Two Centuries in Shipping

George Gibson was born in 1758 at Leith and was in business as a shipbroker and ship’s agent in 1797 for services between Leith and Rotterdam before the year 1800. He became manager of the Leith, Hamburgh and Rotterdam Shipping Company in 1816 with a fleet of sailing ships operating to Continental ports. He became a shipowner in his own right four years later in 1820 with the galliot Isobella of 176 tonnes but she was lost two years later. On the dissolution of the managed Leith, Hamburgh and Rotterdam Shipping Company in 1844, he purchased two sailing ships from the defunct company to continue his shipowning career. The first steamer, Balmoral of 245 grt, was completed by Denny of Dumbarton in 1850, and was followed by nine more small steamers with names with royal connections during the next twenty years. The Firth of Forth in its outer reaches extends to a line from Dunbar to the Isle of May, and three Gibson vessels, the managed sailing ships Ant and Frankfort Packet, and the steamer Woodstock were to be stranded or lost between 1852 and 1893 in this area. The rock lighthouses of Inchkeith (1804), Bell Rock (1816), and Isle of May (1816) were all constructed by the legendary lighthouse builder Robert Stevenson to cut the toll of the lives of seafarers in this area.

In April 1870, a much larger steamer, Abbotsford of 1,035 grt was completed by Blackwood and Gordon of Port Glasgow to begin a long connection of Gibson names associated with the places, novels and characters in the great novels of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). My grandfather, Robert Middlemiss, hailed from Galashiels in the Borders and moved south as a young man of eighteen years to join the North Shields repair yard of Launcelot E. Smith, Chairman and Managing Director, and the Smith family, rising to become a senior foreman of Smith’s Dock Co. Ltd., the largest shiprepair yard in the world. My home is called Bemersyde, named after a house on a high ridge above Dryburgh Abbey, built in the year 1150 and the last resting place of Sir Walter Scott, as well as Field Marshal Earl Haig, British Army Supreme Commander in World War I. I thus have a great love of all things connected with the Borders and the novels of Sir Walter Scott. Gibson ships were often named with a Scott connection including Abbotsford, Amulet, Antiquary, Borthwick, Bucklaw, Glendinning, Redgauntlet, Guy Mannering, Lanrick, Nigel, Peveril, Quentin, Ronan, Talisman and Woodstock. Sir Walter Scott was famous for his Waverley novels of 1814 on Scottish history, but he also wrote novels based on English history e.g. Kenilworth and Ivanhoe in 1819/20.

George Gibson had died on 25th February 1855 and was succeeded by his son Mungo Campbell Gibson. Gibson steamers began to run regular cargo services between Leith and Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Harlingen, Antwerp, Ghent, Terneuzen, Delfyzl and Dunkirk. However, Abbotsford of 1870 was built for deep sea services to and from the Far East, and sailed in June 1870 through the newly opened Suez Canal to Singapore and on to China to load tea. She was followed to the Far East by Redgauntlet of 1,437 grt built in 1871 by Blackwood & Gordon, and a purchased steamer in 1874, which was renamed Guy Mannering of 2,817 grt. The first Gibson passengers were carried in 1883 on the steamer Anglia of 827 grt built in 1863 for the Dundee, Perth & London Shipping Company and purchased by Gibsons in 1883 for the Leith to Rotterdam trade. The new passenger and cargo steamer Mascotte of 1,094 grt joined in 1885 with accommodation for 62 passengers on the poop deck, and another purchased steamer, Britannia of 938 grt joined the passenger services in 1889. Mungo Campbell Gibson died on 23rd June 1890, and he was succeeded by his son Campbell Gibson.

A New Century

George Gibson & Company began the new century with a fleet of fourteen small Continental steamers in Osborne of 1863, Kinghorn of 1865, Windsor of 1866, Abbotsford of 1870, Talisman of 1872, Amulet of 1876, Anglia purchased in 1883, Mascotte of 1885, Britannia purchased in 1889, Antiquary of 1889, Astrologer of 1890, Quentin of 1892, Durward of 1895, and Ronan of 1898, with many of these steamers coming from the Leith yard of Ramage & Ferguson Ltd. Durward had made the fastest sailing from Rotterdam to Leith in under twenty five hours as she had a service speed of 14.5 knots. Mascotte, Quentin, Durward and Ronan had passenger accommodation for between fifty and ninety passengers. This passenger trade was seasonal in summer for advertised middle class Continental tours and holidays, as very few passengers would attempt in winter a very rough North Sea passage in steerage. A network of Continental agents was built up to increase the available trade :-

