Friday 8 October 2010

EIGAMOIYA

EIGAMOIYA Ship No 504
Ship No 504


The M.V.EIGAMOIYA was an order for a large single screw motor cargo ship, from the Nauru local Government Council.

She was a pretty large vessel at 4426 grt, to be built in what was now called the new company of Robb Caledon Shipbuilders Ltd, although to the men of the Leith Shipyards it was, as always referred to as “Robb’s”

EIGAMOIYA had a length between perpendiculars of 335 feet with a beam of 58 feet and a design draught of 15 feet and 3 inches. Launched from the Leith Shipyard on 19th of April 1969.

Launched with a coconut, but this does not tell the real sorry story of this little country whose people were really shafted by the ones that were put into positions of power.

Despite being a fine looking ship she was, according to some of the sailors who worked on the ship,  not a great sea keeping ship due to the large flare on her bow, which resulted in a lot of slamming and rolling in heavy weather.

You will be able to read a lot more about the M.V.EIGAMOIYA and the small state of NAURU on the new website which should be online soon!!!!!

1 comment:

Julian Blatchley said...

I sailed in the Eigamoiya in the late 1980s. A complex little ship, with her twin cranes and unusual engine arrangement-She had 2 Mirlees-Blackstone medium-speed engines clutched to a single shaft. At sea both ran ahead; for manoeuvring, one ran ahead and one astern, and they were clutched in and out to give astern or ahead movements. Good accommodation for the time, with a generous and attractive dining and bar space (she was fitted for 12 passengers, and often did carry them). She also had wooden decks around the accommodation. She was a fair sea-boat but I can confirm that she was rather uncomfortable in a head sea, and her bow shape was probably the cause. It was designed as it was because she had a large winch inside the foc'sle that was used for maintaining the deep-water moorings at Nauru... hopwever, she was a bit small for this, and could only really attend to the buoys. The deeper work was later managed by the Rosie D, a bulk carrier similarly fitted.
She was sold to a Greek company when Nauru Pacific Line folded, and in early 2000s was reported still afloat, laid up in East Coast of India as the Honduran flag Asoka II.