Black Star Line (Ghana)
Black Star Line Ltd. (BSL) was a state-owned Ghanaian shipping company. It existed from 1957 to 1982.
history
The establishment of the state shipping company in 1957 coincided with the establishment of the state of Ghana. In that year, Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah, elected in 1952, proclaimed the independence of the former British crown colony, the Gold Coast. The shipping company based in Accra was built with the help of Israel , with its shipping company ZIM taking over the management and manning of the ships with captains and higher ranks of officers. The name of the shipping company was based on the American shipping company Black Star Line , which was operated by African Americans from 1919 to 1922 , and the flag was based on the Ghanaian national flag.
The shipping company established regular liner services between West Africa and Europe as well as to Canada and the United States . In addition to its headquarters in Accra, the company had offices in London and New York.
The shipping company's first ship was the Volta River , built in 1940 , which was still registered in London - the later home port of the fleet was Takoradi . The ships of the shipping company were named Ghanaian rivers, lakes and lagoons. At the beginning of 1960 the company commissioned eight new general cargo ships from the Koninklijke Maatschappij “De Schelde” shipyard in Vlissingen, two of which were built as a subcontract by the Orenstein & Koppel shipyard in Lübeck . This was followed by other new series at British shipyards and most recently at Hyundai .
The Black Star Line remained in operation until 1982, after which the military junta Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) sold the shipping company's property. The last ships were not sold until 1998.
The ships of the Black Star Line (selection)
| Black Star Line fleet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building name | Shipyard / construction number |
IMO number | delivery | Client | Renaming and whereabouts |
| Marsdale | Lithgows, Port Glasgow / 923 | - | April 1940 | "K" Steam Ship Company, London | from September 1940 Ocean Boarding Vessel HMS Marsdale , 1942 again as a cargo ship, 1957 as the Volta River to the BSL, 1965 sold and renamed Psara , from May 24, 1967 scrapped at Lotti in La Spezia. |
| George | Short, Pallion / 504 | - | July 1949 | Compania Lama de Vapores, Panama | 1950 Hadar , 1959 as Tano River to BSL, 1966 Arden , 1969 Achaika Hope , on December 8, 1969 on a voyage from Sete to Izmir in ballast at position 41 ° 19.30'N; 009 ° 20.30'E stranded, total loss. |
| Pra River | De Schelde, Vlissingen / 311 | 5283449 | May 1961 | BSL | 1981 Notos , 1983 Mayon II , on July 26, 1983 on a journey from Las Palmas to Lagos with cement at position 14 ° 46.18'N; 017 ° 32.26'W accumulated and sunk off the coast in early 1984. |
| Offin River | De Schelde, Vlissingen / 312 | 5261116 | September 1961 | BSL | scrapped at Salvamentos y Desguaces in Aviles from September 25, 1983. |
| Otchi River | Orenstein & Koppel, Lübeck / 568 | 5266805 | November 1961 | BSL | from March 12, 1984 Desguaces Heme scrapped in Gijón. |
| Birim River | De Schelde, Vlissingen / 313 | 5044996 | March 1962 | BSL | scrapped from March 30, 1984 at Miguel Martins Pereira in Vigo. |
| Nasia River | Orenstein & Koppel, Lübeck / 569 | 5247548 | May 1962 | BSL | from April 14, 1984 Desguaces y Salvamentos in San Juan de Nevia scrapped. |
| Afram River | De Schelde, Vlissingen / 314 | 5004013 | September 1962 | BSL | scrapped from January 6, 1984 at Salvamentos y Desguaces in Aviles. |
| Kulpawn River | De Schelde, Vlissingen / 315 | 5197432 | November 1962 | BSL | scrapped at Gomez Jose Oliveira in Vigo from September 26, 1983. |
| Lake Bosomtwe | De Schelde, Vlissingen / 316 | 5412313 | March 1963 | BSL | 1981 Charmyl , scrapped in Shanghai on March 1, 1985. |
| Sakumo Lagoon | Swan Hunter & Richardson, Wallsend / 2005 |
6406000 | May 1964 | BSL | on May 5, 1984 on the voyage from Takoradi to the demolition in Aviles near Forcade Point from tow and stranded. |
| Korle Lagoon | Swan Hunter & Richardson, Wallsend / 2006 |
6413431 | September 1964 | BSL | from September 26, 1984 Desguaces y Salvamentos scrapped in San Juan de Nevia. |
| Oti River | Hitachi, Sakurajima / 4023 | 6418596 | September 1964 | BSL | scrapped at Desbar in Santander from April 24, 1984 |
| Nakwa River | Barclay, Curle, Whiteinch / 752 Swan Hunter & Richardson, Wallsend / 2007 |
6505789 | May 1965 | BSL | scrapped from April 10, 1984 at Desbar in Santander |
| Benya River | Swan Hunter & Richardson, Wallsend / 2008 |
6523468 | November 1965 | BSL | 1985 Water Wealth , 1985 Jah , 1988 Water Wealth , scrapped from November 30, 1988 at Haryana Steel Company in Alang |
| Subin River | Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval, Matagorda / 144 | 7802287 | July 1969 | BSL | 1987 Milos F. , scrapped at Mustafa Taherbhai in Sachana from April 1987. |
| Tano River | Hyundai, Ulsan / 118 | 7802299 | February 21, 1980 | BSL | 1994 Verano , 1999 Express Hyphestos , scrapped in Mumbai on June 24, 2002. |
| Volta River | Hyundai, Ulsan / 117 | 7802287 | March 1980 | BSL | 1998 Toledo , 1998 Express Hercules , scrapped in Mumbai on July 16, 2002. |
| Keta Lagoon | Hyundai, Ulsan / 119 | 7802304 | March 1, 1980 | BSL | 1981 Tynebank , 1981 Keta Lagoon , 1998 Ilion , 1998 Lion , scrapped in Alang from March 1999. |
| Lloyd's Register, Equasis | |||||
literature
- The Black Star Line Ltd. In: Bruno Bock (Ed.): Seekiste . Vol. 13, No. 2 . Verlag Schmidt & Klaunig, Kiel February 1962, p. 37-41 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b House flags of Ghanaian shipping companies, Black Star Line (English)
- ↑ David Owusu-Ansah: Historical Dictionary of Ghana , Fourth Edition, Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, ISBN 9780810875005 , p. 69.
- ↑ Lloyd's Register, London, various years
- ↑ Equasis homepage (English)