B-479 / BODROG
General cargo vessel BODROG (type B-479)
Keel laid: 28 April 1977
Launched: 2 July 1977
Delivered: 31 October 1977
Small all-purpose general cargo ships for container and bulk cargo handling built for shipowners from Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
These landlocked countries had their own merchant fleets, and Polish shipyards built 12 oceangoing vessels for Czechoslovakia and 5 for Hungary.
Technical specifications:
capacity: 2265 GRT, 1329 NRT; 3700 DWT;
dimensions: 94.0 x 13.6 x 5.4 m
propulsion: Cegielski-Fiat B3012 diesel engine with 2500 hp
speed: 13.4 knots
crew: 20
Four type B-479 vessels were built in 1977-1978: three for a Hungarian shipowner and one for a shipowner from Czechoslovakia.
Landlocked Czechoslovakia and Hungary were among Gdańsk Shipyard’s customers. In spite of their landlocked location, both countries had fleets that sailed all over the world. Their personnel were trained at Polish universities. In July 1947, Czechoslovakia and Poland signed a transport convention whereby an autonomous zone for the handling of Czechoslovakian goods was set up on Ewa Island in the port of Szczecin. It operated until 1955.
Already in 1960, a type B-54 10,000 DWT vessel came to sail under the Czechoslovakian flag. It was the former Fryderyk Chopin (built in Gdańsk Shipyard), which later sailed under the name Orlik. In 1967, it was sold to the Chinese.
However, the first oceangoing vessel ordered by our southern neighbours in a Polish shipyard was the bulk cargo ship Republika (type B-512) built in Szczecin and handed over at the end of 1963.
In spite of its lack of seacoast, Hungary has always had strong ties to the sea. Rijeka was a Hungarian port during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and after 1945 Hungarian shipyards began to build large numbers of vessels, of course ordered by the USSR. Over the next quarter-century, Hungarian shipyards built over 200 seagoing vessels, with a deadweight of up to 1900 tonnes. But they had to order larger vessels abroad. Three type B-479 general cargo vessels were built for them by Gdańsk Shipyard, and two somewhat larger ones, at 11,800 DWT (type B-474) were made at the same time in Szczecin Shipyard.
Switzerland is another landlocked country for which we built ships; it received two type B-54 general cargo ships, the Rhone and the Rhin, from Gdańsk Shipyard.
The Hungarian type B-479 vessels, named the Bodrog, Körös and Sajö sailed under the Hungarian flag for over 20 years and were sold in 1997-1998. Later they changed names and owners a number of times. The former Körös sank on 29 November 2010 due to a collision on the Black Sea; five crew members died. Sajö was scrapped in 2014 r. Bodrog was still operated in 2010, but then was stricken from Lloyd’s Register.
The fourth ship of this type, the Banska Bystrica, was handed over to the Slovakian Československá Plavba Dunajská (ČSPD) shipping company and operated until 2002 when it was sold, but it was scrapped only in 2010.
Landlocked Czechoslovakia and Hungary were among Gdańsk Shipyard’s customers. In spite of their landlocked location, both countries had fleets that sailed all over the world. Their personnel were trained at Polish universities. In July 1947, Czechoslovakia and Poland signed a transport convention whereby an autonomous zone for the handling of Czechoslovakian goods was set up on Ewa Island in the port of Szczecin. It operated until 1955.
Already in 1960, a type B-54 10,000 DWT vessel came to sail under the Czechoslovakian flag. It was the former Fryderyk Chopin (built in Gdańsk Shipyard), which later sailed under the name Orlik. In 1967, it was sold to the Chinese.
However, the first oceangoing vessel ordered by our southern neighbours in a Polish shipyard was the bulk cargo ship Republika (type B-512) built in Szczecin and handed over at the end of 1963.
In spite of its lack of seacoast, Hungary has always had strong ties to the sea. Rijeka was a Hungarian port during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and after 1945 Hungarian shipyards began to build large numbers of vessels, of course ordered by the USSR. Over the next quarter-century, Hungarian shipyards built over 200 seagoing vessels, with a deadweight of up to 1900 tonnes. But they had to order larger vessels abroad. Three type B-479 general cargo vessels were built for them by Gdańsk Shipyard, and two somewhat larger ones, at 11,800 DWT (type B-474) were made at the same time in Szczecin Shipyard.
Switzerland is another landlocked country for which we built ships; it received two type B-54 general cargo ships, the Rhone and the Rhin, from Gdańsk Shipyard.
The Hungarian type B-479 vessels, named the Bodrog, Körös and Sajö sailed under the Hungarian flag for over 20 years and were sold in 1997-1998. Later they changed names and owners a number of times. The former Körös sank on 29 November 2010 due to a collision on the Black Sea; five crew members died. Sajö was scrapped in 2014 r. Bodrog was still operated in 2010, but then was stricken from Lloyd’s Register.
The fourth ship of this type, the Banska Bystrica, was handed over to the Slovakian Československá Plavba Dunajská (ČSPD) shipping company and operated until 2002 when it was sold, but it was scrapped only in 2010.
