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SOUTH BULLI

Shipbuildervessel built by Hall, Russell & Company, Limited (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1864 - 1992)

Date3 April 1913

Object NameCARGO VESSEL

ClassificationsShip

Dimensionslength 195 3/6' x breadth 30 1/12' x depth 14 3/6'
Gross Tonnage: 818 tons

Object numberABDSHIP002223

Keywords

Aberdeen Built Ships

About MeYard: Hall, Russell & Co.
Yard Number: 529.
Official Number: 131559
Subsequent Names: SS ABERSEA (1937).

Fate: Broken up in Australia 1961.

Propulsion: Steam
Description: Cargo vessel (collier), 1 deck, quarterdeck 44’, bridge deck 10’, forecastle 19’, machinery aft. Electric light fitted.

Owners:
1913: Bellambi Coal Co. Ltd, New South Wales.
1937: Jones Bros., Coal Pty. Ltd.

General History:
Details from Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, who own the shipbuilder's model of this vessel:

The SS SOUTH BULLI was commissioned for ownership and use by the Bellambi Coal Co Ltd in New South Wales in 1913.

The Bellambi Coal Co Ltd can be traced back to 1857 when Mr Thomas Hale opened a mine at Bellambi. Mr Hale constructed a jetty at Bellambi from which to ship the coal and by 1858 he owned two cutters, two schooners and a barque. In 1862, the mine became insolvent and for the next 26 years lay undeveloped until the Bellambi Coal Co Ltd was constituted in 1888.

In 1901, the Directors of this newly established company decided to purchase the adjoining South Bulli Colliery and developed its own fleet, proving integral to the economic growth of the Wollongong region.

Not long after SS SOUTH BULLI was launched for use by the Bellambi Coal Co Ltd, the vessel was taken over by Jones Bros Coal Ltd and re-named SS ABERSEA. On 5th May 1934 ABERSEA collided with the collier TYALGUM, which was on its way to the Tweed. TYALGUM had its side badly stoved in when ABERSEA, which was bound from Newcastle to Sydney deeply laden with coal, could not see TYALGUM'S lights. The accident occurred at 5.15am off Norah Head. ABERSEA'S stem was also sprung, with the plating folded across it. Fortunately, the resulting leak was soon fixed.

On 21st May 1932 ABERSEA was reported to have been stranded on a reef at Bellambi Point when from Sydney to Wollongong and on January 9, 1949 when being towed through the Glebe Island Bridge by the tug EMU, the latter struck the bridge after a heavy gust of wind , causing it to sink. It was later raised by the Titan crane, but the damage was beyond economical repair.

ABERSEA was withdrawn in June 1960 and in July sold for demolition in Blackwattle Bay. She was replaced in service by KOORINE.

Notes: Sister ship to WONIORA.
Triple expansion engines with 16 5/16", 26" and 43" cylinders, 33" stroke. Boiler 180 lb. pressure, 140 NHP