Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 198
All ships worldwide are required
to be measured according to
the new rules upon expiry of
the 12-year transitional period,
i.e. from 19 July 1994. Open/
closed shelterdeckers became
popular in liner trades where the
cubic capacity of a ship is more
important than the deadweight
cargo intake. Measurement in
open shelterdeckers ignored the
tweendeck space. This resulted in a
ship having less freeboard, a lower
deadweight capacity, and a lower
GRT/NRT measurement. The cargo
space remained identical in the same
ship before and after conversion
into a closed shelterdecker but the
latter had a higher deadweight
capacity, a deeper draft and a higher
GRT/NRT measurement. Conversion
from open to closed shelterdecker
was a tedious business. Only one
tonnage certificate was permitted
to be carried on board at any one
time, with the other one deposited
at the German ship measurement
authority in Hamburg which had to
authorise the change of documents.
Ships converting in overseas ports
had to enlist the assistance of the
nearest German Consulate. As one
of Egon Oldendorff’s shipmasters
recalls: “On the next morning we
sailed for Callao, the main Peruvian
port. The ship completed discharge
here and had to be converted from
open to closed shelterdecker to suit
the cargo composition of the next
voyage, i.e. copper ore and generals
in the lower holds being the lion’s
share, and Colombian coffee for US
and Eastern Canadian ports to go
in the tweendecks. The boatswain
was instructed to close the tonnage
openings, valves and the trimming
hatches. The Plimsoll mark had
to be freshly painted. A Lloyd’s
surveyor eventually issued the
necessary certificate which I took
to the German Embassy in Lima
where I exchanged the open for
the closed shelterdecker tonnage
certificate sent there by the
Hamburg authority.”
EIBE (1)
1956-1974
194
