History
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This multipurpose freighter was one of a series of five ships built at the shipyard of Sedef Gemi Endustrisi A.S. in Gebze (near Istanbul), Turkey. Of these, three smaller ships of 6300 DWT and two larger ones of 7300 DWT were built. The freighters had the same dimensions and the same main engines, but in the two large ships the draught was about 0.73 m greater and the speed half a knot lower. One of the larger ships had been acquired by Massoel SA, Geneva, the LUGANO 2.

Built as YUNUS, the ship was commissioned by the Turkish shipping company Yunus Deniz Ticareti AS, Istanbul under the Turkish flag at the end of 1984, and renamed YUNUS II just under 2 months later (call sign: TCBY, official no.: 5305). Yunus is a Muslim male name, but in Turkish it also means dolphin.

Captain Paul Preisig, who had taken over the majority of shares from Suisse-Outremer Reederei AG, Zurich in autumn 1989, bought this ship in summer 1990 for the owner company Nanice Schiffahrts AG, Herisau, and Suisse-Outremer took over the operation. The handover-dry docking took place in Malta from 16.08.1990 to

25.08.1990. On this occasion the shipyard also repaired and overhauled the controllable pitch propeller. The freighter was named MARTIN P. and registered on 24.08.1990 under the Swiss flag (call sign: HBFH, official no.: 133).

The first captain of the MARTIN P. was Peter Schickli, later followed other Swiss captains, to name Martin Horner, Hans-Ruedi Hauser and Max Burger. Gian-Carlo Kern sailed as 2nd. officer. Some of the crew came from the stocks of the old Suisse-Outremer ships, others came from Indonesia, Cabo Verde and Yugoslavia.
The MARTIN P. sailed in Northern and Southern Europe, also bringing food across the Mediterranean to Libya. She also travelled around the world, to the West Indies and the west coast of the USA to Long Beach. She was in Bandar Abbas (Iran) and sailed from here around the Cape of Good Hope to Nigeria. Frequent cargoes were steel products such as "steel coils" or railway rails from the steelworks in Piombino to Greece.

In the spring of 1999, the Suisse-Outremer Reederei AG ceased its business activities and handed over management to ABC Maritime SA, Nyon, on April 28, 1999.

On a voyage in December 1999 from the Bulgarian port of Bourgas to Rotterdam with a cargo of the mineral pyrite (iron pyrites, or sulphur pyrites, used in the production of sulphuric acid, specific gravity about 5.0), the MARTIN P. was caught in the Bosporus on 29.12.1999 in an offshoot of the storm low "Lothar", which had previously caused severe devastation across Europe. The pyrite cargo liquefied during the voyage, causing the ship to list.

Therefore, the MARTIN P. called at Ambarli near Istanbul as a port of refuge to discharge the cargo. However, the berth did not seem safe and the captain feared that the mooring lines could not withstand the storm and wanted to leave the port again. This manoeuvre failed because the main engine would not start. While the freighter was bobbing along, a large wave caught the ship and drove her stern onto the shore stones, causing the hull to buckle amidships. While the cargo holds and engine room were flooded, the entire crew was saved. To prevent oil pollution, an oil boom was laid around the ship. On 06.01.2000, a Turkish company began pumping out the bunker oil.

The wreck remained in Ambarli for several months while the owners argued with the insurance company. Finally, after several months, the ship was declared a total loss and on 04.06.2000 it was struck off the register of Swiss seagoing vessels. On 05.09.2000 the wreck was taken over by the insurer. Through the mediation of ABC Maritime, business friend Bahri Turan of Turan Shipping bought the freighter. The cargo was discharged and the wreck was towed to a shipyard in Istanbul, repaired and put back into service in June 2001 under the flag of Panama. Renamed BAHRI TURAN and registered to Treasure Shipping Ltd (Management: Treasure Shipping Ltd., Valletta), Panama (Official no.: 29742-PEXT, Callsign: H9JA).

Resold several times within Turkey with various changes of owner, name and flag. In July 2002 sold to Seda Shipping Ltd. Valletta (Management: Seda Denizcilik ve Ticaret A.S., Istanbul). New name DORUK and registered in Valletta, Malta (Official no.: 7845, Call sign: 9HIH7). Changed to Turkish flag in October 2006 and registered as DORUK A in Istanbul (Call sign: TCSL3).

In June 2007 purchased by Emiroglu Shipping, Bunkering & Foreign Trading Ltd, Istanbul and renamed MEVLANA. The ship remained under Turkish flag.

Resold in August 2008 to Seven Seas Shipping & Trading Ltd. Corp. Istanbul (Management: Seda Denizcilik ve Ticaret AS / Seda Shipping & Trading Inc. Istanbul). Registered again under Panama flag and renamed AZRA (Official no.: 3459709, call sign: 3ETG7).

Sold for scrapping to Kursan Gemi Sokum Ltd. in Aliaga (near Izmir) in early 2012 and arrived in Aliaga on 25.02.2012.

Source:

SwissShips June 2023