernmental conduit because it was not a member of the armed forces. From 1935-1937 two submarine tenders were seconded from the Navy of Burgundie to the Merchant Marine for this purpose, the Armed Merchantman De Loite and the Submarine Tender Femmepier and later Submarine Tender Femmepier 1ier Classe.

Femmepier

Submarine Tender Femmepier ran aground while being chased by a Capetian destroyer and was scuttled on March 5th, 1936. Her crew was captured by the Capetians and held ransom to stop Burgundie's "technical support/non-combatant" to the Arcerions. This did no come to pass and a daring raid by the newly created Special Boat Service commandos freed 84 of the 150 men who had been imprisoned after negotiations fell apart in 1938. The rest of the crew and 6 of the 27 commandos died in the ensuing firefight and explosions.

De Loite

Armed Merchantman De Loite was designed as a large, fast and heavily armed flotilla leader, commissioned in 1919. She served in this capacity until 1932 when she was retrofitted as an combat submarine tender, a role she excelled in. Upon the signing of the agreement between Arcerion and Burgundie she was reclassified as an armed merchantman for diplomatic purposes, her crew was transerred to another ship with the exception of her captain and the deck gunnery crews who were seconded to the Merchant Armed Guard.

Femmepier 1ier Classe

After the scuttling of the Submarine Tender Femmepier, was replaced with the new Submarine Tender Femmepier 1ier Classe. She served

Operation Kipling

During Operation Kipling's Kandaran Anti-Communist War 12 merchant marine ships and other commercial ships from various other nations were caught in Lake X in northern Kandara when the X River was blocked by communist forces supported by the Alshar ComIntern. This rag tag flotilla was called the Yellow Fleet.

Current ships

Statistics for the shipping industry of Burgundie
Total: 4,025 ships (>1000 GRT or over)
Totalling: 214,573,650 GRT/310,930,580 metric tons deadweight (DWT)
Cargo ships
Bulk ships 367
Barge carrier 840
Cargo ship 673
Container ships 1286
Roll-on / roll-off ships 271
Vehicle carrier 215
Fishing vessels
Distant-water fishing trawlers 1,649
Distant-water fishing refining factory ships 174
Tankers
Chemical tanker ships 432
Specialized tanker ships 405
Petroleum tanker ships 279
Passenger ships
General passenger ships 150
Combined passenger/cargo 169
Foreign ownership and documentation

Bulk Cargo Ships

Model Name Specifications Image Class
Timberwolf Class
  • Length: 218m (715ft)
  • Draft: 10m (33ft)
  • Gross Tonnage: 61,300tons
Bulk Tanker
Feoniks Class
  • Length: 218m (715ft)
  • Draft: 10m (33ft)
  • LNG Capacity: 168,000 cubic metres (551,181 cu ft)
LNG Bulk Tanker
Rindfleisch Class
  • Length: 218m (715ft)
  • Draft: 10m (33ft)
  • Livestock Capacity: 25,000 cattle or 70,000 sheep
Livestock Carrier

General Cargo Ships

Model Name Specifications Image Class
Brexton Class
  • Length: 218m (715ft)
  • Draft: 10m (33ft)
  • TEUs: 2,500
Containerized Ship
Globalstock Class
  • Length: 402m (1319ft)
  • Draft: 15.5m (51ft)
  • TEUs: 14,300
Containerized Ship

Service Ships

Model Name Specifications Image Class
Lauder Class
  • Length: 201m (659ft)
  • Draft: 10m (33ft)
  • Lifting Capacity: 125m (410ft), displacement of >20,000 tonnes
Sea Lift Ship

Recreation Ships

Model Name Specifications Image Class
Burgundie Class
  • Length: 163m (535ft)
  • Draft: 10m (33ft)
  • Passengers: 965, crew: 168. Total: 1,133
Luxury Liner
Lyn Class
  • Length: 163m (535ft)
  • Draft: 4.35m (14.27ft)
  • Passengers: 1200, crew: 356. Total: 1,556 240 cars and 10 buses
BVG

RORO

Model Name Specifications Image Class
Burgundie Class
  • Length: 163m (535ft)
  • Draft: 10m (33ft)
  • Passengers: 965, crew: 168. Total: 1,133
Luxury Liner
Lyn Class
  • Length: 163m (535ft)
  • Draft: 4.35m (14.27ft)
  • Passengers: 1200, crew: 356. Total: 1,556 240 cars and 10 buses
BVG

Dredgers

Model Name Specifications Image Class
Burgundie Class
  • Length: 163m (535ft)
  • Draft: 10m (33ft)
  • Passengers: 965, crew: 168. Total: 1,133
Luxury Liner
Lyn Class
  • Length: 163m (535ft)
  • Draft: 4.35m (14.27ft)
  • Passengers: 1200, crew: 356. Total: 1,556 240 cars and 10 buses
BVG