Index |
|
|
SEMLogistics of Milford Haven are oil traders and, as such, buy and sell cargoes of oil as and when they can. Such a process almost inevitably means that cargoes and the ships carrying them come in all shapes and sizes. Thus, though its throughput is lower than at the Chevron and Total refineries in the Haven, its ships tend to be far more ‘exotic'. The Varg Star, a case in point, is shown in the photo entering Milford Haven on 12 March 2007.
Built in 1992 at Kerch by ATVT Sudnobudiovnyi Zavod (“Zaliv”) as one of the Pobyeda class produced by that yard and carrying the yard number 912, she is a double hulled crude oil carrier with a net tonnage of 21,279, a gross tonnage of 38,792 and a deadweight tonnage of 68,157 tonnes. She is powered by a Bryansk-built B and W 8 cylinder diesel, giving an output of 14,347hp. The class was a very distinctive one, with the large focsle, the very tall king posts and the platform atop the large funnel. Built at the time when the Russian state was in confusion, she was acquired by Bergfram Tankers Ltd and registered in Liberia as the Varg. In 2005 she was re-registered in the Bahamas and her name was changed to Varg Star. Derek & Des Davies, April 2007 |
||
|
The Hurricane H was built for the Alexandra Towing Company Ltd in 1970 by Richard Dunston (Hessle) Ltd as the Margam and had the distinction of being the first tug to be built in Britain having a “two speed” gearbox. The vessel is 282 grt, with a maximum draft of 4.8 metres, and is powered by a single Ruston diesel engine producing 2,190 bhp and a maximum speed of 13 knots. The Margam was built specifically for service at Swansea and the newly opened deep water harbour at Port Talbot. Like most of the Swansea fleet of the Alexandra Towing Company Ltd, she was named after a local area and very aptly the location of the massive steel works at Margam, Port Talbot which she has served for almost 38 years. Throughout her career with the Alexandra Towing Company Ltd, the Margam operated exclusively in the Bristol Channel - however, in March 1976 she joined her fleet mates Victoria, Alfred and Crosby in towing the giant concrete oil/gas platform ELF 1, with a draft of 37 metres, from the builders' yard at Ardoyne Point on the Clyde to Loch Fyne. The ELF 1 was eventually destined for use in the North Sea Frigg Field, located between the Shetland Islands and Norway.
Towards the end of 1992, the Alexandra Towing Company Ltd was taken over by Howard Smith (UK), although the Margam continued to serve the ports of Swansea and Port Talbot. During 1994, after competitive tendering, the contract to provide towage services for the British Steel Corporation at the Port Talbot deep water harbour was awarded to the newly established West Coast Towing Company Ltd. The contract also included towage services for vessels berthing at Swansea that were handling cargoes for the British Steel Corporation. With other commercial traffic to the Port of Swansea slowly declining, Howard Smith (UK) found it increasingly difficult to find sufficient work for its fleet of Swansea tugs and several vessels were either sold or transferred to other ports in a bid to rationalise and make the towage service provided at Swansea more viable. As part of this process, the Margam was put up for sale, in a surprising move. During February 1997 the vessel was purchased by agents acting on behalf of the West Coast Towing Company Ltd, who were wanting to provide more powerful tugs for their Port Talbot and Swansea operations. Now in new ownership and to be renamed Hurricane H, the Margam was quickly put in to service by her new owners and on 15 February 1997, already in West Coast Towing Company Ltd colours but before the vessel could be officially renamed, she completed her last act of towage whilst named Margam. The Hurricane H continued to work at Port Talbot and gave sterling service to her new owners in assisting the berthing and sailing of the bulk carriers discharging iron ore and coal for the steel works. During 2000 and 2001, in a highly competitive market, West Coast Towing Company Ltd lost all its other towing contracts in the Bristol Channel and in a surprising announcement the company was purchased by Wijsmuller BV, who in May 2001 signed a five-year contract with Corus (formally the British Steel Corporation) to provide towage services at the Port Talbot deep water harbour. The Hurricane H, together with her Swansea fleet mates Ryan, Faris and Shireen S, continued to operate much as before but in Wijsmuller livery. Three months later, in August 2001, the Hurricane H found herself in new ownership when Wijsmuller were taken over by Svitzer, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Danish A.P. Moller Group. Once again the vessel retained her name, but with yet another new livery. Under Svitzer ownership, the Hurricane H continued to operate out of Swansea and Port Talbot but with the occasional work at Newport or Avonmouth/Portbury when additional tugs were required at these busy ports. It was during the early hours of 28 February 2002 that the Hurricane H was returning to Swansea from Avonmouth when the vessel grounded on the Scarweather Sand Bank, approximately 10 miles south west of Swansea, on an ebb tide. Fortunately the vessel refloated several hours later on the flood tide and was escorted to Swansea Docks by the Mumbles Lifeboat, having sustained only minor damage to her hull plating.
