25th October 2010 - The Haven Ports and Port of Colchester

Derek Sands - report by David Sparkes

Derek Sands’ work in the shipping industry has included locations at Harwich Parkeston Quay and Ipswich West Bank, which has allowed him to see and photograph much of the local shipping activity and to be knowledgeable about the background, destinations and cargoes of the ships.

We began the slideshow on the River Colne in Essex, with 1980s views of Wivenhoe, Rowhedge and Colchester. Those at Rowhedge were taken from the comfort of a convenient riverside pub! Photographs included a new ship being launched from Cook’s shipyard at Wivenhoe, now closed. The wharves at Wivenhoe and Rowhedge closed in the late 1980s, partly because of local opposition to lorry traffic using narrow roads through residential areas to get to the ports. Colchester port closed in 1990, but only a year beforehand Derek photographed a busy scene with 13 ships lined along the quayside. These were all small coasters as the port could only take ships up to 900 tons. The trend to larger coastal vessels made the port unviable.

At Ipswich, Derek was on hand to record visiting ships, particularly anything out of the ordinary. These ranged from one of the largest, the “Super Venture” (10,000t gross / 16,000t deadweight) with a cargo of timber, to one of the smallest and oldest, the “Margaret G” built in 1915.

While based at Harwich, Derek was able to photograph various ferries, refrigerated cargo ships and cruise ships. Rarities included the French Railways (SNCF) train ferry “St Germain” and the cruise ship “Argonaut”, built in 1929 as a private yacht.

Apart from the basic trades of local ports in grain, coal, fertilisers, timber etc., the variety of cargoes described started to resemble a cookery programme - with ship loads of onions, rice, tapioca, frozen prawns, frozen chicken, Pauls malt from Ipswich going to Germany to make Becks Bier and imports of beans for the Heinz factory.

In the 1980s container ships at Felixstowe were much smaller than the latest 170,000 t. giants. They included some old American vessels converted into container carriers, such as the “Amco Voyager” a 1943-built tanker converted to carry military cargoes and United States Lines “American Accord” a converted 1954-built cargo ship. In the 1990s the Mediterranean Shipping Co, was one of the last companies to operate steam turbine powered vessels. They were mainly acquired from Italian lines at reduced price, to compensate for their high fuel costs.

The vote of thanks was given by Stephen Marginson and after Derek let slip that he had plenty more slides and stories, the Chairman was quick to suggest a return visit in future!