Bulk carrier Holmsund. Her original 1:100 scale shipyard model was built by the AB Sverre workshop in Gothenburg and donated to our collection as part of Dr. Engel’s estate. It is part of our exhibition on modern maritime logistics on deck 6 of the museum.
The bulk carrier MV „Holmsund“ was built in 1967 by Lindholmens shipyard in Gothenburg, Sweden. There were two identical ships named „Tunadal“ and „Munksund“, these were also equipped with gantry cranes on deck. They were used by SCA Transport, the logistics company of the Swedish paper manufacturer Svenska Cellulosa AB, to transport cellulose and wood. After a long career, the „Holmsund“ was sold to the Swedish Gorthon Lines in 1991 and to the Norwegian Great Lakes-European Shipping Company in 1997. Under her new owners, she was renamed „Menominee“ and operated on the route between the Great Lakes in North America and Europe. In 2006, she was finally sold to the Canadian company McKeil Marine Ltd. and renamed „Kathryn Spirit.“ From then on, she sailed exclusively in Canadian waters until she was eventually decommissioned.
In 2011, she was sold for scrapping, a process that proved to be lengthy. The Groupe Saint Pierre company planned to scrap the ship in Beauharnois, near Montreal, but met fierce opposition from the community and environmental groups who feared pollution from the scrapping. The company sold the ship to Mexico’s Recicláges Ecológicos Marítimos, which planned to tow it to Mexico. But the American-owned tugboat „Craig Trans,“ which had been hired to do the job, was detained in Halifax because it could not comply with the required safety regulations. The „Kathryn Spirit“ remained stranded in Lac Saint-Louis, near Beauharnois, and its condition deteriorated, leading to fears of pollution in the area. In 2016, it was finally decided to have the ship scrapped on the spot. The work was particularly complicated due to the condition of the ship. In April 2018, a fire broke out on board. Although combustible materials had been removed, some had apparently penetrated the ship’s insulation. Dismantling of the wreck was finally completed in October 2018.
Her original 1:100 scale shipyard model was built by the AB Sverre workshop in Gothenburg and donated to our collection as part of Dr. Engel’s estate. It is part of our exhibition on modern maritime logistics on deck 6 of the museum.