Keller Shipping Ltd., Basel ordered this ro-ro freighter, specially designed for the West African trade, from the shipyard A. Vuijk & Zonen Scheepswerfen BV, Capelle a/d Ijssel in the Netherlands (today Royal IHC Merwede). The keel was laid on 27.04.1977, the construction number was 881. On 22.12.1977 the ANZÈRE was launched and was taken into service by Keller Shipping on 08.05.1978. The construction supervision was carried out by staff from Keller Shipping. The registered owner was Compagnie de Navigation Transocéanique Suisse S.A. Genève. The ANZÈRE, named after a holiday village near Sion, in the canton of Valais, flew the Swiss flag and was registered in Bâle (Basel) (Official No.: 98, call sign: HBDA). Another small note, in Capelle today there is also a street and a small district of single-family houses called Anzere. The various shipping media unanimously mentioned a newbuilding price of 13,715,658 US dollars.
The crew consisted mainly of Italians and Yugoslavs, as well as a few Swiss. The Swiss captain Charles Beck was in command of the ship for many years, and the Swiss Walter Häberling served as chief engineer also for a long time.
The Ro-Ro-freighter had a stern ramp that could be swivelled 38° on both sides and consisted of two partial ramps, which allowed many possible uses, especially in West African ports. The freighter could dock with the starboard or port side and the relatively high ramp could also overcome smaller obstacles such as railway tracks or a small wall. The ship served the Nautilus Line from Italy and France to West Africa, though the end point of the voyage was probably at Douala, Cameroon.
The ANZÈRE was equipped with its own MAFI-trailers and towing vehicles (MAFI Transport-Systeme GmbH, Tauberbischofsheim, Germany), as well as containers. At that time there were no container cranes in Africa and with the trailers and towing vehicles (trucks) the containers could be moved on the trailers throughout the port. The trailers were loaded with the container, often also with general cargo, and the trailer was pulled on board and parked there with its cargo and lashed. As the loading and unloading of the trailers now took place independently, the ship could continue its voyage and the trailers could be taken on board again when the ship next arrived, ideally with a new load. The vessel had 2 or 3 Trucks on board, which were operated and maintained by the ship’s crew.
A MAFI trailer with truck. The left pictures shows a trailer loaded with four tanks. On the right an empty trailer, note on the ANZÈRE these had an additional wooden floor, consisting of planks of 6 cm thickness.
Source: MAFI Transport-Systeme GmbH, Tauberbischofsheim, Germany www.mafi.de / Representative in Switzerland: Klingler Fahrzeugtechnik AG, 6370 Stans www.klingler-ag.ch
Propulsion was provided by two 4-stroke main engines from Sulzer Brothers Ltd. Winterthur, type: 8ZL40/48, built under licence in Poland, working via reduction gears onto two Lips controllable pitch propellers. One special feature of these engines were their rotating pistons, at each stroke of the piston, it was turned by a ratchet mechanism for a few degrees. A bow thruster was also fitted. On the ANZÈRE, Sulzer Brothers Ltd. carried out long-time running tests with new components, such as cylinder liners, pistons and piston rings, valves, bearings, etc. This testing program proved to be a beneficial arrangement for both Sulzer and the shipping company.
In 1991 Keller Shipping sold the ANZÈRE to the Norwegians and handed over the ship on 10.10.1991 after a short "take-over" docking in Genoa. The new owner company was called Tidero AS, Oslo and was managed by the former captain Rolf Tiedemann. The ship was renamed TIDERO STAR. The technical management was done by Acomarit S.A. Geneva and the commercial management was done by Trollship S.A. also in Geneva. Troll Ship was the brokerage company of the Norwegian Jan Rasmussen and Alain Briere and was engaged in buying, selling and chartering ships, mainly Ro-Ro vessels. The TIDERO STAR sailed under the Norwegian flag (NIS register) and was registered in Oslo. Official No.: N-01130. Call sign: LAMY4.
Most of the crew came from Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. The ferry was mainly used by various charter companies, such as P&O Ferrymasters, Fred Olsen, Northsea Ferries, etc. in the North Sea, but also operated occasionally in the Baltic Sea. In 1994, the TIDERO STAR made a detour of a few months to the Far East, bringing old construction machinery (Caterpillars) from Japan to China, a back-breaking job for crew and ship, but very profitable for the owner. After a dock in Singapore, she went back to Ireland in ballast.
During a shipyard period, the TIDERO STAR was deleted from the Norwegian register on 31.10.2000 and entered in the Portuguese Madeira register on 07.11.2000. Now the ship was flying the Portuguese flag and her home port was Madeira (call sign: CQUH).
