The first vessel of Reederei Zürich AG, Zürich was ordered and built by H.C. Stülcken Werft, Hamburg under hull No. 808. The launching was on July 15, 1952 and the ship was christened ADELE by Mrs. Adele Duttweiler, the wife of Mr. Gottlieb Duttweiler, the founder and president of the new shipping company. The delivery to the owners was on September 11, 1952. The vessel was registered under Swiss flag with the charter name SUNADELE (official No.: 047, call sign: HBFL).
The building supervision and the technical management was allocated to C. Clausen, Copenhagen, Denmark. The master, officers and crew were from Denmark, only 3 Swiss seamen were on board. The working contracts were according to Danish regulations and the wage was paid in Danish kroner. In 1955 this agreement was terminated and Reederei Zürich AG took over full control and management of the vessel (the exact date we do not know).
The crews changed after the first 2 to 3 years rapidly to Swiss nationals and at the end of 1956 about 75 % were Swiss. Later almost all crew were Swiss, except for the master and the deck officers, who remained mostly German and Dutch nationals.
It appears that the ADELE commenced her 6 year time charter with Saguenay Terminals Inc., Montreal, Canada right after delivery from the shipyard, as reported in the "Brückenbauer" (Migros journal). The first voyage of the SUNADELE went from Hamburg, via Rotterdam and London to Venezuela. Therefore the ship had to adopt the charter name SUNADELE, as all the names of the Saguenay vessels commenced with the prefix "SUN". This time charter was extended a few times and was terminated only on February 4, 1966.
On completion of this charter the vessel resumed its original name ADELE until she was sold on November 26, 1966 to Transpacific Carriers Corp. Piraeus (Management: P.G. Callimanopoulos / Hellenic Lines Ltd., New York und Piraeus). This sale was arranged through the broker Jacq. Pierot Jr. & Sons, New York at a reported price of 630'000.- USD. The vessel was renamed LIVORNO and was registered under Greek flag (call sign: SZQD, BRT: 4995, NRT: 2651, DWT: 6391). In 1977 the ship was transferred to Hellenic Lines Ltd., Piraeus. Under the Greek flag the LIVORNO always sailed for Hellenic Lines, Piraeus, once a well known shipping company, operating well maintained cargo ships on many different regular lines.
In 1980 she was sold for demolition to Mao Chen Iron & Steel Co. Ltd., Kaohsiung, Taiwan and on June 25, 1980 the LIVORNO passed the Panama Canal on her last voyage to Kaohsiung, where she arrived on August 8, 1980.
Additional Information and Stories
Trading pattern during Saguenay charter
(from Capt. Rudolf Weber)
During the many years in the Saguenay charter, the SUNADELE and her sister vessel SUNAMELIA sailed always in a triangular trade in the Atlantic, between Northern Europe / U.K., Caribbean Sea (also called the "West Indies") / Central America and Canada / USA. Many times the two vessels sailed only between the Caribbean Sea and Canada without returning to Europe for many months.
During this service many different ports were called, especially in the West Indies, to name a few, Georgetown, Mackenzie (Guyana), Port of Spain, (Trinidad), Puerto Cabello, La Guaira, Maracaibo (Venezuela), Cartagena, Barranquilla (Colombia), Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), Puerto Barrios (Guatemala), the ports of Cuba and Haiti, Kingston (Jamaica), Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata (Domenican Republic), San Juan (Puerto Rico), the islands of Barbados, St. Vincent, Domenica, Grenada. Of course on one voyage not all of these ports were visited, just a few, say 3 to 5 ports on a normal voyage. However the voyages did change, depending on cargo availability and other operational requirements.
In North America, the main ports were Montreal, Port Alfred (a port about 4 hours up the Saguenay River on the northern side of the lower St. Lawrence River in Quebec), Halifax, Saint John (New Brunswick) and New York. In summer time the ships went to the ports in the St. Lawrence River, but in winter time when the St. Lawrence River was frozen-up the ships were diverted to the ice-free ports of Halifax and Saint John.
