''Belocean'' was a

heavy lift ship A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normal ships. They are of two types: *''Semi-submersible'' ships that take on water ballast to allow the load—usually another vessel—to be floated o ...

which was built in 1945 for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) as ''Empire Canute''. She was completed in 1947 as ''Belocean'' for Belships Co Ltd. In 1964 she was sold to Bacong Shipping Co SA, Panama, and renamed ''Southern Star''. In 1968, she was sold to Manila Interocean Lines Inc, Philippines, and renamed ''Marie Ann'', serving until she was scrapped in July 1976.

Description

The ship was built by Greenock Dockyard Co Ltd,

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

as yard number 462. She was launched on 24 December 1945 and completed in June 1947. The ship was long, with a beam of } and a depth of . Her GRT was 7,750, a NRT of 4,475, and a DWT of 9,970. She was propelled

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

driving an electric motor and a screw shaft. The turbine was built by the General Electric Company Ltd,

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies nort ...

. In 1954, ''Belocean'' was fitted with a new 8-cylinder 2T EV MAN diesel engine. She was capable of .

History

''Empire Canute'' was built for the MoWT. She is recorded in Lloyd's Register for 1945–46 as being owned by then MoWT and The Clan Line Steamers Ltd, with management being by Cayzer, Irvine & Co Ltd. The

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

GKKK were allocated. In June 1947, she was completed as ''Belocean'' for Belships Co Ltd. She was placed under the management of Christen Smith & Co Ltd, Oslo, Norway. The Code Letters LMKX were allocated and her port of registry was Oslo. She was sold in February 1964 to Bacong Shipping Co SA, Panama, and renamed ''Southern Star''. She was operated under the management of Southern Industrial Products Inc. Manila, Philippines. In 1968, she was sold to Manila Interocean Lines Inc, Manila and renamed ''Marie Ann''. She served until 1976, arriving on 29 July at Gadani Beach, Pakistan for scrapping.

References

External links

Photo of ''Belocean''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belocean 1945 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Norway Steamships of Norway Merchant ships of Panama Merchant ships of the Philippines