Boringia (1930) Built: Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen (Yard No. 560) Tonnage: 8150 dwt., 5821 gt. LOA: LBp: 425' Beam: 57' Draught: Depth from shelterdeck: 36' Diesel: Twin screw. Two 7-cyl. 4-stroke cross head B&W diesel engines with air injection type 7630-S nos:1637 & 1638. 6700 IHP / 5000 BHP.

Boringia

Cargo/Passenger ship with 4 cargo holds of which no. 1 and 2 had tweendecks.

Crew: 58. Accommodation for 40 passengers with 18 double-cabins and 4 single-cabins.

The vessel operated solely on the Bangkok route until WW-2, when on April 9th, 1940 in Marseilles she was seized by the French authorities and later on July 6th, 1940 by the British in Singapore following the capitulation of France. In agreement between the master and the representative of The British Ministry of Shipping, Boringia having been seized by the British, came under British flag with Glasgow as her new home port.

The vessel was engaged in operation between England and Egypt/India. On a return voyage to England with a cargo of cotton, and after having passed Cape Town July 31st, 1942 Boringia collided at 22:00, August 2nd,1942 with the British vessel s.s. Kalena, which sank. Boringia managed to rescue all crew members from the Kalena and returned to Cape Town for landing of the survivors and for necessary repair. Two months later, the repair was completed and Boringia left Cape Town October 7th, 1942 in the morning on the voyage back to England. The same evening at 23:55 the vessel was hit by a torpedo fired from the german submarine U-159 at the position 35° 09' N, 16.° 32' E. i.e. 130 nautical miles WSW of Cape Town. The 60 people onboard Boringia managed to get into the life boats, however, during this operation another torpedo was fired, which hit two of the life boats and killed 25 of the crew members onboard. Survivors were picked up by the undamaged life boats and the surviving 35 people from "Boringia were after a few hours picked up by the british vessel "Clan MacTavish. Only one hour later, this vessel was torpedoed and another 7 men from Boringia lost their lives. Survivors from both vessels were rescued by another British vessel and landed in Cape Town.

Amerika (1930) Built: Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen, Denmark. (Yard no. 559). Tonnage: 11375 det., 10110 gt. (later 10218 gt.) LOA: 465.4' Beam: 62.2' Draught: 28.5' Diesel: Twin screw, 14000 HP, service speed 14 knots

Amerika

Cargo/passenger ship. Sister vessels Canada & Europa. First EAC vessel with two large (yellow) funnels. 70 passengers. Torpedoed and sunk (position 57° 30' N, 42.° 50' W) by U306 off Greenland coast on 22/4/43 with loss of 86 passengers including 37 Canadian pilots in transit to England.
[B&W76, ERIKSEN93, JOHANNESEN99, KERSHAW64B, LLOYDS35, MAPPLEBECK, ROBINSON]

India (1930) Built: Nakskov Skibsværft (Yard No. 39) Tonnage: 9549 gt., 13447 dwt. (later 9649 gt., 19270 dwt.?) LOA: 489' (149.04 m.) Beam: 64' (19.35 m.) Draught: 12.27 m. Diesel:5300 HP, twin-screw, 13.5 knots.

India

India (Photograph: A Duncan)

Sold to breakers 1962.
[KERSHAW64B, LLOYDS35, LLOYDS51, LEFLEMING59, NAKSKOV85]

Muinam (1931) Built: Nakskov Skibsværft, Nakskov, Denmark (Yard No. 43). Delivered 16/6/31. Tonnage: 3113 gt., 3200 dwt. (later 4125 dwt.) LBP: 330' Beam: 48' 9 Depth from shelterdeck: 29' Draught: Diesel:2 pc. 6-cyl. B&W 4-stroke trunk engines type 6125M. 3000 IHP/2250 BHP. Twin Screw. Service speed 13 knots.

Muinam (Photograph: Poul Tingleff/Nakskov Shipyard)

Cargo & passenger vessel intended for operation in Far Eastern waters. Crew 40. Accomodation for 12 passengers on 1st class and 22 on 2nd class. Available space for deck passengers.