In Europe usually the ships called at Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp and the United Kingdom (London, Avonmouth, Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow).
From Europe and from Canada general cargo was carried to the West Indies and to Central America, from Canada to Europe the vessels were mainly carrying paper and aluminium products. Hard to believe today, but from the mines of Mackenzie, Guyana (a few hours up the Demerara River) the two small tween deck cargo vessels mainly carried bauxite to the aluminium plant in Port Alfred, Canada. Sometimes also a full cargo of sugar from Cuba or from Guyana was carried up to the USA or Canada.
Construction of the ships
Very little is known about the original purpose of these vessels, our knowledge mainly consists of information from an article in "The Motor Ship" and from tales of the seamen on board. For any further, factual information from our readers we will be very grateful.
The hull of the ships were of very slim design and a very powerful main engine was installed. They were very fast, normally about 16 knots, but for short periods they could run up to approximately 18 knots. The main deck was lined with Oregon pine and it was said, that originally it was intended to carry fruits. However no refrigeration plant was fitted, nor it appeared, that any space was foreseen for such an installation. That means the carriage of any fruit had been restricted to short sea trade, such as from Spain or Canary Islands to North Europe.
It was also told, that the ships had the "blue ribbon", in 1952 these vessels likely belonged to the fastest freighters of the world. However, one should know, that the "blue ribbon" was assigned only to passenger vessels, running on the transatlantic route. No any information could be found in this respect.
Another story said, these freighters were the first ships built in West Germany, running on heavy fuel oil. Again at the present time, we have no reliable information on the subject.
Crew accommodations
According to the "Brückenbauer" the local news papers in Hamburg were full of praise for the modern crew accommodations. The 38 men crew had all a single cabin, except a few mess-boys, who were in double berth cabins. However, as 12 passengers were carried as well, space was scarce on this little ship and every available corner had to be used.
On the poop deck were on two levels the single cabins for the deck crew and the motormen. These cabins had a washbasin, but toilettes and showers were for common use. In the deckhouse on the top was the crew bar. The mess rooms with a small pantry for the deck crew and the motormen were located in the aft mast house between hatch No. 4 and 5. During the winter storms in the North Atlantic, when the ship was rolling heavily and the sea washed along the deck, not an easy task for the mess-boys to carry the food from the galley mid ships across the slippery deck to the mess rooms. Occasionally water was even under the tables and one had either wet feet or had to wear boots to take the meals.
Mid ships on the main deck were the engineer's cabins (including the chief engineer), the cabins of the chief steward and the cooks, the galley and the officer's mess. Even the engineers, except for the Chief, had a communal shower and toilette. The mess-boys had their cabins below the main deck.
The upper deck was reserved for the passengers. These were accommodated in 10 single and in one double cabin, all with their own bath rooms. On the forward front of the superstructure were the dining room, smoking saloon and the bar. Here the captain, chief engineer and 1. officer were dining together with the passengers. The public rooms and the cabins were tastefully furnished with plenty of wood.
As a peculiarity at this time, the charterers requested from the owners, that two stewardesses are employed on each ship to look after the well-being of the passengers. Some of the seamen found a wife, and some couples remain still together today.
The boat deck was reserved for the master, the deck officers and the radio operator and of course was off-limits for the ordinary crew members.
However no air condition was fitted in the entire passenger and crew accommodations, but individual electric fans only, in addition to the central ventilation system. Down in the Caribbean Sea it could be sticking hot in these cabins, especially when loading bauxite and the bull eyes and the windows had to be closed to prevent the dust from entering (contrary, on the "HELVETIA" built in the same year, the entire crew and the passengers were accommodated mid ships, the ratings in double cabins, but an air condition system was installed instead).
During warm weather, a popular gathering place for the crew was at hatch No. 4 on portside, just outside the galley and many, many pleasant hours were spent here (however this was the case on many, similar built vessels of that time).
HPS, SwissShips, September 2011