She was the last to be built for Ben Line at the former Charles Connell yard in Glasgow in 1970.By this time the yard was going through the transition of becoming Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Scotstoun.
She had quite a sad end becoming a livestock carrier and sinking following a severe fire.
Yes there were the 2 sisters BENALBANACH and BENWYVIS built in 1967 and
BENLEDI 1966 very good profile. they were sold to ITALIA SPA di NAVIGAZIONE and becoming DA VERRAZZANO and DA RECCO the third become DA NOLI . Regulary service during the 1980 years from GENOA to south and north America.
BEBLAWERS become the italian livestock carrier UNICEB.
Yes there were the 2 sisters BENALBANACH and BENWYVIS built in 1967 and
BENLEDI 1966 very good profile. they were sold to ITALIA SPA di NAVIGAZIONE and becoming DA VERRAZZANO and DA RECCO the third become DA NOLI . Regulary service during the 1980 years from GENOA to south and north America.
BEBLAWERS become the italian livestock carrier UNICEB.
The Benlawers was not a sister ship to te Ledi , Albanach or Wyvis. She was a class of her own with orlop decks and had side doors and lifts for loading pallets by forklift.
She was desicned by Catain Atkinson (Marine Supt. ) .But was ahead of her time for trade in the Far East and was eventually chartered to Saf Marine.
Billy
Not lucky in the end but she was not Ben Line in the end. We did have a wee disaster in Hong Kong in 1974 ? we were alongside in Kowloon when aTyphoon struck and we had to sail with JCBs and bulldozers unlashed ready for discharging, well they took off and we were lasooing them. After the typhoon we went back to Kowloon to discharge along with the HK managers jaguar the size of a matdhbox !!! Then a fire broke out with chemicals on deck and we were jumping over drums of octal fighting the fire before the fire brigade arived and evacuated the ship for 3 days
She certainly wan't lucky for me as i broke my ankle in the ER around 1978. I'm Mike MacKinnon (mikchik) and was an engine room monkey all through the 70s& 80s.
She was the last to be built for Ben Line at the former Charles Connell yard in Glasgow in 1970.By this time the yard was going through the transition of becoming Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Scotstoun.
She had quite a sad end becoming a livestock carrier and sinking following a severe fire.
I only know a couple of chaps from Ben Line. Alex Alison who did 2nd Mates with me and another fellow, Colin Rowden who came over to Denholms from Ben Line to learn OBOs. After months learning tanker practice he returned to Ben and they promptly put him back on a cargo ship! He came back to Denholms and was Mate in the OBO SEVONIA TEAM in 1975. I lost track of him, but I think he was promoted master somewhere along the way. On the SEVONIA we kept strange watches... 12 on, 12 off, 12 on, 24 off.... for three months! It wasn't so bad... we sat at anchor in Eleusis Bay the whole time... waiting for orders!
Hi Stephen,
I knew Colin Rowden well he was 3 rd. Mate with ne on my first trip deep sea- a great bloke !! I have not heard about him ,but did hear he went to Denholms - he was a very clever bloke !!
Billy
During all those comments it was great to see Oswald Atkinson's name mentioned as he was one of the outstanding gentlemen of the Ben Line in those days from 1947 onwards, he encouraged all AB's to study for their tickets and taught them everything he could . Under him I was promoted Sailor , ( promoted on voyage from SOS to Sailor) and become the last sailor in the British MN (had to sit the AB Certificate when we arrived in Liverpool but the Shipping Master said I was the last Sailor in the British MN) C/O Atkinson included any AB who wanted to sit for his 2nd Mates Ticket in his
Cadets Classes and although I dipped out on my 2nd Mates I did get my
R/O PMG Certificate and I met up with another AB from the Cruachan days who did get their Mates Certificate. We all met up in Singapore one day in
1955. As I said before ...A perfect Ben Line Gentleman
Salaams Ern Barrett
colin used to live in helensburgh(maybe he still does)I remember him telling me he did one trip on an obo with ben line,she was called the vianna and later ended up in denholms as the cast tern.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ships Nostalgia
1.1M posts
124.7K members
Since 2004
A forum community dedicated to Ships, boats, and vessel owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about crew logs, maritime history, shipping lines, shipwrecks, cruise ships, weather, and more!