The Last Years of the Motor Vessel “Mireya G. Masiques”

The last years of the maritime life of the motor vessel Mireya G. Masiques took place in the waters of the Canary Islands, covering a regular cargo line between Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where it alternated with its sister ships Cala Deyá and Cala Bona.These ships were the last representatives of conventional cabotage in the Canary Islands, marking the end of a long era.

The time came when the ownership of Agrupación Marítima (AGRUMAR) and the company Transportes Los Calas decided to change the course of their business and replaced the three conventional ships with a roll-on called Cala Gració, which would later be renamed Naraval.

The vessels Cala Deyá, Cala Bona, and Mireya G. Masiques spent a long time docked at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The first two were sold to other shipowners, and the third ended its maritime life intentionally sunk about six miles off the coast of Tenerife.

The owners of AGRUMAR had agreed on the ship's end with the Port Authority. To this end, it was properly prepared, cleaned of liquids and other contaminating materials, and on the morning of March 4, 1991, it was towed from the Los Llanos Dock to the predetermined point.

We were eyewitnesses to the event. Towed by the tugboat Teno –captained by Antonio García Jorge– on a sunny and calm morning, when the moment arrived, the designated personnel opened the bottom valves, and the ship began to list slowly from the stern on the starboard side. As water entered the engine room and the cargo hold, the sinking accelerated, and within minutes it sank bow-first, amidst a loud noise. Shortly after, only the swirling water testified to the end of the ship, which lies about two thousand meters deep.

The ship 'Mireya G. Masiques' departs from the Tenerife port for the last time

Bottom valves opened, waiting for the sinking

Last image of the ship 'Mireya G. Masiques'

At this time, the Port Authority resolved the sinking of other abandoned ships in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, including the tanker Faycán, as well as the fishing vessels Mar Caribe and Berenice. We were also eyewitnesses to the sinking of the first two.

The vessel Mireya G. Masiques was a twin of the vessel Cala Bona, and both were built on behalf of Naviera Mallorquina at the Palma Shipyards. The first of them –construction number 132 of the aforementioned factory– set sail on April 19, 1966, baptized as Cala Morlanda, and the second did so on November 22, 1967.

Weighing 258 gross tons, 103 net tons, and 357 deadweight tons, it measured 46.13 meters in overall length - 41.51 m between perpendiculars -, 7.65 m in beam, 2.87 m in depth, and 2.81 m in maximum draft. It had a single hold and was powered by an MTM engine of 390 horsepower, achieving a speed of 10 knots in good weather. IMO Code 6523183.

The vessels 'Cala Bona' and 'Mireya G. Masiques', moored in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife[/caption>

In 1973, the vessel Cala Morlanda passed to the ownership of the Sociedad Naviera y Comercial Masiques, based in Barcelona, and the following year it was renamed Mireya G. Masiques. Thus, another six years went by until in 1979 the said ship was sold to AGRUMAR for 9.7 million pesetas. It kept the same name and port of registration and acted as a reinforcement and replacement unit due to the regulatory dry-dockings of the vessels Cala Deyá and Cala Bona.

All these names belong to the history of cabotage in the Balearic Islands, where they spent their early years of maritime life, and in the Canary Islands, where the ship of this story met its end. Two other vessels from Naviera Mallorquina, Cala Pedrera and Cala Pinar, slightly smaller than the previous ones, also sailed in the waters of the Canary Islands under the names Hermigua and Isla Colombina, owned by Negrín Hermanos, a company based in La Gomera.

Photos: Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo