An observant visitor to this page might ask why is the image of a Vehicle Transporter/Roll On Roll Off (RoRo) vessel being displayed in a Containership Sub Gallery, to which the answer is that Talabot started out in life as a containership. Another aspect of her history that I find fascinating is that she was built by Ocean Fleets (Blue Funnel) for a Consortium Called the Barber Blue Sea Consortium. When I was at sea in the 1960's, Blue Funnel (who I never worked for) operated what I considered to be some of the finest looking cargo ships that ever sailed under the Red Ensign. The 55033 Gross Ton Talabot was built in Japan as a Containership, sailing under the name of Barber Perseus from 1979 until 1988. I presume that around 1988, she was converted into a Vehicles Carrier sailing under the name of Talabot until she was scrapped in China in 2009. This image of Talabot shows her berthed in Southampton's Eastern Docks in November 2006. An Internet search using her IMO number (IMO 7724095) will reveal much information about her life at sea.