Shipping Lines - A colourful cargo ship which had an unlikely tale to tell

Misje Rose alongside the North Quay at Montrose port.

Once in a while a ship of more than passing interest sails up the South Esk. Recently one such vessel berthed at the North Quay. The story began back in the early 1980s when the offshore business was emerging from its formative years, writes John Aitken.

In those days, reasonable risks were often taken to complete a job on time. This particular tale concerns a well-established, family-owned Bergen-based shipping company, a Montrose-based firm whose early entry into the international offshore supply market on a worldwide scale and a 10-ship ECO coastal bulk carrier order placed in 2020 with a shipyard in Colombo. So what was the unlikely connection?

The Norwegian-owned firm of Kare Misje AS was founded originally in Bergen in 1956 and began in marine transport. It then progressed into providing a weather ships’ service. Such services in those days did not have the advantage of computerised forecasting.

Progressing into tugs and towage brought one of the Kare Misje AS tugs, Starmi, into contact with a Montrose fluid manufacturer and a consignment of subsea hydraulic fluid concentrate. By the late 1970s a licence agreement had been negotiated between the Montrose-based blenders and a major US-based subsea well control equipment manufacturer with a presence in Norway. During the Festive period a substantial order was received from the Norwegians for delivery by early February the following year, but industrial action intervened

With air freight out of the question due to cost, there were few options. I was advised to speak with a shipbroker; this I did and contacted a friend who held a senior position with a shipping company in Dundee. He managed to locate a tug which was due to leave a barge in the Tay and was looking for a source of revenue which would pay for the fuel back to Norway. This is where the Starmi entered the scene and we duly received a charter offer on behalf of owners Kare Misje AS to take on the tug. There was little choice and so we accepted the two thousand pound offer.

In order to transfer 80 palletised barrels of fluid to the Sea Oil base we engaged a local furniture van for several journeys. The cargo was stowed on the tug’s after deck around the towing winch and off she sailed to Stavanger.

By the 1980s, and by the end of the century, the Norwegian shipping company had expanded into the bulk carrier market and entered ro-ro shipping. Quite a few years after while the former Avebe silos were still in existence, several of the Kare Misje fleet appeared with cement cargoes from the Irish Republic. Their funnel markings were still similar to that of the tug Starmi.

Now for the colourful cargo ship, she was the second such ECO-type coastal bulker to visit the Angus seaport, the first Misje Vita having called in August, 2023. They were initially ordered as a batch of six with an option of four more. This initial order was delayed due to Covid. Norwegian owners Misje Eco Bulk Carriers AS based in Bergen have painted their fleet to reflect their green credentials with the Misje Rose being no exception. She arrived from Ghent and sailed outwards to Erith with a cargo of rape seed.