Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 310
This created a severe imbalance
within the partnership, and KarlHeinz Sager was highly pleased
at the opportunity of upwardsadjusting the capacities of the
Senator Linie contingent in the
RTW fleet. Whilst Senator Linie
had meanwhile established itself
as a market factor it had so far
failed to achieve a balanced
result, let alone to write black
figures. On the contrary, losses
accumulated, and Egon Oldendorff
decided to sell its Senator Linie
shares early in 1992. Hamburg-Süd
similarly withdrew from Senator
on 1 December of that year. The
shares were taken over by HIBEG
Hanseatische Industrie Beteiligung
GmbH, a company backed by the
City of Bremen. Senator Linie
redelivered the LONDON SENATOR
to her owners in the spring of 1992
after four years of RTW service. The
ship had completed her final round
voyages as the DSR OAKLAND.
Thereafter the BIRTE OLDENDORFF
(1,800 TEU), now renamed VILLE DE
CASTOR, traded for account of CMA
Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement
of Marseille in that line’s service
between Europe and the Far East
and in November 1992 delivered
into a period timecharter with SeaLand Service, again on the Europe/
Far East route. Both sisters are
now performing under a five-year
charter to Mediterranean Shipping
Co., Geneva.
Egon Oldendorff acquired two
combined container/RoRo freighters
in November 1992, built in France
as part of a French-Polish joint
venture, the KAZIMIERZ PULASKI
and the TADEUSZ KOSCIUSZKO.
These versatile ships with a cargo
capacity of 22,709 tonnes, 544
lane metres on the RoRo deck,
and lowerhold capacities for 1,417
TEU plus 675 motor vehicles had
a Sulzer main engine licence-built
by Poznan-based H. Cegielski of
21,350 kW output for a service
speed exceeding 20 knots. The
ships became redundant when
Polish Ocean Lines suspended
their North Atlantic liner service.
Tailor-made to compete with similar
freighters of Atlantic Container Line
(ACL) the ships’ chances of finding
buyers appeared slim. Oldendorff
superintendents found out that
the vessels could be modified into
27,000 tonnes/1,700 TEU units, or
even into pure containerships, at
justifiable cost. Conversion costs
could reasonably be expected to
be on the low side considering the
worldwide slump in newbuilding
and conversion activities. Having
been taken over the ships were
given the Oldendorff livery, and
renamed HINRICH OLDENDORFF (3)
and GEBE OLDENDORFF (3) at LloydWerft in Bremerhaven and Blohm +
Voss in Hamburg, respectively.
HINRICH OLDENDORFF delivered
into a four-year timecharter
with Bridge Line/Blue Star Line
after previously completing one
round voyage for Mediterranean
Shipping Company of Geneva (MSC).
Renamed PYRMONT BRIDGE the
vessel operates on the Australia/
Far East and back route. Sistership
GEBE OLDENDORFF completed
two North Atlantic round voyages
for account of Canada Maritime
and thereafter one voyage for
Polish Ocean Lines. Eventually
she berthed at Jurong Shipyard in
Singapore on 15 April 1993. That
shipyard had been put to test
before when Egon Oldendorff had
its two multi-purpose freighters
BEATE OLDENDORFF and MARIA
OLDENDORFF lengthened in
Singapore. Now, the yard converted
the vessel into a full containership of
approximately 2,000 TEU intake in a
period of seven weeks by removing
the stern ramp and the rear RoRo
decks. The yard fitted container cells
and lift-away hatch covers. One
more deck came on top of the former
bridge deck and now accommodated
nautical equipment, etc., thereby
enabling the ship to carry five tiers
of containers on deck.
306
Right: Close-up views of
the ANNA OLDENDORFF
(4) completed. She and
her sistership ERNA
OLDENDORFF were
constructed at Shikoku,
Japan in 1993/94.