Operated from 1931 to 1935 on the regular route: Bangkok - Swatow - Hong Kong - Swatow - Bangkok. A round trip lasted 3 weeks and the cargo was rice from Bangkok and general cargo on the return voyage. Furthermore the vessel carried 200 - 300 passengers in each direction.

In 1935 Muinam was transferred to Butterfield & Swire's route between Singapore and Hong Kong/Swatow/Hoi How. This arrangement lasted about four years.

In November 1939 the vessel loaded a full cargo of supplies from Indonesia to Denmark and became the first EAC-vessel arriving Denmark after the outbreak of WWII.

At final destination of the next outbound voyage Muinam arrived Saigon 6/4/40 and had almost finished loading on April 9th for the return trip to Europe. News of the German occupation of Denmark were published in Saigon same evening and completion of the loading was stopped by the local authorities. The vessel was seized by France on 17/4/40 and was to be operated by Companie des Messageries Maritimes on behalf of the French government. On 26/4/40 the French flag was hoisted and Muinam was renamed Saint Rene\e'. The vessel departed Saigon in the early days of May with a prize crew and about 1000 Annammese soldiers onboard. Destination was Marseilles via Suez. Arrival Marseilles was 6/6/40 and the vessel was still in port, when the French/German ceasefire agreement was signed. After a period, during which the vessel was used for lodging seamen having signed-off from other Danish ships, the vessel was handed-over to Germany by the French. This happened on 3/9/41 after the remainig original Danish crew members had signed-off. The German flag was hoisted and the vessel re-named San Marco.

Operation by the Germans was rather short-lived. The vessel was engaged in transporting supplies from Italy to the German forces in North Africa. On 9/11/41 Muinam was sunk by British warships near Tobruk.
[JOHANNESEN99, LLOYDS35, NAKSKOV85, TINGLEFF]

Europa (1931) Built: Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen (Yard No. 581) Tonnage: 10850 dwt., 10224 gt. LBP: 465' Beam: 62 Draught from main deck: 40' Diesel: One 6-cyl. B&W 2-stroke double acting engine type 662WF-140. 7000 IHP. Single screw. Service speed 14 knots.

Europa arriving at Copenhagen (Photograph: Poul Tingleff)

Crew: 73. Accomodation for 56 passengers in 28 cabins. Later on, the passenger capacity was increased to 70. Cargo and passenger vessel built for operation between Europe and US/Canadian West Coast. Sister vessels Amerika & Canada. Launched and completed 1931.

Departed from Copenhagen on the maiden voyage 22/5/31 to the Pacific Coast of USA and Canada, and up until September 1939, the vessel made 29 round trips on this route.

Europa was in Copenhagen on 3/9/39 and left on September 8th for the usual ports on the Pacific Coast. Called at North Shields September 10th and continued the next day to St. Thomas and onwards. On the homebound voyage the vessel called at Falmouth 29th November 1939 and stayed until December 2nd for contraband-control. Subsequently the vessel discharged at London, Hull, Gothenburg and Copenhagen.

The service of the Polish Gdynia-Amerika Line had come to an end at the outbreak of WW-2, and EAC decided to let Europa call at New York due to the increased demand for passenger transportation between Scandinavia and New York. On the next voyage, the vessel left Copenhagen on 20/1/40 and presumably it went directly to New York. In the early days of March the vessel left Vancouver commencing the return voyage to Europe. As usual the vessel loaded at various ports on the Pacific Coast and after having passed the Panama Canal, a number of Caribbean ports were called at. Having departed St. Thomas 7/4/40, the vessel was en route to New York, when the German forces invaded Denmark on 9/4/40. Europa arrived New York on 11/4/40 and departed 14/4 for Halifax, where the vessel was placed at the disposal of the allied powers. Upon arrival, Europa was taken over by the Canadian government and was to be operated by The Canadian Government Merchant Marine Ltd. The Canadian flag was hoisted 20/4/40. To a great extent the vessel was loaded with goods desperately needed in England and it was decided to join the first available convoy, which left Halifax 26/4/40. The next movements of the vessel are not known, but most likely she was engaged in the transport between East Canada and British ports. After about 7 months, the vessel arrived Greenock, Scotland in November 1940 with a large number of Canadian troops. After disembarcation, the vessel proceeded to Liverpool where she arrived 27/11/40 for discharging and dry-docking. Subsequently a cargo of war materials including a number of air planes was loaded. Loading was completed 20/12/40 and departure was scheduled for the next morning.

