Ocean Tramping Co., Ltd.

[Valerie Moseley]

I am sorry, I could not find how to post this in the Shipping Company Forum, so if this is the wrong place, could you move it please !

I am just wondering if any of you have heard of, or worked for the Ocean Tramping Co., Ltd, started as a company in 1957 and based in Hong Kong ?

[Valerie Moseley]

Various snippets of information on t'internet as you would expect.It started in 1957,and there must have been many ships,probably sub-standard operated by companies like that,the Hong Kong Flag being more a flag of convenience. I do know from my own voyages that in the early 1980's there were several small bulk carriers operated by Ocean Tramping Company around called TRAMCO----- etc.Not a very original or pretty name for a ship.
Here's an old house flag.Attachment 23032

Thanks for that, I have been trying to think of the shipping company my Uncle worked for, sometimes I amaze myself, but I just remembered this morning the name of it. Unfortunately because they merged and are now called COSCO, they have no records of when my Uncle worked for them which was definitely up until 1973.

[Valerie Moseley]

Thank you for your help Gulliver.

The people on here have been so welcoming and really helpful, without them I would not know half of what I know today, and I am so grateful.

The reason I contacted this forum now, was because I have been searching for my cousin since my uncle passed away to tell him his father has died, and I was hoping somebody on here might have remembered him, my uncle that is. I now know where he was at certain points of his life, and that is thanks to the lovely people on this forum.

It is just finding even one person that new him in Hong Kong, that might be able to help me locate his son, because I don't know if he was in contact with him before he ended up in London with Alzheimer's. As I mentioned in my other thread, me, my family and his friends in Scotland had no idea where he was from about 1973 until 1998.

Needle in a haystack springs to mind here !! It also doesn't help that my cousin is half Japanese, and the Japanese authorities have not been very forthcoming with any information.

Once again, Gulliver, thank you for your help.

Valerie x

[Colin Wood]

I remember Ocean Tramps from my time working with the technical Department of Mollers of London & Hong Kong. Was offered a job as master with them ( which I reefused0 on a ship called ???? fox. Had spoken to the chief officer who advised that they did not sound round, just listened at the hold ventilators at the end of each watch.

[j.sabourn]

#6 As a trampship master or mate the first advisable thing to do was to read a copy of the Charter Party, and brush up on demurrage laydays time starting Notice of Readiness stoppages due weather weather working days stoppages due ships machinery breakdown stoppages due industrial dispute and a host of others. The differences between a time charter and a voyage charter could be many and unless read the small print could be caught out when signing all the paperwork presented to you. As regards stoppages say due to a breakdown of a cargo winch at one hold of say two hours, this in all probability if had 5 hatches working would be 1 fifth of 2 hours equalling 24 minutes to sign for and not 2 hours and being caught out later when someone noticed and was too late to do anything about. When signing anything to do with weight coming off a loading belt always put on " said to be" and if had own figures worked out on the deadweight scale always used to add the ships figures also. Sometimes they might just measure out the weight of Iron Ore coming out of a ship, especially on BISCO charters, you were allowed a certain loss due to water content of ore and at the loading end they knew this and have seen them with hoses down the hatch, especially in Russia. As regards listening down vents to hear any water movement, I used to go down holds daily to site they were dry on one HK ship, this was because the ship had had so many names and flags that I believed all the sounding pipes had been tampered with probably by pouring cement down, even the engineers couldn't get a true reading on their fuel tanks, so when it came to a deadweight cargo it was by guess and by God. Their are ships and ships and was the only ship I ever walked away from after 11 months. Cheers JS

[Denis O'Leary]

Hi there , I Spent 10 months as an R/O on board M/V Searadiance which was owned by Ocean Tramping
As far as I can Remember they were based in 167 Connaught rd west Hong Kong/ We had a Big mix of Officers on-board and a Chinese Crew / the Vessel was registered in Bideford call sign GWEG // Jan 1990 to Nov 1990 approx

[Jim Dixon]

Nothing wrong with Ocean Tramps, Jardines, Butterfield & Swires et al. Good places to head for in the 60s. Connaught Road? Still as vibrant as ever.

[Colin Wood]

You can add Moller to that list, best employers I ever had. Great PR, EB Rb or any of the directors who came on board knew every officer by name. Eventually found out that they had cards on board the company launch Isabel Erica and Marine Messenger with our pictures and names.

[Colin Wood]

Know what you mean about loading deadweight cargoes on old ships. Early on as C O was worked over by a smart ass BHP surveyor in Port Kembla, but it did not matter as we were on time charter to BHP. Later, loading in Port Redi in India, had great troubles with Indian shipper who was being robbed by Japanese surveyor on outturn. He could not understand why I could not load to Tropical marks as I would be in WNA marks on arrival Japan.

We were on voyage charter and rate depended on outturn tonnage at discharge port. I had bet agreed with Indian Shipper that for every ton we under discharged I would pay him a Rupee and over he would pay me.
Came completion of cargo and much huffing and sucking of teeth. We were the first ship for a long time to over discharge. Receiver not happy and all figures rechecked many times. Vessel kept on charter for an extra 24 hours before shipper release us and we sailed. They did not even notice as they walked down the quay that I was retrieving both anchors and cables which had been lying on bottom of dock for final survey. One of several naughty tricks. Maybe that was why I ended up as a draught surveyor at Hay Point, Dalrymple Bay, Abbot Point & Townsville for over 20 years.

[j.sabourn]

#11 Remember in Shimonoseki Japan had just joined the ship and the foreman stevedore came and asked how much I would go over the marks with a steel cargo. It was a 30 odd thousand deadweight ship so would have been a good few tons, I was aghast at the idea and chased him regardless of the financial benefits put out. That wasn "t the way we were trained to do business. Anyhow had to lighten ship in Philadephia to get down to a seaway draft of 25 foot 6 inches for the Welland Canal and up the lakes. The previous ship to us a greek had gone about 6 inches over according to him. So the mate made a pocketful of money. The 12 years or so I was mate the only time I went a inch or two over was to facilitate a mistake the owner made in the C/P in Gdansk where even with the 5 percent either way off the tonnage couldn't have got the minimum cargo in, however worked it out once through the Kiel canal would have been on summer marks, that was my story anyway and was sticking with it. The fine in those days apart from being censured was 100 pounds per inch, so imagine they would have paid about 50 pounds an inch for those stupid enough to take the risk. Maybe I was too honest, if had the same opportunities today dont know how honest would be. Cheers JWS