It's Very Hard to Kill a Good Ship

[Tony Skilton]

After 38 years of service around New Zealand & Australia, one of the very last ships out of the Robb Caledon Yard in Dundee has now found a new life transporting bulk cement around the Mediterranean. The mv 'Golden Bay', a 98 metre, 4350 dwt self-discharging bulk cement carrier, was constructed in 1978-79 as Robb Caledon Yard No 572, and completed her sea trials in October 1979 before setting sail for NZ via the Panama Canal, arriving in Wellington on December 27th 1979 (when I joined her). It wasn't a trouble-free maiden voyage, but the ship loaded her first cargo at the Tarakohe Cement Works in Golden Bay, in the South Island, on January 21st 1980. Between that time and August 1984, she also completed 47 trips delivering bulk cement to Brisbane, Australia, plus doing the occasional cargoes to Golden Bay Cement Company depots around New Zealand. At the time, Golden Bay Cement was a subsidiary company of Blue Circle Cement (APCM) UK, but the company and the ships (mv Golden Bay, and mv Cement King) became wholly NZ-owned in 1988. After January 1985, the ship was only utilised around the NZ coast apart from one trip to Devonport in Tasmania in 1989 to bring a cargo of cement back from the Railton Works.

When built, the Dundee yard would avoid indenting new steel if possible as the yard was closing down. Consequently, if the Lloyd's specified plate size happened to be 3/4 inch, and a pile of 7/8 inch plate was laying in the yard, then that is what was used, and this policy has definitely contributed to her longevity over her highly-utilised life around Australasia. The ship was also constructed with both longitudinal and transverse double bottom framing to enable sitting on a sand bar when half loaded, and this factor has also contributed to her structural integrity, along with the fact that cement cargoes often arrive on board at temperatures way above 50 degs C, so moisture just can't survive in the sealed cargo holds.

Over the 38 years, the ship has carried just over 11 million tonnes of bulk cement, the main engines have done over 140,000 hours (both V12 Rustons are still original, with the crankshafts having never been ground!), and, having just come out of a docking in Turkey last week, I saw her briefly clocking 14.3 knots, which was her original contract speed. Not bad for an old girl.

She was built with a bow thruster and an active rudder, the latter being a 4-tonne thruster unit embedded in the rudder assembly, and the rudder can turn 82 degrees to Port or Starboard, so this ship can rush up to the wharf, turn itself around, park itself alongside, while any other ships will still be wondering how the hell she did it! A very effective pair of units, and both still operating well. Most ship-handling masters envy the 'drivers' of this ship once they see her manoeuvrability.

I hope her new crew look after her as well as the GBC crews have - she was a very comfortable (most of the time) and reliable home and job to a lot of Kiwis. Ships like this are just not built any more, unfortunately.

Skilly

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[Fouro]

Here is another oldie worth mentioning:-

History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy - CS Bullfinch

Fouro.

[Richard Quartermaine]

The Cable Ships were a most attractive respected feature at anchor or tied up at Suva. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...Fiji&FORM=IGRE
Richard

[j.sabourn]

Cable and Wireless I tried for a job in 1966.
that time they had ships stationed in various parts of the world. Called their masters commanders and a few other idiocracies. Provided family living accommodation ashore and paid for kids schooling. If got the right station they seldom went to sea and was. The next best thing to a shore job. On my first application reply was too old as cut off age was then think it was either 26 or 28. I was in 1966 29 So re-applied saying I did not need. Seatime as had all required certification. Some weeks later received a reply had been successful and please show my preference to which station would prefer. Was too late as usual had to have work to earn money for family and had accepted a job as Ch. officer on a cargo passenger vessel workinhg out of Montreal. Had been to Harley street and another prominent doctor in the area for medicals and a GP in the East End, quite a difference between the 3 of them. Often wondered if they had been a bit quicker in their Office at Cable and Wireless, how life could have turned out so different. Cheers JWS

