SS Alkimos

[Colin Horton]

When we came to Perth Western Australia in 1975 the SS Alkimos was sitting just off the beach some 35 kilometres north of Perth from a distance she looked complete but close up she was badly rusted. She has a very colourful history and a book has been written about her called I think “The Angry Ghosts” she was supposed to be haunted. Sadly she has rusted away and all that is left is her triple expansion engine standing as a monument just a few metres off the beach. If you are interested look her up she had a very colourful sailing history pS she was a WW2 liberty

[j.sabourn]

Colin when I came out here in 1991 , previously must have been about 89/ 90 There had been some ship abandoned off Perth , maybe fire or whatever. The first ship I joined out here had one of the seamen who jumped on board to get a tow line on board , and was quiet verbose about it. Apart from the medal he got , he received a cash payout of think it was $10,000 To go with it. The government immediately took tax off it and he was not a happy Chappy. He came from Bunberry but can’t remember his name. I later went for an interview with AMSA to see if there was. Any chance of future employment after getting citizenship. One of the questions they asked me was how I would of handled the media if had to Give a statement about this mini disaster. My answer was I wouldn’t tell the media sweet fanny Adams. If however if had been looking for a job would have moderated that answer to acceptable levels. Can you remember the name of that ship and the circumstances arising during and after the event ? Cheers JS.

[Colin Horton]

I was working for BP at the time a foreign flag tanker got into strife in bad weather off Fremantle there was a fire and a number of attempts were made to get a line on her it was around the dates you mentioned it was a BP charter and it was going to Kwinana refinery I cannot remember the vessels name I will try to find out

[Keith at Tregenna]

Read with interest.

K.

[Graham Shaw]

Just catching up with my reading here,Colin.What a story,and what a ship history!
I'd like to fill in a bit more detail,though as you say much has been written elsewhere both in print and online.

Liberty ship Launched 1943 ,7,176 grt as VIGGO HANSTEEN for Norwegian Gov.but Laid down originally as GEORGE M.SHRIVER at Bethlehem-Fairfield SY ,Baltimore.
During the WW2 years she sailed in 23 Convoys and towards the end of the war sailed many voyages independently. In 1946 she became a civilian company-owned ship for a Norwegian company,then became the ALKIMOS in 1953 firstly under the Costa Rican flag,then in 1959 under the Greek flag.

[Here's what Lloyds List says about her final voyage]

[While on a ballast voyage drom Djakarta to Bunbury,the Greek steamship Alkimos ran aground on Beagle Island Reef,about 150nm N of Fremantle at 10pm. on March 19th,1963.She was refloated six days later and proceeded to Fremantle.However,due to having sustained propeller damage ,she was towed out of Fremantle Harbour on May 30th bound for Hong Kong,but during a storm the tug Pacific Reserve lost the tow ,resulting in the Alkimos drifting aground 31nm N of Fremantle ,her engine room flooded.All subsequent refloating attempts proved fruitless and the wreck was left as a total loss.]

SS VIGO HANSTEEN-Norwegian Liberty Ship..jpg