# Unknown tanker on fire



## maritimephoto

I came across these 2 images of a burning tanker. All I know (and not even sure on that) is that these images where taken from aboard the METULA while on her maidentrip from Japan to the PG (oct/nov 1968). The burning tanker seems a bit Italian or Spanish build.

Anybody any clues ?

Thanks,

Wim


----------



## hawkey01

Wim,

had a good look around but cannot find any ship by name. The Metulla crops up quite a lot with various mishaps. As she was Japan to the PG in 1968 it could well be a vessel that was hit by missiles from either the Iraqi or Iranian Navy-Airforce as the Iran Iraq war was in full flow then. I cannot find any lists of vessels damaged or destroyed then but there are definitely books out there that have this.

Hawkey01


----------



## alastairjs

Wim,
Were it not for your date of Oct/Nov 1968 I'd say this was the Spanish tanker Elcano. Built by Astilleros de Cadiz in 1964, 52,163 DWT, LOA 737', owned by Empressa Nacional of Spain and Managed by Elcano de la Marina Mercante. November 15, 1971, while in ballast from Tenerife to Ras Tanura, she suffered a violent explosion during tank cleaning operations when about 40 miles off Dakar. Four crewmen died as a result. The remaining 35 were safely rescued by the Spanish motor vessel Ragar, which took them to Dakar. After two days on fire and abandoned the Elcano sank at lat 13°43'N, long 18°38'W. All the physical features of your pictures seem to fit, twin funnels with connecting bracing, narrow upper accommodation and bridge profile with wide bridge wings braced from below etc. The dates clearly don't tally but the appearance of the vessel certainly does.
If you're sure about the date then I'm barking up the wrong tree and hawkey01 is probably right in his suggestion that it's a casualty of the Iran/Iraq war.
Regards,
Alastair


----------



## maritimephoto

Hi Guys,

At first, thanks for the efforts.

As mentioned the date and even the place where not sure so a Iarq/Iran war victim already crossed our minds. 

My father (he's the tanker guy, I'm the offshore nut) started digging for casualties on http://www.c4tx.org/ctx/job/cdb/flex.html and came up with a list and ELCANO was also on it but we forgot about her while she's only 52000 DWT. The one on fire looks atleast panamax size if not bigger.

When you mentioned 737' (over 220m) long she became a good option, however we don't have a picture of ESCANO only of a sistervessel but that one has different bridge / funnel layout.

Allistair, do you have a picture of ELCANO which you can show here?

Cheers,

Wim


----------



## Dave Edge

There are a couple of photos of Elcano in the tanker gallery and this is not her.


----------



## maritimephoto

Dave, the bridge indeed seems different. Thanks for pointing me to the piccies.


----------



## Wribbenhall

They look the same to me(I've attached the various 'before' and 'afters' below of the ELCANO,to make comparison easier.


----------



## kevinseery

She's certainly not in ballast!(Whaaa)


----------



## Dave Edge

It appears the bow of the casualty has more rake and her funnels are closer to the bridge.


----------



## Broady

Dave Edge said:


> It appears the bow of the casualty has more rake and her funnels are closer to the bridge.


I agree they are definately 2 different ships


----------



## hawkey01

Dave E,

yes I agree with you on both points. I do not think this is the same ship.

Hawkey01


----------



## cueball44

hi,i am an exe tugman from 'HULL UK', the tanker which is on fire in your photo's is a salvage job we had when i was on the 'WELSHMAN' of UTC HULL,we were on our way to take a tow over from the 'EUROMAN' of UTC HULL,the alarm came on and we proceeded to the ship that was on fire off the west coast of africa,when we arrived we had to wait for the fire to be extinguished and the salvage papers to be agreed on, i and four others boarded her bye the stern,she was burnt black and nearly all the bridge had buckled,we connected up and towed her to 'TENERIFE', we had her chief engineer aboard with us his forehead and hands were a bit blistered, it happend in febuary or march '1973',i have the same photograph of her in front of me now that you have posted ,it was taken from the 'WELSHMAN',unfortunately i can't remember her name,but for some reason 'BILBAO' keeps flashing through my mind, i recieved £300 salvage money for my part,we then went back and took over the other tow which was the 'HORTA BARBOSA' and towed her to hamburg!, hope this is of some help, WINSTON HAWKER 'CUEBALL44'.