Several steamers were transferred to the ownership of the Dutch agents W.S. & J. M. Burger for a few years, and at their insistence the ships carried yellow funnel colours before reverting back to black funnels. A fleet of a dozen passenger and cargo steamers was operated to the above Continental ports on the outbreak of World War I, including the steamers Nigel of 1903, Peveril of 1904, Heriot of 1905, Eildon of 1905, Melrose of 1906, and Moorfoot of 1913. Nigel, Peveril and Eildon had accommodation for around 160 passengers, with thirty to fifty in First Class, a small number in Second Class, and one hundred steerage passengers in the ‘tween decks and alleyways. Sailings were initially suspended in August, 1914 but shortly afterwards were resumed to Rotterdam, Harlingen and Dunkirk. However, German troops had marched into Belgium, and Antwerp and Ghent remained closed for the duration of the war after they fell to the Germans. Ronan of 1898 and Quentin of 1892, with accommodation for seventy First Class passengers between them and many more in steerage in the ‘tween decks, arrived back at Leith in October 1914 with Belgian refugees after the fall of Antwerp on 9th October. A tragic toll of six ships were lost to enemy action, with another three lost by maritime causes:-

Durward Captured and sunk with bombs on 21.1.1915 22 miles NW of Maas Light Vessel by U19 while on a voyage from Leith to Rotterdam with general.

Eildon Wrecked near Ushant on 4.5.1915 while on a voyage from Workington to Nantes with iron and steel.

Nigel Mined and sunk off Boulogne on 12.11.1915 while on a voyage from Newhaven to Boulogne with Government stores, 5 lost.

Traquair Mined and sunk on 12.1.1916 1 mile SW of Admiralty Pier, Dover while on a voyage from Leith to Dunkirk with coal.

Astrologer Mined and sunk on 26.6.1916 five miles SSE of Lowestoft while on a voyage from Leith to Dunkirk with coal and general, 11 lost including Master.

Mascotte Mined and sunk on 3.9.1916 when 6.5 miles SE of Southwold while on a voyage from Rotterdam to Leith with general, 1 crew lost.

Peveril Torpedoed and sunk on 6.11.1917 west of the Strait of Gibraltar by U63 while acting as the Government ‘Q’ ship Puma.

Factor Collision and sank off the Norwegian coast on 10.2.1918 while on a voyage from the Tyne to Christiansand with coal, raised and repaired, but sank again after another collision off Scarborough while on a voyage from Antwerp to Leith with general on 9.5.1919.

Amulet Collision and sank off Robin Hood’s Bay on 14.3.1918 while on a voyage from Rotterdam to Leith with general

Unfortunately, the Gibson family control of the company also ceased during the war. Lt. Cdr Mungo Campbell Gibson, great grandson of the founder, was killed in action on 3rd May 1915 in the Dardanelles, and his father Campbell Gibson only survived another seven months until he died on 7th December 1915. George Gibson & Company became a limited liability company in August 1916 and control passed to Robert Somerville and his sons Robert A. Somerville and Hugh C. Somerville of Dalkeith and Edinburgh.

Inter-War Years

Fleet numbers were restored by November 1920 to seventeen ships, the highest size it would ever attain. The largest vessel in the fleet was Moorfoot of 3,080 dwt, and newbuildings included Crichtoun, Borthwick and Lanrick of around 1,500 dwt. A two year old Dutch steamer Saltoun of 1,000 dwt joined in June 1920, and a standard War ‘C’ type of 2,100 dwt had been completed in July 1919 as Dryburgh. Cargo trade to the Netherlands and Belgium was reduced to such an extent that an amalgamation was sought on 1st January 1920 with Rankine Line of Leith, founded in 1837 by James Rankine and operating in the same trades. A trade agreement to eliminate wasteful competition had in fact existed between the two companies since 1861, and four steamers were transferred to Gibsons in Glasgow of 1894, Rotterdam of 1896, Grangemouth of 1908, and Bowling of 1910.

Passenger numbers had now been severely reduced to little more than a trickle, and the passenger accommodation on the Rankine steamers was either completely removed or reduced to only a dozen passengers, the same procedure also being carried out on the three remaining Gibson passenger carrying steamers, Ronan of 1898, Quentin of 1892, and Heriot of 1905. Services were now advertised as the Gibson-Rankine Line, and the four former Rankine Line steamers kept their funnel colours of black with a central white band, the same colours as Currie Line of Leith.

