Couple of questions about John Kelly's coasters.

[R831814]

Just browsing an old Lloyds Register (as you do when there is nothing on telly!) I noticed 2 things which I was not aware of.

1. In the 1965/66 register none of the ships of the Kelly fleet were built in Belfast. Was that because H&W didn't build coasters or was it because Kellys couldn't deal with H&W. Seems strange that a Belfast based company didn't use their local shipbuilder.

2. The Managers of the Kelly fleet were listed as E W P King. Something I was never aware of. Can anyone fill in who they were and how were they related to Kellys?

Must remember to get a life when the cold weather clears. (==D) (Smoke)

[BillH]

Just browsing an old Lloyds Register (as you do when there is nothing on telly!) I noticed 2 things which I was not aware of.

1. In the 1965/66 register none of the ships of the Kelly fleet were built in Belfast. Was that because H&W didn't build coasters or was it because Kellys couldn't deal with H&W. Seems strange that a Belfast based company didn't use their local shipbuilder.

2. The Managers of the Kelly fleet were listed as E W P King. Something I was never aware of. Can anyone fill in who they were and how were they related to Kellys?

Must remember to get a life when the cold weather clears. (==D) (Smoke)
Reg,

Kelly was controlled at that time from London and had tight constraint imposed on finances.

Like many other owners they invited tenders and the best financial package won in general terms. Shipbuilders specialising in certain types of vessel were usually able to quote a better deal.

Although not appearing in Lloyd's Register due to type and size Kelly did use H&W to construct a small tug and a series of barges just after WW2 and a second series of barges in 1957.

E.W.P. King was a person rather than a business name and was employed in Kelly's office.

Hope this helps and if interested my book on Kelly has just been published by the World Ship Society.

Bill