The reopening of the Suez Canal in May 1975 presented the opportunity
for the management of Glen Line to effect their fleet reduction
programme. With the advent of the containership the conventional
cargo ship had become obsolete so the four 'Glenlyon' class
vessels were put up for sale and by 1977 had been sold. In 1978
the eight 'Glenalmond - 'Priam' class, with a container capacity
of 160 as opposed to the 600 attainable by the first generation
container ship, were similarly disposed of.
During 1978 a total of 18 conventional cargo
vessels were disposed of by Ocean Transport & Trading and
with them went the last of the red funnelled Glen ships. The
Pembrokeshire was chartered to Wilhelm Wihelmsen for a short
period but never returned to the fleet. After more than a century
of maritime trading, during which time the company was a respected
operator on the Far East service, Glen Line Limited was no longer
a ship owning company.
In 1986 P&O acquired the groups shares
in the Overseas Container Line which severed the final links
to the Far East and in 1989 the West African trades of the Elder
Dempster Line, the remaining deep sea operations of Ocean Transport
& Trading, were sold to Societe Navale Chargeurs Delmas-Vieljeux.
Finally, in 1990 the name and corporate assets
of Glen Line Limited were sold to the Cornish based Curnow Shipping
Limited who intended to use it for a passenger/cruise operation
based in Scotland. Nothing appears to have developed from this
and the Glen Line name remains registered but dormant.
The history of Glen Line and
its' ships has been extracted from Merchant Fleets 22: Glen and Shire
Lines
by Duncan Haws
to whom we extend our grateful thanks. To purchase the book
Click Here
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