----------



## cueball44

hi, i fogot to add, the ship that we salvaged was i think 65 thousand ton,W,HAWKER 'CUEBALL44'.


----------



## maritimephoto

Hi Winston,

Thanks alot for the info. I'm wondering now where my two piccies originated from while the person I got it from mentioned it was from METULA. 

Cheers,

Wim


----------



## cueball44

hi, well the pic which shows the ship well alight may well have been taken from the 'METULA',the pic that i have had for 37 years is taken from the same angle but later on,my pic shows a small fire midships and another just before the bow,it was still smokeing and hissing when we boarded her,a bit scary as we also new ther were some dead aboard,we had to be very careful not to cause a spark and blow it and our tug to pieces, win hawker,'cueball44.


----------



## maritimephoto

Hi,

Maybe it was taken from aboard METULA but for sure not during her maidentrip then.
The height of which your photo was taken, is that about the same while the height of 200.000 tons tanker or salvage tug differ a lot.

Wim


----------



## cueball44

hi wim,the ship had been abandoned when we arrived,the rules are or were that you had to stand off until the salvage contract is agreed, this we did,are you saying the 'METULA' was 200,000 tons? your message seems to say the pics were taken at different height's,i can't see your point!,our's were taken from the wing of the bridge,did the 'MATULA' pick up survivor's? because the chief engineer came to us from a fireboat, win.


----------



## maritimephoto

Hi,

Well, the person who gave me the pictures said they where taken from METULA during her maidentrip. As METULA is a 200.000 tons tanker one standing on the bridge is at a pretty high point so taking a piccie of the tanker would be from quite a high angle.

If your picture was taken from WELSHMAN I assume the point of view is a lot lower then seen from the bridge of METULA. 

Just trying to figure our where METULA is in this picture (good change she isn't so not sure if she picked up any survivors etc).

Wim


----------



## cueball44

hi wim, well the only thing i can think of is the pics were taken at different distances, i don't think the 'METULA' would have got too close when she was ablaze with her being a tanker as well!, but ther again i cannot remember seeing a ship three and a half times the size of the salvage job, the 'METULA' probably took her pics whil'st passing from a safe distance and then been ordered to keep her course has ther was nothing she could have done, i will try and find the ships name when i contact my ex shipmate's, win.


----------



## maritimephoto

Thanks to Winston's info we have a winner 

ARQUINA
IMO:6702650. 
Build: (1967)  by:Empresa Nacional "BAZAN":Ferrol. Yardnumber:131. 
Owners:Naviera Vizcaina S.A.:Bilbao.
BRT:41611, DWT:75800. 
Dim241.10/225.86. BR:39.32. Draft:14.02. 
SECN-Sulzer 2SA 9cyl 900x1550. 20700 HP

28-03-1973:In collision with the Norwegian VIKFRIO (IMO:6418766), 1964/4172 BRT, while on voyage from Fateh to Teneriffe with a full cargo, S van Dakar in pos:12.22N/17.28W Heavely damaged bij fire .Arrived on 21-04-1973 at Teneriffe on tow by the tug WELSHMAN?.for examination. Left 05-05-1973 Teneriffe for Cadiz for repair. .
Lengthened:1975:264.70/249.54. Draft:14.30.
New Tonnage:BRT48344/DWT86699.

1983:AMOLYNTOS (GRC) 
1986:ALFARES (SAU) :

Amend ship style to tanker storage
In use as storagetanker.
1989/1990:Broken up.

Remaining questings are when she was lengthed was this with a new fore- or cargosection, where was she used as storagetanker and where /when was she broken up.
And ofcourse a piccie of her would be nice.

Cheers,

Wim


----------



## cueball44

well i got the 'BILBAO' bit right, glad you found her name&history,saved me tracking my old shipmates on ther disability motor scooter's LOL,did you sort the 'METULA' connection out?,win,cueball44.


