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Where are they now?

31K views 101 replies 36 participants last post by  John Gowers 
#1 ·
Am trying to find out what happened to, and if there are any photos of the following ships (Denholm Ship Management - Glasgow):

Muirfield - OBO
Gallic Bridge - Bulk Carrier
Naess Texas - Liquified Sulphur Tanker
Naess Sovereign - Oil Tanker
Burmah Gem - Oil Tanker
 
#5 ·
NAESS SOVEREIGN bilt in1961 by Mitsubuishi with her sister NAESS CHAMPION
she was scrapped end 70s , i don't remember the name but i hope you 'll
forgive me!!! I am sure to have a pic of her i'll see and i put it in the site.
were are they now -4 no 1......
 
#8 ·
tanker said:
MUIRFIELD Swedish built as TIBETAN with her sister TURCOMAN ,i think scrapped beginning 90s.as SALVIA.
were are they now -3 now 2....
Any pics? She was quite distinctive as she had no bridge wings as such, accom straight up, but set back from gunnel.
11 Holds if I recall. Was chartered to Sankyo? for sometime too. Funnel marking then was black + white band with centre red dot and two circles.
 
#10 ·
Muirfield

Some pix of MUIRFIELD when she was at the Firth of Clyde Drydock between June and August 1975.
She was an old Wilelmsen ship hence the grim orange hull and pale green upperworks-whatever happened to black hull and white line?
Was lucky enough to get on board with our local WSS Branch.
 

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#12 ·
Thanx for pics

Fairfield said:
Some pix of MUIRFIELD when she was at the Firth of Clyde Drydock between June and August 1975.
She was an old Wilelmsen ship hence the grim orange hull and pale green upperworks-whatever happened to black hull and white line?
Was lucky enough to get on board with our local WSS Branch.
Yup, tha's her all right. Cheers for the pics. Appreciated :)
 
#13 · (Edited)
Oh no, NOT Muirfield!

Just found this discussion. The content and pictures reminded me of an anecdote which I thought I should share.

1975 - I was on board Nordic Crusader which was in the Great Harbour, Greenock, when Muirfield arrived. We arrived on the Clyde from Europort, spent three days anchored off Cove Point whilst we tank cleaned, then went alongside the Great Harbour tank farm to discharge our slop tanks. Once that was completed, we ‘shifted ship’ across the Great Harbour and lay port side to, whilst having a boiler replaced in preparation for lay up in Loch Striven.

There was great curiosity on board when we discovered that another Denholm's ship, Muirfield, was due in Scott Lithgows - although none of our crowd had sailed on the vessel, we knew that she had a 'reputation'.

When Muirfield arrived with her wonderful colour scheme, the first impressions were that she looked like a mammoth Glasgow Corporation Bus (Orange and Green). On closer inspection, she looked more like a tiger due to the black streaks down her hull - she had obviously had a spill at some time!

She initially went alongside the tank farm to discharge over 3,000 tons of oil which had inexplicably found its way into her duct keel - don't ask!

Once she moved into the dry-dock, I recall one evening when we noticed a great commotion on Muirfield. Several of our personnel went to investigate and were told that a mysterious alarm was sounding in the engine room. Fearing that the vessel was about to explode, the Scott Lithgow workers were fleeing from her like rats deserting a sinking ship - it would be cynical to say that they had sensed an opportunity for an early "knock off!" Anyway, next thing Strathclyde Fire Brigade arrived in force, only to be met by some of our engineers who had already been down below on Muirfield and cancelled the offending "high bilge alarm!"

She wasn't a terribly fortunate ship since she had also managed to rip a gash in her bottom when she had been unavoidably attracted to an uncharted sea mount in the South Atlantic.

Oh happy days!
 
#14 ·
"She wasn't a terribly fortunate ship since she had also managed to rip a gash in her bottom when she had been unavoidably attracted to an uncharted sea mount in the South Atlantic."

I recount this from over 30 years ago......... so detail might be a wee bit out.
I was an apprentice on her when this happened (unless it happened more than once), but it was South Indian Ocean, about 36 miles south of the Coco Keelings (sp?) on a great circle sailing from, if I recall (mid-late 1973) Vittoria, Brazil with a load of ore for Japan - Kobe(?)..

There was a teriffic rumbling throughout the ship..... **** what was that!!
She took on a bit of a list so pumps and I sounded all the tanks. No 9 (or was it 11?, anyway the last one) starboard ballast tank was taking water. Pumping was useless, just kept refilling.

Onto Japan, but had to go some other place (can't recall ports name) as the draft was too deep due to the hole on the hull.