Trade was further reduced by the beginning of the severe Depression in November, 1929 with little profits having been made throughout the 1920s. The fleet was reduced by 1932 to only a dozen steamers in Gala of 1897 and purchased in 1917, Stanislas of 1898 and purchased in 1916, Ronan of 1898, Hunterfield of 1903 and purchased in 1916, Melrose of 1906, Grangemouth of 1908, Bowling of 1910, Moorfoot of 1913, Dryburgh of 1919, Crichtoun of 1920, Borthwick of 1920, and Lanrick of 1920. The first steamer for a dozen years to join the fleet occurred in November 1932, purchased second hand from a Goole owner who had gone into liquidation. Cyrille Daneels had been built in 1924 by the yard of the Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd. as the largest collier that could operate from Goole, and she was renamed Abbotsford (2) of 2,500 dwt, and was a raised quarterdecker with engines ‘midships and four holds.

The first motor vessels joined the fleet during 1936 and 1938 as Eildon (2) and Ronan (2) of 2,100 dwt from the Grangemouth Dockyard Co. Ltd. They had dimensions of length 250 feet and beam of 37.2 feet, and service speeds of ten knots from a six cylinder two stroke single acting diesel by British Auxiliaries Ltd. of Glasgow of 870 bhp. They were raised quarterdeckers with four holds and four derricks on two masts for cargo handling. At the beginning of 1939, the fleet consisted of eleven vessels in Abbotsford of 1924, Borthwick of 1920, Bowling of 1910, Crichtoun of 1920, Dryburgh of 1919, Eildon of 1936, Grangemouth of 1908, Lanrick of 1920, Melrose of 1906, Moorfoot of 1913 and Ronan of 1938. However, Grangemouth had the misfortune to sink after a collision off the Humber on 22nd March 1939, reducing the fleet to ten vessels by the outbreak of World War II.

World War II

All of the fleet was requisitioned by the Government for varying periods of time, and did sterling work as colliers, store carriers, ammunition carriers, and cased petrol carriers. However, the fleet was decimated by mines, U-boats, E-boats, collisions and aircraft bombing, and the vessels that were lost were :-

Dryburgh Sank on 11.11.1939 after striking the wreckage of the Danish East Asiatic Company liner Canada off the Humber while on a voyage from Leith to Antwerp.

Bowling Sank on 20.11.1939 while on a voyage from Leith to Antwerp, cause unknown but possibly mined.

Borthwick Torpedoed and sunk on 9.3.1940 by U14 off the Scheldt while on a voyage from Antwerp to Leith with general, her crew of 21 were saved.

Abbotsford Torpedoed on 9.3.1940 by U14 off the Scheldt while on a voyage from Ghent to Grangemouth with general, she remained afloat and sank two days later, all of her crew of 24 lost.

Melrose Mined and sunk on 15.3.1940 in the southern North Sea off Ostend while on a voyage from Antwerp to Grangemouth with steel and general, 18 crew lost with only Capt. Johnson and five seamen saved.

Astrologer Bombed and sunk in the Barrow Deep in the Thames estuary on 7.11.1940 while on a voyage from Leith to London with wheat, her crew was saved and some cargo was saved but salvage was abandoned after two weeks.

Woodstock Sank after a collision on 15.2.1941 in Robin Hood’s Bay while on a voyage from the Tyne to London with coal.

Glendinning Torpedoed and sunk on 5.7.1944 by U953 in the middle of the English Channel to the south of Brighton while on a voyage from the Arromanche beaches to the Thames, 4 lives lost.

Crichtoun Sunk by E-boat near 4A buoy off Lowestoft while on a voyage from Leith to London with general, 22 of her 25 crew were lost.

The loss of three ships in six days in March 1940, two to the same U-boat on the same day, was a disaster for the company, and three second hand vessels were purchased to replace them. The former archdecker Sheaf Garth built in 1921 at Blyth for W. A. Souter & Company of Newcastle became Glendinning, while Wendy of 1913, which had served for twenty years in the fleet of the Tyne-Tees Steam Shipping Co. Ltd. of Newcastle, became Woodstock, and the former Eleveen of 1922 completed for the Monkseaton Steamship Co. Ltd. of Newcastle became Astrologer. Several ships were managed for the Ministry of War Transport, including Gronland, Halland, Penchateau, Moncousu, Brynhild, Cathrine, Empire Gat, and two N3 American ‘Jeep’ types in Richard Bearse and William Brewster. Three small new coasters of around 600 dwt were built for the company during the war as Quentin, Durward and Bucklaw and served with distinction as cased petrol carriers during the Normandy invasion.

