YASA FALCON (IMO 9597123) Table Bay, Cape Town
YASA FALCON IMO 9597123: Kamsarmax Bulk Carrier
Explore YASA FALCON (IMO 9597123), a 229 m Kamsarmax bulk carrier built in South Korea in 2012, and its role in global maritime trade.
Photographer's Note: YASA FALCON (IMO 9597123) was photographed by Vernon Chalmers in Table Bay, Cape Town. The image forms part of the Vernon Chalmers Photography Maritime Studies Project and is also published in the Shipspotting.com database.
Maritime photography study of YASA FALCON, IMO 9597123, documenting the 229-metre Kamsarmax bulk carrier and its distinctive hull, cargo-hold and superstructure configuration.
YASA FALCON (IMO 9597123)
At 229 metres in length and approximately 32.26 metres in beam, YASA FALCON has the substantial proportions characteristic of a modern Kamsarmax bulk carrier. Her summer deadweight is approximately 81,488 tonnes, while her gross tonnage is 44,557 GT. YASA Holding identifies the vessel specifically as a Kamsarmax and records her construction by SPP Shipbuilding Co. in South Korea in March 2012.
For the maritime observer and photographer, however, YASA FALCON is more than a set of dimensions. Her hull form, deck arrangement, cargo-handling infrastructure and sheer scale provide a visual expression of the industrial system that underpins global commodity transportation.
Vessel Specifications
- IMO Number: 9597123
- MMSI: 538004552
- Call Sign: V7XR5
- Deadweight (DWT): 81,488 metric tonnes
- Gross Tonnage (GT): 44,557
- Length Overall (LOA): 229 meters
- Beam (Width): 32.26 meters
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Vessel Identity and Principal Characteristics
YASA FALCON operates under the Marshall Islands flag and carries the international identifiers IMO 9597123, MMSI 538004552, and callsign V7XR5. Available vessel databases consistently identify her as a bulk carrier built in 2012.
The Kamsarmax Concept
The term Kamsarmax describes a class of bulk carrier developed around the dimensional constraints historically associated with the port of Kamsar in Guinea. The design evolved from the Panamax concept, but with a somewhat greater allowable length while remaining within the beam and draft constraints relevant to major bulk terminals.
The resulting vessel is exceptionally well suited to the transportation of dry bulk commodities. A ship such as YASA FALCON can carry tens of thousands of tonnes of cargo while maintaining dimensions compatible with a large number of international ports and terminals.
This is an important aspect of ship design: size is not simply about maximising cargo capacity. A commercial vessel must balance deadweight, draft, beam, length, fuel consumption, port accessibility, cargo-handling efficiency and navigational limitations. Kamsarmax therefore represents an optimisation between cargo capacity and operational flexibility.
YASA FALCON's dimensions illustrate this balance particularly clearly. At 229 metres long and approximately 32 metres wide, she presents an imposing profile without entering the much larger Capesize category.
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Construction and Engineering
YASA FALCON was constructed at SPP Shipbuilding's Sacheon shipyard in South Korea, with the vessel recorded as build number S5099. The shipyard and build information are independently corroborated by shipbuilding records and maritime photographic databases.
Her principal machinery is recorded by YASA Holding as an STX 6S60MCC main engine rated at approximately 10,170 horsepower, supported by three MAN STX auxiliary engines.
This machinery arrangement reflects the engineering priorities of a large ocean-going bulk carrier. The objective is not high speed in the manner of a passenger vessel or container liner. Instead, the propulsion system is designed to move a very large displacement efficiently over long distances.
The economics of bulk shipping are therefore closely connected to fuel efficiency and cargo capacity. Every voyage involves the relationship between the quantity of cargo carried, the distance travelled, fuel consumed, port costs and prevailing freight rates. The vessel is consequently part of a much larger economic calculation extending from commodity producer to final consumer.
Table Bay Maritime Environment Through Photography
Cargo and Commercial Function
A Kamsarmax bulk carrier is fundamentally a commodity transportation system.
Unlike a container ship, which transports individually packaged cargo units, a bulk carrier normally carries unpackaged dry commodities directly in large cargo holds. Depending on the commercial employment of the vessel, these commodities may include products such as coal, iron ore, grain, agricultural commodities or other bulk materials.
The enormous deadweight capacity of YASA FALCON — approximately 81,488 tonnes — illustrates the scale at which international bulk shipping operates.
Her cargo holds are therefore central to understanding the vessel visually. The long sequence of hatch covers dominating the weather deck is not merely a structural feature. It represents the interface between the ship and the commodity terminal ashore. During cargo operations, these openings provide access to the holds, allowing large quantities of bulk material to be loaded or discharged using terminal equipment.
The vessel consequently connects two very different environments: the industrial landscape of the port and the open-ocean transportation network.
A Global Trading Vessel
The operational history available for YASA FALCON demonstrates the international nature of her employment. Vessel-tracking records have associated the ship with ports and regions including Brazil, India, Singapore and southern African waters.
This geographical movement is characteristic of bulk shipping. The ship does not necessarily operate between a fixed pair of ports. Instead, her employment can change according to commodity flows, charter arrangements, seasonal demand and freight-market conditions.
