Empire Mariner Fausta East & West Steamship Company (ایسٹ اینڈ ویسٹ اسٹیم شپ کمپنی ) was one of the oldest locally owned shipping line in Pakistan until it was nationalised in 1974. Its ship, SS Fatima was the first ship ever registered at the newly established Port of Registry at Karachi in August 1948.[ 1] Cowasjee family . The company was restructured as the 'East and West Steamship Co. (1961) Ltd.' from 1961
Directors
The following list consists of individuals who at one time were directors of the company.
Agents
The company served as agents for Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Tokyo , Japan and The Great Eastern Shipping Company Limited of Bombay (now Mumbai ), India.[ 4]
Ships
Ship
Built
In service for Company
Type
Tonnage
Fate
Notes
SS Fatima 1942
1948 – 1956
Steel ; cargo ship 671 GRT
Broken up in March 1962[ 5]
Built as HMIS Shillong (naval trawler) by Burn & Co. Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1948
SS Figura 1943
1948 – post 1959
Steel; cargo ship
482 GRT
Built as HMIS Cuttack (naval trawler) by Burn & Co. Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1949
SS Firishta 1942
1948 – post 1959
Steel; cargo ship
467 GRT
Built as HMIS Poona (naval trawler) by Hooghly Dkg. & Engineering Co. Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1948
SS Fritha 1942
1948? – post 1959
Steel; cargo ship
467 GRT
Built as HMIS Agra (naval trawler) by Hooghly Dkg. & Engineering Co. Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1948
SS Forma 1941
1948? – post 1959
Steel; tug
471 GRT
Built as HMIS Travancore (naval trawler) by Garden Reach Workshop Ltd., Calcutta, converted in 1952
SS Fravarta 1942
1948 – post 1959
Steel; tug
445 GRT
Built as HMIS Karachi (naval trawler) by Alcock, Ashdwon & Co. Ltd., Bombay, converted in 1949
SS Firoza 1913
1947 – 1966
Steel; cargo ship
4,279 GRT
Broken up at Karachi in October 1966
Built as Falls City by Ropner & Co. Ltd., Stockton-on-Tees
SS Firdausa 1923
1949 – 1963
Steel; cargo ship
7,938 GRT
Broken up at Karachi in April 1963
Built as London Importer by Furness SB Company, Haverton Hill
SS Futura 1919
1951 – 1960
Steel; cargo ship
6,869 GRT
Broken up at Karachi in October 1960
Built as Crosskeys by Skinner & Eddy, Seattle
SS Fausta 1922
1951 – 1963
Steel; cargo ship
5,055 GRT
Broken up at Karachi in October 1963
Built as Schwarzwald by Deutsche Werft , Hamburg
SS Fatakarda later Minocher Cowasjee 1920
1950 – 1957
Steel; cargo ship
6,640 GRT [ 6]
Foundered in 1957[ 7]
Built as 'Parisiana' by Irvine's Shipbuilding & Drydocks & Co., West Hartlepool. Renamed from 'Fatakarda' to 'Minocher Cowasjee' in 1955.
SS Fakirjee Cowasjee 1925
1952 – 1967
Steel; cargo ship
5,328 GRT
Broken up at Karachi in June 1967
Built as 'Manchester Commerce' by Furness S.B. Company, Haverton Hill
SS Feronia 1940
1958 – 1970
Steel; cargo ship
5,095 GRT
Broken up at Karachi in September 1970
Built as Orient City by Furness SB Company, Haverton Hill
MV Rustom 1953
1961 – 1974
Steel; passenger & cargo liner
9,547 GRT
Broken up at Gadani Beach in November 1980
Built as Santa Teresa by Howaldtswerke, Hamburg
MV Ohrmazd 1968
1968 – 1974
Steel; passenger & cargo liner
11,046 GRT
Broken up at Gadani [ 3]
Built by Burntisland Shipbuilding Company, Fife, Scotland
Lost ships
Fakira was lost in 1956 in the China Sea.[ 7] Minocher Cowasjee foundered on 24 January 1957 in the Indian Ocean.[ 6]
Burntisland Shipbuilding Company
The penalties imposed on the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company in Scotland for the delays in completion of the Ohrmazd in 1968 proved too much for the Scottish company and caused it to go into liquidation.[ 8]
Court cases
The company's agent, M.N. Sidhwa was involved in an income tax court case in August 1962, which was decided against it.[ 9]
Nationalisation
During the nationalisation drive of Prime Minister , Zulfikar Ali Bhutto , the company was merged into Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC). The owners took this nationalisation to court, whereby the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled in their favour.[ 10] [ 10]
See also
References
^ Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 12
^ a b Syed, Madeeha (2015-03-22). "The original shippers" . DAWN.COM . Retrieved 2020-11-17 . ^ a b Ohrmazd Burntisland Shipyard. Retrieved 07 March 2011^ Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 16
^ Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947–2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 15
^ a b Allen, Tony (2010-04-11). "SS Minocher Cowasjee (+1957)" . The Wreck Site . The Wreck Site. Retrieved 2011-06-16 . ^ a b Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947–2009 Karachi 2010 (privately published) pg 14
^ Shipyard Burntisland Shipyard. Retrieved 7 March 2011^ MN Sidhwa vs Income tax Commissioner, 1962 Indian Law Retrieved 7 March 2011^ a b Annual Accounts for 2009 Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine PNSC Retrieved 7 March 2011
Further reading
Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, "History of Pakistan Merchant Navy 1947- 2009 " Karachi 2010 (privately published)
External links
