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1964

T.T. Naess Spirit

Norcape Shipping Co.

Turbine tanker

A supertanker, and too big for the Suez Canal when she was full. She goes out to the Gulf light through the Canal and comes home the long way, round the Cape of Good Hope.

2 pictures — tap to see them · Lemonos_Vladimir, via ShipSpotting

Ras TanuraPointe-à-PierreGlasgowMarseillesPort SaidLas PalmasEuropoort

1 of 9 passages

16th May 1964 — 20th May 1964

Marseilles → Port Said

1,680 miles · 4 days at sea

bound Ras Tanura

SAILED Marseilles 2am 16th May bound Ras Tanura

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
23
Ports
8
Nautical miles
63,935
Days at sea
164

Her longest passage in the log ran from Pointe-à-Pierre to Ras Tanura by way of The Cape of Good Hope — 13,501 miles, 29 days at sea.

The log

9 Apr 1964 to 11 Nov 1964

April 1964

  1. 9 Apr 1964

    Signed on Glasgow

    SIGNED ON Glasgow 9th April

  2. 10 Apr 1964

    Joined Marseilles

    JOINED Marseilles 10th Apr.

May 1964

  1. 16 May 1964
    2am

    Sailed Marseilles — bound Ras Tanura

    bound Ras Tanura

    SAILED Marseilles 2am 16th May bound Ras Tanura

  2. 20 May 1964
    11am

    Arrived Port Said

    ARRIVED Port Said 11am 20th May

  3. 21 May 1964

    Canal transit

    CANAL TRANSIT 4pm 20th - 9am 21st May

  4. 21 May 1964
    9.30am

    Sailed Suez — bound Ras Tanura

    bound Ras Tanura

    SAILED Suez 9.30am 21st May bound Ras Tanura

  5. 30 May 1964
    6am

    Arrived Ras Tanura

    to load

    ARRIVED Ras Tanura 6am 30th May to load

  6. 31 May 1964
    10pm

    Sailed Ras Tanura — bound Trinidad

    bound Trinidad

    SAILED Ras Tanura 10pm 31st May bound Trinidad

June 1964

  1. 29 Jun 1964
    2am

    Arrived Pointe-à-Pierre

    to discharge & load

    ARRIVED Pointe-a-Pierre 2am 29th June to discharge & load

July 1964

  1. 2 Jul 1964
    1pm

    Sailed Pointe-à-Pierre — bound Las Palmas

    bound Las Palmas F.Oil

    SAILED Pointe-a-Pierre 1pm 2nd July bound Las Palmas F.Oil

  2. 10 Jul 1964
    1pm

    Arrived Las Palmas

    to discharge 52,000t

    ARRIVED Las Palmas 1pm 10th July to discharge 52,000t

  3. 15 Jul 1964
    1am

    Sailed Las Palmas — bound Ras Tanura

    bound Ras Tanura

    SAILED Las Palmas 1am 15th July bound Ras Tanura

  4. 23 Jul 1964
    10am

    Arrived Port Said

    (Running Red Spree)

    ARRIVED Port Said 10am 23rd July (Running Red Spree)

  5. 24 Jul 1964

    Canal transit

    CANAL TRANSIT 11pm 23rd - 4:30pm 24th July

  6. 24 Jul 1964
    5pm

    Sailed Suez

    SAILED Port Suez 5pm 24th July

August 1964

  1. 3 Aug 1964
    6am

    Arrived Ras Tanura

    to load

    ARRIVED Ras Tanura 6am 3rd Aug to load

  2. 4 Aug 1964
    6am

    Sailed Ras Tanura — bound Trinidad via The Cape of Good Hope

    bound Trinidad (Red Spree)

    SAILED Ras Tanura 6am 4th Aug bound Trinidad (Red Spree)

September 1964

  1. 9 Sep 1964
    noon

    Arrived Pointe-à-Pierre

    to discharge

    ARRIVED Pointe-a-Pierre 12 noon 9th Sept to discharge

  2. 11 Sep 1964
    noon

    Sailed Pointe-à-Pierre — bound Ras Tanura via The Cape of Good Hope

    bound Ras Tanura (via Cape)

    SAILED Pointe-a-Pierre 12 noon 11th Sept bound Ras Tanura (via Cape)

October 1964

  1. 10 Oct 1964
    10pm

    Arrived Ras Tanura

    to load

    ARRIVED Ras Tanura 10pm 10th Oct to load

  2. 11 Oct 1964
    11pm

    Sailed Ras Tanura — bound Europoort via The Cape of Good Hope

    bound Europort (via Cape)

    SAILED Ras Tanura 11pm 11th Oct bound Europort (via Cape)

November 1964

  1. 11 Nov 1964
    6am

    Arrived Europoort

    to discharge

    ARRIVED Europort 6am 11th Nov to discharge

  2. 11 Nov 1964
    8pm

    Arrived Glasgow

    ARRIVED Glasgow 8pm 11th Nov

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.

1964–1965

The long way round, by choice

A very large tanker could pass through Suez empty but not full. So she would load in the Gulf, steam all the way round the Cape of Good Hope to discharge in Europe or the Caribbean, and then come back light through the Canal. It added around 4,000 miles and three weeks to every laden passage.

In the log: In 1964 the Naess Spirit twice passes through Suez in ballast, then makes her three long hauls between the Gulf, Trinidad and Rotterdam the other way, round the Cape.

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.