In the evening December 20th Liverpool was heavily attacked by German bombers. At 21:55 hrs. Europa was hit and seriously damaged. An opening about 25 x 10 meters appeared under the water line in way of cargo hold no. 2. Shortly afterwards the vessel rested on the bottom. The next two nights Liverpool was bombed again. Europa, however, this time received no further damage. A part of the cargo was discharged and attempts were made to raise the vessel. On 12/3/41 Europa was again hit by a German bomb. On 20/3 the vessel was successfully raised and dry-docked for repair.

Europa was still in Brocklebank's dry-dock when German planes made one of the most severe attacks on Liverpool during WW-2. Late evening on May 3rd, several bombs hit the vessel, which then was beyond the possibility of saving. It was declared a total loss and was later on towed from the dock and set aground for scrapping.

During Europa's whole stay in Liverpool, one crew member only was slightly injured.
[B&W76, LLOYDS35, MAPPLEBECK, TINGLEFF]

Erria

Erria

Erria

Erria (1953 refit after fire) Refitted: Wilton-Fijenoord, Schiedam, Netherlands Tonnage: 7670 gt. 9600 dwt. LOA: 463' Beam: 62' Draught: Diesel: twin-screw, service speed 13.5 knots

Erria after refit

Passenger & cargo motor-ship wih accommodation for 75 passengers. rebuilt 1937; taken over by Ministry of War transport, London 1940; returned to EAC 1945.

In Copenhagen-New York service, 1949-1951. Burned off Astoria, U.S.A. while bound for Portland, 22 December 1951 with 33 passengers aboard (8 passengers and 3 members of the crew lost their lives?). Vessel was salvaged, towed into Astoria for unloading, then to Portland for emergency repairs and finally to the Netherlands for refit. 1952/3.

Rebuilt at Wilton-Fijenoord, Schiedam, Netherlands and redelivered 1953 as cargo ship; black hull, two masts and funnel. 1962 sold to Okayu & Co, Tokyo March 1962 for scrapping. Last voyage 21/5/1962 from Yokohama to Osaka where scrapped.
[JOHANNESEN99, LEFLEMING59, LLOYDS35, LLOYDS51, NAKSKOV85, SMITH78]

[TOFTE]

Jutlandia (1934) Built: Nakskov Skibsværft, Nakskov, Denmark. Completed 11/34. Tonnage: 8000 dwt., 8457 gt. LOA: 460'2" (140.21m, LWL: 132.89m) Beam: 61'2" (18.59 m.) Draught: 25'1" Diesel:6500 HP, twin-screw, service speed 15 knots. Four masts and no funnel. Passengers: 80 first class.

Jutlandia

Jutlandia as a hospital ship.

Passenger & cargo motorship. In transatlantic service 1946-50. Converted to hospital ship for use in the Korean War (1951-1954). Sold to Spanish shipbreakers in 1964; arrived at Bilbao to be broken up in January 1965.
[JOHANNESEN99, LEFLEMING59, LLOYDS35, LLOYDS51, NAKSKOV85, SMITH78]

[TINGLEFF]

Canada (1935) Built: Nakskov Skibsværft, Nakskov, Denmark (Yard No. 62). Tonnage: 10950 dwt., 11108 gt. LOA: Beam: Draught: Diesel: 7000 HP, service speed 14.75 knots.

Canada

Passenger & cargo motorship. Sister vessels Amerika & Europa. Maiden voyage August 1935.
Sank off U.K. coast after striking a mine near Deal on 3/11/39.

