London & Overseas Freighters

London & Overseas Freighters
London & Overseas Freighters Ltd
Industry Ship transport
Fate sold
Successor Frontline Shipping AB
Founded 1948[1]
Founder(s) John Kulukundis,[1] Basil Mavroleon[1]
Defunct 1997
Headquarters Balfour Place, London W1, England 1948-92; Hamilton, Bermuda 1992-97
Key people "Bluey" Mavroleon, Eddie Kulukundis, Miles Kulukundis

London & Overseas Freighters Ltd. (LOF) was an ocean-going merchant shipping company that for most of its history was based in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Counties Ship Management

Main article: Counties Ship Management

In 1920 Manuel Kulukundis from the Aegean island of Kasos[2] and his cousin Minas Rethymnis founded a shipbroking business in London, England.[3] In 1934 Rethymnis & Kulukundis Ltd. (R&K) branched into shipowning,[1] establishing a nominally separate company to own each ship.[2] From 1934 they managed the ships under the name of Counties Ship Management Ltd (CSM).[2] Some R&K companies grew to own more than one ship, all of which were under CSM management.[2]

In the Second World War from 1940 onwards CSM was controlled by the Ministry of War Transport.[1] CSM lost several ships during the war and others were damaged. In about 1946 CSM companies began replacing its losses by buying seven Liberty ships from the UK Government.[2]

In 1948-49 ten ships from CSM companies were transferred to found a new R&K company, London & Overseas Freighters Ltd. However, in 1950 the CSM fleet was radically expanded with 34 Canadian "Fort and Park" ships.[2]

During the 1950s LOF became the main R&K company and the CSM fleet was reduced in size.[2] Its last ship was MV Port Campbell, which CSM took over in 1966 and renamed Kings Reach.[2] CSM's history effectively ended with her sale in 1970.[2]

Foundation of LOF

SS Empire Celia was Putney Hill with Counties Ship Management when this photo was taken in 1948, then became first Castle Hill and then London Statesman with LOF in 1950

In 1948 the cousins founded a new company, London & Overseas Freighters Ltd, with the intention of owning tramp oil tankers. However, in 1949-50 LOF took over the dry cargo fleets of three R&K companies: Dorset Steamship Co Ltd, Putney Hill Steamships Co Ltd and Tower Steamship Co Ltd.[1] In order to give the merged fleets a single "house" identity, LOF renamed all of its ships, giving each one a name beginning with "London".[1]

The Pentridge Hill, built in 1941 by Bartram & Sons for Dorset Steamships became the London Dealer.[3] The freighter Richmond Hill, built in 1940 by Bartram & Sons in Sunderland for Putney Hill Steamships became the London Craftsman.[3]

The freighters Coombe Hill and Tower Hill, built by William Doxford & Sons in Sunderland for Putney Hill Steamships in 1942, became LOF's London Artisan and London Banker respectively.[3]

A number of the CSM ships transferred to LOF were Empire ships, built to standard designs during the Second World War. Dorset Steamships' Lulworth Hill, which became LOF's London Builder in 1950, had been completed by the Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd. in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1942 as Empire Mandarin.[3] Another Dorset Steamships' vessel, the Charmouth Hill, which became LOF's London Mariner in 1950, had been completed in Hartlepool in 1943 as Empire Peak.[3] Tower Steamships' Tower Grange, which became LOF's London Trader, had been completed by the Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd. in 1945 as Empire Morley.[3] Another Putney Hill Steamships vessel, the Putney Hill (II) had been built in 1943 as Empire Celia. She was transferred to LOF in 1949 and at first renamed Castle Hill. In 1950 LOF renamed her again as London Statesman. In 1951 LOF sold her to Panamanian owners who renamed her Morella.

