Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 271
The founder of the company did not
live to witness the commissioning of
the Panamax bulk carriers. He died
on 9 May 1984, at the age of 84 years.
Starting young he had converted a
small shipping company to a mediumsized tramp shipping operation.
He had lost most of his fleet and
rebuilt it after the second world
war and had renewed it entirely
from the mid-Sixties. His eldest
son Klaus had decided to start his
own shipping business. A qualified
successor was there, the founder’s
son Henning who had undergone
comprehensive training and had
also adopted a considerable deal
of his father’s philosophy.
The next couple of newbuildings
were already under construction
and had in fact been launched at
Dalian Shipyard in China by the
time the building contracts for the
geared 28,000 tdw bulk carriers
were signed. Originally ordered by
Hong Kong shipowner Y.K.Pao and
somewhat later transferred to
Wheelock Marden of Hong Kong,
the ships were commissioned as
the RIXTA OLDENDORFF (2) and
REGINA OLDENDORFF (2), registered
in Hong Kong for newly-founded
Egon Oldendorff (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Hit by deteriorating freight rates,
Wheelock Marden found it impossible
to honour the contracts which forced
the builders to sell the ships at a rockbottom price, the lowest ever paid for
newbuildings of a similar description
before or after this deal. In the same
year a third sistership built two years
before was acquired and re-named
HELENA OLDENDORFF (2).
The following newbuilding orders
went to Sunderland. Egon Oldendorff
had developed this new type of
vessel called EcoFlex (for economy
and flexibility) in close cooperation
with Austin & Pickersgill. Oldendorff
had discovered a gap in the market
created not only by a preponderance
of fast containership newbuildings
in preference to large tweendeckers
but also by scrapping of ageing
vessels. The EcoFlex type replaced
traditional liner vessels required in
many trades to carry conventional
generals as also semi-bulk cargoes,
hazardous goods, steel products,
pipes and tubes, construction
material, machinery, forest products,
as well as bagged and palletised
goods. Many of those commodities
are not suitable for containerisation.
Henning Oldendorff sensed the trend
towards ships of about 23,000 tdw
with a good container intake, fully
fitted to carry conventional generals
and bulk cargoes and adequately
geared. Success proved him right.
One decisive element was a very
attractive price reduced further by
contractual penalties paid by the
shipyard for late deliveries. Actual
building costs amounted to two times
the contract price. Gerd-Dietrich
Schneider devoted the lead article
of his shipping page in the NordseeZeitung daily to the EcoFlex type:
“Egon Oldendorff (Hong Kong) Ltd.
have recently commissioned the first
of two multi-purpose freighters, the
DIETRICH OLDENDORFF (5), registered
at Gibraltar and flying the British
flag. The vessel had been ordered,
together with sistership JOHANNA
OLDENDORFF (3) due for delivery in
mid-1987, from state-owned British
Shipbuilders’ Sunderland-based
North East Shipbuilders Ltd. and had
been constructed by the Southwick
shipyard (Austin & Pickersgill).
When Blohm + Voss had completed
finishing work for account of the
original builders the ship was delivered
into a five-months timecharter with
Shipping Corporation of India Ltd.
of Bombay for two round voyages
from the Continent/UK to India. Both
newbuildings have been named
and were launched on 3 November
1986. They have a bulbous bow,
and their main engine consists of a
MAN/B&W two-stroke supercharged
diesel engine type 4L70MCE licencemanufactured by Clark Kincaid of
Greenock, rated at 9,700 HP/95 rpm or
8,784 HP/92 rpm for a service speed
267
of 17/16.5 knots consuming about
25.5 tonnes of heavy fuel or no
more than 11 tonnes at a speed of
11 knots. A 750 kW Siemens generator
is coupled to the forward end of
the main engine. The ship also has
four auxiliary diesel engines. Bunker
capacity of 1,200 tonnes gives
cruising ranges of 18,500 or 28,000
nautical miles at 16 or 11 knots,
respectively. Ballast water capacity
is 6,100 tonnes.
“Main dimensions are 187.4/178m
length, 23m width, 13.5m moulded
depth to weatherdeck, resp. 8.7m to
tweendeck and 16.2m to poop deck.
DIETRICH OLDENDORFF has been
measured at 15,987.9 GRT/11,410.9
NRT. Her carrying capacity is
23,186 tdw at 9.5m draft and about
15,600 tonnes at 7.4m container
draft. Panama Canal measurement
amounts to 17,591 GRT/14,351 NRT,
Suez Canal figures are 17,436.6 GRT
/14,131 NRT. Total displacement
is about 30,800 tonnes. At 7.92m
St. Lawrence draft, the ship has
a deadweight capacity of 16,806
tonnes, and 6,700 tonnes on a
ballast draft of 4.8m.
“The 24 crew are accommodated
in single cabins. There are double
cabins for the owners, for pilots
and for the supercargo, plus
accommodation for six Suez Canal
crew. An open-air swimming pool
has been fitted. All GRP lifeboats
have been supplied by Robert
Hatecke GmbH & Co.KG of Stade.
Extensive navigational equipment
includes a satellite navigator and
ditto communication, two radar
sets, one gyro compass with auto
pilot, Loran and weather chart
recorder. A universal computer and
a trim indicator serve to monitor
cargo operations.”