Post-War Years

Leith Docks had been badly damaged by bombing during the war and took some time to recover after the war. Trade had recovered by the year 1951/52 to 1.208 million tonnes with imports, particularly of grain, being three times that of exports. Coal exported amounted to only 76,000 tonnes, mostly as bunker coal, and thus the Gibson vessels had to travel more widely to earn a living, in particular the cork and boxboard trade from Oporto and Lisbon. Gibson ships ran from Leith on regular services to Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Ghent, Dunkirk, Le Havre, Rouen and Paris, with a regular trade southwards from North French ports to Oporto and Lisbon. There were similar but reduced frequency sailings from Grangemouth, Aberdeen, Dundee, Middlesbrough and Newcastle to most of the North Continental ports. The Gibson vessels always dry-docked on the Tyne at Tyne Dock Engineering Co. Ltd. at South Shields, and I was able to see all of the post war fleet at close quarters in their two dry-docks, particularly their deep brown upperworks and the black lifeboats and davits.

A small motor coaster that had been mined at the entrance to Boulogne harbour on 21st October 1944 and beached was later towed to Grangemouth to have a new bow fitted. In March 1947, on completion of repairs she was purchased by Gibsons and renamed Traquair, but lasted only until 19th August 1956 when she foundered to East of Aldeburgh when her cargo of coal slurry shifted while on a voyage from Leith to Terneuzen. A similar sized coaster of 750 dwt was purchased in 1951 from Norwegian owners and renamed Heriot. The managed Empire Gat built in 1941 at Glasgow was purchased in 1947 and renamed Borthwick, and a series of four new coasters in the range from 1,100 dwt to 2,000 dwt were completed by Scottish yards during 1946 to 1952 as Crichtoun, Cardrona, Melrose and Dryburgh. Typical cargoes were from Leith to Belgian or Dutch ports with coal and general cargo such as whisky in barrels together with live horses carried in the alleyways to be slaughtered for meat on the Continent.

A larger vessel was completed in June 1955 by the Grangemouth Dockyard Co. Ltd. as the engines aft Abbotsford (3) of 2,250 dwt with a service speed of 12 knots from a nine cylinder two stroke single acting British Polar diesel of 1,700 bhp. She was built for the homeward trade from Portugal, but traded more widely e.g. from South Wales ports with coal to Spanish or French Biscay ports, returning with phosphates from Casablanca to Whitehaven, or in the summers homewards from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence with grain. After eight years trading, she was sold to Venezuelan owners and renamed Vencemos II, the Gibson Marine Superintendent Capt. W.J.B. Jeffrey sailed with her on the delivery voyage to Venezuela. In March 1959, the Gibson fleet numbered fifteen vessels with the delivery of Ettrick of 1,380 dwt from the Grangemouth Dockyard. Borthwick built in 1941 was sold at the end of December 1959.

The small coaster Lanrick of 800 dwt built in 1957 had the misfortune during floods to end up stranded on a submerged road leaning against a building downstream from Oporto at Vila Nova de Gaia in January 1962. She was salvaged seven weeks later with only minor damage and re-entered service. She was employed on a trade from Dunkirk, Boulogne, St. Valery and Le Treport, if cargo offered, to Oporto and Lisbon, thus completing a connecting service from Portugal to Leith and Scottish ports. However, the Gibson fleet was making little profit as it then entered the much more challenging trading conditions of the mid 1960s.

Containerisation and unit load cargoes had already been established in the Irish Sea by 1966, when work began to establish a container terminal at Leith for the joint Macvan service between Gibsons and Shipping and Coal (Scheepvaart en Steenkolen Maats of Rotterdam). This was built on the north side of Albert Dock to replace a steam crane that had been in use by Gibsons for one hundred years to load coal. At the same time, Leith Dock Commission established their own new container terminal for deep sea shipping. The first Macvan sailing took place in September 1966 between Grangemouth and Rotterdam, followed by the first sailing in August 1967 from Leith to Rotterdam, which of course had extensive container discharge facilities at this time. Gibsons initially used the small coasters Ettrick and Yarrow built in 1958/59 together with a number of chartered coasters of 750 dwt. The Macvan sailings in conjunction with Shipping and Coal lasted for over twenty years, the last sailing having been taken by their Dutch motor coaster Midsland from Rotterdam to Leith in March 1987. The last dry cargo Gibson coaster, Cardona of 1947, was withdrawn from service in July 1969, and all dry cargo and container cargoes were then carried on chartered tonnage.

