# Bauxite run



## janbonde

any-one spent time on the bauxite run hauling it from the Guyana to Port Alfred in Canada for Saguenay terminal in the fifties,looking for verification of a south-bound port,where we used to load Gypsum, and haul it down to the States


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## John Rogers

Would it be Three Rivers??


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## janbonde

*ports*

It was Dingwall NS what were you a Laker


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## John Rogers

No I wasn't a laker, I sailed on Charles Hills ships for some time ,Montreal City,Bristol City, and our port of calls were in Halifax,Quebec,Three Rivers,Saint Johns,New York,Baltimore and Norfolk. The seaway to the lakes was only a dream back then.


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## janbonde

Charley hills submarines is how i heard it


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## John Rogers

Chuckle Chuckle!!! yes at times we were under water,and also breaking ice going down the St lawrence. Great crew and experienced masters,what else could you ask for.
Its a weird sound to hear the ice on the ships side when you are down below shoveling coal.


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## janbonde

I know I ran the Baltic on a Swede for 6 mnths and the water line was right by my bunk


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## fred henderson

Very interesting. Hawthorn Leslie built two bauxite carriers in 1950/51 for the South America to Canada service. They were the Pathfinder and Prospector. They both returned to the Tyne after about 10 years to renew their bottom shell plates. In the yard we thought they were loading or discharging at a tidal berth where they grounded at low tide. Could the hull damage have been the result of regular work in ice?
Fred


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## janbonde

Not really back in those days the Saguenay was closed during the winter months we used to do our last run in about Oct -Nov then for the freeze-up time we built up the stock-pile in Chagaramus Trinidad, where we topped up as you could not take a full load in Mackenzie Guyana,then back on the haul about March up to Canada


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## mastermariner

*Li-Ore*



fred henderson said:


> Very interesting. Hawthorn Leslie built two bauxite carriers in 1950/51 for the South America to Canada service. They were the Pathfinder and Prospector. They both returned to the Tyne after about 10 years to renew their bottom shell plates. In the yard we thought they were loading or discharging at a tidal berth where they grounded at low tide. Could the hull damage have been the result of regular work in ice?
> Fred


Hi. I sailed on Prospector, Pathfinder and Dispatcher. They were shuttlers mailny running between Suriname (Dutch Guyana) and Trinidad in the late 50s untill they were scrapped around 1980. The reason for the new bottom shell plating was that the ships was running into 2 feet of mud going up to Mongo in Suriname. They had to put new bottom plating on at intervalls.


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## stan mayes

During 1951 and 1952 I was in two tramps -Freecrest and Starcrest -and both were on Saguenay charter.
McKenzie then top up at Chagaramus for Port Alfred..before arrival it was very hard work for us.. Scores of hatchboards to take off and 50 beams from the
tween decks and main decks to remove with derricks.
This was the procedure at all ports.
It was an 8 hour discharge then leave the berth as there were always ships awaiting.
From here to Dingwall NS and loaded gypsum for Savannah.
We received £3 per month Bauxite bonus while on that trade.
Near Port Alfred was a small town Chicatoumi - the most inhospitable place I ever visited -almost as bad as Reykjavik!!
During our time with Saguenay they had about 60 ships of all nationalities on charter..
Stan


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## eldersuk

I did 12 months on the Sunjarv. Mackenzie to Chaguaramus to North Europe, mainly Ardalstangen. East Coast USA ports. Port Alfred to Kitimat and several Caribbean ports. Did one run to Birkenhead which cost us a year's tax.

Altogether quite an eye-opener for someone used to three month West Africa trips.

Derek


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## charles henry

*m/v Cheticamp*



janbonde said:


> any-one spent time on the bauxite run hauling it from the Guyana to Port Alfred in Canada for Saguenay terminal in the fifties,looking for verification of a south-bound port,where we used to load Gypsum, and haul it down to the States


First job in Canada, the Cheticamp's steady run, Savana Georgia for Bauxite to
Dingwall or Cheticamp, 1953, Captain Maw (Nicest man I ever knew )
2nd mate Stonehouse (Also a professional wrestler)
very happy ship
Chas (Pint)(Pint)


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## Alex Salmond

Have posted elsewhere about this run as I was on SSM ship the Baron Dunmore in 1971 when we went up to that hellhole Mackenzie up the Demerara river,what a godawful place ,from memory you had to wait in Georgetown for the tide to get over the bar and then up to Mackenzie a place covered i red dust,then over to Shagaramus ( my spelling) in Trinidad then on to that cold icy hole up the Saguenay river Port Alfred i think we were the last ship out that year as the river was starting to ice up,not one of my better memories of my time at sea.


