The first shown was ANASTASIA, built in France in 1958. She had bought in a cargo of meat destined for animal feed. It was a bitterly cold day and the Dockers had complained of frostbite unloading her. She only made one more voyage and was broken up in 1984 after a brief lay-up in Ghent.
Newer ships were bringing in timber, fruit, plywood, containers, frozen rabbits from China, and a couple from China bringing in what Ian termed as �Woolworths� goods. The Burmese BASSEIN bought in timber and interestingly took out Horlicks for the Burmese Army!
This was also the time of the dock strikes and several ships remained in the port for the duration.
Other notable visitors to Tilbury at this time were the 29,419 grt KING ALFRED which had been laid up in the Royal docks for some time. She arrived after being sold to the Chinese Government and renamed LUO FU SHAN. Also the ANDALUCIA STAR arrived from the Falklands for a helipad to be fitted. She was subsequently sold and converted into an orange juice tanker named ORANGE STAR. She is still trading. One interesting visitor was the East German VOLKERFREUNDSCHAFT originally the STOCKHOLM (12,068 grt, 1948) that collided with the ANDRIA DORIA in 1956. After several name changes is still cruising as ATHENA.
Our thanks to Ian for stepping in at short notice and showing us another interesting show from his collection.