# m/v Dart Atlantic



## carcar (Oct 12, 2007)

Hi,
Is there any one who knows what happened to the m/v Dart Atlantic? The company was Dart Line,the ship,containers and she used to go to Antwerp.Halifax NovaScotia,Norfolk Virginia,New York Usa and back to Southampton
chas R802892


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## Billy1963 (Jan 4, 2006)

Choice of two

DART ATLANTIC, launched 1971. 81 renamed CP AMBASSADOR, 86 renamed CANMAR AMBASSADOR. BU Alang 19.3.95

Launched 1972 as ASIAFREIGHTER 81 SEAPAC CONCORD - 81 ORIENTAL DIPLOMAT - 87 DART ATLANTIC - 88 OOCL ATLANTIC - 90 ATLANTIC SENATOR - 90 OOCL DYNASTY - 91 VILLE DE TUCANA - 95 CANMAR ENTERPRISE - 96 MED NAPLES. BU Alang 2.2.99


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## Sarky Cut (Oct 11, 2007)

Most probably scrapped by now. Was owned by Bibby and part of the Dart Line, the others were Dart America owned by Bristol City Line and the Dart Europe owned by a Belgium Company.
The Dart America had a engine breakdown and this resulted in BCL losing control of the ship.
CY Tung bought this ship and brought another onto the run called the Dart Canada.
These four ships continued to run a weekly service from Southampton, LeHarve, Halifax,Bayonne(New York) ,Baltimore,Norfolk,Southampton,Antwerp,Hamburg,Antwerp,Southampton

This was then changed to Felixstowe,Le Harve,Montreal(full discharge and reload) Felixstowe,Antwerp,Hamburg,Felixstowe, Le Harve and back across the pond.

The ships then changed their names as CP Containers shut their Quebec operations and moved the whole caboodle including the container cranes upto Racine Montreal.

The ships were taken across to Blomn and Voss Hamburg and converted at great expense to ice strenghtened and the steel hull was replaced in the ice belt area with special low temperature steel for constant use up the St Lawrence to Montreal.

The ballast pipes were all heated by electric trace heating. Ballast tanks were converted to allow internal cooling and the icebelt area was treated with a special paint system to withstand the constant wear of the ice.
These ships operated through the Gulf of St lawrence and up the St Lawrence thoughout the winter months with no icebreakers, and in many cases were the only icebreakers in operation in the area.

They were very powerful ships for the age.

There was one occasion when the Canadian Explorer charged the ice plug at Quebec half a dozen times before it gave way and the water and ice released pushed the ship back down the river two miles before it overcame the flow.

The engine at that time was running on its limit temperature wise and it was a close run thing before the ship had made it past the two bridges into the lake when the power could be reduced and the temperaures fell back to normal.


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## carcar (Oct 12, 2007)

*dart line*

Thank you Billy1963 and Sarky cut for the information you gave me,I was on her in Feb/Mar of 1973, the captain was A.F Ashton.I have all pictures of the ships I,ve been on except of the Dart Atlantic and although I searched the net it was all in vain.thanks again
chas R802892


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## homerus (Mar 22, 2009)

*Dart America*

I sailed on the Dt America as motorman from feb81-july81.
Around may,Southampton was on strike so we went to felixstowe instead. Around this period she had a lot of engine troubles,amongst other things 2cracked pistons that we pulled in Halifax overnight. 1 Turbo charger went out of alignement coming back over the pond,the other caught light coming out of Antwerp. 1 armature burnt out and1generator crankshaft blew it's balance weights to kingdom come. A hush power plant was installed on the boat deck that could be heard for miles away & gave the Engineers
many a sleepless night. Other than that a good time was had by all. Greetings.Homerus


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## Les Gibson (Apr 24, 2004)

Worked on her during building at Vickers Armstrongs Naval yard at Walker. Installed the Autronica engine monitoring systems. If I remember rightly she did not have a control room which was unusual considering some of the equipment in the engine room. The alarm and monitoring control desk was on the bottom platform?


