Glasgow And Ships Of The Clyde

STEN TRITON arrives in the Firth of Clyde (Scotland, UK) with oil from Mongstad (Norway)

Contributed by Sandra B. (Site Administrator)

13: 37 hours  Thursday.

   I'll start with an AXIOM ----- a self evident truth.

When you look at the sea or river ... what colour do you see ?

 The answere is .... the colour is simply a reflection of the colour of the sky above the water.     So, for example, in the Mediterranean on a beautiful sunny day the sea will be the same colour as the blue sky.

   Now look at these first few images of STEN TRITON arriving in the Firth of Clyde (Scotland)

   The first shows the tanker, hardly visible, emerging from the thick murky and misty gloom.   Look at the colour of the sea.   Yes, that nasty grey colour was a reflection of the thick dark grey blanket of clouds overhead in the sky.

   But good news.   The following less-than-perfect photographs show the mist gradually clearing .... no, it's not my poor amateurish photographic skill, the images were taken in bursts of thinning mist.

14:10 hours  Thursday

   STEN TRITON is now passing Greenock Ocean Terminal on her way upriver to the Fuel Terminal at Rothesay Dock, Clydebank (near to Glasgow)   The mist of thirty minutes earlier has now gone and the sun is desperately trying to burst through.   The container ship ELBTEAM can be seen completing loading and will soon be leaving for Bilbao (Spain / Espana).

   The tanker had been met by two tugs off Fort Matilda, Greenock.

 I'll do a little bit of tour guide for you.   Fort Matilda is an area at Whiteforland Point at the western end of Greenock Esplanade.   Around very early 1800's an Army fort was built there, equipped with cannons to protect Greenock from enemy shipping.

    Over the years a naval torpedo manufacturing base was established there and finally was a Coastguard and Maritime Agency office, along with other Government Offices.   

   Nowadays the area is mostly a residential suburb of town houses and villas, with a few businesses.   

   In World War 2 (1939-1945) the nearby Battery Park in Gourock was the base of a battery of anti-aircraft guns to protect the shipyards and dock areas from German bombers .... hence the name Battery Park. 

   So now back to the two tugs meeting STEN TRITON.

A smaller tug, CMS WRESTLER, took station ahead of the tanker to escort her along the channel to Clydebank where the tug would attach her tow-line to assist STEN TRITON to the Fuel Berth.

   The much larger and powerful tug SVITZER MILFORD took station close astern of STEN TRITON and she would follow the tanker up the River Clyde to Clydebank. 

Tug SVITZER MILFORD following closely astern of the tanker