CSM had seven Liberty ships, two of which were transferred to LOF. edit] Livery and personnel

LOF ships' hulls were red below the waterline and black above. The ships had white superstructures and carried the coat of arms of the City of London facing forward just below the bridge. The LOF funnel livery was buff, ringed by a white band above a blue band, with a five-pointed red star on the two bands. It was a variant of a livery that some CSM ships had used since the 1930s.[2] The house flag was a pennant of white above blue bearing a red star.[1] The white and blue referred to the Greek origins of the Kulukundis, Rethymnis and Mavroleon families.[2] The red star made the funnel livery suggest that of a Soviet merchant fleet, which sometimes caused some confusion.

LOF ships always worked under charter. Under the terms of some charters, the ship's funnel would be repainted from LOF colours to those of the charterer.

LOF employed UK officers on salaries but used crew from Asia hired on contracts for limited periods. This allowed it to pay crew wages lower than those agreed between the General Council of British Shipping and the National Union of Seamen. At different times in LOF's history the crews were drawn from either the Far East or the Indian subcontinent.

LOF's first tankers

LOF ordered new tanker ships, the first of which were the London Pride (I) and London Enterprise (I) completed by Furness Shipbuilding at Stockton-on-Tees in 1950.[3] LOF became a public company in 1951.[1] In 1952 Furness completed two more tankers for LOF, the London Victory (I) and London Majesty.[3] In the same year Sir James Laing and Sons Ltd on the River Wear in Sunderland, completed two tankers for LOF: the London Glory (I) and London Spirit (I).[3]

LOF had intended to operate a mixed fleet of tankers and dry cargo ships.[3] However, the costs of buying new tankers rose considerably so by the end of 1953 LOF sold all of its dry cargo ships.[3] Furness completed the London Splendour (I) in 1953, London Loyalty in 1954 and London Integrity in 1955.[3] In 1959 the Admiralty took over the Loyalty and Integrity as bareboat charters for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, who renamed them RFA Brambleleaf and RFA Bayleaf respectively.[3]

Expansion and diversification

In 1956 LOF in association with Philip Hill, Higginson & Co Ltd founded a subsidiary, London & Overseas Tankers, in Bermuda.[3] LOT took a 50% interest in another Bermudian company, London & Overseas Bulk Carriers.[3] LOT ordered six tankers and LOBC ordered two bulk carriers.[3]

In 1957 LOF led a consortium of three companies that took over the Austin & Pickersgill shipyard in Sunderland. In 1968 A&P took over another Wearside shipyard, Bartram & Sons Ltd. In 1970 LOF bought out its partners to take 100% ownership of A&P.

LOF continued to buy new tankers. Furness Shipbuilding completed the London Tradition in 1957 and the London Explorer in 1959, and Koninklijke Maatschappij on the Scheldt in Flushing, Netherlands, completed the London Harmony in 1959.[3] Uddevallavarvet AB of Uddevalla in Sweden completed the tanker London Independence in 1961.[5] Rheinstahl Nordseewerke of Emden in Germany completed the Overseas Adventurer for LOT in 1963.[3]

LOF returned to dry cargo ships in 1963 with the London Craftsman, London Statesman and London Tradesman all from Uddevallavarvet[5] and London Banker (II) from Bijker's Aannemingsbedrijk of Gorinchem on the IJssel in the Netherlands.[3] Koninklijke Maatschappij completed the London Advocate in 1964[3] and Uddevallavarvet completed the London Citizen in 1965.[3][5] LOF's shift of emphasis to dry cargo continued when Industria Navali Meccaniche Affini in La Spezia, Italy, converted three LOF tankers to bulk carriers: the London Splendour (I) in 1966 and the London Tradition and London Explorer in 1967.[3]

Mayfair Tankers

In the 1960s LOF created a subsidiary in Greece, Mayfair Tankers, to benefit from the lower taxes in that country. In 1965 LOF transferred at least three tankers to its subsidiary.[6] The London Endurance became the Erato, the London Glory became the Giannina and the London Spirit became the Salamis.[6] The Erato and Giannina were scrapped in Spain in 1969 and the Salamis was scrapped in Taiwan in 1970.[6]