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## mwebster56 (Oct 11, 2005)

carcar said:


> Hi,
> Is there any one who knows what happened to the m/v Dart Atlantic? The company was Dart Line,the ship,containers and she used to go to Antwerp.Halifax NovaScotia,Norfolk Virginia,New York Usa and back to Southampton
> chas R802892


I did not sail on this ship, nor did I ever see it in the flesh, but in 1974 I did my first trip with Bank Line and the 1st electrician on board had come to B/L from the Dart Atlantic. His name was Brian Francis. Ring any bells? I'm sure that he said that they had sailed to Canada from Manchester via the ship canal. I may be mistaken on this last point as it is 35 years ago.


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## Fazcam (May 16, 2009)

*Dart Atlantic*

Hi all,
I know this is an old thread but,I did sail on this ship and the Dart America back around '71-'73. The very best 2 ships I ever sailed on!
Dart Atlantic has long since been scrapped I'm afraid. Somewhere in Taiwan.
I have an A3 sized picture of her at sea, framed & on my computer room wall.
Anyone who would like me to email them an image need only ask.
regards.


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## Chris Robbo (Feb 11, 2011)

*Dart Atlantic Pic*



Fazcam said:


> Hi all,
> I know this is an old thread but,I did sail on this ship and the Dart America back around '71-'73. The very best 2 ships I ever sailed on!
> Dart Atlantic has long since been scrapped I'm afraid. Somewhere in Taiwan.
> I have an A3 sized picture of her at sea, framed & on my computer room wall.
> ...



Hi Fazcam,

I sailed Dart Atlantic back in the 70 s and would love a pic of the old girl, have lots of memories of her, if you could email me a pic that would be great. [email protected]
Thanks chris


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## aflewk (Jun 13, 2008)

i sailed on the Dart Atlantic as cook 79/80,she would roll on a wet flannel , all the chairs and a table were tightly lashed to the bulkheads in the bar ? thought i had had my chips a few times on there too fond memeries scared ****less at times,thrown all over the place with a brilliant crew


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## aflewk (Jun 13, 2008)

i woulnt mind a picture too if thats ok !


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## Chris Robbo (Feb 11, 2011)

Know what you mean about the roll on Dart Atlantic, wedged in the pit against the bulkhead using life jacket, and yes was a brill crew 1977.


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## A.J.McMahon (Oct 21, 2007)

*Dart America Dart Atlantic*



mwebster56 said:


> I did not sail on this ship, nor did I ever see it in the flesh, but in 1974 I did my first trip with Bank Line and the 1st electrician on board had come to B/L from the Dart Atlantic. His name was Brian Francis. Ring any bells? I'm sure that he said that they had sailed to Canada from Manchester via the ship canal. I may be mistaken on this last point as it is 35 years ago.


Hi,with respect, I think you may have two parts of a conversation. It maybe that Mr Francis did sail from Manchester to Canada. Manchester Liners, very well known and respected company, sailed a regular run with some fine vessels. But most certainly NOT the "Dart" boats from Manchester, they were far to big for the canal. I stood-by the build of them at Swan's, first one to sail was the America. 30-11-70.


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## A.J.McMahon (Oct 21, 2007)

*Dart America Dart Atlantic*



Les Gibson said:


> Worked on her during building at Vickers Armstrongs Naval yard at Walker. Installed the Autronica engine monitoring systems. If I remember rightly she did not have a control room which was unusual considering some of the equipment in the engine room. The alarm and monitoring control desk was on the bottom platform?


Hi Les, the Autronica was not too bad, but the primary elements left a lot to be desired !!The number of spurious alarms were far too high. It must be said that automation was just coming in and on a static platform it would have worked, but on the Dynamic Dart boats it was a nightmare, we left the yard with some 370 defects some minor others I was still working through weeks later. The bilge and ballast system left a lot in question, Best Rgds.


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## R870879 (Feb 6, 2009)

*Mv Dart Atlantic*

Did a few trips aboard the Dart Atlantic in 1975 as an IR (AB). Bosun liked a drink and had his drinking clique who always got the cream, while the rest got the c**p.( Same old story !!) . 
Very creaky bulkheads. Anyone remember that?(Cloud)(Cloud)


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## aflewk (Jun 13, 2008)

yeah ! if you stood outside the accomadation block on the starboard side bottom corner was a small crack and in rough weather you could see the water seeping in and out as the housing moved.................


