MBT 10.20.016 Whaling factory ship MS "Willem Barendsz II" (1955) - Mij. v.d. Walvisvaart

TheWillem Barendsz(II) was the second Dutchwhaling factory ship(after theWillem Barendsz (I)) to be used between 1955 and 1964 as a mother ship and factory ship for nine whaling expeditions in the waters aroundAntarcticafor theNederlandsche Maatschappij voor de Walvischvaart(NMW).

The ship was ordered by the NMW in 1951 from the shipyardNV Dok en Werf Maatschappij Wilton-FijenoordinSchiedam. The christening and launch of the ship on20 November1954was a national event attracting enormous media attention and was seen as a key symbol of post-war reconstruction. The handover from the shipyard to the owner took place on 9 July 1955.

In 1964, theNMWdecidedto cease operations due to increasing catch restrictions. In order to capitalise on the fishing rights for the 1964/65 and 1965/66 seasons, the ship also had to be sold at the same time. This took place in 1964, but in such a way that the ship was immediately bought back. The vessel was subsequently sold to Atlantic Harvesters (Pty) Ltd, aSouth Africanfishing companywhich, following the necessary refits, intended to use the vessel for the production offishmeal,fish oil andother products off the South African coast. To this end, Willem Barendsz Co Ltd was specially established, in which NMW acquired a shareholding. On 27 October 1965, the ship was handed over to its new owner. It retained the nameWillem Barendsz, but now withCape Town as its home port. On 8 February 1966, it left Amsterdam for good, bound for Cape Town. Following a refit, it entered service in 1967.

In 1973, the ship was sold to Korea Wonyang Fisheries Co Ltd inBusan(South Korea) and renamedYu Sin ( officially:Yu Sin Ho, ‘reformation ship’). It was converted into a fishmeal processing vessel. On 5 May 1974, it set sail for the first time with a fleet of eighteen fishing vessels for the first fishing season in theBering Sea, which ended in October. In the following year, the ship was further modified with deep-freeze facilities and a secondfishmeal machine. On 5 May 1976, it departed from Busan for the second fishing season in the Bering Sea, this time with a fleet of thirty fishing vessels. As a result of declining fishing quotas for the Bering Sea, the ship remained laid up in the years that followed, and was only occasionally deployed off the South Korean coast.

In 1978, the ship was renamedGae Cheog No I ( officially:Gae Cheog Ho No I, ‘pioneer ship’), shortened toGae Cheog in 1980. It was not until January 1981 that it set sail again from Busan to the Bering Sea for the third fishing season, which now lasted until November. This pattern was repeated in the following years. In 1983, however, the ship was laid up again. In 1986, the ship was renamedOcean Pioneer and deployed once more in theBering Sea. In 1996, the ship was renamedGae Cheog once more .

In 2001, the ship was sold to a scrapyard inXinhui ( Guangdong Province,China). It arrived in Xinhui on 1 June 2001. It was subsequently scrapped.

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