A long time ago as a child I started collecting postcards of ships. However, gradually it has become more difficult to find new postcards. Only maritime museums and specialized maritime bookshops then sold them. During this time I had built up my own collection of slides of ships and the idea came up to publish the best of these as postcards. After a few months of preparation I then started "P.Oostcards" to publish my own postcards. In cooperation with a quality printer in Gouda the first batch was produced in June 2000 and a second batch in December 2000.

The first and second series consisted of 208 postcards of cruiseships, containerships, sailing vessels, freighters in many types and forms, tugs, warships and auxiliaries. In 2003 the third batch of 72 postcards has been published. After a number of requests I have given the postcards an identification. It consists of a letter noting the ship type and a number, which denotes the batch and the number in that batch. The identification numbers of the first and second batches have been combined. Meanwhile, in 2004, a new batch has been published, identified by the number 3. These postcards have a glossy finish. From October 1st 2004 the latest batch (identifiable by the number 4) is available. As an exception a postcard of a moored cruiseship (the Salamis Glory) has been included. Another novelty is the inclusion of a New Year's Card of the Oosterdam for a special price: 20 postcards for 10 €. Unfortunately the text on this postcard is only available in Dutch. From December 1st 2005 a new series is available of cruiseships, ferries, containership and a brandnew Dutch warship.

Apart from the identification code and a picture of the postcard data of the ships (name, shipping company, building year and last year in service and data on the picture) have been provided on the website. Technical data of the ships are printed on the postcards. These data have been gleaned from various Lloyd's Register of Ships and "Ocean ships" of David Hornsby. For information on ships in the later batches, websites have also been consulted, especially the one of the World Ship Society Zeeland Branch WSSZB, which is very useful. Websites of the shipping companies, also contain a lot of information. The big cruise lines and the container lines almost all have websites. If I still needed some data, an e-mail to the shipping company provided the final answer.

From January 2003 Philip Cone of Ramsey Postcards, Main Road, Ramsey, Essex CO12 5EY, Great Britain and I cooperate. This means that Philip will sell my postcards in Great Britain and I will sell his in the Netherlands and to collectors who order postcards through the website. In this way the high costs of international banking can partly be overcome. Furthermore we will coöperate in the edition of postcards, which means that we will not produce postcards of the same ship. A separate page of Ramsey Postcards has been added. They can be identified by the serial number of publication. Another addition in 2003 is a page of Doubles of postcards which I have acquired through purchase or exchange. Some of these may be quite old and other ones are of the latest ships. The price of these postcards is also € 0,80 with a few exceptions which are clearly marked.

My friend Ralph Bigrigg has a good number of Lloyd's Shipping Indexes for sale. You can view the details at Lloyd's Shipping Indexes.

In July 2005 Luís Miguel Correia offered to coöperate on a similar basis as my coöperation with Philip Cone. His postcards are shown on the Correia-page. Since November 2005 the books published by Luís Miguel Correia are also for sale on my website.

The latest addition is a page of Photographs, taken with my Nikon D70 digital camera. These photographs cost € 0,80.

To help you locate photography spots in unknown places I have appended a page: Photography spots. For a number of Dutch and foreign ports, that I have visited, photographic, maritime and sometimes touristical information is given, sometimes with a relevant website. These ports have all been published in the Dutch maritime magazine "De blauwe wimpel". If you have any remarks, I'll append them to this page with your name if you like. The pictures may appear smaller than before, but this should improve the loading time on your screen. Please let me know if they have become too small. If necessary I'll enlarge them. If you want an overview of all the 298 postcards that I have published so far, the 149 Ramsey Postcards and the doubles that I have in a good quantity, please send a self-addressed A5-envelop to:

P.Oostcards
Bieslookgaarde 18
2803 RC Gouda
The Netherlands

International Reply Coupons can no longer be bought in the Netherlands, but they can still be exchanged. I'll need to get information at the post office what will replace them. Please do not send stamps, as they are useless for postage to your country. If you want any number of the same postcard, please send me an e-mail at: info@p-oostcards.nl and we will discuss prices and postage. The postcards are € 0,80 each, VAT included. Please see the Order Form for details about Postage & Packing and Banking options. If you have any further questions, please mail them to: info@p-oostcards.nl. For an answer please include your E-mail address.