# Marinex Dredging Co Ltd



## Wellogra

I am looking for information on this company but particularly their tug the Marinex I which attended the processing barge Marinex IV .I know the tug was based at Berwick but do not have a picture of her or vital statistics and fate. I have researched this company extensively but have drawn a blank on the tug.The main bases were Berwick,Blyth and Cliffe. The dredger Marinex V was very innovative designed to take out sludge in side tanks from the Thames and bring back aggregate.She used an venturi type suction system.
I know the Marinex IV turned turtle in the bay at Berwick and was scrapped.(K)


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## price

I believe an ex colleague and friend of mine Willie Nevens was master in the company, he later became a pilot at Berwick? Montrose? or maybe Peterhead?, I can't remember now.
Bruce.


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## stoneleigh

Marinex V1 was purchased by Westminster Gravels (part of Bos Kalis group). They operated it as the 'Marinestone' into various locations including Cliffe, for several years. Later they were taken over by ARC Marine, and it became the Arco Tees until the sad day when the dredge pipe encountered some unexploaded ordnance whilst dredging out to sea in the vicinity of Lowestoft. I heard it was saved from a major disaster mainly because it had a partially loaded cargo which cushioned the explosive force. After grounding on a nearby sandbank for temporary repairs, it was towed into Lowestoft pending evaluation. It ended up by going to a Belgian port for scrap.


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## archway

Hello Wellogra, I am afraid you have the name of this company wrong, it was Marinex Gravels Ltd. I was in at the birth of this company and with them until it went out of business and to the best of my knowledge there was never a tug called Marinex 1, the origonal Managing Director when asked what was Marinex 1 used to say "That is the yacht I will have when the company returns a big profit" sadly it never did.
Price, Milne Logan Nevens,(usually known as Tony ) was a very good friend of mine, one time Master of the Marinex 1V and later the Marinex V, he became a pilot at Peterhead. Sadly he died lastyear. I can not speak to highly of Tony both as a man and a sailor. Archway.
Let me know if there is any thing specific you wish to know about Marinex, I will be happy to answer your queries if I can.


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## jackcampbell

hi my dad jack campbell was engineer on the marinex v in the 1970 anybody remember him?


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## Wellogra

*Marinex Gravels Ltd*

Thanks for the info,Archway , on Marinex Gravels its interesting to find out that there was not a Marinex I perhaps that explains why I have never found a picture of her. What was used to move the Marinex IV around Berwick harbour ? .Many thanks for the information and posted picture Marinex V.(Thumb)


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## archway

More information about Marinex Gravels, The company was owned by Associated Fisheries Ltd. The Marinex 111 was the first dredger owned by MG and she was the barge in Berwick harbour she had a grab at one end and the dredged material was put into a hopper where it went on to a conveyer through a grading plant and then into four bins or cotainers each containing different sizes of stones. The Marinex 1V was a coaster (originally a Norwegian vessel named MV JOVISTA ) which carried the dredged material from Berwick to Blyth. The Marinex 111 was moored in Berwick in the same way as a bucket dredger and did not need a tug to move her around. The Marinex V was built at Fergusons on the Clyde, she was a great ship but a disaster as a dredger owing to the fact that she had been designed, as mentioned in an earlier thread, to carry sludge out to sea for the GLC. the biggest problem was the unloading gear. Then there was the Marinex V1 which was built in Holland and was a great dredger but an uncomfortable ship at sea, she was fitted with a new type of grading system which cosisted of two towers with a cyclone type system for seperating the bulk of the sand from the gravel. When Marinex Gravels was wound up in 1976 the Marinex V was sold for scrap and the Marinex V1 sold to Westminster Gravels. Archway.


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## fathom

Hello Archway

My name is O'Hanlon - I can't find the post you submitted re Paddy and Matt O'Hanlon and WD Fairway-Would you consider contacting me on my e-mail address - we are desperate to find more info about My father Paddy and his brother [my uncle Matt who lived in Newry]?

We would be very grateful.

