Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 197
BIGGER AND BOLDER
Breaking the 10,000 tdw barrier – with vessels
designed to carry everything from coffee to
fee-paying passengers.
Commencing with the purchase from the Netherlands in 1953 of 9,600 tdw
CHRISTOFFER OLDENDORFF the company entered a new size bracket which was
rapidly expanded. Sister vessels EIBE OLDENDORFF and HINRICH OLDENDORFF,
each of 10,780 tdw and 584,000 cu ft, were taken delivery of from Flensburger
Schiffbau Gesellschaft in 1956/57, followed by CATHARINA OLDENDORFF of
10,785/12,978 tdw as well as HELGA OLDENDORFF of 12,960/15,265 tdw and
her sister JOHANNA OLDENDORFF, built by Lübecker Flenderwerke in 1956 and
1958, respectively. The ships were tweendeckers and had ample cargo gear.
Like all other Oldendorff newbuildings the ships had very well-appointed
cabins accommodating up to 12 paying passengers. Freighters appealed to
travellers not so much because they disliked luxury cruise liners and the strict
dress regulations associated with them but because they preferred to see the
world in a more relaxed manner. The ships had ample cargo handling gear that
mostly included one heavylift derrick of 20, 30 or 50 tonnes lifting capacity.
The twin measurements and deadweight capacities came as a result of the ship
measurement rules valid at the time until the new rules came into force from
18 July 1982. As of that day the new International Convention on Tonnage
Measurement of Ships took the place of the former which had been in force
for more than 100 years and did away with the Gross Registered Ton.
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