----------



## ted nutt

Evening,letter M missing,tanker Marquina.Ted


----------



## cueball44

wim got that wrong not win, but you get a 'STAR' for your contribution anyway!,'cueball44'.


----------



## hawkey01

Just proves how good SN is.(Thumb) A few clues and up pops one of our members with the 
answers. 
Thanks to Cueball44 (Applause)(Applause) and of course Wim (Applause) for the original thread.

Hawkey01


----------



## maritimephoto

Indeed, thanks guys!
Still haven't figured out the METULA connection, I'll let you know if I hear more about it.

Cheers,

Wim


----------



## cueball44

hi all involved with the story of the unknown tanker on fire,well i would just like to end with a true event that happend during the salvage operation,it was drummed into us that we must be very careful whilst makeing our way forward along the blackend and buckled deck NOT to cause a spark,well when we reached the bow and waiting for the tug to come closer we heard this almighty clang,we spun round with our eyes popping out! and ther before us was this young deckie with a shackle in his hand beating the spare propella that was stowed on the starboard side,after surrounding him and asking him what the f**k he was doing? he replied 'i just wanted to know if it was bronze' IT WAS'NT', anyway after we connected up and got back aboard the tug it was'nt long before we caught him dumping tins of paint because he did'nt like doing it,first chance we got he was flown home with his ticket being docked out of his salvage money!,think he finished up on dustcart's, win 'cueball44.


----------



## John Dryden

What a twerp,did he think he was going to take the prop home with him and weigh it in!
Glad the mystery was solved anyway,interesting tale too.I went aboard one of the UT tugs in Durban,early 70,s,had a few beers with an old school mate,Joe Woodhall,can,t remember which tug it was though.


----------



## cueball44

hi john, the name 'JOE WOODHALL' rings a bell, but it's been a long time, it's the surname's that get me,maybe 'RAY JORDAN' or 'KEITH APPLEYARD' will know him, thank's for your reply,win'cueball44'


----------



## Wribbenhall

Just another bit of info.
(From _The Times(U.K.)_ March 31st 1973)

Bilbao, March 30.-Four fires are still raging in the Spanish tanker Marquina (75,800 tons) and its radio operator is missing, presumed dead, after a collision on Wednesday with a Norwegian cargo ship off Senegal, the tanker's owner said here today.- Reuter.


----------



## cueball44

thank's,that should seal it, win,'cueball44'.


----------



## djw1

cueball can you confirm the death.

If so, sounds like Marconi stayed at his post
a little too long.

I'll add the marquina to the CDB database.

Good job all.

Jack


----------



## cueball44

yes, we were told before boarding the ship that the R/O had not left the ship and ther was no chance of anyone being left alive in what was left of the superstructure which was burnt black and buckled with one wing of the bridge collapsed, i suppose they must of found his remain's after we towed it to 'tenerife', following delivery we immedietly sailed for 'las palmas' and then on to the original job we set out to do,win,'cueball44'.


----------



## djw1

win

Thanks.

I know it was a long time ago, but
more questions for the CTX casualty database:

Was there any talk of cause of the collision?

Do you remember where she was hit?

After the fire, the ship still appears very deep in the water.

Was most of the cargo still on-board?

Do you recall if she was inerted? Seems unlikely.

If not and the decks badly buckled, what put the fires out?

Thanks again,

Jack


----------



## cueball44

sorry,i was only an 'AB' not an officer on the tug and we were not updated on all the technical stuff, it was just another salvage job to us, by the way the £300 i recieved in salvage money,well the taxman took £100 of it because they classed it as unearned income!, so i was standing on a potential timebomb and helped to save it but did'nt earn it, lol 'cueball44'.


----------



## djw1

Clearly unearned.

Spaniards probably taxed the R/O's last check as well.

Marquina added to CTX database.

Thanks all.

Jack


----------



## cueball44

CLEARLY UNEARNED!!,thanks, this R/O was he your brother or something?,'cueball44'.


----------