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## Chris Wakefield (Apr 21, 2014)

*Empress of Felixstowe - CanMar Ambassador*

I Sailed on the Old Ambassador, or as we used to call her the "Empress of Felixstowe".
Was on her right at the end when all the old CP Officers were replaced by crew from Anglo Eastern Manning agency.
She was a excellent boat, and although was very tired when I was on her as Chief Engineer, there was never a dull moment.
Was only British top four officers and then Sri Lankan Junior officers and Philipino crew.
Running on a 3 week round trip from Felixtowe, Antwerp to Racine terminal in Montreal.
Good times.


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## Chris Wakefield (Apr 21, 2014)

*Empress of Felixstowe - CanMar Ambassador*

A Picture of the old CanMar Ambassador


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## IRISH (Mar 21, 2012)

*Dart Atlantic*



Fazcam said:


> Hi all,
> I know this is an old thread but,I did sail on this ship and the Dart America back around '71-'73. The very best 2 ships I ever sailed on!
> Dart Atlantic has long since been scrapped I'm afraid. Somewhere in Taiwan.
> I have an A3 sized picture of her at sea, framed & on my computer room wall.
> ...


COULD YOU email me the image of Dart Atlantic, my father sailed on her from launch to December 72. thanks.


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## gordonsharman (Feb 9, 2016)

*Dart Atlantic*

The Dart Atlantic was my last ship before I left the MN, very fond memories of the ship and a love for a girl I had in Halifax. I have a picture of it but cant work out how to insert it here. Contact me if you want me to send it to.


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## spakey (Aug 14, 2016)

Chris Robbo said:


> Know what you mean about the roll on Dart Atlantic, wedged in the pit against the bulkhead using life jacket, and yes was a brill crew 1977.


Hi Chris, I joined her December 1977 for 13 months as an AB but remember assisting in replacing a liner and piston at sea. Blew me away, the ring compressor weighed 3 ton. Were you still with her when we were in those humongous seas bound for Halifax, we lost every container on deck, just a few corner posts with lashings remained, lost all the life rafts with multiple damage everywhere, all maindeck beams cracked through, not discovered until well homeward bound, unable to maintain course for entering channel as she would not steer with Port quarter seas, ended up heading SE for Cape Finisterre and setting more Northerly course for channel entry. Nightmare of a trip, no photo's. Also we received a Mayday from a German Lash ship, no way we could turn in those seas and shortly after she (Munchen) sank with all hands, too rough for even an Aircraft until a few days later when all that was found was flotsam lifebuoys etc.


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## carcar (Oct 12, 2007)

Hello Mates,
This is very late in doing, please forgive me, but I went to too many ups and downs.Wish to thank all who followed my thread especially Chris and Gordensharman for providing me with the pictures of the Dart Atlantic to which I have made a print out.Very much appreciated. Good luck to all.
carcar R802892


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## Jebjawif (Oct 3, 2016)

MS Dart Atlantic
Hi Guys, if anyone is looking for photos of of the big orange ship, I joined her in 1980 for a year and have some pics of the engine room and some heavy weather ( complete with Dart Atalantic roll ) off Halifax. We dumped 7 containers on that trip . Send me email address and I'll send them on . Great crew when I was with her.


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## marconiman (Jun 21, 2007)

Memories of Dart Atlantic.......

Joined vessel as Radio/ECO for sea trials May 1971 after standing-by in shipyard on Tyne.

Then owned by Charles Hill, Bristol City Line. Trade route Southampton, Halifax NS, New York, Norfolk, Antwerp, Southampton. Three week voyage, 2 trips on (six weeks) and one off (three weeks), regular as clockwork.

Maiden voyage 1971, mechanical failure on return voyage somewhere south of Grand Banks. A bearing had seized in the tunnel and could not be fixed at sea. With no power and in a force nine the old man Archie Ashton looked to the bow thruster to keep the head in the gale which thankfully it did, otherwise with containers three high on deck acting as a sail it would have been bye bye to them and possibly us. A tow is negotiated with a Dutch tug and all other offers of assistance to be refused. The tug takes two weeks I think, to arrive, all had calmed down by then. The tow took 10 days to Soton, though during the wait we must have made 2 knots in the right direction with gulf stream and wind. Main Tx Crusader operated faultlessly with many daily HF SSB link calls to owners, though Portisheadradio was on the lookout for us and probably let us jump the queues.

