The Santa Lucia class of the Marad Design C4-S-65a was a ship type built in six units for the US shipping company Grace Line . The new build program was the last before the takeover by competitor Prudential Line .
James River Reserve Fleet - the forward ship belongs to the Santa Lucia class
The ships were designed for liner service from the US east coast to the west coast of South America. The shipping company commissioned the renowned New York marine engineering firm Gibbs & Cox to design the ship. The type received the code C4-S-65a from the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) as part of the Long Range Shipbuilding Program . The construction of the six fourteen million US-dollar ships Santa Lucia , Santa Cruz , Santa Clara , Santa Elena , Santa Barbara and Santa Isabel was commissioned by the shipping company in two lots from the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company in Chester , which the ship series delivered in 1966/67. When the Grace Line was taken over by the Prudential Line, the ships continued to operate under the new name Prudential Grace Line without being renamed. In 1978 the shipping company Delta Line took over the sextet and, after renaming it, used it in the traditional shipping area. All ships were finally returned to MARAD in 1980 and were given their construction names again. During the 1980s, the ships became part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF). Most of the ships in the class were now being scrapped.
technology
When it was built, the C4-S-65a design represented a contemporary semi-container ship design for liner voyages with a bridge house slightly behind the center of the ship, a heavily protruding stern with a bulbous bow and a sharp stern. The superstructures were completely air-conditioned. There were passenger facilities for twelve passengers. The interior design was created by the company Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald.
The layout of the seven cargo holds was very flexible and featured numerous advanced details. The hatch covers with a large degree of deck opening on the main deck were intended to ensure problem-free vertical access to the cargo in conjunction with the large hydraulic tween deck hatches and were chosen so large in hatches 3 and 4 that containers could also be stowed below deck. Part of the hold could be used to transport refrigerated cargo. In addition, the ships had additional deep tanks (partly made of stainless steel) under some holds for liquid cargoes. The transhipment facilities consisted of modern 10-ton loading booms for all hatches, a 30-ton heavy-lift boom for container hatches 3 and 4 and an 80-ton heavy-lift boom for hatches 4 and 5. The cargo handling of fruit and other refrigerated cargoes was through side ports and simplified an internal conveyor system.
The type of ship achieved service speeds of a good 21 knots thanks to its geared steam turbine drive. The machinery could be remotely controlled from the bridge. The berthing and casting off maneuvers were supported by a bow thruster .
The ships
Marad Design C4-S-65a / Santa Lucia class
Building name
Build number
IMO number
delivery
Later names and whereabouts
Santa Lucia
633
6523030
1966
1978 Delta Venezuela , 1980 Santa Lucia , 1984 to NDRF, scrapped in Brownsville from November 2005
Santa Cruz
634
6602109
1966
1978 Delta Ecuador , 1980 Santa Cruz , scrapped in 2004
Santa Clara
635
6609341
1966
1978 Delta Columbia , 1980 Santa Clara , 1984 with NDRF
Santa Elena
636
6616722
1967
1978 Delta Panama , 1980 Santa Elena , 1984 to NDRF, scrapped from November 2003
Santa Barbara
637
6620591
1967
1978 Delta Bolivia , 1980 Santa Barbara , 1984 to NDRF, 1990 Santa Barbara II , 1990 scrapped in Alang
Santa Isabel
638
6711663
1967
1978 Delta Peru , 1980 Santa Isabel , scrapped in 2003
Data: Lloyd's Register of Shipping (various years), Equasis, gross tonnage
Frank L. Pavlik, Gerald C. Swensson: Santa Lucia: Grace Line's new vessel designed for wide variety cargoes . In: Marine Engineering / Log . Vol. 71, No.4 . Simons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, New York April 1966, p.47-53, 119 .
John H. LaDage: Merchant Ships: A pictoral Study . Cornell Maritime Press, Cambridge 1968.
Cudahy, Brian J .: Box boats . How container ships changed the world. Fordham University Press, New York 2006, ISBN 0-8232-2568-2 .
,_on_28_January_1996_(6495267).jpg)