LOF transferred Mayfair Tankers to the flag of convenience of Liberia.[3] The bulk carrier London Splendour (I) was registered in Liberia as the Mayfair Splendour in 1970.[3] In 1972 the Ministry of Defence returned the London Loyalty to LOF, who immediately transferred her to Mayfair Tankers and registered her in Liberia as the Mayfair Loyalty.[3]

Eventually LOF stopped operating ships via its Mayfair Tankers subsidiary. However, LOF continued transferring some ships to London & Overseas Tankers in order to pay less tax. These ships included the Overseas Adventurer, Overseas Ambassador, Overseas Argonaut, Overseas Courier, Overseas Discoverer, Overseas Explorer and Overseas Pioneer.[7]

The 1970s

In 1971 Kockums of Malmö in Sweden completed LOF's first supertanker, named the London Pride (II) as a replacement of the tanker of the same name launched in 1950.[8] At 255,090 long tons (285,700 short tons) deadweight[8] she was a VLCC, larger than any other LOF ship before or since.

On 10 July 1972 the London Statesman was unloading a cargon of rice at Nha Trang in South Vietnam when her engine room flooded and she sank by the stern.[3] Sabotage by the Viet Cong was suspected.[3] On 31 July she was refloated and towed to Singapore for repairs.[3] She remained in the LOF fleet until 1979.[3]

In 1973 the MoD returned the London Integrity.[3] However, in the same year it bareboat chartered the Overseas Adventurer as the RFA Cherryleaf.[3]

LOF modernised its dry cargo fleet with four new SD14[disambiguation needed ] shelter deck ships built by its A&P subsidiary: the London Cavalier, London Fusilier and London Grenadier in 1972 and the London Bombardier in 1973.[9] LOF then entered the bulk carrier tramp trade with three new B26 bulk carriers built by A&P: the London Baron, London Earl and London Viscount, all built in 1977.[9]

Welsh Ore Carriers

LOF bought a 50% share in Welsh Ore Carriers in 1961 and a further 1% in 1969. Under LOF control WOC bought new ships from A&P and Bartram including Welsh Herald in 1963,[9] the SD14 shelter deck cargo ships Welsh Trident in 1973 and Welsh Troubadour in 1974[10] and the B26 bulk carrier Welsh Voyager in 1977. WOC was renamed Welsh Overseas Freighters in 1977 and LOF bought the remaining 49% of shares from the West Wales Steamship Co in 1982.[8] By then WOC had sold its SD14's, but Welsh Voyager entered the LOF fleet as London Voyager.

Adversity & restructuring

LOF's profitability was reduced by the 1973 oil crisis and the 1977 nationalisation of the UK's shipbuilding industry.[1] LOF laid up a number of its ships in a bay near Piraeus in Greece, including the London Pride (II) in 1981.[8] LOF sold the London Pride (II) in 1982 and she was scrapped in the Far East in 1983.[8]

LOF returned to smaller tankers with the Panamax-sized London Victory (II) and London Spirit (II) completed by Mitsui in Japan in 1982.[8] These were joined by the London Enterprise (II), completed by Hitachi in Japan in 1983.[11] After about 1986 the business began to recover.[8] In 1989 Chevron made a two-year charter for the London Victory, later expanded into a five-year charter for both the her and her sister ship the London Spirit.[8]

In 1992 LOF moved to Bermuda to restructure its debts.[11] Mitsui completed three new Suezmax tankers for the fleet: the London Pride (III) in 1993 for charter to Chevron and the London Glory (III) and London Splendour (II) in 1995 for spot market tramp trading.[8] LOF reported increased profits in 1994[12] and 1995.[13]

In June 1995 Chevron's charters of the London Spirit and London Victory expired.[11] Chevron closed two of its refineries that year and did not renew the charters.[11] In August 1996 LOF reported lower profits[14] and in December of that year LOF reported that it was struggling to resist a hostile takeover.[15]

Sale of the fleet

In 1997 a Swedish shipping company, Frontline Shipping AB, also moved its operations to Bermuda.[16] Frontline took a 51% controlling share in LOF,[11][17] ending its independent history 49 years after its incorporation.

