Shipping Lines

Pictured is the Haifa-built ship recently seen at Montrose port.

It’s been a long time since ships that were built in war-torn countries in north-west Europe appeared in Montrose port, although it had been more than several decades after the latter days of World War Two that they had finally disappeared, writes John Aitken.

Despite the passage of time a few lingered on having been more or less rebuilt and/or re-engined, with most of them flying a flag of convenience. They were still recognisable as “old stagers” still managing to eke out a living carrying low value commodities such as stone or sand.

A large number of pre-war sailing vessels, barges, coastal steamers were brought into service and converted in order to make up for the casualties of war. This was particularly noticeable in the West German merchant fleet which had been more or less decimated and began to rebuild while its domestic shipyards were reconstructed and Allied tonnage controls remained in place.

Ports around Tayside saw a large number of such conversions and I remember catching sight of one such ship with the name Isis at Perth Harbour which had started off as a military landing craft. Another, a West German coaster named Marie Fisser, having at one time been classed as the barge “190”.

Around the same period (early1950s), a converted Dutch inland waterway barge named Friblo appeared while later a steel-hulled former sailing schooner named Hedwig Pannbacker berthed complete with counter stern and her diesel exhaust vented through an aperture at the top of her main mast.

Now the situation has changed somewhat with several ships calling at Montrose in the past few weeks which have been built in countries now involved in live hostilities with neighbouring states. Firstly, the Latvia-flag coaster Eurica which was registered in the nation’s capital of Riga, an old trading partner of Montrose going back several centuries

She had initially been built by the Yantar shipyard at the Russian port of Kaliningrad.

Before 1945 the yard was the Konigsberg unit of the German Schichau-Werke shipbuilding company. Following the end of World War Two the shipyard was absorbed into the Soviet state enterprise and operated under the auspices of the State as a government shipyard.

Sometime following the break-up of the Soviet Union the shipyard became part of the Russian state corporation United Shipbuilding Corporation. In 2000, hulls were built on a sub-contract basis for West European countries including The Netherlands. The Hanse Paris among others was completed by the Peters shipyard at Kampen and latterly named Eurica. At Montrose she discharged pipe from the Norwegian port of Floro.

A few days later saw the arrival from Hamburg of the Georgios Alexios, registered in Majuro, Marshall Islands, built in 2009 as the Imina, by Israel Shipyards at the port of Haifa. In 1959 shipyard was established as a Government-owned facility. By 1995 it was privatised and capable of producing a wider range of designs. Prior to calling at Hamburg she had reportedly berthed at Eemshaven, Mo-i-Rana, Brevik, Beverwijk and Gent. After Montrose she sailed to Teesport.