Anecdote

After the Platidia, this trip was an absolute breeze. Solen was the newest and smartest Joe Boat I was ever on at 9 years old. Lovely ship, spacious and well fitted with a cavernous engine room. I did my second trip as an apprentice engineer on her, joining in Europe and carrying crude to Malaya and Singapore in 1969 before coming back to the UK in August. It was my first exposure to a Chinese crew, loved their food and still do but can't eat the anglicised versions. I remember the crew catching a huge manta ray while we were on an SPBM off Malaya. Big news rounding the Cape coming back was of the moon landing!

Hemifusus was my last H boat, joined and left in Singapore during first half of 74 after I had passed my 2nd Class Steam ticket. Nice old girl, running around the Pacific with Lub Oils and the only time I went to Japan was on her. I loved the routes but, with new ships coming on line and me only getting sent to old ones, I was becoming a little bored with Shell boats by the time I was on her and wanted something more modern so I left Shell for a challenging role with a Greek shipping company - where my Panamanian ticket cost me just 10bucks and I could have a 2/E berth and pay!

Hemicardium was my one and only full trip as a 5/e. I joined it and left it in Curacao during 1971, in between we did lub oils around Europe and Africa and drydocked in Bremerhaven. With the Hemidonax, she was quite unique in having Thomson Lamont forced circulation boilers which were not in good shape when I joined. Our drydock in Bremerhaven was only pretty uneventful, I remember a stripper doing amazing things (to me) with a snake in a nightclub and that I was on duty one night, walking around the top of the boiler room when I suddenly heard a stream of Glaswegian expletives (I had done my Phase 3 there so understood the lingo a bit). He had been burning out air heater tubes and some slag got inside his collar guard. It turned out he lived round teh corner from the girlfriend of one of my fellow apprentices. We did a hell of a lot of work during the dock and the ship was not too bad by the time we returned to Curacao for our next African run. There were a few issues but by and large we coped quite well and I and a couple of others asked if I could return for my next trip. No answer from Shell but I believe they considered sending out a psychiatrist as everyone before had been desperate to leave her. Hard work, but one of my best trips!

I joined the Axina in Honolulu in January 1972 as 4/E. We flew out a few days beforehand and had a chance to go round Pearl Harbour and swim on Waikiki beach - "this is the life" I thought. She was a good ship in so many ways, well maintained, smart, decent accommodation, good food (Chinese crew if I remember correctly) and carrying white oils when I was on her. We ran on Shell Eastern routes, including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and various Pacific islands all from Bukom. Happy days. I paid off in Singapore after just over 4 months a happy man. That was soon to be overturned when I got my next posting!

I joined the Acavus for my final trip as an apprentice engineer August 1970 but I can't remember where that was. I completed the required total of 18 months sea time as we apprentices did in those days on her. We were carrying white oils (quite a change after bitumen on my first ship and crude on my second) and we were often discharging up the US west and gulf coasts. She was the first vessel on which I came across a sewage treatment plant which had been fitted in preparation for trips up the St Lawrence Seaway although I never did that route. The Hamworthy system used to get blocked up with cigarette filter tips thrown down the heads and hammocks for hamsters quietly disposed of by any young lady on board. As the E/A doing the 12-4, keeping it working was delegated to me - perhaps that's why some said I was full of sh!t. My only trip to Punta Cardun, Venezuala was on her, where we almost lost a 1st trip 5/E who fell in love with one of the girls at La Estrella - the innocence of first trippers versus the experience of an apprentice almost out of his probationary time ;-) . I became a fully fledged 5th engineer on her March '71 on passage to Halifax, Nova Scotia where we discharged a cargo of Stove Oil and I paid off. Nice flight home with TCA (long since gone).

My father R.S. Datema was the first captain on this vessel . My brother and I were on the maiden trip . Good memories . Litlle boys ... a lot of vanilla icecream .

This was my wife's first trip to sea with me, was a short voyage as broke my right wrist trying to start emergency fire pump down the fore peak. 2nd engineer and I did not know it had been under water!! we paid off on Middlesborough

My mum remembers that her father, Philip Sharer, captained this vessel. I don't know of any dates unfortunately bit if anyone out there crewed with him and could tell me anything about any journeys, places or anything about him I'd be really grateful. I have memories as a kid spending time round his house and all the seeing souvenirs he collected from his travels. He also had a Shell flag desk ornament that i used to love raising and lowering. I never got the chance to know him as well as I'd have liked to and would've loved to have heard him tell of his time at sea. Any information... good or bad (!) I'd love to hear it.

On a routine Main Engine Crankcase inspection in 1999 I found extensive cracks in some of the main bearing support girders. Repairs were not feasible the only remedy was to fit a complete new Main Engine bed plate. In the last quarter of 2001 Myrina entered Sembawang shipyard Singapore to have this work carried out Phill Williams was the Engineer superintendent and I was also there as a temporary Engine Superintendent due to the amount of Main Engine work involved. This was completed and the vessel sailed with the Main Engine fully operational in November.

Prior to handing the ship over to its new owners in March 2004 she spent 3 months in Sembawang shipyard Singapore fitting a new Main Engine Bed plate due to the original developing cracks in the bearing housings similar to those found in Myrina where the bed plate was changed 2001.

My great-grandfather was the Master of this ship ... his name was Capt. William Daniel of Aberdovey and Ilford.

I have an original photograph of this ship sent by Capt. Daniel to his daughter Myfanwy Daniel (my grandmother)

We where in Kuwait discharging into 30 ton lorries. We only pumped during the day and the bitumen hardened in the pipes over night.
One morning we got set to discharge again and tanker driver was standing over the hole that our discharge pipe went into on the top of the truck. He was in typical Arab dress of kaftan and flip flops and tried to get him to stand well clear of the hatch. However he would not listen and choose to peer into where our pipe went into the truck.
The pumpman had to us quite a bit of pressure this morning to clear the blockages. There was so much pressure that when the bitumen left the end of the discharge pipe it bounced straight up and out. The Arab was sprayed with bitumen from head to foot and could dance pretty well. I haven't got a clue what happened to him, it was in the middle of Ramadan and I remember being thirsty, Amstel time.