The Blog is indebted to an industry friend for pointing out that Unigas formerly had a ship called the Lady Barbara, and a whole fleet of prettily named vessels like the Pretty Lady and the Happy Bride.
The convention of using feminine pronouns when referring to ships may be fading away in public usage, but it is noticeable that people in the chemical shipbroking business still say "she" when talking about their ships.
The history of this is supposed to be that sailors were considered to be "married to the sea" because of their love of the ocean. As a compliment to women, they named their ships after them. Even when ships were no longer given women's names, they were still referred to as "she" because of "a captain's love for his ship."
(Photos: Lady Barbara, Pretty Lady, Happy Bride: Unigas)
Why ships are called "she"..... Even the Herman Schulte?
Unigas also had a ship called Happy Boy ! We used that ship and Happy Girl for many years. Best regards.