http://www.shipsmonthly.com • Summer 2018 • 61
VOYAGE REPORT
With the ship loaded now
to 5.5m draught and 2,850
tonnes deadweight (cargo,
fuel, stores, water), we had to
wait for the tide before setting
off downstream on a hazy
morning. Second Engineer
Stuart Mills and I leaned
over the rail watching the
countryside pass by, talking
about career opportunities
ashore. We then went
straight up the Channel until
we picked up the pilot off
Rotterdam, before berthing
at No.10 Berth 1st Petroleum
Haven. After checking
samples, we discharged to
shore tanks in about six hours.
In the evening those not
on watch got a minibus to
the Seamen’s Mission, a
pleasant haven in the industrial
landscape among trees on
the banks of the Oude Maas,
where it was nice to have a few
drinks, a game of snooker, and
a chat with the master of the
coaster Leslie Gault.
After the cargo tanks had
been cleaned, we loaded
600 tonnes of white spirit in
No.2 tank, then shifted to
No.2 Petroleum Haven to
load the other tanks, which
took 1,500 tonnes of aviation
gasoline (the oil industry uses
American terminology), which
I assumed was for light aircraft
in the south-east of England.
Berth moves were assisted
by our Liaaen controllable
pitch propeller, Brunvoll bow
thruster and Schilling high lift
rudder, which could go to 70
degrees each side, instead of
the normal 35 degrees.
Shell Marketer sailed at
0930 on 16 August on her
74th voyage of the year. On
the passage down the New
Waterway, I chatted to the
pilot, whose English was good
as my Dutch was nonexistent.
We crossed the main shipping
lanes shrouded in a mist, before
berthing at Felixstowe’s oil
jetty, with just enough time to
get ashore to the nearest pub.
In those days Felixstowe was a
container feeder port rather than
one taking the largest deepsea
ships as it does today, so most of
my photos were of smaller ships.
After discharging our Shell Marketer’s bridge, with the ship running on autopilot.
Shell Marketer’s K Major six-cylinder Mirrlees diesel.
Shell Marketer discharging petrol, gas oil and kerosene at Ipswich.
Shell Marketer heading down harbour to the locks at Shoreham, with the
Dutch coaster Viscount (1976/955gt) recently arrived.
operating statistics
Some of the operating statistics
gathered during the voyage.
AnnuAL CARGOeS SInCe neW
About 250,000 tonnes over 100
voyages.
PeR VOyAGe Averaging 35 per cent
motor spirit, 37 per cent gas oil, ten
per cent jet fuel, 18 per cent lub oil,
avgas and others.
AVeRAGe ROunD TRIP About 480
nautical miles, 40 per cent in ballast.
PORT VISITS My voyages were
unusual in including two continental
ports, as normally only ports in the
British Isles were visited.white spirit, we headed for
the Thames next morning
to discharge our avgas at
West Thurrock, then back
to nearby Shell Haven to
load another cargo. That was
to be more motor spirit for
Ipswich. With my wife asking
when I was coming home, I
thought I should take leave
of the hospitable crew. They
were certainly hard-worked
in coastal tankers, averaging
three and a half days per
round voyage, usually with
two ports of call of rarely
more than 15 hours each,
including waiting for a berth.
No wonder the crew needed
good leave – six weeks on, six
off for the officers, four on,
four off for the rest.anotHer visit
Two months later I was
pleased to get a note from
Barry enclosing an aerial
photo of Shell Marketer taken
while she was en route to
Shoreham and signed by the
crew, with an invitation to
visit the ship, which was in
dry dock in Sunderland. So,
with my son, we set off on a
Saturday to Wear Dockyard to
catch up with my ‘shipmates’.
I was able to take some
photos from the bottom
of the dry dock, before
enjoying lunch. So ended
my connection with Shell
Marketer, which had been of
great professional interest to
me. It also provided me with
material and photos for my
marine transport lectures and
for the Tyneside branch of the
World Ship Society.