Capt. Craig's World

M/T Dr. Daniels (ex Barentsz Zee, ex Smit Jakarta)

 

     In 1980 an absolutely incredible opportunity presented itself.  The Cuban Mariel Boatlift had just ended and  an old Dutch salvage tug was seized and was going to be sold at auction.  So I went to Key West and inspected it.  "Wow, what a tug!"...was the expression I used frequently during that day.  I put together a group of investors and we bid at the auction and won.  She had been one of the most powerful tugs in the North Sea when she was commissioned as the "Barentsz-Zee" in 1955.  She towed all over the world and wound up in the Singapore fleet and renamed "Smit Jakarta".  Finally sold to private interests, and renamed "Dr. Daniels".  I liked the name and decided to keep it.  When a ship is in trouble she need "the doctor", besides, it cost a lot of money to change the name.

  The first problem was getting it going.  My first engineer did that but couldn't seem to get the main engines tuned up.  I was told that a Mr. Karl Tourda, a Swedish chief engineer knew the engines and that I could find him at Freddy's Anchor Bar in Fort Lauderdale.  I found him there and tore a hundred dollar bill in half and told him to be on board in the morning and he could have the other half.  He arrived on time, I gave him his half and soon we were off and towing.  Karl and I became close friends and he was very helpful in securing contracts for us. He would come up to the bridge at any time with his cup of coffee to make sure I was going the right way but frowned on my visits to his engine room.  Karl went on to become 2nd Engineer on the cruise ship "Norway" which was the last high pressure steam vessel on the sea.  He is now retired in Sweden on a Pony Farm.  Go figure!

 

           

  We chartered a 296'x79' 8,000 ton submersible barge from a Swedish firm and began to haul Aragonite Sand from a mine in the Bahamas to Fort Pierce, Florida. Occasionally we towed scrap to Mexico and rail-road cars to Jamaica.  I was having the time of my life!  Eventually we lost the Aragonite contract to a self-unloading ship, and went into the spot towing business.  I towed a crane barge from Trinidad to Spain and a huge barge from La Spezia, Italy to Spain.  I made home port Lisbon, Portugal.  We towed scrap ships, barges and ships all over the North Sea, Mediterranean, and Africa .  All good things must come to an end and due to poor economic conditions in the 80's the ship was sold to Columbians.  I was doing a delivery with my son a few years later, and saw her in Panama.  We went aboard and I was disappointed in her appearance.  We had spent a lot of time bringing her back to shape and just two years later she looked ready for the scrap yard.  The crew was not very friendly and one of the main engines needed repairs.  I knew of a warehouse in Holland full of spare parts but decided not to share this information with them.  I next heard that she had been repainted with the original Smit colors and had been used for smuggling.  A friend of mine, who is a pilot in Rotterdam, told me he heard that she had been scuttled during a drug bust.  No one knows for sure.  One thing is for sure, she was one of the great Dutch tugs with an interesting history and I am very proud to be have been a part of it.

     

Original Smit Brochure and Photos of "Barentsz Zee" in 1955 and 1971

  One of our last tows was a pontoon from Rotterdam, Holland to Lagos, Nigeria.  The first picture in the following series is the "The tow out from Rotterdam", the "Arrival in Nigeria", DRD at Apapa Wharf, then "Deck Crew"  . The last two are the "Arrowmen".  The Arrowmen were our security guards.  They were just young boys with bows and arrows who came from a remote area of Nigeria and did not speak any of the local dialects; hence incorruptible.  My crew was not impressed until I threw a chunk of wood overboard and both boys nailed it while it sped away in the swift current.  The crew was now sufficiently impressed and felt much safer in such a dangerous place.   Pirates raided ships in the anchorage nightly, and we heard their pleas for help on the radio.  One little slow patrol boat was no match for the "fly boats" the pirates had.  They were multi-outboard powered and manned with ruthless men armed with AK 47's.  We felt fairly safe at the dock, but the Nigerian government had just deported thousands of Ghanese and the docks were filthy with human excrement.  So we moved to anchor, but in the inner harbor where it was almost as safe as the dock.  My crew was nervous and so was I.  The corruption and danger of criminals was everywhere and there were robberies and murders daily.  We were happy to get out of there alive!  Conditions in Nigeria have not changed much over the years and it is still listed as a "dangerous port" on the anti-piracy alerts regularly broadcast via satellite today.

          
  

Ocean towing is a dangerous and challenging occupation.  We experienced heavy seas many times, when you are running at less than 6 knots weather constantly overtakes you and its not possible to avoid it.  The following photo is of the ocean tug "Neptun"  in force 11 and 40 foot seas. They were towing in tandem with her sister tug "Poseidon" which shot this picture.  This could have been us one time but no one was there to take the picture.