Glasgow And Ships Of The Clyde

ONITSHA loads 7 heavy lifts from Floating crane NEWSHOT

Fourah Bay, of Liverpool, contributes

   Elder Dempster Line’s 416 feet long general cargo liner ONITSHA arrived at Glasgow from Liverpool at 1520 on Sunday 8^th July 1962.

   She tied up at berth 22 Prince’s Dock with her head East (that is …. facing towards Glasgow)  …  and bow to the end of the shed.   Her draught forward was 10’ 05” and aft 16’ 11” and she was light-ship …. that is, she was empty of cargo, and had come to Glasgow to load cargo for Freetown (Sierra Leone) and other West African ports.

   Her Agent in Glasgow was Roxburgh Colin Scott.

    Stevedores (also known as “Dockers” … and known in America as “Longshoremen”) of the J. Spencer Company boarded the vessel at 0800 on Monday and commenced loading 2240 tons of General Cargo (in other words this can mean cases, cartons, boxes, individual items, bales, rolls …. etc.) and loading was completed at 1320 on 13^th July.

    Heavy-lift items were also loaded onto the ship.   The 60-ton capacity self-propelled floating crane NEWSHOT came alongside on 9^th July and loaded 9 lifts totalling 200 tons onto ONITSHA, and on 12^th July NEWSHOT loaded a further 3 lifts of 21 tons and 4 lifts each of 22 tons 17 cwts (hundredweights) onto the ship.

    The vessel was then prepared for departure and, at 1625 on 13^th July (3 hours after finishing loading) and drawing 16’ 10” forward and 17’ 09” aft, she was towed from her berth and canted (turned) in the Canting Basin of Prince’s Dock then made her way down the River Clyde on passage to Swansea (South Wales) to load more cargo for West Africa.

   ONITSHA was owned by the Elder Dempster Line of Liverpool and was one of their “O” class of General Cargo liners (the others being OWERRI, OBUASI, ONDO and OTI) and she was built by Harland & Wolff at Belfast in 1952.  

   She served on her owners’ U.K. and Continent to West Africa service until 1972 when she was sold to Empros Lines of Greece and was renamed AMVOURGON.   On 8^th January 1975 the ship was on passage from Quebec City (Canada) to Baltimore (U.S.A.) when she caught fire off Rivière-au-Renard on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.   The entire crew of 30 abandoned ship and were rescued by a Canadian Military Helicopter and the American Light Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. WRIGHT (Pennant number CVL-49)