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On 31st of January 1949, the later freighter GENERAL DUFOUR was launched at the shipyard of Hall, Russell & Co. in Aberdeen, Scotland, and delivered in May 1949 as VIKDAL to Tanker Corporation, Panama (construction number 806). The Management was handed over to Johan Rasmussen & Co. in Sandefjord, Norway. The VIKDAL flew the flag of Panama, her call sign was HPQB.

The ship had 5 holds and 6 hatches. The cargo gear consisted of 12 derricks with a load capacity of 10 tons and 10,5 tons SWL (Safe Working Load), operated by 12 steam winches. Apparently a heavy lift derrick of 25 tons SWL was fitted later for the West Africa trade. It was also said, that the GENERAL DUFOUR was the first Swiss ship to be equipped with a radar.

Propulsion power was by a 4-cylinder Doxford opposed-piston engine built by Richardson, Westgard Ltd., Hartlepool, with an output of 3'750 HP, allowing a speed of about 12.5 knots. A scotch boiler supplied steam for the auxiliary machinery in the engine room and on deck. The steam driven generators supplied D.C. electricity, engine room pumps were steam-driven, the steering gear and the winches on deck were run by steam. In the crew cabins, just above the engine room and the boiler, it was therefore always “nice and warm”. Naturally, no air condition plant was installed at that time.

In April 1951, the Federal Council decided on a second action to increase the tonnage of the Swiss fleet with federal aid. It reserved 8000 tons for Keller Shipping. The shipping company was able to present the GENERAL DUFOUR project in a short time, but the necessary finances were lacking. Charles Keller therefore proposed to establish a new owner company, the Compagnie de navigation Transocéanique Suisse S.A. Geneva, with the help of the Geneva private bank Lombard, Odier & Cie, as well as some Geneva financiers. The Board of Directors consisted of three persons, Jean Bonna as Chairman, Edmond Barbey as Secretary and Charles Keller as Delegate.

On 1st of June 1951 the company took over this general cargo freighter and registered it under the name of the famous first general of Switzerland, GENERAL DUFOUR (Guillaume-Henry Dufour 1787 to 1875, officer, cartographer and founding member of the ICRC). The management was taken over by Keller Shipping Ltd. in Basel. With the registration under Swiss flag the ship received the call sign: HBDY.

Initially, GENERAL DUFOUR sailed worldwide. After the takeover in Rotterdam, she crossed the North Atlantic to St. John N.B. and then into the Mediterranean Sea as far as Beirut. This was followed by several voyages from the US East Coast to the West Coast of South America down to Chile. Later she sailed again across the Atlantic and south to South Africa, Lorenzo Marques (now Maputo) and Beira.

One of the first masters of GENERAL DUFOUR was the Swiss Captain Fritz Gerber, who signed on in New York in early April 1952. The next voyage was scheduled to Chile. For the return trip to the USA, the freighter took on a cargo of saltpetre in Taltal, Chile. After a visit to the town’s theatre with the radio operator and the agent on Saturday 17th of May 1952, Captain Gerber complained of an indisposition and collapsed on the way back to the ship. Despite immediate medical attention he died of heart failure. Fritz Gerber was buried two days later at the local cemetery with great sympathy from personalities from the town. The GENERAL DUFOUR, however, had left the port earlier, probably now under the command of the chief officer. Thus the career of the first Swiss captain Fritz Gerber came to an abrupt end in South America at the age of 57.

After Keller had taken over the bankrupt Nautilus-Line in the summer of 1954, the freighter was used in the trade from Italy to West Africa until she was sold in 1970. In the early days, the GENERAL DUFOUR and probably other Keller ships sailed sometimes to Tiko, a small but now forgotten loading place in a creek in the delta of the Wouri River in Douala, Cameroon. In the narrow creek the vessel had to move with the stem onto the soft mud of the river bank to turn round.

GENERAL DUFOUR has experienced a lot of mishaps in her 19 years with Keller. According to the Lloyd's Voyage Cards, 21 events are recorded, such as engine damage, grounding, cargo damage etc. One of these stories was the loss of the propeller which happened near Genoa in late October 1963. At position 43° 15' N / 009° 12 E the main engine suddenly went crazy and overspeeded, the mechanical governor could no longer control the situation. The engineers scratched their heads, good advice was difficult to find. They even pulled a piston and found nothing. They started the engine again to do a test run, but no improvement was found. In their desperation the engineers probably decided to go upstairs and drink a beer on deck to discuss this mysterious matter. The mess boy joined in and listened to the discussions. He then threw a "if the engine does run, then there are always "Blöterli" (bubbles) in the water at the stern, but this time I didn't see any..." Now it slowly dawned that the propeller was gone and eventually the vessel had to be towed to Marseille. Unfortunately no further information is available at the time, the archive of Lloyd’s Foundation London is closed for a longer period for refurbishing and Corona-crisis.

And now we come to a bit of "sailor's yarn". On 1st of August 1962 (Swiss National day) the GENERAL DUFOUR was moored in the port of Douala. A certain Eugen Plattner, together with some of his ship mates, climbed the water tower in the centre of the city and raised the Swiss flag, which they had pinched from the ship’s flag staff. Of course, this action led to serious trouble with the local authorities. At that time Cameroon was independent for less than one year and naturally was hurt in its national pride, which led to some diplomatic discussions and tensions.

These two stories resulted in a lot of material for sailor's yarn and were often told in different variations at late hours.

On 9th of September 1970 Keller Shipping sold the ship to the Madrigal Shipping Co. Inc. Panama, which gave her the name ANA MARIA and registered her again under the flag of Panama. In 1971, the ship was transferred to Pac-Trade Navigation Co., Panama, without changing the name. However, it was still listed in Lloyd's Register under Madrigal Shipping in 1974. On April 12,1974, the vessel arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for demolition.

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SwissShips HPS, MB June 2020