[j.sabourn]

re medicals for Canada in 1966 was very similar to Australia as of 1991. I went through John Kilgours of London who were the uk agency for Alcan I think at the time the only way as regards speed to get me out to Canada was as a landed immigrant thus all the. Doctors. Harley Street was a chest specialist, round the corner in I think Germaine street was a fancy pox doctor for the upper crust , and the east end GP was just that, he wanted to know how much I smoked and drank and more or less told me I lied like a pig in sh##e when I answered him. However was passed as fit. The same on emigrating to Oz with the addition for a test for aids. Makes one wonder today why aren’t the same standards maintained for the masses of illegal residencies of today. JWS

[John Arton]

Was in Sembawang on one ship and we were berthed opposite the Cable and Wireless berth when one of their vessel berthed. She was like a luxury yacht, steam powered with team decks and brilliant white paintwork. In the evening all the officers could be seen, dressed in tropical whites, sitting under canvas awnings on deck being served pre dinner drinks by immaculately dressed steward's. Cannot recall what ship I was on, or what we were there for, possibly loading timber. All I can recall was that not one of us on board did not Envy those lookup bleeders. At night we would go for drinks in a service club nearby that had a pool and tennis courts and it was there that I Found out that one of the floating dry Bock's in the nearby naval dockyard had actually been towed out there by my father.
Rgds.
J.A.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Tony.
I was on the coast when the old Golden Bay was there I think Pincher Martin was bosun. Then a few years ago while we were living in Whangarei we used to go down to Onerahi beach and watch the Golden bay come up to the Portland wharf, well we watched her swing around the Island and disappear around the back of it. I used to berth at the Portland wharf on the Union Steam colliers back in the 50s and 60s, but not as quick as that.
Thanks for the pics.
Cheers Des

[Tony Skilton]

Hi Des,

I have dug up a couple of memories for you.

The original 'Golden Bay' (built in Leith, Scotland, by Henry Robb in 1953) was my first ship - I joined her on Feb 3rd 1972. I then served on the 'Ligar Bay' & 'John Wilson' before joining 'Golden Bay II' in 1979, and staying on her until October 1990, when I was injured in heavy seas and then failed the medical. But the company kept calling me in to overhaul & maintain her Chadburn electro-pneumatic-hydraulic engine, gearbox & propeller control systems, which I have now done continuously from 1979 to 2017. Even when I eventually managed to get back to sea and was working on other vessels between Australia & Singapore, I was still able to fit in maintaining & testing of the system when home on leave.
Then, when I retired from overseas work, I was sent a lovely invitation for an 'All expenses-paid cruise' on the lovely cement ship 'Golden Bay', for 2 weeks! Yeah, right!! I ended up as C/Eng'r again and stayed on her for another 2 years until May 2017, when she was sold to European interests.

When I left again last year, I was gifted a fabulous painting (3rd photo) of the original Golden Bay sailing past Mt Egmont. This painting was done in 1974 by the 2nd mate on the Cement King, and had been displayed in the Golden Bay II officer's lounge until last year. I was the last person still in GBC who had ever worked on her. That painting now hangs in my hallway, and frequently reminds me of those old British Polar engines and the magnetic drive couplings that drove her screws. She was the first self-discharging bulk carrier in the Southern Hemisphere when she arrived in NZ in 1955.
1st photo shows Golden Bay approaching 'Moaning Minnie' on her way into Wellington.
The 2nd shows GBI, Kokiri, Billy, & Hororata on Aotea Quay in Wgtn.

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[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Tony.
Thanks for those pics, the painting is a cracker, I used to paint but not to that standard.
Funny you mentioning Henry Robb, what I might call my last ship was after I had retired in 62 I got a job on the South Steyne an old Sydney ferry, which had been turned into a floating restaurant in Darling harbour.
The South Steyne had been built by Henry Robb in 1932, and is the oldest s steam ferry still able to operate in the world, as the engineer who looked after it had a permanent job in a hospital he showed me how to turn the engine over with an electric motor, that I'm afraid is\was my only sojourn into engineering.
This is a pic of the Kokiri from my collection.
Cheers Des

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Tony.
missed putting the pics on.
Des

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