Frontline renamed the Suezmax tankers London Pride (III), London Glory (III) and London Splendour (II) as the Front Pride, Front Glory and Front Splendour respectively.[8] As of June 2010 all three tankers are still listed in the Frontline fleet.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "House flag, London & Overseas Freighters Ltd (AAA0295)". Flags. National Maritime Museum. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm?ID=AAA0295. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Counties Ship Management 1934-2007". LOF-News. p. 1. http://www.lof-news.co.uk/CountiesHistory/Counties1.htm. Retrieved 30 June 2010. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah "London & Overseas Freighters 1941-97". LOF-News. p. 1. http://www.lof-news.co.uk/History%20&%20Headers%201-2-3/lof1.htm. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
  4. ^ a b "Liberty Ships - S". Mariners. http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsS.html. Retrieved 1 July 2010. 
  5. ^ a b c Sjöholm, Lennart. "(table of ships built by Uddevallavarvet 1948-86)". Sjöfartsbilder. Resandemannen. http://resandemannen.se/page23/page67/files/page67_1.htm. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
  6. ^ a b c "Shipbuilders - page 13". The Sunderland Site. http://www.searlecanada.org/sunderland/sunderland042.html. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
  7. ^ "www.photoship.co.uk search picture list O". Old Ship Picture Galleries. http://www.photoship.co.uk/Gallery%20Links/O.htm. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "London & Overseas Freighters 1941-97". LOF-News. p. 2. http://www.lof-news.co.uk/History%20&%20Headers%201-2-3/lof2.htm. Retrieved 30 June 2010. 
  9. ^ a b c "Ships Built in the 1970s". The Sunderland Site. http://www.searlecanada.org/sunderland/sunderland109.html. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
  10. ^ "Ships Built by Bartram's including (later) Austin & Pickersgill Limited". The Sunderland Site. http://www.searlecanada.org/sunderland/sunderland120.html. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 
  11. ^ a b c d e "London & Overseas Freighters 1941-97". LOF-News. p. 3. http://www.lof-news.co.uk/History%20&%20Headers%201-2-3/lof3.htm. Retrieved 30 June 2010. 
  12. ^ "LOF predicts better years for tankers...". The Royal Gazette. 8 June 1994. http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7ca640f30030001. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
  13. ^ "LOFs profits double to $8.4 million". The Royal Gazette. 23 May 1995. http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?sectionId=65&articleId=7cb5b8f30030008. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
  14. ^ "LOF profit slumps". The Royal Gazette. 7 August 1996. http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7cc838f30030010&sectionId=65. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
  15. ^ "LOF shareholder rights plan would block hostile takeover". The Royal Gazette. 13 December 1996. http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?sectionId=65&articleId=7ccc6933003001b. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
  16. ^ "History". Frontline Ltd.. Frontline Ltd.. http://www.frontline.bm/company/history.shtml. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
  17. ^ "Company to close Bermuda HQ". The Royal Gazette: p. 9. 23 September 1997. http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?sectionId=60&articleId=7cd9b8f30030019. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
  18. ^ "Suezmax as of June, 2010". Frontline Ltd.. Frontline Ltd.. http://www.frontline.bm/fleetlist/index.php?class=Suezmax. Retrieved 30 June 2010. 

Further reading

  • Sedgwick, Stanley (1993) [1992]. Kinnaird, Mark; O'Donoghue, K.J.. eds. London & Overseas Freighters, 1948-92: A Short History. World Ship Society. ISBN 0905617681. 
  • Sedgwick, Stanley; Sprake, R.F. (1977). London & Overseas Freighters Limited 1949-1977. World Ship Society. ISBN 0905617010. 
  • Watson, G.O. (1957). Marine Electrical Practice: London & Overseas Freighters Ltd. George Newnes. 

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