Built as a ro-ro cargo ship under yard No 1267 by Kawasaki Heavy Industries at Kobe, Japan for Neptune Beta Lines, Singapore.
August 1977 launched as the ANRO TEMASEK.
Tonnage 13,129 grt, 5,683 nrt, 16,657 dwt. Dim. 181.77 x 27.51 x 16.77m, length bpp 168.03m, draught 9.02m.
Powered by one 9-cyl diesel engine, 18,990 bhp, speed 15 knots.
March 1974 completed.
Used in the liner service between Singapore and Australia.
1981 Sold to GATX Leasing (Pacific) Ltd., Singapore. Managed by Neptune Orient Lines. Lengthened: tonnage 16,063 grt, 22,319 dwt., length 212.9m. bpp.199.2m
Container capacity increased with 100 units.
1999 Renamed by owners in APL LOTUS.
2000 Sold to unspecified owners in Panama and reamed CAPE.
Arrived Bombay, India 20 September 2000 for scrapping.
Photo of the ships you can find on http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1043
Singapore 1978 50c sg337, scott310
Source: http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz Marine News. Register of Merchant Ships completed in 1977.
The Cyprus Post gives the following by this issue:
PRODUCTION OF COPPER.
It is not possible to say with accuracy the period when copper was first smelted or the people who discovered it. Natural copper was known and used in Cyprus since the bronze and stone age (3900 – 2500 B.C.)
Around 2500 B.C. metal prospectors from Asia Minor arrived in Cyprus and laid such strong foundation for metallurgy that the names Cyprus and copper became synonymous. The ancient Greeks and subsequently the Romans attributed the discovery of copper to the King of Cyprus Kinyras.
For the smelting of copper a temperature of 1085 Celsius is required. The ancient Cypriots were mainly using bellows made of clay in order to help charcoal set ablaze reach such high temperatures.
Bellows made of clay and stone as well as air shafts of the Later Bronze Age were found in Alassa, in Engomi and Maa, while scenes showing the way the bellows functioned were found in the 14th century B.C. in Thebes in Egypt
The huge masses of rust found in the foothills of Troodos called “Mavrovounia” are evidence of an intensive production of copper, starting gradually since First Bronze Age and reached its zenith during the Later Bronze Age.
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TRADE IN COPPER.
For the purpose of the easy transportation as well as for administrative and economic reasons the metal was converted into ingots of a certain shape and size.
From the correspondence of Pharaoh Akenaton which was discovered at Tel-El-Amarna, dating back to the 14th century B.C., we learn that the King of Alasia (Cyprus) sent to Pharaoh 200 copper ingots. Another letter mentions that he had sent 500 ingots.
Copper ingots of the so called Cypriot Type, were found throughout the Mediterranean and as far away as the Black Sea area. Along the south coast of Asia Minor two shipwrecks of the Later Bronze Age were found, one near the Helidonia Cape and the other near Uluburun. Both shipwrecks contained hundreds of copper ingots as well as numerous Cypriot objects, bearing witness as to the origin of the vessels.
The Tel-El-Amarna letters which also refer to the Royal vessels of Alasia, are now confirmed by archaeological evidence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluburun_shipwreck
A simple consignment of 6 tons of copper, discovered in Uluburun constitutes unshakeable evidence of the position held by Cyprus in the copper trade during the later Bronze Age.
Much later the ancient geographer Strabo also speaks of the wealth of Cyprus in copper.
Source: written by Dr. S. Hadjisavvas, Curator of Ancient Monuments.
Cyprus 1994 30c sg848, scott?