Her recorded movements between South America, Asia, the Indian Ocean and southern Africa demonstrate how a single bulk carrier can participate in a global chain of commodity exchange.
In this sense, observing YASA FALCON from the shoreline provides only a small visual fragment of a much larger process. The vessel may appear to be simply passing Cape Town, entering harbour or waiting offshore, but operationally she belongs to a global maritime network extending thousands of nautical miles beyond the immediate scene.
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YASA FALCON and the Cape Town Maritime Landscape
YASA FALCON is particularly interesting from a Cape Town ship-spotting perspective because recent AIS information has associated the vessel with a voyage toward Cape Town. ShipFinder recorded her on 29 August 2026 in the southern Indian Ocean, approximately 229 metres long, with Cape Town entered as her destination.
A separate maritime-port data source has also listed YASA FALCON among vessels on approach to Cape Town.
This creates a useful photographic opportunity because a vessel of this scale can be studied from several perspectives: distant approach, beam-on profile, bow-on presentation, stern detail and, where accessible, port or anchorage activity.
For photography, the ship's length creates a particular challenge. A 229-metre vessel can easily exceed the visual field of a moderate telephoto composition when viewed from a relatively short distance. Conversely, a longer focal length can isolate structural features such as the bridge, accommodation block, cranes, hatch covers, bow flare and stern geometry.
YASA FALCON therefore offers a good subject for comparative ship photography, in which the photographer records not merely the vessel's identity but also the relationship between focal length, distance, atmospheric perspective and apparent scale.
Photographic Interpretation
From a photographic standpoint, YASA FALCON provides several strong visual characteristics.
The first is repetition. The sequence of cargo-hold hatch covers creates horizontal and geometric patterns along the main deck. These can become particularly effective when photographed obliquely rather than directly from the beam.
The second is scale. The bridge and accommodation block provide a human reference within an otherwise enormous industrial structure. Tugboats, harbour infrastructure, vehicles or people can similarly provide scale cues.
The third is form. The high bow, long parallel-sided hull, raised forecastle, deck machinery and aft accommodation block create a recognisable bulk-carrier silhouette. Even without reading the vessel's name, an experienced observer can often identify the broad vessel type from these structural characteristics.
The fourth is light. Low-angle morning or late-afternoon light can reveal hull curvature, deck relief and superstructure detail far more effectively than flat midday illumination. For observational photography, this can turn a technically straightforward ship record into a more expressive study of maritime engineering.
Identification Through IMO 9597123
For serious ship-spotting and photographic documentation, the IMO number is more important than the vessel's name alone.
Names can change during a ship's operational life, whereas the IMO number provides a permanent identity reference. YASA FALCON's IMO number, 9597123, therefore provides the most reliable link between a photograph and the vessel's documented identity.
This is particularly valuable for a photographic archive. A photograph captioned simply "YASA FALCON" identifies the ship by name, but adding IMO 9597123 makes the record significantly more robust for future research, cataloguing and cross-referencing.
For a developing maritime photography archive, a useful captioning convention would therefore be:
YASA FALCON — IMO 9597123 — Kamsarmax bulk carrier — 229 m LOA — built 2012.
Such metadata transforms a photograph from a transient image into a documented maritime observation.
Conclusion
YASA FALCON is a representative example of the modern Kamsarmax bulk carrier: large enough to transport approximately eighty-one thousand tonnes of dry cargo, yet dimensioned around the practical requirements of international bulk terminals. Built by SPP Shipbuilding in South Korea in 2012, she combines a 229-metre hull with a 32.26-metre beam and a conventional bulk-carrier configuration optimised for long-distance commodity transportation.
Her significance extends beyond her technical specifications. A ship such as YASA FALCON is a visible component of the global economy, connecting commodity-producing regions with industrial and consumer markets. Her movements between South America, Asia, the Indian Ocean and southern African waters illustrate the geographical reach of modern bulk shipping.
For the maritime photographer, however, the vessel offers another dimension. Her scale, geometry, repetitive deck structures and industrial character make her an excellent subject for observational ship photography. Recording the vessel by name, IMO number, vessel class and technical characteristics also introduces a valuable research dimension to the photographic process.
YASA FALCON can therefore be understood simultaneously as a ship, an engineering system, a commercial asset, a component of global trade and a photographic subject. It is precisely this combination that makes individual vessel studies worthwhile within a developing maritime photography practice.
Photographic Equipment
Camera: Canon EOS 6D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens
Photographic Genre: Maritime Photography / Ship Spotting
Post Processing: Adobe Lightroom Classic Version 15
Location: Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa
References
Gard. (2026). Yasa Falcon (IMO 9597123). Gard.
Maritime Optima. (2026). YASA FALCON — IMO 9597123. Maritime Optima.
ShipFinder. (2026). YASA FALCON — MMSI 538004552. ShipFinder.
Shipspotting. (2015). YASA FALCON — IMO 9597123. Shipspotting.
YASA Holding. (2026). Dry bulk fleet. YASA Holding.