Gibson Gas Tankers

The liquefied gas trades of ethylene, propane, butane and ammonia were to keep Gibsons in business for over forty years from September 1965 to 2006. The first gas contracts were obtained in 1965/66 to carry liquid ammonia from Heysham to Belfast and Dublin, and from ICI to carry liquefied ethylene from the north bank of the Tees to Rotterdam. Small converted dry cargo coasters were at first used e.g. Quentin built in 1940 and converted by the Henry Robb yard at Leith and fitted with gas tanks, as well as the converted Lanrick (1,580 cubic metres), Yarrow (2,710 cubic metres), Dryburgh (1,500 cubic metres) and Ettrick (2,706 cubic metres). A long series of gas tankers were then especially constructed for these trades beginning with Teviot and Traquair of 638 dwt and 833 cubic metres capacity in 1966, and Melrose and Heriot of 2,595 dwt and 2,725 cubic metres capacity in 1971/72. Yarrow had the misfortune to run aground twelve miles north of Mohammedia, Morocco on 14th January 1972 while on passage from Antwerp to that port with butane and propane, and later broke in two. Mohammedia was formerly called Fedala and is just to the north of Casablanca. Ettrick was sold in November 1972, and the Gibson gas fleet in 1973 numbered seven tankers in Dryburgh, Lanrick, Quentin, Teviot, Traquair, Melrose and Heriot. Lanrick later arrived at Hartlepool in May 1982 for breaking up.

The gas tankers operated in the Unigas International pool of German and Dutch owners (Gibson, Sloman Neptun, Olaf Pedersen and Koraal), wearing their bright orange and blue funnels with a central blue ‘U’ on an orange band. Two gas tankers were managed by Gibsons on behalf of Deutsche Gibson Gastankers Gmbh of Oldenburg in Bucklaw and Durward of 964 dwt and 1,200 cubic metres capacity. Three gas tankers were managed on behalf of Liquid Gas Equipment Ltd. in Abbotsford (4) of 2,482 dwt, and renamed Pentland Glen in 1976, Pentland Brae of 3,514 dwt, and Pentland Moor renamed Quentin in 1979 and near sister of Borthwick of 1977, both of 2,150 dwt and 2,500 cubic metres capacity. Liquid Gas Equipment Ltd. was formed by Mr. J. White, who had been the Gibson liquid gas engineer. Teviot was on charter from the Nile Steamship Co. Ltd. and was sold in 1979 to London tug owners J.P. Knight & Co. Ltd., Traquair was sold in 1980, and Durward and Bucklaw were purchased in 1981 by Batore Investments.

Two much larger gas tankers then joined the Gibson gas fleet in the 1980s in Traquair of 7,230 dwt in 1982, and Teviot of 9,422 dwt in 1989. Traquair of 6,600 cubic metre capacity had a very interesting building method in that she was built in two sections, her forepart at the Port Glasgow yard of Fergusons Brothers Ltd. and her stern section from the Troon yard of the Ailsa Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. They were then joined together in the Inchgreen dry-dock at Greenock on the Clyde in August 1981, and Traquair was taken back to Troon for fitting out. She was named on 3rd April 1982 and sailed on her maiden voyage in the North Sea gas trades in June 1982 on charter to Unigas from the Tees to Rotterdam and Emden. She was powered by a five cylinder Sulzer diesel engine of 6,325 bhp built by Clark Hawthorn at Newcastle to give a service speed of 16 knots. Teviot was completed by the Oldenburg yard of Heinrich Neue Brand Schiffswerft Gmbh in mid 1989 and her gas tank capacity was 8,200 cubic metres.