The Hurricane H has remained in constant service, regularly assisting vessels in Swansea and Port Talbot, and was at hand to assist one of the very last gas tankers to discharge at Swansea's Queens Dock during 2003. The final chapter of this vessel's long association with the Port of Swansea and Port Talbot deep water harbour may soon be written as the Hurricane H is now up for sale and awaiting new owners. Bill Moore, April 2007 |
||
|
Easy to forget, with all the LNG traffic, that the Docks at Milford Haven started life, even if by accident, as a fishing port. And fishing vessels continue to form part of its traffic. In today's world that traffic is dominated by Belgian beam trawlers and ships from the Spanish fleet. Of the latter, most are UK registered, but the occasional one is a Spanish registered ship. Armaven Dos (3a VI 5 4 95) is one of three sister ships owned by Armaven S.A. of Vigo , and registered in that port. All three ships were built at the Jose Valina Lavandeira yard in La Coruna . Armaven Dos has a net tonnage of 81, a gross tonnage of 270 and a deadweight tonnage of 166, was built in 1995 and is powered by an eight cylinder MAN diesel engine with a power output of 490hp.
Gonpez I (FH 535) is a more recently built stern trawler, built in 2003 at the Factoria Naval de Marin yard at Marin for Pesquera Gonzamar SL as their yard number 142. Registered in Falmouth , she has a net tonnage of 81, a gross tonnage of 271 and a deadweight tonnage of 179. She is powered by a 6 cylinder ABC diesel with an output of 727hp.
Derek & Des Davies, April 2007 |
||
|
The commercial ports of Llanelli and Burry Port have long since closed and the only shipping activity that now takes place in the Loughor Estuary is the discharge of sea dredged aggregates at a little known location named Barnaby Pill near Tywyn Bach alongside the Millennium Coastal Path between Llanelli and Burry Port. A pontoon/barge acts as the discharge berth for Llanelli Sand Dredging Ltd, a subsidiary of the Westminster Dredging Company Ltd, who are a member of the Royal Boskalis Westminster Group, the world's largest dredging company. The Company's Burry Port site is supplied with sea dredged aggregates from the Bristol Channel by the small trailing suction dredger patriotically named Sospan in honour of the nearby town of Llanelli and its industrial past with tin-plate. Llanelli's tin plating industry earned it the nickname “tre sospan” (saucepan town), as one of its biggest products was the tin plating of steel saucepans and other kitchen utensils. Her sister the Sospan Dau, which translated from the Welsh language means Saucepan Two, is also a visitor to the Loughor Estuary berth and both vessels discharge their cargoes by pumping the aggregate ashore via a long pipeline to the company's storage facility almost half a mile from the discharge berth.
The Sospan Dau was built at Dieppe in 1978 and was converted to her current role in 2001 at the Kooiman shipyard, Zwijndrecht, Holland. The vessel is 1,850 grt and has a hopper capacity of 1,400 cubic metres (1,800 metric tons). The Sospan Dau is ideally suited for the shallow waters of the Loughor Estuary, having a loaded draft of 3.2 metres. Both vessels are very versatile and are able to discharge their cargoes either by “dumping” through bottom doors, pumping ashore via pipelines or over the bow through a “rainbow” (spray canon) installation. When not providing sea dredged aggregates for Llanelli Sand Dredging Ltd, the Sospan Dau is employed on maintenance dredging contracts, land reclamation, coastal defence and beach replenishment projects around the UK and Northern European waters. During 2004/2005 the Sospan Dau was involved in the Le Havre port extension project and the associated construction of an artificial island to serve as a bird habitat as part of the environmental compensation measures to the nearby port development. The vessel is regularly used each year on the ongoing Pevensey Bay coastal and sea defence project between Eastbourne and Bexhill in East Sussex. The contract, on behalf of the Environment Agency, is to maintain an 8km long shingle-reinforced bank along the shoreline. It was to fulfil this particular ongoing contract that the Sospan Dau was converted to her current role in 2001 and her shallow draft enables her to approach close to the shoreline and replenish the shingle beach via her bow fitted “rainbow” spray installation. Bill Moore, April 2007 |
||
