Captain Haddock home, Marlinspike Hall (or "Moulinsart" in the original French). Harry Thompson, author of "Tintin: Hergé and his creation", writes that the introduction of this large and luxurious country house was "to provide a suitable ancestral home for Tintin and himself to move into." To achieve this in terms of the plot, Hergé also details Haddock's ancestry, something Thompson regards as distinctive: "Haddock is the only regular character whose relatives turn up in the Tintin stories at all (if one discounts Jolyon Wagg and his dreadful family)." As Haddock's role grew, Hergé expanded his character, basing him upon aspects of friends,
SS Belgian Captain SS Belgian Captain Belgian Captain was a cargo ship which was built in 1942 as Empire Centaur for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). In 1943 she was passed to the Belgian Government and renamed "Belgian Captain". Postwar, she was sold into merchant service and renamed Captiane Lambe. In 1960 she was sold to Hong Kong and renamed Ardee, being renamed Alpha Trader in 1964. She served until 1967 when she was scrapped. The ship was built by William Gray & Co. Ltd., West Hartlepool. She was launched on 30 July 1942 and completed in October. The ship was long,