In the early 90ties Panalpina, Basel faced an increased problem to deliver urgent air cargo to their clients in the oil industry, located in ports without international airport, such as Port Gentil, Pointe Noire, Soyo (Angola). Means to improve the situation were sought and eventually the combined air/sea "African Star Service" was introduced, operating on a weekly basis.
The idea was to transport the air cargo from Luxemburg (Europe's leading cargo airport) by chartered cargo plane to Port Harcourt in Nigeria and then distribute the cargo by a fast crew/supply boat service along the coast, directly to the oil industry in Malabo, Port Gentil, Pointe Noire, Malongo, Cabinda and Soyo. On the return outbound air cargo was collected and landed in Libreville for onward transportation by plane.
ABC Maritime AG was asked to find and propose a suitable boat for this service and to manage the vessel on the technical side, whereas the commercial operation was carried out by Panalpina's logistic company A.S.B., Air Sea Broker Ltd. in Basel, that means all instructions regards cargo, itinerary, bunkers were given to the master directly by telex from Basel.
The boat selected and purchased was an aluminium crew boat, the CORMORAN offered for sale by U.R.O. Gabon, Port Gentil, a subsidiary of the French tug-boat company, U.R.O. in Le Havre.
The vessel was built by Camcraft Inc., Crown Point, Louisiana, USA (Yard No.: 241) for the account of the French company U.R.O., Le Havre and was delivered in 1981 to her owners. Some sources say, her first name was CARDINAL, but this is not confirmed. IMO No. 8895580.
Crown Point, Louisiana, is a small village at the intersection of the Bayou Rigolettes with the Intracoastal Waterway (community of Jean Lafitte, Jefferson Parish), about one hour by car south of New Orleans. The Intracoastal Waterway is a large canal for the inland barge traffic, leading from Florida right down to Brownsville, Texas on the Mexican boarder.
In 1992 the boat was purchased bei African Star Shipping Ltd. Kingstown and was taken over on 05.06.1992 during a dry docking in Port Gentil, renamed AFRICAN STAR and registered under St. Vincent & The Grenadines flag (official number 3576, call sign J8GF3).
The vessel's crew consisted of 6 men, who were all from Senegal, except for the chief engineer, who was either French or Swiss. A weekly service out of Port Harcourt along the coast until Soyo at the mouth of the river Congo in Angola and back was maintained (about 1550 nautical miles one round trip).
By 1995, the "African Star Service" had increased dramatically and the boat became too small and was replaced by the purpose-built, new and larger boat, the AFRICAN STAR 2, which took up service in January 1996.
Subsequently, the AFRICAN STAR was sold in Port Gentil in February 1996 to O.I.L. Ltd., Woking, England, a large offshore supply vessel company. The boat was handed-over in Port Gentil to her new owners on 07.02.1996. She remained under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but was renamed OIL CARRIER. She commenced to work in the oil fields of northern Angola (Malongo).
In February 1997 the OIL CARRIER was reflagged to Panama (official No.: 25991-PEXT, call sign: HP8912). Management was with O.I.L. Ltd. New Orleans.
Incidentally, the O.I.L. Ltd. was taken over by Tidewater Inc. of New Orleans, USA in 1998, the largest supply vessel company in the world with a fleet of about 800 offshore vessels, ranging from small crew boats (like AFRICAN STAR) to large AHTS (Anchor Handling Tug & Supply vessel) of 20,000 BHP and over.
In December 1998 the boat was reflagged again, this time to Belize (official No.: 019811283, call sign: V3DI). The OIL CARRIER was now managed by Tidewater Marine International Inc. in Dubai.
In January 2002 reported registered owner: Tidewater Marine North Sea Ltd., Aberdeen. same management.
In March 2005 the OIL CARRIER was reported as still in service with Tidewater in Malongo, Angola, operated by a crew from the Philippines.
April 2007 registered owner: VTG Supply Boat Liberia Inc., Aberdeen. Managers: Tidewater Marine International Inc. UK, Aberdeen.
In August 2008 transferred to Tidewater Marine North Sea Ltd., Aberdeen, same managment.
In July 2009 sold to Upstream Technology Services in Lagos Nigeria and registered as NIGHTS WATCH II under Nigerian flag (call sign 5NRO). Operator as well Upstream Technology Services. In August 2015 no further information about this small boat were available, therefore its trace is lost somewhere in the Nigerdelta.
SwissShips, HPS, MB August 2015