EIDER

Arriving from Londonderry to load a cargo of scrap for export to Bayonne, the coaster EIDER, owned by German shipowner Erwin Strahlmann was seen as she passed Ashton on her way up the river to Shieldhall. EIDER was laid down in 1998 as GRETCHEN MULLER, but suffered (like so many other ships built on the Danube around that time) from delays caused by the closure of the river and subsequent bankruptcy of the shipyard, and was not launched until 2002, being completed as EIDER the following year. She is one of the numerous 'Rhein' class ships acquired by owners such as Strahlmann at reduced rates, but now successfully employed on the coastal tramp trades around Northern European and Mediterranean waters.