I departed the M. E. Thompson Bridge Pier and headed off the island to do some exploring on neighboring St. Simons Island. Like Jekyll, St. Simons is also accessed via a causeway, in this case, the F. J. Torras Causeway in Brunswick. And like Jekyll, the causeway is the only road onto/off of the island.

I turned right at the end of the Jekyll Island Causeway and headed north over the Sidney Lanier Bridge. The view from the crest of the bridge is pretty spectacular, offering 360 degree views of everything in the immediate area. If it was possible to install a scenic overlook on a bridge, this would be one of the best !

Looking to my left at the crest of the Lanier Bridge, I spotted a huge cargo ship that had just departed the Colonel's Island Terminal at the Port of Brunswick. Maybe I could get to Sidney Lanier Park on the Brunswick side of the bridge in time to snap a few pics of the ship as it passed under the bridge. I pulled into the park and headed to the observation platform just in time.

As is the case with the old and new M. E. Thompson Bridges, there are two Sidney Lanier Bridges as well. The original Lanier Bridge was a vertical-lift design that opened in 1956. The current bridge was built along side the old bridge and opened in 2003. The northern end of the old bridge remains in place and serves as a fishing and wildlife viewing platform.

The southern end of the old bridge has been removed. That point is now the home of the Emerald Princess Casino ship.

I made it just in time to check out the MV Swallow Ace, a vehicle carrier built in 2007.

I pointed the camera and started shooting.

This is where my 35x optical zoom lens works best.

I was able to zoom in on various parts of the ship as it passed by.

From where I was standing, I was able to zoom in far enough to make out the shape of people in the ship's bridge.

Adding digital zoom on top of everything makes the picture unstable. But you get the idea.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

The ship was about to pass under the Lanier Bridge, and I had the best vantage point.

I had to look up the specs on this ship, which are pretty impressive.

It's 105 feet wide, (which is hard to see from this angle, but you get the idea).

More impressive is its 656-foot length !

Somewhere under the stacks seen in the photo above is a single diesel engine listed as a "2-stroke, single-acting, 8-cylinder," that has a "600 mm bore x 2,300 mm stroke."

Power output is somewhere north of 20,000 hp at 100 rpm, enough to move this ship through the water at 22.3 knots.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

I steadied the camera as the ship passed under the bridge.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace as it passes under the Sidney Lanier Bridge.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace as it passes under the Sidney Lanier Bridge.

Unlike the old vertical-lift bridge, the 185 feet of clearance under the bridge deck can accommodate very large cargo ships.

The MV Swallow Ace passing under the Sidney Lanier Bridge.

The ship was built in 2007 by the Minaminippon Shipbuilding Company in Japan.

Gross tonnage is listed as 58,685.

Combining the ship's gross tonnage with its dimensions means it can carry somewhere north of 6,000 automobiles.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

The ship is officially classified as a vehicle carrier registered in the Bahamas.

This type of vehicle carrier is called a "RO-RO," which stands for "Roll on, Roll off." RO-ROs are designed for wheeled cargo that can be "rolled," (as opposed to a ship that transports shipping containers which must be lifted on an off the ship via a crane). As such, the ship is fitted with ramps, one of which is visible in the photo above.

One of the ship's ramps is visible in the photo above.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

The photo above offers a better view of one of the ship's ramps.

Zooming in on the MV Swallow Ace.

I wanted to get some kind of perspective shot to try and illustrate just how huge this ship is. But there were no other vessels were in the area.

The only thing I could come up with was the small dock seen in the photo above that I saw off in the distance.

I'm not sure what this dock is for. I know there is a Georgia DNR office nearby. Maybe it's part of their property. Either way, it would have to do.

The ship was about to pass by the dock, and I was hoping to get a decent perspective shot. A standard-sized human being can be seen in the photo above.

The photos above and below are the best I was able to do.

But trust me, this ship was massive !

I turned my attention back to the Colonel's Island Terminal at the Port of Brunswick and spotted another ship.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen is a Scandinavian shipping company.

My 35x optical zoom is great, but it does have its limitations. But I believe this is the Tugela.

The Tugela is also a vehicle carrier and was built in 2011.

This ship is even larger than the Swallow Ace.

The Tugela is 751 feet long and 112 feet wide. Capacity is listed at 7,934 cars.