Coastal Ships in the Canary Islands: “Puerto de Azpiroz” (1955-1977)

The third ship of the Tenerife company Las Afortunadas was the motor vessel “Puerto de Azpiroz” and it had the honor of being the largest of all those that flew the LASA flag. It was acquired in October 1960 from its previous owner, the shipowner Ramón Ponlla Fernández, from La Coruña, for just over five million pesetas.

It was an almost new ship, built at the Juan Cruz Celaya shipyard in Bilbao, commissioned by the shipowners Concepción Aparisi Calvo and José Franch Martínez, residents of San Sebastián. Launched on November 11, 1954, it was sold in July 1955 to the aforementioned Galician shipowner, who kept it in service from the following August without changing its name.

It had a gross tonnage of 511 tons, a net tonnage of 345 tons, and a deadweight of 650 tons, with main dimensions of 44.53 m in overall length, 8.82 m in beam, 4.20 m in depth, and 4.10 m in draft. It was powered by a 700 horsepower Krupp diesel engine and could travel at 11 knots in good weather. IMO Code 5286556.

With this ship, which had a considerable cargo capacity for the time, Las Afortunadas significantly strengthened its presence, catering to the traffic of its specialty between the Peninsula and the Canary Islands, as well as in inter-island service when the market demanded it. In 1964, various improvement works were carried out at the Unión Naval de Levante shipyard in Valencia, costing 5.2 million pesetas.

In October 1972, the ship was sold to shipowner Gabriel Martín González, from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, for 6.5 million pesetas. It kept the same name and in this new phase, which would last another five years, in April 1974 it was left adrift and was towed by the Spanish motor vessel “Garbi”. On June 12, 1977, while sailing from Agadir to El Aaiún with military material and general cargo, it ran aground about four miles north of Tarfaya, being abandoned by its crew and declared a total constructive loss.

Photo: Charlie Hill (7seasvessels.com)