Boatnerd Discussion Forum

I was stationed at MHI in Japan while the Texaco Brave was being constructed in 1976, and sailed on her as Master. Here are the facts as I remember them.
Texaco was initially looking at buying a Canadian tanker being built (Leon Simard) but at approximately $14-15 million, other options were considered. Orders was placed with MHI in 1975 and the ship was completed and purchased for $9.2 million. Texaco paid the Custom duty hence was able to purchase without waivers.

I disagree that the MHI installed equipment was inferior. By 1987, consideration must be given that the ship had already been in salt water trade for past ten years. Her cargo system was a Norwegian
Framo high pressure and we did have problems with the control valves on deck. However the pumps were designed to be lifted out to carry out repairs. The ship was built to work in ice and we ran all winter from Montreal and Halifax refinery to ports in Quebec and Newfoundland.

I left in 1986 while Texaco still owned the ship
and I was proud to have served on a fine ship.

The former 1975 built Texaco Brave has certainly put the miles behind her prop wash . She was built in Shimonoseki , Japan at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for Texaco . And served them well until she was transferred to a charter arrangement with Imperial Oil and a new company Sofati-Soconav in 1986 , and she was renamed Le Brave .

That was when I was one her in `87 and `88, as Fourth for a long winter relief stint while she was on the Quebec to Montreal run . I can remember how well her B&W 6K45GF main engine ran , but how much inferior the MHI installed equipment was compared to what we were building in Collingwood , PWDD , and Davie . But full order books allowed Texaco to get a waiver and they were able to built the tanker in Japan .

Her boiler was a problem , her separators were so fussy that you spent more time playing with gravity discs than any other diesel job I ever sailed aboard . Her cargo pumping system was a hydraulic high pressure powered submersible pumps setup , with a pump in each cargo tank . Oil lines were high maintenance , and I recall many times on deck repairing control valve solenoids , usually in -25 weather . Her Asian steel quality showed itself in the Engine Room , all the time , it could not withstand the boiler water and steam lines corrosion.

Even though after Algoma bought her and did a complete upgrade on everything I described in 1999 , as well as giving her a double hull , I`m sure with Algoma Tankers new ships running well , she is
pretty well surplus , and at 39 years old , with a lot of salt water trading , she could very well be done as well .

Are the rumors true? This is the last good looking tanker left, and it's a shame she would be leaving us.