Bulls on the boat

Browsing through a current shipping magazine a reader emails to say: “I came across an article on the subject of livestock carriers. The ship featured was the Danish-owned Iris Clausen which had taken 400 pedigree Romney Marsh and Lincoln sheep in 1961 from Hull to Klaipeda (formerly Memel), Lithuania, then part of the Soviet Union.

“An interesting reference was made to the boarding of a Dutch pilot and West German police officer for the passage through the Kiel Canal, the latter to ensure no soiled bedding was thrown over the side to pollute the waterway!

“The ship’s name seemed familiar as I seem to recall a ship of a similar name, Inger Clausen coming to Dundee to load over 100 Aberdeen-Angus and Shorthorn bulls for discharge at the same Baltic port.

“The voyage to the Baltic was expected to be through icy waters and a big change from the near tropical environment of northern Australia where she had come from. For two months the Inger Clausen had been on her way from Townsville, Queensland. During the previous six months she had been carrying cattle around the north coast of Australia. This was a new venture for the Danish shipping company as nearly always cattle had been driven overland in Australia.

“The captain of the ship reported he had carried a total of 5,000 cattle with each voyage about five day’s duration and had lost only nine animals.

“Some of the ‘wharves’ were apparently only landings and ramps had to be built on the vessel’s arrival in order for the ‘four-footed passengers’ to join the ship!

“The Inger Clausen had been built in Yugoslavia by Titovo Brodograditiste at Kraljevica and her ‘sister’ Iris in West Germany by Rolandwerft GmbH at Bremen in the late 1950s. Both ships later passed to the same owners based in Flensburg, with the latter becoming a general cargo ship in 1974.

My correspondent asks: “When did the 100 bulls leave Dundee on their voyage to the Baltic? Perhaps some of the Courier’s farming readers can provide the answer?”