15 June, 2023 by Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo

A Ship in Tribute to Guadalupe Domínguez Sierra

The recent passing of Mrs. Guadalupe Domínguez Sierra, widow of Florentín Castro Fariña –one of the most prominent shipowners in the Canary Islands in the second half of the 20th century, originally from Arafo– makes us recall the seafaring life of a refrigerated ship built in Japan that bore the name “Guadalupe”, in tribute, precisely, to the person who has completed her final life journey at the age of 95.

Construction number 2,065 from the Shin Kurushima shipyard, Hashihama factory (Japan), from the laying of the keel to the delivery of this ship took just four months, allowing us to appreciate the capacity and performance of the Japanese shipbuilding industry at the end of the 1970s. The first block was laid on January 29, 1979, it was launched on March 15 under the name “Guadalupe” and delivered to the Liberian company Cacique Navigation Corp. on May 29, one of the companies in the Castro London Ltd. conglomerate.

Incorporated into international fish transport traffic, especially with the Italian market, it occasionally docked at the ports of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with its funnel painted blue and a white tuna, clearly referencing the nature of its mission.

In 1983, when the business group began to decline, the ship “Guadalupe” was sold to the Liberian company Sunshine International Corp. and renamed “Sunreef”. In 1984 it was resold to Motorship Sunreef CV and renamed “Iglo Express”, flying the Dutch flag. That same year it came under the ownership of Polygon Shipping Ltd. and regained the name “Sunreef”, registered in Cyprus, after a hull extension.

In 1992 it was renamed again “Iglo Express”, then under Lawin Marine Corp. and the Philippine flag, and in 1992 it changed to the Moroccan flag without changing owners with the new name “United Malika”.

On August 4, 2003, it ran aground on the sands of Cabo Blanco, off the coast of Mauritania, while heading to the port of Nouadhibou from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The crew was rescued by the Mauritanian Navy and the cargo was also recovered. Attempts to refloat it were unsuccessful, and it was left abandoned. For a long time it became a tourist destination and later began its partial dismantling by Malian scrap dealers. It is possible that only remnants remain that could not be removed, as it is no longer visible in satellite images.

Originally, it was a ship of 3,252 gross tons and 3,559 deadweight tons, with dimensions of 100 m in length –95 m between perpendiculars– and 15.80 m in beam. After the extension with a new section of 18.20 m in length, it had a tonnage of 4,239 gross tons and 4,880 deadweight tons. It was powered by a Hanshin 6LU54 diesel engine, with 4,500 horsepower on a shaft and fixed pitch propeller, maintaining a speed of 15 knots. IMO Code 7810480.