Sold to Vilja A/S Arendal (Management: C.H. Sørensen Management A/S, Arendal) on 17.12.2001. The ship was handed over on 20.01.2002 in Izola, Slovenia. Renamed VILJA and registered again under Norwegian flag (home port Arendal, call sign: LATS5).
Sold to Homer Maritime Corp., Panama (Morgan y Morgan, Panama) on 08.10.2004. However, the management remained in Norway and was now the responsibility of Goliat Shipping A/S, Oslo. The ferry kept the Norwegian flag, but was renamed TOLOSA and registered in Oslo 6 days later. On 02.09.2005 the management in Oslo changed the owner to Lecco Maritime Corp. Panama. The name, flag and home port of the ship did not change.
On 15.08.2006 purchased by Glory Marine SA, Monrovia (Management: Aegean Cargo Management SA, Piraeus) and registered in Kingstown, under the flag of St. Vincent & The Grenadines. Renamed AEGEAN GLORY (Official No.: 10220, Call Sign: J8B3747). Now the ferry would operate in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Arrested in Izmir in 2011, then laid up in Salamis in November 2011. Sold for demolition to Hisar Gemi Sokum AS in Turkey in 2012. The old ferry was towed to Aliaga (near Izmir), which she reached on 11.06.2012 to be beached.
SwissShips HPS, JTA, MB, May 2021
Sources:
- Lloyds Register
- Robert Rohrbach
- www.ferry-site.dk
- www.doverferryphotosforums.co.uk
- www.adriaticandaegeanferries.com
- Bruno O. Eckert, retired Diesel engineer Winterthur
- HLM Hertli AG, Elgg, Willi Hertli und Rolf Sturm
Additional Information and Stories
The Sulzer Engines
Bruno O. Eckert, who spent most of his professional career in the diesel department at Sulzer Brothers Ltd. Winterthur, sent us the following article:
Thanks to the good contacts to the patron Charles Keller (Sen), to the inspectors and chief engineers on board, the two main engines Sulzer-Zgoda, type: 8ZL40 with 5800PSe (530 rpm) and the two diesel generators, Sulzer, type: 5AL25 of the ANZÈRE were available to the Sulzer Diesel Department for long-term tests of new components. Thus, new technologies in the production of cylinder inserts, rotary pistons and piston rings, intake and exhaust valves as well as their rotating devices, main and push rod bearings and other components could be tested in endurance tests under actual operating conditions on board. In 1978, at the time of the commissioning of the ANZÈRE, more than 300 engines of the type Z40 had already been ordered or were in operation.
A 6-cylinder, 2-stroke Z40 in-line diesel engine of older construction, not exactly identical with the engines of ANZÈRE (Source: GS-Archives)
The Z40 engine, introduced in 1970, was the first modern, medium-speed, four-stroke engine from Sulzer Brothers, Winterthur. With a bore of 400 mm and a stroke of 480 mm, as well as bore-cooled components around the combustion chamber, the Z40 was designed for heavy fuel oil operation. Cheap heavy fuel oil (HFO) with a viscosity of 380cSt/50°C / 3500secs RW1 could be used, producing up to 750 BHP/550kW per cylinder at 560-600 rpm. The engine was offered as in-line and V-engine with 6 to 16 cylinders. Non-reversible and reversible versions for marine use were available, first with electronic-pneumatic control system, a few years later with electric-pneumatic control system, like on ANZÈRE*). The first commissioning took place in September 1973, with a Sulzer-Zgoda 6ZL40 main engine. In 1999, a total of 901 units, type Z40 engines with an aggregated power of 6'577'350 BHP were in service. After an intermediate version of the ZA40, a long-stroke version was introduced in 1985, the ZA40S with a stroke of 560 mm for heavy oil operation up to 460cSt/50°C / 4500secs RW1 and with a power up to 980 BHP/720kW at 510 to 514 rpm per cylinder. In 2007, 894 unit of ZA40S engines in L and V versions from 6 to 18 cylinders were delivered and in service with a total of 11'023'760 BHP.
Cross section of a ZL40/48 in-line engine (Source: HLM Hertli AG, Elgg / Schweiz)
Rotating piston with the ratchet (Source: GS-Archiv)
Two pictures from the cruise ship CELESTYAL OLYMPIA ex-SONG OF AMERICA, equipped with 4 main engines of the same type 8ZL40/48, as on the ANZÈRE. Above the two STB-engines and below the outer STB-engine. Note also the similar, cramped engine room space. Cylinder numbers were counted by Sulzer from forward to aft, towards the flywheel
(Photos: Rolf Sturm, HLM Hertli AG, Elgg / Schweiz)
SwissShips HPS, JTA, May 2021