The m/v CRISTALLINA was built, like her sister ship, the CARONA, in the British shipyard William Gray & Co. Ltd. in West Hartlepool (yard number 1227). The launching took place in February 15, 1949 and the handing over to the owners, the Swiss Shipping Co. Ltd. at Basle, on 01.07.1949. With the entering into the Swiss ship register she received the call sign HBDL. The name CRISTALLINA has various meanings, in the Canton of Grisons we have the Val Cristallina with an army target range, the Piz Cristallina (3128 m) and the Pass Cristallina, all south of Disentis in the direction of Pass Lukmanier. In the Ticino southwest of Airolo you find the mountain Cristallina (2912 m) and the Passo di Cristallina, leading to the south into the Val Bavona, as well as the lodge Capanna Cristallina.
Equipped with a 2140 BHP 5-cylinder Diesel engine, type: 5TD56, built by Sulzer Brothers Ltd, Winterthur, Switzerland, this general cargo vessel reached a service speed of about 12,0 knots. Note, Sulzer Brothers had built the main engine already in 1945. The management was allocated to Alpina Transport & Affrètements S.A. Basle and Antwerp, a subsidiary company of the owners. The CRISTALLINA had a complement of 30 men and had facilities for 12 passengers. She was fitted with the following cargo gear: 1 heavy lift derrick (jumbo) of 20 tons SWL (Safe Working Load), 4 derricks of 7.5 tons SWL, 4 derricks of 4 tons SWL.
As from 02.03.1950 the CRISTALLINA was used for the joint regular service to the West Indies and Central America in the charter pool of the HAPAG (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft or Hamburg-America-Line). Already after delivery from the builder's yard, the two vessels sailed on the same line, without being officially on-hire with HAPAG. It was the time after the war, when the Germans were still denied such undertakings, but the farsighted director of Alpina Antwerp, Mr. J. Plüss already pulled the strings in the back and made the necessary arrangements for the future.
In that time, the crew consisted to a large part of Swiss nationals, the others were from Northern Europe, mainly from Germany and the Netherlands. The deck officers were usually from the North. Assigned master was Capt. H. Ubrich, a German. The ship with her voyages to the East Coast of Central America was much liked by the seamen. During the Christmas days of 1967, the CRISTALLINA was laying with the SUNAMELIA on the same shaky wooden pier in Kingston, an occasion well celebrated.
After the ship was laid up in June 1971 in Piraeus, she could be sold in 1972 to the Cypriot company Lybero Maritime Co. Ltd. at Famagusta. The ship was not renamed but received a new call sign 5B2283 since she was changed the Cyprus flag. After the occupation of the North-Eastern part of Cyprus, including Famagusta by Turkish troops in summer 1974, Limassol was chosen as her new port of registry.
With the sale of the ship to the Zulacar Maritime Co. S.A. Piraeus in 1975 the ship came back under Greek flag. She received then the name MILOS III and the call sign SWCT (new tonnage: GRT: 2198/3189, NRT: 999/1622, DWT: 2985). The Greek company Zoulias Brothers & Co. in Piraeus took upon her management.
In 1979 the Panamanian company Lifeteam Compania Naviera SA at Piraeus bought the ship and named her TYHI. The call sign SWCT was kept since the sale was not connected with a change of flag.
But already in October 1980 there was another change of hands, the ship being sold to the Paksea Shipping Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) at Panama. They registered her under Panamanian flag and renamed her SEA BEAUTY. The call sign was H9FT (new tonnage: GRT: 2340/2979, NRT: 1048/1961).
On 26.04.1981 the SEA BEAUTY left Sharjah for her last voyage to Karachi, where she arrived on 20.05.1981 to be scrapped by Jamal Younis & Co.
Additional Information and Stories
Trading area of CRISTALLINA and CARONA
Already after delivery from the builder's yard the two freighters were engaged in the liner trade to the West Indies and Central America under the directions of the Swiss Shipping Company, sailing with the funnel marks of the owners. At the time just after the war it was still denied to the Germans to charter foreign ships or to operate a liner service. However, the clever and farsighted director of Alpina Antwerp, Mr. J. Plüss already pulled the strings in the back and made the necessary arrangements with HAPAG for the future.
As from 02.03.1950 the CRISTALLINA, together with her sister vessel CARONA, officially were chartered by HAPAG for their liner service to the West Indies and to Central America, called the WIMA service (West Indien Mittel Amerika Dienst).
In Northern Europe the main ports were Hamburg, Bremen, Rotterdam and Antwerp and after crossing of the Atlantic they followed either the Northern or the southern Route. On the return leg they called the ports according to the available cargoes. These were usually arranged by ROVIROSO, the general agents of HAPAG in Havana.
The southern route was to Venezuela with the ports Isla Margarita, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello and to Columbia with Barranquilla, Cartagena. Sometimes bunkers were taken in Curacao or Aruba. The northern route, also called the island route, went to the West Indian Islands (Caribbean), mainly to the following countries and ports: In Haiti, Cap Haitien, Gonaive and Port-au-Prince, in the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo (from 1936 until 1961 Ciudad Trujillo). Also San Juan in Puerto Rico and Kingston in Jamaica were occasionally on the schedule. Both lines terminated in Central America, calling the ports on the eastern Coast, in Costa Rica, (Puerto) Limon, in Honduras, Puerto Cortes and in Guatemala, Puerto Barrios and Matias de Galvez. Sometimes Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua was called (as from 1996: Bilwi).
In the first years cement from Germany was often loaded for Venezuela, a commodity much in demand at the time, for example on the Island of Margarita. Once a shortage of coffee existed in Cuba, but in Haiti was plenty of it. Therefore one of the ships was dispatched quickly, loading coffee from wooden boats at anchorages, such as Jacmel, Les Cayes, Jérémie and brought to Cuba, then a full load of sugar for Europe.
Before the Cuban revolution the ships frequently carried full loads of suger from Cuba to West Germany, a cargo making good money for the owners. Shortly before the troops of Fidel Castro conquered Cienfuegos, the CRISTALLINA took over a cargo of sugar from this port. The homebound ships were guided by the general agents ROBIROSA in Havana. Radio traffic with Europe was a big problem at the time, frequently the telegram messages had to be routed via Florida in the States, from there they were forwarded by transatlantic cable to the head office.
Homebound from Guatemala, depending on the season, plenty of coffee was loaded. The CRISTALLINA and the CARONA were very popular with the coffee shippers, many times they remained in port on their wish to take on delayed consignments, whereas the HAPAG freighters had to adhere strictly to their schedules. Once a large, well paying consignment of tobacco from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic was taken on for Las Palmas, the large detour could be easily taken into the bargain.
SwissShips MB, HPS, March 2014