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1962

M.V. Clarkeden

H. Clarkson & Co.

Motor cargo ship

A brief spell in the spring of 1962, running Algerian iron ore from Bougie and Bône into Port Talbot.

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Port TalbotBarrowBougie

1 of 4 passages

15th March 1962 — 23rd March 1962

Barrow → Bougie

1,944 miles · 8 days at sea

TO LOAD

SAILED BARROW 6pm 15th MAR BOUND BOUGIE

Every passage he logged in her. Press play to follow her through, or tap a port to see every time he called there.

Log entries
10
Ports
4
Nautical miles
7,709
Days at sea
29

Her longest passage in the log ran from Port Talbot to Bône — 1,952 miles, 6 days at sea.

The log

8 Mar 1962 to 25 Apr 1962

March 1962

  1. 8 Mar 1962

    Signed on Barrow

    SIGNED ON BARROW 8th MAR

  2. 15 Mar 1962
    6pm

    Sailed Barrow — bound Bougie

    SAILED BARROW 6pm 15th MAR BOUND BOUGIE

  3. 23 Mar 1962
    10am

    Arrived Bougie

    TO LOAD

    ARRIVED BOUGIE 10am 23rd MAR TO LOAD

  4. 26 Mar 1962
    6pm

    Sailed Bougie — bound Land's End

    SAILED BOUGIE 6pm 26th MAR BOUND NW. UK.

April 1962

  1. 3 Apr 1962
    5pm

    Arrived Port Talbot via Barnstaple Bay

    ARRIVED PORT TALBOT 5pm 3rd APR SHELTERED BARNSTAPLE BAY

  2. 6 Apr 1962
    6am

    Sailed Port Talbot — bound Bône

    SAILED PORT TALBOT 6am 6th APR BOUND BONE

  3. 12 Apr 1962
    5pm

    Arrived Bône

    TO LOAD

    ARRIVED BONE 5pm 12th APR TO LOAD

  4. 16 Apr 1962
    6pm

    Sailed Bône — bound Land's End

    SAILED BONE 6pm 16th APR BOUND NW. UK.

  5. 23 Apr 1962
    & 3pm

    Arrived Port Talbot

    DOCKED 9am 24th APR

    ARRIVED PORT TALBOT & 3pm 23rd APR DOCKED 9am 24th APR

  6. 25 Apr 1962
    9pm

    Sailed Port Talbot — bound Narvik

    SAILED PORT TALBOT 9pm 25th APR BOUND NARVIK

What was happening

Background written by the family, not from the logbook — but it explains a good deal of what is in it.

1954–1971

No telephone, no news

There was no way to call home. Letters were sent ahead to the agent at the next port, and if the ship was diverted the mail chased her round the world for months. A man could sail knowing his wife was expecting, and learn he had a child from a telegram handed up a gangway in another hemisphere.

1954–1971

Two years was a normal voyage

Foreign-going Articles could run for up to two years, and often did. David's longest unbroken spell in this logbook runs seventeen months, from June 1960 to November 1961 aboard the Scotstoun. Leave came at the end of it, not during.

1960–1971

The ships get very much bigger

In the 1950s a large tanker carried around 16,000 tons. By the mid-1960s the new turbine tankers carried three and four times that, and they were built too big for the Suez Canal to take them fully laden. Ports had to be rebuilt to match: Europoort was dug out of the sea off Rotterdam, and Kharg Island and Khor al Amaya were built out into deep water offshore.

In the log: David moves from the 1956 Norscot to the Naess ships, and the ports change with them — Europoort, Kharg, Khor al Amaya and Ras Tanura take over the log.

1954–1971

The map keeps changing

The place names in this log are the ones David used, and many of them have since changed. Bombay is Mumbai, Madras is Chennai, Bône is Annaba, Bougie is Béjaïa, Ceylon is Sri Lanka. He sailed through the end of one world map and into another.