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## Tom Condren

Anyone ever loaded at Port Kamsar?


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## stan mayes

Nobody has yet verified the payment of a bonus on the bauxite trade
or did it only apply on tramps?


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## IRW

Used to have a bauxite run in SSM from Trombetas (couple of days up Amazon) to Port Alfred. Ballast trip back BUT all ballast had to be changed once in the Amazon as quickly as poss incl No.3 Hold so no contamination carried up river. IRW


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## Robinj

Used to do a Bauxite run from Trinidad to Mobile Alabama early 1963 on the Naess Clarion 'Denholms'


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## oldsalt1

Loaded at Port Kamsar in November/December of 1975 on SSM's Cape Race on 10 year time charter to Alcan. Not a regular port of call for the Caper Race or her sister Baron Belhaven
Can't remember much about the place except that there was no shore leave.


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## royhamre

*Bauxitetrader*



Robinj said:


> Used to do a Bauxite run from Trinidad to Mobile Alabama early 1963 on the Naess Clarion 'Denholms'


Hey there1
Was in the trade from Trinidad-Suriname to Canada.The ship`s name
"SUNGEIRA",homeport Bergen,NorwayI had almost a year in the trade
(1970-1971),and that was enought!!


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## lakercapt

I did that bauxite run in 1956 on Ropners "Inleby" and like Stan it was beams and hatches that were on and off like that proverbial ladies panties when the fleet was in.That was a major workup as these hatchboards were heavy.
McKenzie to Chaguaramus a few times them finally topped up and up to Port Alfred. My did the system get a shock with the rapid change in the temperature.
Used to get some time waiting for the tide to cross the bar at Georgetown


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## stan mayes

Hello Bill,
I asked on this thread last year No11- Did anybody receive a bonus while on 
this trade?
All deck crew in Freecrest and Starcrest received £3 per month - surely that
must have come from the charterers Saguenay terminals!
Stan


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## eldersuk

When we paid off Saguenay's Sunjarv after 12 months there was a bonus for the OM and the Chief. However the Chief was too p****d to accept it. I was 2nd so they gave it to me. Quite substantial too.

Derek


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## lakercapt

Stan I do believe that on pay off we got a bonus but I was not told what it was for I just put it in my pocket as it was cash.


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## Mariner44

I joined the Sunwalker in Chaguaramas, Trinindad, in August 1968 - 2 days after getting married - for a 2 year stint on "the shuttle" between Mackenzie and Chaguaramas. 3/O, 2/O then C/O.

Saguenay Terminals was the employer and paid Canadian rates - about double UK rates - which made it all worth while and funded my exit strategy.

For those of us who did the regular 6 and a half days round trip, it wasn't too bad at all. There was a social club at Mackenzie for Demerara Mining Company employees, which we used, and it had a good cinema (there were no on board films). Social links were made in Georgetown, often through the river pilots, and I am particularly grateful to the wife of one pilot, Percy Prasad, who introduced me to the subtle delights of Indian cuisine. Until 1968 I was strictly "meat and two veg".

The bauxite dust could be really bad....although I think the loading/unloading experiences in the rainy season were probably the worst when the muck would be walked through the ship.

The shuttle boats would head north to Davy's shipyard opposite Quebec City once a year to have their bottom plating replaced. The ships were loaded to a level draft of high water depth at Georgetown bar PLUS 12inches in order to get maximum cargo to Trinidad. The economics seemed to be that extra cargo value outweighed the cost of more frequent dry docking and replacing the bottom plates.

Georgetown could be a bit wild, although not as bad as Jamaica. Mugging, otherwise known as "choke and rob" locally, was prevalent. For women, it was referred to as "choke and stroke" so my wife never went around on foot after dark during the few months that she lived in the Park Hotel in Georgetown. 

A process of 'nationalisation' had begun when I was working in Guyana, whereby all the officers were to be replaced by Guyanese nationals. The crew were already local from Guyana or Trinidad.


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## Chris Wakefield

*Alcan Bauxite Run*

I spent 4 years on the Alcan Bauxite run and on the three Alcan vessels.
M.V Northern Enterprise, a panamax size ice class vessel, mainly used to run from Port Alfred to Trombetas, or sometimes across to Port Kamsar.
M.V Northern Progress, 45, 000 gearless ice class vessel, mostly used on the Jamaica to Port Alfred Alumina run
M.V Northern Venture, 45,000 gearless ice class vessel, mostly used for Bauxite, running from Port Kamsar, or up the Berbice River in Guyana, or up the Amazon to Port Trombetas.

Was good times, and good runs although the Winter in Canada could be harsh especially when heading due south, seen it when it was still -10 deg C in the morning and by afternoon was +29 deg C.


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