In the Name of Ships
Ships have their own stories. For today, I have selected two to share with you. Their names are: Buzurgan and Pollux.
Hello there, Noam here.
Ships have their own stories. Sometimes their names become memorable, and on some occasions, they need to be remembered. If you are someone who finds utter joy in observing ships online and looking into their profiles – especially their names— then you have probably felt at one point as if those vessels were capable of feeling. That’s because once a name is bestowed on any form of matter, an identity takes shape.
Since 2018, I have chased (online) several ships; either to investigate illicit activities in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, to track oil flows, or to uncover serious deficiencies (as in the case of some substandard ships). Since November 2023, I have also been tracking the Houthi-led attacks against commercial ships in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In addition to this work, I look for dead ships drifting in history.
Several of the vessels I have examined have unique stories, including tragic ones. For today, I have selected two to share with you. Their names are: Buzurgan and Pollux.
Buzurgan
Finding clear photos of old Iraqi tankers has not been easy, but I managed to find two including that of the Buzurgan. The oil tanker was owned by the Iraqi Oil Tankers Company (IOTC) whose fleet once consisted of 1970s-built tankers, and prior to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. My research shows that the ship was among six tankers that arrived in Iraq between 1972 and 1973 following the nationalization of the Iraqi Petroleum Company (IPC) in 1972. They were all named after Iraqi oil fields such as Rumaila, Khanaqin, Baba Gurgur, and Buzurgan— which is part of the Missan fields (along with Fakka and Abu Gharib fields) located in southern Iraq close to the border with Iran.
During the Gulf War, some Iraqi tankers were damaged, and they sank in waters off Kuwait and Iraq, according to the MEES archives, while others remained scattered in some countries, including Greece where the Alafouzos group used to have business with Iraq— such as maintaining and repairing vessels until 1990—according to TradeWinds.
The IOTC fleet of the 1970s was mostly scrapped by 2001. As for Buzurgan, it is unclear what happened to the tanker. A report published by UPI in 1996 said the ship remained in “Aden waters” following the invasion of Kuwait. MEES reported in 1991 that the Buzurgan was among 20 Iraqi tankers and support ships that remained undamaged during the Gulf War. However, I have yet to find more information about its exact fate. Below is a photo of the Buzurgan I was able to obtain last year. A few Russian words scribbled on the back of the photo reveal that the ship existed in 1978.
Pollux
Pollux is the name of an oil tanker that was attacked by Yemen’s Houthis last month, and the name of a ship that sank in 1956 in the Suez Canal.
Last month, Yemen’s Houthis launched anti-ship ballistic missiles at oil tanker Pollux (IMO 9243320) in the southern Red Sea. She was most likely attacked due to mistaken identity, and as TradeWinds noted, details on her ownership appeared to have confused not only the Houthis, but also the US Central Command (CENTCOM). At the time of the attack, some databases showed the vessel's registered owner as a UK-controlled entity called Oceanfront Maritime SA, but the ship was most likely owned and managed by Athens-based Sea Trade Marine, according to TradeWinds. The ship, which resumed sailing after the attack, also used to be owned by Denmark-based Torm at one point, but that was no longer the case last month, yet CENTCOM referred to the tanker as “Denmark-owned.” The Houthis have been targeting ships they claim are linked to the US, UK, and Israel. However, several ships they have targeted lacked those links. If you’re interested in all the data about the Houthi-led attacks on commercial ships since November 2023, click here and review the maps I have created with my colleague Farzin Nadimi at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
The Pollux last month was misjudged. In 1956, another Pollux was sacrificed.
During the Suez crisis in 1956, and after Israeli forces launched an attack on Egypt followed by French and British troops landing in the Suez Canal zone, Egypt sank more than 10 ships in November of that year to block canal traffic. Egypt’s president at the time, Gamal Abdel Nasser, had nationalized the Suez Canal in July 1956. Among the ships that were sunk was an Egyptian dredger named Pollux, according to available sources including Building the Suez Canal, a book by S.C. Burchell, and the National Museum of American Diplomacy. The photo below, published in Burchell’s book, shows the Pollux resting on her port side at Port Said. The vessels that were sunk in the channel temporarily blocked all transits. Under the auspices of the United Nations, the waterway, which has always been critical to international shipping, reopened in early 1957 (check the second photo).
Today, and due to the Houthi-led attacks, over ten global shipping companies have decided to halt voyages in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. This has led to a drop in transits via the Suez, impacting Egypt’s revenues from the canal’s tolls. According to the latest figures from Lloyd’s List Intelligence, during week 9 (Feb 26, 2024- March 3, 2024), transits were down to 216 from 257 week-over-week, that’s 47% less than the same period in 2023.
Those were two ships for today, and I’m planning to keep sharing more stories in the next weeks and months. If you enjoy this topic, please let me know- feel free to comment below and I will reply.
I will end my post with Mubarak’s Wars, by my friend Gilad Wenig, a PhD candidate in sociology at UCLA. This is a book review of Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak’s unfinished memoir of a period that included two major wars with Israel. It was published by the London Review of Books in January. As Gilad says, “for that account to have gone relatively unnoticed, is remarkable.” You can follow him on Twitter (here) for fascinating stories about Egypt’s history.
That’s it for today. Have a good journey, and until the next post.