A major Switzerland based shipowner

Part Two

During 1968 and 1969 an odd mixture of ship sizes and ages joined the Tuillier fleet as listed below:

In 1969 two new Companies named World Shipping S.A. and Borromini Società Commerciale e Finanziaria S.A. were created in Lugano and Sebastiano’s two sons entered the business. World Shipping S.A. also had an address in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, under the name Internautical Service Establishment, it is thought for tax reasons. The name Borromini presumably derives from Francesco Borromini, the 17th-century Baroque architect. An office was also opened in London, in Ludgate House, Fleet Street, under the name of Transtrade Shipping Limited. Previously Purvis Shipping had acted as London agents.

1969 was also the year when Tuillier acquired their first tankers, ten year old sisterships named WORLD PEGASUS and WORLD PROVINCIAL, built as NAESS FALCON and NAESS TERN, which had been operated since 1964 by Y.K.Pao’s World-Wide Group. Under their new names of SAN SALVADOR and SAN ROCCO they had rather different careers with Tuillier. Whereas SAN SALVADOR traded successfully until scrapped at the end of 1982, SAN ROCCO had suffered stranding damage in October 1975 and was quickly sold to Faslane breakers.

Relationships with other Italian shipowners

Mention is made in the introduction of Sebastiano Tuillier’s close relationship with the Genoa shipowner F. Italo Croce, Raffaele Romano of Naples and the Gennari family. Whereas it is clear that the forging of such relationships is a normal part of the shipping business, and that Tuillier will have known many other Italian shipowners, particular mention must be made of his relationship with the well known Achille Lauro group.

In 1965 Lauro had entrusted the management of three crude oil tankers named BENEDICT, CAPOVERDE and CAPE HORN and in late 1969, shortly before Sebastiano Tuillier had purchased the HOPEPEAK, Lauro purchased her sister ship HOPECREST, initially placing the ship under Tuillier management as SELENE. These ships were joined in 1972 by two more tankers, the 1958 built sisterships named ACQUARIUS (built as FELCE) and MABRUK (built as POLINICE) and, together with SELENE, nominally owned by Kirno Hill Corporation. However it seems that Tuillier management of all these ships ceased in 1973. Although the three crude oil tankers were all given names commencing SPLENDID, and the later two becoming WHITE RANGER and BLUE RANGER, the SELENE was not renamed.

1970s DEVELOPMENTS

During 1971 to 1973, once again, a mixture of ship sizes and types joined the Tuillier fleet as listed below:

However, by 1975, there had been a shift in management arrangements involving Compagnie Maritime Commerciale (COMACO) of Monaco, Monte Carlo, the fleet thereafter reducing in size with no further second hand acquisitions until 1978. Following an official investigation into the alleged illegal shipment of steel billets from South Rhodesia to Turkey on board the ALACRITY in 1976, COMACO was compulsorily wound up in 1978 and direct management from Lugano by Borromini S.A. reinstated.

Then, early in 1978, Tuillier took delivery from R. S. Dalgleish Limited of Newcastle of the ten year old bulk carrier TAMWORTH, once again given the name LUGANO. She was followed in mid 1978 by the 1959 built tanker KARPATY from Poland. She was again given the name SANROCCO and, rather logically, owned by Cia. de Nav. San Rocco S.A., but was sold for breaking early in 1982.

Sadly, in 1978, Sebastiano Tuillier suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered, passing away in 1982. For a short time Natale and Eugénio jointly managed the business but in 1981 it was decided to split the fleet between the two brothers. Eugénio then founded Intermarine S.A. and Natale established Tecnomar S.A., both Lugano based, while Borromini S.A., which became wholly owned by Natale and his mother Eugenia, was effectively closed in about 1985.

During the period of the brothers’ joint management of Borromini, 1979 to 1981, the following ships were acquired:

MARGARET SIMONE had been laid up at Haugesund on 31st May 1979. Renamed ELIZABETH II in mid 1980, she was then purchased by the Tuillier family and commenced trading as ROBERTA 1 in mid 1981. Following a grounding at Skikda, Algeria, in January 1984 she proceeded to Trieste from where she sailed on 31 August under the shortened name of OBERTA bound directly for the breaker’s at Kaohsiung. ROBERTA I and LOCARNO were both nominally owned by San Rocco Gulf Line.

BRITISH UNITY was purchased by the Tuillier family towards the end of 1981 and renamed SEBASTIANO. Her ownership, and also that of EUGENIA 1, was subsequently transferred to Tecnomar S.A., a new company established in Lugano by Natale Tuillier, and in 1986 her management to his newly created Nicla Management Corporation who soon renamed her SILVER CLOUD.

EUGÉNIO TUILLIER

INTERMARINE S.A, LUGANO (via Besso 41)

In 1981 Eugénio Tuillier initially created a company named Intermarine S.A., placing into its management the bulk carrier LUGANO (ex TAMWORTH), nominally owned by Fucsiamar S.A., which was sold to Greece early in 1983. Although the traditional Tuillier funnel colours were not adopted for this ship, funnel colours based on the traditional Tuillier style, but with red instead of blue, were then generally adopted.

More significantly, towards the end of 1982, he had purchased from Greek owners the tanker ATHINA which had been built at Odense in 1964 as KAREN MAERSK. Renamed VERDI, she was the first of several tankers placed in the ownership of another recently created company, Medsea S.A.M. of Monte Carlo.

Oddly, the 1974 Gdansk built coaster LYSPOL was also purchased by Intermarine in 1983. Renamed FALSTAFF, she was resold in 1986 to a Naples company to trade as LIVIO S. and was only deleted from Lloyd’s Register in 2011 after several further name changes concluding in 1998 as ELA.

MEDSEA S.A.M., MONTE CARLO

Under the name of Medsea, Eugénio Tuillier had between 1981 and 1983 acquired the following other dry cargo ships plus, from Natale Tuillier in 1983, the Giuca (the former Rozelbay, ex Scottish Trader), which he renamed Jambi.

• Note 1: from 1980 managed by Seaborne Trades Consultants, Lugano.

• Note 2: from 1979 managed by Transtrade Shipping, London on behalf of Triumph Shipping Corporation, Monrovia (laid up at Glasgow from 6 July 1982 until purchased by Medsea late in 1983)

In 1985 Medsea acquired two further dry bulk carriers, both built in 1973. These were the Belgian owned KYOTO, which was not renamed and sold to Yugoslavia in 1987 to trade as KVARNER, and the NORDTRAMP from D/S A/S Norden, Copenhagen, which was traded as FIDESTAR until sold in 1994. The 1967 built bulk carrier PASCIA was also managed by Medsea in 1988/9.

The Medsea dry bulk fleet was further expanded in 1990/1 with the acquisition of the nineteen year old Japanese built bulk carriers BULK TOPAZ and SEA TRANSPORTER but in 1994 the latter ship was wrecked and the former was sold to China.