| Also known as | San Fernando |
|---|---|
| IMO number | 5309724 |
| Call sign | GPZR |
| Construction number | 1221 |
| Tonnage | 19.349 ton |
| Beam | 21m |
| Length overall | 169m |
| Year of construction | 1953 |
| Year of renaming/broken up | 1975 |
| Service for Shell | 1959 to 1975 |
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HEMICARDIUM
Sailors
Anecdotes
| Date | Visitor | Anecdote |
|---|---|---|
| 06/05/2017 - 22:19 | Tony Dodd |
Hemicardium was my one and only full trip as a 5/e. I joined it and left it in Curacao during 1971, in between we did lub oils around Europe and Africa and drydocked in Bremerhaven. With the Hemidonax, she was quite unique in having Thomson Lamont forced circulation boilers which were not in good shape when I joined. Our drydock in Bremerhaven was only pretty uneventful, I remember a stripper doing amazing things (to me) with a snake in a nightclub and that I was on duty one night, walking around the top of the boiler room when I suddenly heard a stream of Glaswegian expletives (I had done my Phase 3 there so understood the lingo a bit). He had been burning out air heater tubes and some slag got inside his collar guard. It turned out he lived round teh corner from the girlfriend of one of my fellow apprentices. We did a hell of a lot of work during the dock and the ship was not too bad by the time we returned to Curacao for our next African run. There were a few issues but by and large we coped quite well and I and a couple of others asked if I could return for my next trip. No answer from Shell but I believe they considered sending out a psychiatrist as everyone before had been desperate to leave her. Hard work, but one of my best trips! |
| 04/25/2016 - 10:22 | Diane Earl |
Anyone around who was on Hemicardium in June 1965 Curacao? |
| 12/18/2015 - 14:29 | Roger Duke |
I did just over 8 months on board as 4th Engineer the boilers were unique to only two ships at sea all other boilers of that type were in Power plants ashore. We had many unique issues and it was quite a trip. I went immediately after to college to study for my 2nd Class steam Cert. The examiner was most interested in the boilers, not having heard of them before. I joined in the Panama Canal and left in Wellington New Zealand. At that time there were no Jumbo jets and the flight went via Auckland, Fiji, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York and London to Glasgow. They took us all off the plane at LA and we had an 8 hour stop over at a Hotel. My first flight took off at 12, noon on Tuesday and we had two Tuesday's crossing the International date line, Finally arrived home at 1:30 am Thursday morning. ( The good old days ) |
| 02/20/2013 - 14:00 | Rogerpalmer |
First full trip as 5th. Eng.Interesting boilers(Thompson Lamont) Michale Swindles Ch.Eng.Transfered in Curacao to join Partula in New Orleans but the agent in Curacao forgot about us and we did not tell him untill we were spent out, nice three week holiday in the Avila Beach Hotel eventually joined ship in Jacksonville,nice life if you can get it. |
| 10/26/2012 - 21:14 | John Albert Evans |
I did my first deep sea trip on her when she was the San Fernando. I did two trips as galley boy on her. It was a great ship and crewe at the end of my second trip I signed on to The Eagle Oil Shipping Company.I stayed with them for 2 full contracts then sailed with Shell Tankers intil 1961. |
| 04/09/2012 - 15:20 | James Preston Barnes |
I joined her in Bremerhaven dry dock January 5th 1968 my first ship after 12 months at TS Indefatigable. Did 3 months as deck boy with six months remission from sea school got steering ticket and promoted to SOS did about 6 months after resigning on as she wsa going to Japan, Captain Roberts asked me if I had heard she was going to Japan and was that my reason, said I had no idea, so he allowed me to resign and continue on articles, I was lying and thinking back Captain knew I was too. Great crew and officers great first trip, Did two more with Shell Vitrina and haminella before diverting to general cargo and other shipping lines. left the sea 1976, Married with 5 children, grown up now kids too? |
| 01/09/2010 - 22:48 | Stewart Boik |
I was a deck boy on the Hemicardium in the summer of 1967. This was my first trip after leaving NSTS Gravesend. I joined the ship in Falmouth and we sailed to Portugal. My first experience of sea sickness was soon after in the Bay of Biscay. We then went to Rotterdam and then onto west africa, the French congo and the Ivory coast where we managed to put a hole in the side against one of the piers. Then on to Curacoa where the huge shell refinery was. I remember we had a lot of engine problems. We were adrift with no power 300 miles off the coast of Brazil for 3 weeks. Because drinking water was in short supply we were not expected to do much work. We spent our time dossing around and shark fishing. We managed to catch a couple. We pulled one up and dropped it onto the deck, unfortunately we had not thought things through, the bloody thing was thrashing about and we where trapped and could not get out of the way. The engineers fixed the boilers and we limped back into Curacoa for repairs. The engines were patched up and we sailed for Germany where we left Hemicardium and caught the ferry home in time for Christmas. The trip only lasted about 4 months because it was cut short due to the engine preblems but I can remember it like it was last year probably because it was my first voyage. |
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