The ship type was built in 1956/57 by the shipyards P. Smit Jr. in Rotterdam , C. van der Giessen & Zonen in Krimpen aan den IJssel and the Howaldtswerke in Hamburg for the liner service of the VNS. On February 6, 1957, the shipping company was able to take over the type ship Zuiderkerk from the P. Smit Jr. shipyard. The two other ships of the trio, the Zaankerk and Zonnekerk , were delivered that same year. A special feature was the Zuiderkerk , owned by the shipping company Nederlandsche Tank & Paketvaart Maatschappij, but used in the VNS service. The series got its name from the names of the ships, which all began with "Z".
Use of the ships
The ships were used from Europe on the long-distance routes of the VNS to Australia and New Zealand. The main cargo consisted of general cargo of all kinds, individual heavy cargo loads were also accepted and significant numbers of passengers were carried. During the merger on January 20, 1970 with the shipping companies Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Nederland" , Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd and Koninklijke Java-China-Paketvaart Lijnen , the two VNS ships became the joint property of the new Nederlandsche Scheepvaart Unie (NSU), the Zuiderkerk was sold to NSU on July 1, 1970. The ships remained with NSU or its successor company Nedlloyd until 1977/78 and were then sold to other shipping companies. With the respective later owners, the ships remained in service until the mid-1980s and were then canceled.
technology
The design of the ships abaft with something as amidships lying structures and conventional cargo gear of light derricks and heavy lift did not differ fundamentally from contemporary line freighters . The ships, which were around 155 meters long and 20 meters wide on frames, had six cargo holds with an intermediate deck, the granular space of which was 18,334 cubic meters and the ball space was 16,600 cubic meters. Features of the series were, in addition to the powerful drive system with main engines from Stork and Smit-B & W, each with 9000 HP, the versatile loading equipment. During construction, all ships were equipped with conventional loading booms and with 120-tonne heavy lift gear to take over heavy lifts.
The ships (selection)
VNS "Z" class
Building name
Shipyard / construction number
IMO number
delivery
Client
Later names and whereabouts
Zuiderkerk
P. Smit Jr./-
5399286
February 6, 1957
Nederlandsche Tank & Paketvaart Maatschappij
1977 Transworld Goliath , launched in Igoumenitsa in July 1982, arrived in Fuzhou on December 14th for demolition
Zaankerk
Howaldtswerke / -
5397460
March 9, 1957
Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaartmaatschappij
1978 Holystar , sunk on September 11, 1980 on the journey from Dunkirk to Annaba after being grounded, later lifted and scrapped in Cartagena from May 4, 1981
Zonnekerk
C. Van der Giessen / -
5399169
June 29, 1957
Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaartmaatschappij
1977 Nedlloyd Zonnekerk , 1977 Good Skipper , 1982 Good Skipper I , arrived in Bushire on December 17, 1983 for scrapping (other source: March 22, 1984 in Alang)
Data: Lloyd's Register of Shipping
literature
Meylof, Louis: Voormalig Nederlands koopvaardijschepen . Rebo, Sassenheim 1987, ISBN 90-366-0249-1 .
