After being absent from this harbour for more than 26 years, the funnel markings of one of Denmark's oldest independently operated shipping companies returned last Friday with the arrival of the Chinese-built tanker Nord Swan.
Ordered from the Guangzhou Shipyard International Company on March 26, 2006, it was laid down on January 19, 2009.
Launched on April 13, the 24,066gt, 38,626dwt vessel was delivered on July 15. Registered at Copenhagen, the tanker is owned by Dampskibs "Norden" A/S.
However, the word Norient, displayed on its hull, denotes that it is part of the Norient Product Pool.
This started operations on January 1, 2005, in a partnership between the Danish company and the Limassol-controlled Interorient Navigation Company Ltd, which started up in 1979.
With its somewhat formidable Danish title of Dampskibsseltskabets "Norden" Aktieselskab, the company was founded in 1871 by Mads Christian Holm.
And it takes its names from the first ship in the fleet, the 1207gt iron screw steamer Norden completed at Glasgow by the Aitken & Mansel yard in February 1872. Nord Swan is the fifth unit of the fleet that I have seen here.
The first, on November 24, 1951, was another Norden, a 4685gt motor ship completed by the Nakskov shipyard in June 1946. Next visitor, a further delivery from this Danish shipyard in June 1955, was the 4919gt motor ship Nordpol.
It arrived on September 13, 1955, on its maiden voyage, and like Norden also discharged general cargo at Dunedin. While Norden was sold out of the fleet in 1963, Nordpol came to an untimely end while still serving during the India-Pakistan war.
While lying in the Chalna Anchorage on December 18, 1971, the ship was heavily damaged and gutted by an Indian air attack.
The other units of the fleet that came our way were their Mitsui-built bulk carriers, the 19,625gt Nordtramp and the 19,686gt Nordkyn, which entered service in July 1973 and July 1977, respectively.
Nordkyn berthed on its maiden voyage on August 19, 1977, and returned again on October 19, 1978.
Nordtramp arrived on October 6, 1983, and came back once more on February 24, 1984.
They discharged phosphate at Ravensbourne on their visits. Incidentally, Nordkyn turned up again on April 23, 1990, as the Hong Kong-registered Star Lily, to discharge sulphur.
In 1946, another Copenhagen company, Dampskibs "Orient", began to acquire shares in Norden and by 1955 held the majority of the shares in the company.
Both companies finally merged in 1994, four years after Norden had established a tanker arm.
At the end of last year, Norden was operating a fleet of 164 owned or chartered vessels in the bulk and tanker sectors.
More than 60 vessels were under construction or on order. Two other recent newcomers were Lake Dany for logs and Triple Ever with phosphate.
Owned by Salter Shipping S. A. and registered at Panama, the former is a 17,018gt, 28,358dwt built by the Shimanami (formerly named Watanabe) yard at Hakata.
It was laid down on September 18, 2007, launched on January 21, 2008, and delivered a few weeks later on February 27. The characters on its funnel identified the 30,046gt, 52,454dwt Triple Ever as having a strong Japanese connection.
The bulk carrier is registered at Hong Kong to the ownership of Kambara Kisen (Hong Kong) Ltd, an off-shoot of the parent Hiroshima-based Kambara company.
This 189.99m-long vessel was laid down on December 14, 2004, launched on July 27, 2005, and handed over on August 29, 2005, from the Tsuneishi yard at Numakuma.
