A Pair of 'Tors'

Erwin Strahlmann's coasters are no strangers to the River Clyde, often arriving light and sailing for the ports around the Bay of Biscay with scrap steel for recycling, cargoes arranged by shipbrokers on behalf of the owners. Two members of their fleet were captured together this afternoon, and both ships had similar histories, having started their life in the same Portuguese shipyard. ELBETOR, pictured on a previous visit here, was sailing with scrap loaded at Shieldhall for Bilbao, passed her sister BURGTOR, still completing her load in the Lobnitz Basin, which as can be seen from her list is still silted up despite the recent vist by WD MEDWAY II. BURGTOR was completed in 1989 as PORT LIMA, changing her name to MELLUM in 1994, then LADY LINDA in 1995. On joining the Strahlmann fleet in 2004, she was renamed BURGTOR. Both ships are 87.0 metres in length, with deadweights of 3,432 tonnes. Several hours later, BURGTOR followed her sister downriver, on passage to Ferrol in northwest Spain.