Most of the Gibson gas tankers operated for all of their careers in the Unigas International pool, but other charters included to Butano of Spain, Monsanto Chemicals, Esso Chemicals and Texan gas and chemical companies with the Gibson fleet voyaging worldwide to the Mediterranean and Houston (Texas). The Gibson gas tanker fleet in 1990 comprised Traquair of 1982, Teviot of 1989, Melrose of 1971, Heriot of 1972, Borthwick of 1977, and Quentin of 1977. Ports visited for either loading or discharge during the previous year of 1989 included the Tees, Immingham, Europort, Moerdyk, Grangemouth, Milford Haven, Briton Ferry, Tyne, Londonderry, Partington, Scapa Flow, Braefoot, Fawley, Porsgrunn, Stenungsund, Dunkirk, Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Emden, Dordrecht, Bilbao, Lisbon, Tarragona (Spain), Zueitina (Libya), Tripoli (Libya), Porto Torres (Sardinia), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Richards Bay (South Africa), Singapore, Colombo, and Houston (Texas). Borthwick was sold to Vlasov interests at the end of 1990 but kept her name, as did Melrose in 1993 and also kept her name, whereas her smaller sister Heriot was broken up at Alang in 1994. Borthwick finally was broken up at Alang in India in May 2010 after a 33 year career.

Two new sister gas carriers were completed in 1991/92 by the Richards yard at Lowestoft as Ettrick and Lanrick of 3,215 cubic metre capacity in three gas tanks. Their eight cylinder 4SA diesels by W. H. Allen Ltd. of Bedford of 3,520 bhp proved very troublesome, and they were reengined in 1996/97 with Wartsila Vasa 32 diesel engines. Teviot was sold in August 1996 and renamed Norgas Teviot, becoming Norgas Carine in January 1998 and Gas Camellia in August, 2013. Two larger second hand gas carriers were purchased in 1998 and renamed Eildon and Yarrow. The former ship was of 6,082 cubic metres capacity, and the latter of 6,568 cubic metres capacity, both with three gas tanks and eight cargo pumps capable of 1,200 tonnes/hour, and a service speed of 14.5 knots from eight cylinder B & W or MaK diesel engines.

During Millennium year, the Gibson Gas Tankers Ltd. fleet of six gas tankers, Eildon, Ettrick, Lanrick, Quentin, Traquair and Yarrow, traded to the usual range of North European and Mediterranean ports, as well as further afield to Constantza, Nemrut Bay (Black Sea), Mohammedia (Morocco), Santos (Brazil), Jakarta (Indonesia), Rio Haina (Dominican Republic), New Orleans and Mississippi ports, and Houston (Texas). Quentin had served for a magnificent 25 years with the company when she was sold in June, 2002 to Transgas of Peru for the Peruvian propane and butane trade.

Gibson Finale

The Gibson business had been sold in the Spring of 1972 by the Somerville family of Edinburgh to the Runciman family of Northumberland, and all the fleet was registered under Anchor Gas Tankers Ltd., Anchor Line having been a part of the shipping interests owned by Viscount Runciman since 1965. George Gibson & Co. Ltd. and Gibson Gas Tankers Ltd. were then sold on at the end of 1986 to Avena of Sweden, and then 60% of the business was sold on again in October 1996 to Belships of Norway with the remaining 40% purchased by Belships during Millennium year.

Finally, on 30th November 2004 the remaining five owned Gibson gas tankers, Eildon of 1982, Yarrow of 1982, Traquair of 1982, Ettrick of 1991, and Lanrick of 1992 plus a managed gas tanker, were sold to the large gas and chemical tanker interests of Camillo Eitzen of Oslo for $20.8 million. Tesma of Copenhagen, part of the Camillo Eitzen Group of companies, then set up a new company in Leith in December 2005 to manage fourteen gas and chemical tankers, the Gibson gas tankers receiving the Eitzen prefix of ‘Sigas’ to their names. These and other Eitzen gas tankers were then managed by EMS Ship Management (U.K.) Ltd., part of the Eitzen Group, from 2006 in the same office on Commercial Quay in Leith. George Gibson & Co. Ltd. and Gibson Gas Tankers Ltd. then ceased to exist at this point of time, and passed into the realms of maritime history.

The Leith office of Eitzen is now closed as they have other offices in Oslo, Copenhagen, Malaga, Mumbai, Singapore, Westport (Connecticut), Panama and Hong Kong. The former Gibson gas tankers Lanrick and Ettrick now trade for B Gas Ltd. of Valetta as B Gas Lanrick and B Gas Ettrick, and Traquair is trading as Liberty N and Teviot as Gas Camellia. Unigas International today has three partners in the Schulte Group of Germany, Sloman Neptun of Germany, and Ultragas with gas tankers with a ‘Happy’ prefix to their names.