B-459 / GDANSK
General cargo vessel GDAŃSK (type B-459)
Keel laid: 3 October 1966
Launched: 15 February 1967
Delivered: 29 June 1967
Gdańsk Shipyard built vessels of various sizes. The Gdańsk (and its twin, the Gdynia) is an example of a small bulk carrier, useful in coastal shipping in the Norwegian fjords and between the ports of the North Sea. The B-459 ships began a successful collaboration between Polish shipyards and Norwegian shipowners: by 1996, 90 vessels were built for them in Poland, including 39 in Gdańsk Shipyard.
Technical specifications:
capacity: 1199 GRT; 850 NRT; 2280 DWT
dimensions: 74.0 total x 13.0 x 5.0 m
propulsion: MaK 8M452AK diesel engine with 1600 hp
speed: 12.1 knots
crew: 18
Six type B-459 vessels were built in 1966-1968 for Norwegian shipowners.
In 1966, the Norwegian shipowner Gerner-Mathisen Rederi A/S of Oslo ordered Gdańsk Shipyard to make four “paragraph” vessels, i.e. ships in which the greatest possible cargo capacity was to be secured within a set gross tonnage (which various port fees depend on). Two further ships from this series were ordered by other Norwegian shipowners. The technical design by the Central Construction and Research Centre in Gdańsk was based on a preliminary design by the Norwegian Lund, Mohr & Giæver-Enger Marin AS consultant firm of Bergen.
They were one-deck motor ships with a superstructure on the stern, dedicated to general cargo, bulk cargo and timber in the holds and on deck. The designers had to take special care to ensure good conditions for the crew, in keeping with the Norwegian standards of the time. The engine room was automatised in order to reduce crew size.
After operating for about 10 years under the Norwegian flag, the ships were sold. After that, they changed hands between ever more exotic owners. The story of the second ship of the series, launched under the name of Gdynia, is very telling. In 1979, it changed its flag to Yugoslavian and became the Potirna, and in 1991 it raised the Maltese flag as the Dina M. Then, in 2000, it was sold to an unknown Syrian owner who renamed it the Wael 4. In December 2001, it set off from a Middle Eastern port with 203 passengers on deck. They were illegal immigrants who wanted to get to Greece. In order to force the Greek authorities to take them in, the crew ran the ship aground onto a stony shoal off the coast of Crete. A call for help was sent and the immigrants had to be evacuated to shore. The ship itself sank two days later when it was being towed to a safer place.
The type B-459 ships were the beginning of a broader collaboration between Norwegian shipowners and the Polish shipbuilding industry. By the end of the communist era in Poland, over 80 vessels made in Polish shipyards sailed under the Norwegian flag and the collaboration continued after the political transformation.
In 1971-1979, Gdańsk Shipyard built one more series of 30 paragraph vessels (type B-431). Their recipients were to be Norwegian shipowners and 26 vessels went on to sail under the Norwegian flag. The order for the four last vessels of this type was cancelled due to the shipowner’s financial difficulties, but the Shipyard decided to complete their construction at its own risk. The Polish Steamship Company became interested in them and they were eventually operated by a company called the Polish-Norwegian Shipping Enterprise established by the Polish Steamship Company. They were named the Jarosław, Koronowo, Niewiadów and Lipsk n/Biebrzą. The Lipsk n/Biebrzą had a name the English couldn’t pronounce so it came to be called That little ship with a funny long name in English ports.
In March 1979, the ship Koronowo left Gdańsk for the UK with a cargo of timber. During a storm at Bornholm, the cargo shifted and on 17 March the ship heeled so much that its stern sank to the sea bottom. The crew was evacuated, a rescue operation was undertaken, but the ship sank a few days later.
In 1966, the Norwegian shipowner Gerner-Mathisen Rederi A/S of Oslo ordered Gdańsk Shipyard to make four “paragraph” vessels, i.e. ships in which the greatest possible cargo capacity was to be secured within a set gross tonnage (which various port fees depend on). Two further ships from this series were ordered by other Norwegian shipowners. The technical design by the Central Construction and Research Centre in Gdańsk was based on a preliminary design by the Norwegian Lund, Mohr & Giæver-Enger Marin AS consultant firm of Bergen.
They were one-deck motor ships with a superstructure on the stern, dedicated to general cargo, bulk cargo and timber in the holds and on deck. The designers had to take special care to ensure good conditions for the crew, in keeping with the Norwegian standards of the time. The engine room was automatised in order to reduce crew size.
After operating for about 10 years under the Norwegian flag, the ships were sold. After that, they changed hands between ever more exotic owners. The story of the second ship of the series, launched under the name of Gdynia, is very telling. In 1979, it changed its flag to Yugoslavian and became the Potirna, and in 1991 it raised the Maltese flag as the Dina M. Then, in 2000, it was sold to an unknown Syrian owner who renamed it the Wael 4. In December 2001, it set off from a Middle Eastern port with 203 passengers on deck. They were illegal immigrants who wanted to get to Greece. In order to force the Greek authorities to take them in, the crew ran the ship aground onto a stony shoal off the coast of Crete. A call for help was sent and the immigrants had to be evacuated to shore. The ship itself sank two days later when it was being towed to a safer place.
The type B-459 ships were the beginning of a broader collaboration between Norwegian shipowners and the Polish shipbuilding industry. By the end of the communist era in Poland, over 80 vessels made in Polish shipyards sailed under the Norwegian flag and the collaboration continued after the political transformation.
In 1971-1979, Gdańsk Shipyard built one more series of 30 paragraph vessels (type B-431). Their recipients were to be Norwegian shipowners and 26 vessels went on to sail under the Norwegian flag. The order for the four last vessels of this type was cancelled due to the shipowner’s financial difficulties, but the Shipyard decided to complete their construction at its own risk. The Polish Steamship Company became interested in them and they were eventually operated by a company called the Polish-Norwegian Shipping Enterprise established by the Polish Steamship Company. They were named the Jarosław, Koronowo, Niewiadów and Lipsk n/Biebrzą. The Lipsk n/Biebrzą had a name the English couldn’t pronounce so it came to be called That little ship with a funny long name in English ports.
In March 1979, the ship Koronowo left Gdańsk for the UK with a cargo of timber. During a storm at Bornholm, the cargo shifted and on 17 March the ship heeled so much that its stern sank to the sea bottom. The crew was evacuated, a rescue operation was undertaken, but the ship sank a few days later.