At top speed did that ship rattle and roll. In heavy weather she had a roll like no other (apart from a RN Mine Sweeper) One night wedged in my bunk there was an almighty crash sound, the wardrobe doors were opening and slamming, the next thing both had stripped their hinges and landed across my bunk.

The engine would mysteriously drop revs at top speed, which had been happening for quite a while and without any pattern to it. To correct this the oow had to press a button to the bridge console to bring the speed up. Kenny Williams the Chief and all concerned could not fathom it and I suggested it might be radio (EMP) interference from the transmitter but it did not always occur when transmitting, so on doing tests we found that when I was operating in the 12Mhz HF band the engine speed dropped and only in that band, so the solution was to inform the Bridge when operating at 12Mhz and they could keep tapping the button. Needless to say I tried if at all possible to keep off that frequency and if I had to use it, to reduce power.

On another radio issue, I had the misfortune for the Apollo Main Radio receiver to burn its input stage, due to high Tx power and de-sensitising momentarily lapsing. It was just about workable on strong signals after by-passing some of the fried components and a new one was despatched to New York from the UK.

One night on passage from Halifax NS to New York somewhere off Cape Cod in dense fog with the horn sounding intermittently, we were still doing top speed as indicated by the vibration, I had returned to my cabin for the night and the horn had changed its pattern, on looking out of my cabin window Port Side, the darkness was lit up by a ship clearly visible with all deck lights blazing and passing close enough to lob a beer can on its deck. A very very near miss as she passed by and then a search light swept our stern. Prior to that intercoms had been sounding in the next cabin and fast footfall to the bridge. At 7 bell breakfast on enquiring of the 3rd Mate whose watch it had been during the previous night’s incident I was met with a blank stare, who can blame him.

One night during the 8 to 12 watch in mid Atlantic a strange phenomena was observed, both the oow and lookout had seen a strong pulsing light slightly above where the horizon would be. The Third Mate called me to have a look, and to this day cannot be logically explained. It did not appear on radar, it was too slow for an aircraft and too low, no prior warnings for naval exercises, not a weather balloon. A log entry was made and described as an unidentified flying object. The three of us saw it and it gradually over a few minutes got dimmer and further away.

The Dart Atlantic’s callsign was GOOF. On the maiden voyage to the States it took some persuading that it was genuine, both US stations WCC/WSL and coast guard thought I was taking the p*** they have something about goofing around. I replied check it out in the List of Ship Stations. They got used to it pretty quickly as we were a regular visitor. Dart America’s c/s was GOOB.

Dart Atlantic Masters that were BCL men at the time were Eddie Irish, Archie Ashton, Mike Winter, Norman Childs. After the take over by Bibby Line, personnel did not change all that quickly most were still BCL men with some exceptions Captain Butterworth being one in 1973 on the Dart Atlantic.

Though employed by Marconi, prior to the Dart Atlantic I had been on the SS Bristol City and sailed with some who later were on the Dart Atlantic and it was with the kind recommendation of Marine Super Captain Stoodly and Captain Irish that I went ashore to complete the six month course in Marine electronics which was required for the new vessels. Pete Cross was the Rad/ECO on Dart America we often interchanged as reliefs during each ones leave I also did a spell on the GTV Euroliner, a super fast vessel managed by Denholms’s GRT 30,000 Tons capable 30 knots plus powered by two Pratt & Whitney 58,000 BHP gas turbine engines also on the North Atlantic run.

A lot of people transferred from Bristol City Line to Bibby’s as did myself from Marconi’s and continued to sail on the Dart vessels. My spell was from May 1971 to August 1973.

Enough rambling from an old person, if anyone was on the Dart Atlantic/America at this time, would be great to hear from you.

Mike Wilmot R775978
ex Marconi/ex Bibby Line.


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## Paul Coleman (Aug 13, 2016)

*Dart Atlantic Photos*

I was on the Dart Atlantic during the summer of 1972 as a Pantry Boy. She was one of the best ships I ever went to sea on. I notice there have been requests for photo's and have found some nice ones here.
http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/D-Ships/dartatlantic1971.html


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