Robert Cole recalls his time as a deck cadet on Esso Ulidia, as well as the unreliable nature of similar ships...
I was deck cadet on the Ulidia from August to November 1976, and I also did trips on the Caledonia and Northumbria. The other Kingdom ships were the Scotia and Cambria (German built 250s) and the Anglia, Mercia and Bernicia (French built but 'only' 190 K dwt).
Reliability was not a strong point of the four UK 250s. One set a record for the number of blackouts between Dubai and Ras Tanura: four I think. The main engines were all steam turbines. Luckily the crews were of a reasonable size and when time allowed there was a decent social life, with Saturday night horse racing for example.
Robert Cole
More letters
Why we still commemorate the Titanic disaster
As mariners, we don’t think of the romanticised version of the Titanic from films and novels; we remember the safety regulations that came into force as a direct consequence of the Titanic disaster.
Is my maritime pension performing as well as it should?
Nautilus answers a member's query about the now-closed MNOPF pension scheme.
Could Nautilus have done more for members' injured knees?
The Union has done great work over the years, and I was a liaison officer for a long time, but I feel that one big failure has not getting seafarers compensation for damage to their knees.