TUCURINCA

TUCURINCA WAS OWNED BY ELDER AND  FYFFES BANANA GROUP AND WAS ON A LONG TERM CHARTER TO UNITED FRUIT COMPANY , LATER TO BE THE UNITED BRAND COMPANY. SHE WAS REGISTERED IN SOUTHAMPTON AND WAS 6739.9 GROSS TONS, HER RADIO CALL SIGN WAS ' GHMQ '. I JOINED TUCURINCA IN BARRY DRY-DOCK IN SOUTH WALES.WE LEFT THE NEXT EVENING FOR 'TURBO FOR ORDERS', NOT THAT WE GOT TO TURBO AS FIRST CALL OF PORT, I RECEIVED A TELEGRAM  A FEW DAYS LATER DIRECTING THE MASTER TO PROCEED TO PUERTO CORTES ( A REAL GOOD BANANA PORT ) UNITED FRUIT CO HAD  ITS OWN RADIO STATIONS, AND EXTREMELY GOOD THEY WERE TO, I REGULARLY WORKED INTO OJUS / WAX, NEW ORLEANS/ WNU  AND PUERTO  LIMON / TIM. FROM PUERTO CORTES WE WENT TO TELA, AND EVENTUALLY MADE IT TO TURBO IN COLOMBIA WITH  A QUICK STOP AT COLON TO TAKE ON BUNKERS.THEN BACK ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND THROUGH THE MEDITERRANEAN TO NAPLES AND FROM NAPLES TO KOPER IN YUGOSLAVIA WITH OUR CARGO OF BANANAS.FROM KOPER WE WENT TO BREMEN AND THEN THE WHOLE THING WAS REPEATED. IN 1978 SHE WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE HONDURAS FLAG AND IN 1980 SHE WAS SCRAPPED.