Best wishes and thanks for posting.

Michael O'Hanlon


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## R736476

The Marinex dredging barge at Berwick was built by Gregsons at Blyth. Broke her back whilst dredging gravel from the Calot Shad at Berwick.


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## Wellogra

R736476,Many thanks for the information , another piece in the jigsaw of Marinex.


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## Duke

Hi, my name is Duke Palfi. Together with Bert Lodonk we are gathering info on dredgers, the owners and the shipyards, for the site dredgepoint.org. I took the liberty to copy the info about Marinex to our site, but if I disregards a rule with this action, please let me know.


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## Wellogra

*Marinex V*

Great website for Dredging enthusiasts thanks for Dredgepoint.
It amazes me that there is not more articles on the building of Marinex V,when she was built in 1971 by Fergusons she was a innovative design. 
I have looked through all the Shipbulding magazines and can find no reference to her apart from her launching. 
She also only lasted 8 years which is no life at all for a dredger,ending her days at Briton Ferry.
I do have a few photo's of her when in service but that is about all.
I am ever hopeful that something will surface one day.(Scribe)


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## Duke

Hi Wellogra!
We have access to the archives of the Dredging Museum in Sliedrecht. Bert will check if he can find something. But If you can upload some pictures then the page will look a lot better.
Thanks, Duke


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## Doug Brown

*Marinex Gravels Ltd*



Wellogra said:


> R736476,Many thanks for the information , another piece in the jigsaw of Marinex.


Been reading about Marinex. I joined Marinex while the Marinex V was being built. My first job with the company was Master of the Marinex III where Tony Nevens was 1st Mate. I did a few trips and then as the Marinex V build ws progressing spent several months standing by the vessel. At that time Tony Nevens became Master of the Marinex III. On completion of the Marianex V I became one of two Masters, the number one Master being Arthur McCourt. We took the Marinex V from Glasgow to Cliffe. However the V never really worked out. That is all I can say about her.

In 1973 Marinex VI was built in Holland and I was appointed Master.
The VI was a very successful dredger. I was Master until the company closed, i.e. both ships laid up. 

The dredging project in Berwick and the Blythe plant had long gone.

Some of the names in the company were as follows:
The first Managing Director was Reginald Scott Williams. He was later replaced by Jack Timony. Arthur McCourt was Marine Superintendent.
Arthur Nunn was Engineering Superintendent until he left and was replaced by Neil Cobb.

There lots more names of course.

Tony Nevens was Master of the Marinex V - he moved on to be pilot and Harbour Master in Berwick.

Hope this is come helpful information.

Doug Brown


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## Wellogra

*Marinex*

Many thanks Doug for the information really interesting to hear from an ex crew member .

Thanks Duke for your help I have been to the museum a few times ,hoping to visit the library next year sometime.

Thanks to you both 

graham(Applause)


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## archway

Doug Brown, Nice to see your name up here. Where are you now. Arthur McCourt


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## shambles

Seeing the name Marinex v rang a distant bell. I had to go aboard her at Cliffe....for what reason I can't recall but the thing that does stick in the mind was the seemingly enormous number of relays in the dredge control console and a makers man (I think) trying to work out how to reduce the number and still allow the all singing all dancing system to work. An impressive idea but a little ahead of its time I understood.


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## Trevor Johnson

Only just seen this about Marinex.
I was Chief mate with Tony Nevens for about 18 months. I was on when we took her up for layup at Grimsby. She was a good dredger but awful discharger. The German built Conflow, a bucket system that ran on rail lines used to frequently end up down the hopper. It was then all hands to reconnect the chains joining the buckets. 
She had a Cort Nozzle that suffered badly from gravel and stones being lost and spun around the prop, this seriously damaged the nozzle. I was acting skipper when had to take her into Southampton Drydock to take the original nozzle off and replace with a much reduced steel tube. We laid alongside Husbands yard for a couple of weeks prior to dry Dock.
Tony was a cracking chap who lived in Berwick. Sorry to here he passed away.


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