Jap divers inspected the hull. There was a stripe becoming a gouge from for'd to aft, holing tank 9. The Muirfield must have been lifted by swell or waves about the same time as the tank was holed as the engine room tanks were not damaged (luckily). Japs reckoned it may have been a submarine, but others said sea mountain, another thought a semi-bouyant submerged container. We sailed to Singapore for drydock. Had a lovely week there and I got the third mates job :) Old man at the time was Jack Chinnery (ex Dagliesh's - geordie outfit).
 
#16 ·
Thanx

"The NAESS SOVEREIGN,she was broken up as BURMAH ZIRCON in 1977 at Barcelona"

Cheers mate.. Luv the photo. Shame to hear of this ship being broken up. I enjoyed my time as an apprentice aboard her along with another apprentice Davie Wedderburn (from Berwick).

Nostalgia right enough...............
 
#17 · (Edited)
Sea Mount

Thanks for the update Ian. I wasn't implying that she ended up in Scott Lithgows as a result of the Sea Mount incident - I just recalled reading about her encounter in a copy of Denholms News sometime in the 70s.

Like you, memory fades with time however, wasn't there a lump of rock removed from the damaged tank during repair? I don't know if I read this or it's possibly a tale that has been embellished in the re-telling. I never sailed with Captain Chinnery during my time with Denholms.
 
#18 ·
The comment that the "Muirfield" 'wasn't a particularly fortunate ship' is very true. Sold in 1978 she was renamed "Atlantic Splendour" and in 1980 was sold to Korea Line Corporation of South Korea and renamed "Salvia". On 9 February 1991 she suffered a hull fracture while loaded with iron ore, was abandoned the following day and sank in 24.15N 154.33E.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Knot .... that rings a bell!

Airds,

You know, that rings a bell too! When it was time to join your next ship, Helen Barr from Personnel used to phone and, as soon as she mentioned Muirfield, all sorts of excuses would emerge as to why you wouldn't be available to travel on that particular day!

Best wishes,

Gulpers
 
#21 · (Edited)
Not particularly fortunate!

Dave Edge,

Thanks for the update Dave. Whilst it is always disturbing to hear of a vessel's loss, sadly there was almost an inevitability that Muirfield would come to a sticky end! I hope no lives were lost when she sank.

Best wishes,

Gulpers
 
#22 · (Edited)
Looks like it was a Sea Mount

Iain Lourie said:
"Japs reckoned it may have been a submarine, but others said sea mountain, another thought a semi-bouyant submerged container. .
Iain,

Just found reference to Muirfield's Sea Mount encounter in an article from Ocean Navigator Online.

"In 1973 MV Muirfield suffered extensive damage to its keel when it struck bottom in an area of the Indian Ocean charted at 5,000 feet. A subsequent survey revealed an uncharted seamount 1.5 miles wide".


Best wishes,

Gulpers
 
#23 ·
Cracks found

Dave Edge said:
The comment that the "Muirfield" 'wasn't a particularly fortunate ship' is very true. Sold in 1978 she was renamed "Atlantic Splendour" and in 1980 was sold to Korea Line Corporation of South Korea and renamed "Salvia". On 9 February 1991 she suffered a hull fracture while loaded with iron ore, was abandoned the following day and sank in 24.15N 154.33E.
That is interesting cause I recall some cracks showing on the main deck from the corner of a couple of the forward holds being repaired. Still it is sad to see her demise....... Wilhelmsens (sp?) must have built a cheapie :)
 
#63 ·
That is interesting cause I recall some cracks showing on the main deck from the corner of a couple of the forward holds being repaired. Still it is sad to see her demise....... Wilhelmsens (sp?) must have built a cheapie :)
Had the "PLEASURE???" of sailing as Chief Eng.on the Atlantic Splendour for 2 years with C.Y Tung and latterly Furness Withy (taken over by C.Y.Tung).Endless problems main engine-wise and the generators regularly threw con-rods out of their crankcases.Froze up in Seven Islands,towed to Halifax. Following voyage tried to destroy the gas terminal in Middlesborough (pilot error).She finally managed to steal two of my fingers under a cylinder head in the middle of the Indian ocean.
 
#25 ·
Ahoy Iain,

Here the article:
"


You can bet the nuclear submarine USS San Francisco had a full range of electronic charts and plenty of watchstanders on duty when it slammed into a Pacific seamount in January. This was not a navigational error in the traditional sense of not knowing where a boat is or believing it is somewhere it isn’t. I’m sure the officers knew exactly where they were and were probably quite relaxed running at 500 feet in waters charted at 6,000 feet. It was their rotten luck the surveyors had missed an underwater mountain!
Image Credit: Courtesy C-Map
This is not the first time something like this has happened. In 1973 MV Muirfield suffered extensive damage to its keel when it struck bottom in an area of the Indian Ocean charted at 5,000 feet. A subsequent survey revealed an uncharted seamount 1.5 miles wide. Closer to home, in 1992 RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 hit an uncharted rock off Block Island. "
 
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