The loss of Canada.
After discharging on her homeward bound voyage from the Pacific Coast (Voyage no. 14), the vessel departed Hull 3/11/39. Shortly after leaving the river mouth (Humber) and heading northwards, a mine exploded under no. 2 hold. The position was just outside the village ofWithernsea. Everybody onboard left Canada in the lifeboats, but as the vessel was apparantly not sinking, the captain together with 12 crew members went back on board.
The remaining part of the crew and all passengers were taken-up by another ship passing by and subsequently landed at Grimsby.
As it was still possible to run the main engine, the course was set towards the shore. The vessel was set aground about 10 nautical miles from The Humber Lightship due east of Humberston.
The remaining cargo consisted of soya beans in bags and even though the crew tried to pump the damaged holds dry, the entering water made the soya beans expand to an extent, which made the hull burst and caused a total destruction of the vessel.
A few days afterwards, the Greek steamer Georgios collided with the wreck and was stuck on the foredeck.
The remarkable series of pictures below were taken by the second engineer and supplied to me by his son, Poul Tingleff.

The loss of Canada: 1	The loss of Canada: 2	The loss of Canada: 3
The loss of Canada: 4	The loss of Canada: 5	The loss of Canada: 6
The loss of Canada: 7	The loss of Canada: 8	No.1 & 2: Hatch no. 3 opening up due to expanding soya beans. No.3 & 4: Forward port side and starboard aft end settling deeper and deeper into the sea. No.5 & 6: At the end of the struggle towards the shore No 7 & 8: Set aground.

[KERSHAW64B, MAPPLEBECK, NAKSKOV85, TINGLEFF]

Kina (1939) Built: Nakskov Skibsvaerft, Denmark (Yard No. 87) Tonnage: 12400 (12050?) dwt., 9823 gt., 6159 nt. LOA: 483"7' Beam: 65'2" Depth from shelter deck: 43'1" Draught: 38'8" Diesel: Burmeister & Wain 11000 HP.

Kina in wartime livery (Photograph: Poul Tingleff)

Model of Kina in Danish Maritime Museum (Photograph: Jess Christensen)

Cargo ship, 48 crew, 12 passengers.

The third Kina delivered January 18th, 1939 made two round trips to the Far East and one to South America prior to the German occupation of Denmark during WW-2. She was a relative fast ship with a service speed of 16 knots. Came under the British flag and was re-named "Kina 2 during WW-2 carrying a total of about 200,000 tons of explosives and other war materials world wide over 292,000 nautical miles (including to Singapore and to 8th Army). She survived the war without getting a scratch, beating off an attack by a German submarine at one point and suffering no damage.

On September 2nd, 1945 the vessel was returned to EAC and the name was changed back to Kina. Following a number of voyages carrying coal from USA to Denmark, the vessel returned to the Europe-Far East service, where she completed two round trips. On the third voyage to The Far East, the vessel was lost during a severe typhoon off Kamandag Island in the Philippines on December 25th, 1947. 12 passengers and 18 crewmembers were saved. 1 passenger, 30 crewmembers and 3 philippines were lost.

Spent WWII mostly carrying materiel to Singapore and to 8th Army. Beat offf an attack by a German submarine during the war and suffered no damage. After WWII sailed on the Europe-Far East routes.

The loss of Kina
In December 1947, the Kina called at the Phillipines on her voyage back from Japan via Hong Kong. On board were a full crew and 12 passengers plus 3 Filipinos including the pilot. The Kina was intended to take a full cargo of copra. Shortly after arrival at Tabaco (Luzon, Phillipines) she received a typhoon warning. The cargo operations were ended on Christmas Eve and the departure was expected to be in t he morning of 25 December. Before departure, the weather conditions were discussed with the local pilot, and the captain of the Kina, Capt. Aage Hjernum decided to leave the harbour awaiting improving weather in the roads of Calbayog at Samar island, 110 nautical miles from Tabaco.

Far from improving, the weather was increasing to hurricane force. Capt. Hjernum then decided not to drop the anchor in Calbayog roads but to try to reach the open sea to ride out the hurricane. The visibility was only 10-20m and the wind from NW.

At approx. 1925, the wind increased to full hurricane force. Suddenly the ship struck the ground and shortly afterwards started to list. She soon began to make water through the air intake to the starboard No. 2 tank, and shortly afterwards the radio officer was ordered to transmit distress signals, the lifeboats were made ready and the crew and passengers prepared for evacuation.

