MV Bridgeton
| Bridgeton c.1993 Bridgeton, 1993 | |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: |
1976: al-Rekkah 1987: Bridgeton 1997: Pacific Blue |
| Owner: |
1976: Kuwait Oil Tanker Company 1987: Chesapeake Shipping, Inc. before 1997: Keystone Shipping Company 1997: Kafa Navigation Corporation |
| Port of registry: |
1977: 22x20px Kuwait 1987:  Philadelphia1997: 22x20px Panama |
| Builder: | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki |
| Yard number: | 1744 |
| Launched: | August 14, 1976 |
| In service: | 1977 |
| Out of service: | 2002 |
| Identification: |
Callsign 3FSK6 IMO number: 7376915 |
| Fate: | Scrapped by Haryana Ship Demolition, Alang, 2002 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Tank Ship, ULCC |
| Tonnage: |
413,842 DWT 199,430 GT ITC 161,685 NET |
| Length: | 1,158.5 feet (353.1 m) |
| Beam: | 229.9 feet (70.1 m) |
| Draft: | 96.2 feet (29.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Kawasaki Steam |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Notes: | References[1][2] |
MV Bridgeton, ex-al-Rekkah, was a Kuwait Oil Company oil tanker that was reflagged during Operation Earnest Will. Bridgeton was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki and was launched August 14, 1976. The tanker was built as al-Rekkah, renamed Bridgeton and scrapped as Pacific Blue. Bridgeton struck an Iranian mine near Farsi Island during the first Operation Earnest Will escort mission on July 24, 1987. Operation Prime Chance was conducted as a response to this mining. In September 1987, Iran Ajr was discovered laying mines, was captured and scuttled by US forces.
Fate
Some of the reflagged tankers returned to Kuwaiti flags in January 1989, but Bridgeton and several others remained US flagged.[3] Bridgeton transferred to Panamanian registry and was renamed Pacific Blue in the late 1990s. The supertanker was scrapped in 2002 at Haryana Ship Demolition in Alang, India.
References
- ↑ United States Coast Guard. PSIX data for vessel VN87004830. Accessed August 31, 2008.
- ↑ Auke Visser´s International Super Tankers.
- ↑ "6 Kuwaiti Tankers Reportedly Ending U.S. Flag Protection". Los Angeles Times: p. 5. January 19, 1989.
