Glasgow And Ships Of The Clyde

Westfal-Larsen tanker SPINANGER has an unusual launching at J.L.Thompson shipyard at Sunderland

   A novel method of launching a new ocean-going ship without the use of tugs was used today at the North Sands shipyard of  Joseph L. Thompson & Sons Ltd. at Sunderland, England,

   The 560 feet-long 19,005 deadweight tons tanker SPINANGER for the Westfal-Larsen Company of Bergen, Norway had been named on 9^th October but remained on the slipway unable to be launched owing to a strike for a wage rise by tugboat crews on the Rivers Wear and Tyne.

   As a large number of shipyard men were likely to be laid-off because of the delay in launching, a novel arrangement was conceived to launch and berth the vessel without the use of tugs.

   Two large air compressors were put on the ship, one at each end, and the usual drag chains and hawsers, which slow and stop the vessel when she enters the water, had extra weights added and wires and extra mooring hawsers were led from the stern of the tanker to the adjacent fitting-out quay,

   When SPINANGER was launched the drag chains neatly brought her to a stop in the middle of the River and the air compressors started and used to power winches on the ship to pull her onto the Quayside, the entire operation taking about an hour.

       The vessel is 72 feet beam (wide), has a draught (depth) of 40 feet and will be powered by a type BHK 8000 diesel engine built by Wm. Doxford & Sons Ltd., Sunderland which will give her a service speed of 14.5 knots