11 passengers and 3 crew members were in the successfully launched lifeboat No. 1 and at 0530 it reached the island of Samar near Sao Joaquin village after a difficult journey.

Due to a heavy list it was not possible to launch lifeboats 2 and 4.

After lifeboat No. 1 was well clear, lifebopat No. 3 was launched, manned by the remaining 2 passengers, 3 Phillipinos and approx. 25 crew members. Due to human error, it was carried by a wave on to the No3. cargo hatch on the foredeck and smashed. Some of those in the lifebaot managed to board the liferafts; four of them escaped using the painters dinghy and reached the shore near Binalio Ppoint at 0200. One person escaped on floating wreckage and was later picked up by natives in an out-rigger canoe.

At 2015 Kina sank in position 11° 58' N, 124° 25' S(*) near the SE coast of Camandag.

Altogether, 34 people were lost. including Capt. Hjernum who refused to leave his ship. the survivors were flown to Manila and repatriated to Denmark.

(*)This is the figure from the EAC files. My original correspondent has: 11° 58' N, 124° 20' S
[CHRISTENSEN, JENFELDT98, NAKSKOV85, STEVENSON, TINGLEFF]

Selandia (1938) Built: Nakskov Skibsværft, Nakskov, Denmark (Yard No. 86). Completed 10/38?. Tonnage: 8400dwt., 8482 gt., 4975nt., 8482 gt., (later 8454 gt.) LOA: 452'4"(137.77m) (LWL: 131.67m) Beam: 63'1" (19.20 m.) Draught: 25'0" Diesel: 6000 HP, single-screw, service speed: 15.25 knots.
Selandia	Selandia	Selandia (Alain de Bressy collection)

The left hand card, which appears to be some sort of screen-printed version of Alain's card which is probably thelater of the two and which looks like a real photograph.

Passenger & cargo motorship. Service: Europe-Bangkok-Saigon. Sister ship: 'Falstria'.

Selandia was designed to operate on the EACs liner service between Europe and Straits Settlements/Bangkok. This service was operated by 7 vessels with a departure frequency of once every 3 weeks. Like many other EAC ships Selandia was of unconventional appearance, having no funnel and four masts (`four stick bamboo, no puff-puff'). She had a cargo capacity of 8400 tons and was built to carry 64 1st class passengers.

Her crew would be about 70 persons. Of these some 20 were needed to serve the passengers including a ship's doctor.

Under the command of Captain Ingemann Varing she left Copenhagen on her maiden voyage on 4th November 1938, following the usual itinerary of the service. Captain Varing was to have an extremely long turn of duty on the ship - lasting until March 1946.

Outward: Copenhagen, Middlesborough, Antwerp, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Southampton, Marseilles, Suez Canal, Aden, Colombo, Penang, Port Swettenham(now Port Kelang), Malacca, Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon.

Return: Bangkok, Saigon, Singapore, one or two more ports on the Malayan peninsula, Colombo, Aden, Suez Canal, Marselles, London, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen.

Requisitioned by France, 9 May 1940 (Saigon).
Requisitioned by South Africa, 22 June 1940 (Cape Town) - South African Highland Regiment soldiers boarded the ship while the French & Danish sea-officers were ashore and `persuaded' the French marines to leave the vessel!
Subsequently, 11 voyages Durban-Mombasa.
Damaged by German bombing in Alexandria, thence to New York (November 1941) for repair.

Sold to Italian owners; arrived at Spezia in December 1962 for breaking up for scrap.
[HAWGOOD, JOHANNESEN99, KAMSTRUP, MAPPLEBECK, NAKSKOV85, SMITH78]

Korea (1939) Built: Nakskov Skibsværft, Nakskov, Denmark (Yard No. 88). Tonnage: 12520 dwt., 9945 gt. LOA: 511' Beam: 65' Draught: 29.8 Diesel: 9100 HP, single screw, service speed 16 knots

Korea

Korea (Bert van Galen collection)

Sister ship to Kina (1938). Broken up in 1967 in Hong Kong.
[LEFLEMING59, LLOYDS51, NAKSKOV85, ROBINSON]