The Maritime Life of the Oil Tanker “Campoverde” (1958-1991)

The history of the defunct CAMPSA includes the oil tanker “Campoverde”, the first of a series of four ships known as the “colors” due to the names they bore. The other three were named “Camponegro”, “Campoblanco”, and “Campogrís”. The ship “Camporrojo” is from a later series and differed from these, besides having a slightly larger tonnage, in that its chimney was cylindrical and not truncated and slightly sloped like that of our protagonist.

In June 1984, when we had the opportunity to visit it during one of its stops at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife –captained by Manuel Martín González– it was the oldest in the deep-sea fleet of CAMPSA, as the ships “Camprovín” and “Campoo”, which were slightly older, were dedicated to the role of “bunker ship” in the bay of Algeciras, while the historic “Campaláns” –which we had the chance to visit in the summer of 1985– fulfilled the same function in the port of Vigo.

In the second half of 1984, the oil tanker “Campoverde” was chartered by CEPSA and DISA to temporarily replace the oil tankers “Monteleón” and “Mencey”, which were inoperative due to accidents recorded in the ports of Pasajes and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In the Tenerife port, it loaded for Melenara, Las Palmas, and Lanzarote, thus supplying the respective factories. After fulfilling the charter, it loaded full for Ceuta, being dispatched by the consignor agent Oscar Molowny, a person fondly remembered.[1].

Granted by ministerial order on May 18, 1954, the construction number 80 from the shipyard of the Spanish Society of Naval Construction, in Sestao (Vizcaya), slid down the slipway on November 30, 1956, in a ceremony sponsored by Mrs. Teresa Zubiría de Churruca, wife of the president of the board of directors of CAMPSA.[2] The total cost amounted to 140.2 million pesetas and was the cheapest of the four ships in the series.

At the end of March 1958, it successfully completed sea trials and on April 3, it set sail from Bilbao on its first commercial voyage to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where it loaded full of gasoline destined for Santander. At that time, it was under the command of Captain Isidoro Loyola Aspiazún, and Antonio Olmedo was its first chief engineer. For navigation aids, it had radar and a radio direction finder and was manually steered.

Throughout its maritime life, two significant events are worth mentioning. Both occurred in 1964. On the night of April 29 to 30, while traveling from Bilbao to Ferrol, the first engineer, Manuel Neiro, disappeared, and his body was found days later near Gijón, where it was rescued by fishermen. In the same year, while sailing from Valencia to Houston (USA), a crew member fell seriously ill, and the ship had to make a forced stop in Sao Miguel of the Azores, after reversing about 430 miles. Upon arrival, he was hospitalized and recovered from his illness after a few days.

On board, there was also a curious fact related to its crew. From its commissioning until at least 1984, at least two crew members had always sailed on it. The first, without exception, was the electrician Julián Martínez, who was one of those who “took it out of the shipyard”. And the second, although with a campaign on another ship, was the steward Joseba Arrizabalaga.

As the former Oil Monopoly Leasing Company (CAMPSA) underwent its transformation into the Hydrocarbon Logistics Company (CLH), there was a surplus of fleet that, due to its excellent maintenance level, quickly found buyers. In May 1991, the ship “Campoverde” was sold, flagged in Malta, and renamed “Finix II”. Its maritime life would extend until 1995, when it was scrapped.

With a gross tonnage of 6,638 tons, net tonnage of 4,281 tons, and deadweight of 9,398 tons, it measured 138.99 m in overall length -130.23 m in length between perpendiculars-, 17.33 m in beam, 9.83 m in depth, and 7.76 m in maximum draft. It could load 12,459 cubic meters and was powered by a Burmeister & Wain 7-62VTF-115 engine, two-stroke, seven cylinders, with 3,500 horsepower on a shaft, reaching a speed of 13.5 knots in sea trials, although it maintained a cruising speed of 12 knots. IMO Code 5059628.

Photo: José María Casanova Colorado (spanishshipping.com)

Notes

[1] Díaz Lorenzo, Juan Carlos. “The oil tanker Campoverde supplied the island factories of CEPSA and DISA”. In Diario de Avisos, June 21, 1984.

[2] ABC, December 1, 1956.