BOGA M140

John Stevenson Collection

Official No:   700057  Port Number and Year:  6th in Milford, 1982                                                                                   -   in Ullapool, 1995 (UL368)

Description: Motor vessel; single screw; liner.

Crew:  19 - 21

Registered at Milford: 24 Aug 1982

Built: Astilleros Balenciaga SA, Zumaia, Spain, in 1971.  (Yard no. 205)

Tonnage: 194.9 grt  95.69 net

Length / breadth / depth (feet): 100.8 / 21.4 / 10.65

Engine: Internal combustion engine, 1971.  Oil. Single acting 8 Cyl; 800 hp; 11 kts.  Made by B & W Construcciones Echevarria SA, Bermeo, Spain

Owners:   As GRAN BOGA BOGA 1971: Jose San Martin y Otros, Zabaleta, Spain.   As BOGA M140 28 Apr 1982: Whiteplain, 'C' Shed, Docks, Milford. 29 Feb 1984:  Building 66, The Docks, Milford.  [ Change of address. ] Manager: Peter George Wright, Great North Road, Milford.   31 Mar 1988: Whiteplain, Burnyeat 39, Docks, Milford.   11 Apr 1989: Unknown owners.   As SURTSEY UL368 22 May 1995: Unknown owners.   As RONY Sep 1997: Unknown owners.   As AIORA Jul 1999: Unknown Belize owners.

Landed at Milford:

Skippers: Norman Phillips; 1984

Notes: Boga is an ocean-going species of fish in the bonnetmouth family.

Cert. Cancelled & Milford Registry Closed: 31 Mar 1988 - Certificate expired on 26 Apr 1987; registry cancelled. 11 Apr 1989; registry closed.

 Accidents and Incidents

From an unknown local newspaper of the week beginning 30th April 1984:

 

    Local fisherman John Dyson was air-lifted from the Milford long-liner Boga by an Irish helicopter on Friday and flown to Galway hospital with severe stomach pains.   Mr. Dyson, aged 25, of 19 Larch Road, Mount Estate, had recently undergone an appendix operation.

    The 108ft. Boga, which had been fishing off the west coast of Ireland, is owned by White Plain Fisheries of Milford Docks, and has a mainly local crew of nineteen.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From an unknown local newspaper of the week beginning 29th October 1984:

 

    Two fishing vessels from Milford Haven were involved in a skirmish with French trawlers off the west coast of Ireland early yesterday.  Reports that guns were fired have not been confirmed, but the set-to involved alleged attempts to ram each other in a stormy sea with 30 ft. waves, thought to have lasted about two hours.  The incident appears to be part of a running battle between certain boats from Milford Haven and some of their French counterparts over fishing rights.

    The Boga and the Sasoeta, both formerly registered at the Basque country port of Ondaroa in Spain, were still at sea last night after the fracas with the two French trawlers.  Their company in Milford claimed they had had their fishing lines cut by the French boats despite repeated warnings to the French to change course.

    Mr. Jack Crawford, a manager of Crickpoint Ltd., said he had spoken yesterday to the Boga's skipper, Mr. Norman Phillips, by radio. 

    "He said they warned the two French boats repeatedly that they were encroaching on their lines, but the French took no notice, and sailed on cutting the lines," said Mr. Crawford.  "One of the French boats had done this several times before.  I don't know the name of it."

    Mr. Crawford said his firm's boats had asked for naval protection and an Irish patrol plane had arrived after the incident.  A spokesman for the Irish Naval Service confirmed this.

    Asked about the reports of gun fire, Mr. Crawford said Skipper Phillips had not mentioned it.  "None of our boats to my knowledge has guns on board.  There is no way they could - the Customs are very thorough," he added.  "The French are inclined to carry shotguns on their fishing boats, they just fire up in the air.  I don't think there is any suggestion that they actually fire them at anybody.  But they did hit the side of one of our boats in the Bay of Biscay."

    .............

    Sources have confirmed that the Boga and the Sasoeta and other ex-Spanish boats had been involved in disputes with the French in the Bay of Biscay in the past.  These tow boats are "liners", fishing with weighted lines several miles long, each carrying up to 6,000 hooks.  When a trawler sails across the lines, as apparently happened in the weekend incident, the trawler nets will pick up not only the lines but their catch, perhaps worth several thousand pounds.

    The Boga and Sasoeta are carrying 21 crew members each, of whom approximately three-quarters are local men, and the remainder Spanish.  They will return to Milford Haven on Thursday.

    ..............

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From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 19th April 1985:  

 

    Various operations with Spanish connections have come and gone from Milford over recent years and the only one now remaining is the firmly established Crickpoint Ltd.  The company operates four trawlers and two liners from Milford.  Their catches are all boxed at sea and shipped straight to Spain on landing.  Although there is some Spanish ownership in the company, a major share-holder is managing director John Crawford of Milford.  He stressed that the company is a bona-fide U.K. operation. 

    "Crickpoint is not a flag of convenience operation - it is a genuine U.K. company, registered in London, with U.K. capital and management, British crews and British registered vessels which comply fully with all Department of Transport standards," said Mr. Crawford.  "We provide work for around 70 to 80 U.K. fishermen, plus shore staff."

    The four trawlers are managed by Mr. Crawford, and the two liners by Mr. Ernie Leach.  All the vessels are operated on a share basis. 

    .............

    The firm operates two big liners - Boga, a 98ft. and 800 hp vessel, built in 1971, and Sasoeta, a 114-footer which is currently being re-engined in Denmark with a 750 hp B&W engine.  She is expected to be back fishing by the end of April.  The liners work two to three week trips with a crew of 20, including a Spanish fishing master and Spanish engineer and three other Spaniards.  They usually land around 300 kit of boxed fish, which is shipped straight to Spain.  The boats work 13,000 short shank hooks on monofilament lines, streaming them in a continuous line if weather conditions permit.  Mr. Leach said that the vessels often had problems with French trawlers towing their lines away.

 

 

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