Palm Line facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Palm Line

Former type	Subsidiary of United Africa Company (UAC)
Industry	Shipping
Successor	Ocean Transport & Trading in 1985
Founded	1911, as Southern Whaling and Sealing Company Ltd
Defunct	1986; 39 years ago (1986)
Headquarters	UAC House, Blackfriars Road, London, United Kingdom
Area served	Northern Europe, West Africa and Mediterranean
Key people	Frank Samuel (First Chairman) Lord Cole, Chairman 1952-55
Parent	Unilever

The Palm Line was a British shipping company. It operated ships that sailed to West Africa from 1949 until 1986. Their main job was to serve ports along the long 5,000-mile coastline from Morocco in the north all the way down to Angola in the south.

Palm Line was part of important shipping groups like UKWAL and COWAC. They worked with other well-known shipping lines such as Elder Dempster and Nigerian National Shipping Line.

The Story of Palm Line

The Ilesha Palm sailing on the Escravos River in Nigeria.

After World War II, in the late 1940s, a big company called UAC decided to make its shipping fleet a separate business. So, on February 16, 1949, they created a new company. They did this by using the old rules of a company called Southern Whaling and Sealing Company, which had been bought by Lever Bros. years before. They simply changed its name to Palm Line.

Choosing the name "Palm" was a big decision! At one point, they thought about calling it "Sun Line." But it was Mr. Frank Samuel, who later became the company's first chairman, who came up with the name "Palm."

Navigating Tricky Rivers

Did you know that most Palm Line ships built before 1970 had to be shorter than 152 meters (500 feet)? This was so they could sail through the narrow rivers and "creeks" in Nigeria. The depth of the water, called "draught," was also very important. The coast of West Africa is quite flat, and slow rivers create long sand bars near the shore.

To enter most rivers, ships had to cross over these sand bars. The deepest a ship could be was about 8.2 meters (27 feet) to reach all ports. For some rivers, like the Escravos River that leads to Sapele, ships couldn't carry more than 4,000 tons of cargo. This was because the water over the Escravos Bar was only about 5.2 meters (17 feet) deep. So, ships often had to cross a different bar and then use a connecting creek to reach the Escravos River.

The Krooboys: Local Crew Members

It was a common practice for all Palm Line ships to stop at Freetown (in Sierra Leone) when sailing both north and south. Here, they would refuel and pick up "Krooboys." These were extra local West African crew members. Their main jobs were chipping paint, cleaning the ship, and cleaning the cargo holds. They had their own living areas on the ship's deck, and their leader even had his own cabin at the front of the ship.

The Palm Line flag.

The End of an Era

The early 1980s marked the beginning of the end for Palm Line. From 1982 to 1986, there was a big drop in trade between Europe and West Africa. This meant Palm Line had to rent out its ships to other companies more and more. In 1986, Palm Line was sold to Ocean Fleets. The last chairman of Palm Line was Gordon Williams.

The Palm Tree Emblem

The palm tree symbol, which became Palm Line's emblem, was actually used on a Unilever Ltd flag way back in 1939.

Palm Line at the Museum

From June to December 2018, the Merseyside Maritime Museum in England had a special exhibit called "Palm Line - A new company for a new era." The main attraction was a detailed model of the ship MV Matadi Palm (built in 1970).

The Fleet of Palm Line

Palm Line had many ships over the years. Here are some of them:

Ship	Built	Shipyard	IMO Number	Speed (knots)	Type	GRT	Notes
MV Africa Palm	1953	Short Brothers	5004075	11	General Cargo	5,415	Sister ship to MV Burutu Palm (1953). Sold in 1972. Caught fire in 1975 and was later scrapped.
MV Africa Palm	1971	Warnowwerft	7125328	14	General Cargo	10,008	Bought by Palm Line in 1974. Was renamed Santa Barbara Pacific for a short time in 1983.
MV Akassa Palm	1958	Bremer Vulkan	5006712	14	General Cargo	9,000	Sold in 1972 and renamed Elenma. Scrapped in 1984.
MV Andoni Palm	1958	Bremer Vulkan	5016391	14	General Cargo	9,000	Sold in 1976 and scrapped in 1982.
MV Apapa Palm	1973	Stocznia Szczecińska	7305801	16	General Cargo	9,417	MV Apapa Palm in Antwerp, May 1982. Bought by Palm Line in 1977. Two sister ships were used in the Falklands War. Sold in 1985.
MV Ashanti Palm	1947	Shipbuilders Corporation	n/a	10½	General Cargo	5,123	Sank in Naples harbor in 1962 during a fierce storm. No one was hurt.
MV Badagry Palm	1956	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5033521	14	General Cargo	5,042	Carried Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to London. Sold in 1972 and scrapped in 1981.
MV Badagry Palm	1979	Sunderland Shipbuilders	7726873	16	General Cargo	12,279	Carried the very last engine built by Doxford. Sank in 1996 with all 23 crew members during a storm off South Africa.
MV Bamenda Palm	1956	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5035440	14	General Cargo	5,154	MV Bamenda Palm (1956). Sold in 1972 and scrapped in 1983.
MV Bamenda Palm	1979	Hyundai Heavy Industries	7725843	16	General Cargo	11,223	MV Bamenda Palm being converted in 1984. Built in South Korea. In 1980, it accidentally hit another ship during a storm. Later renamed several times and scrapped in 2009.
SS Benin Palm	1936	Deschimag Seebeck	n/a		General Cargo	5,424	Sold in 1959.
SS Burutu Palm	1936				General Cargo	5,424
MV Burutu Palm	1953	Short Brothers		12	General Cargo	5,410	Sister ship to MV Africa Palm (1953). Sank in 1973 after hitting a reef.
SS Dahomey Palm	1937	Furness Shipbuilding Company	n/a		General Cargo	4,876	Sold in 1959 and broken up in 1968.
MV Elmina Palm	1957	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5102372	14	General Cargo	5,356	One of the first British cargo ships to use a lot of aluminum. Sold in 1977.
MV Enugu Palm	1958	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5104722	14	General Cargo	7,963	Sold in 1978.
MV Gambia Palm	1937	Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG	n/a		General Cargo	5,452	MV Gambia Palm (1937) on the River Mersey. Seized during WWII, then returned. Sold to Palm Line in 1949. Scrapped in 1963.
MV Ibadan Palm	1959	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5157767	14	General Cargo	5,658	Sister ship of the Ilorin Palm. Sold in 1978 and broken up in 1983.
MV Ikeja Palm	1961	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5158553	14	General Cargo	5,816	Sister ship of Ilesha Palm. Sold in 1981.
MV Ilesha Palm	1961	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5158785	14	General Cargo	5,816	MV Ilesha Palm (1961). Sister ship of the Ikeja Palm. Sold in 1979 and scrapped in 1984.
MV Ilorin Palm	1960	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5159105	14	General Cargo	5,658	MV Ilorin Palm (1960). Sister ship of the Ibadan Palm. Sold in 1979 and scrapped in 1982.
SS Kano Palm	1936	Howaldtswerke	n/a		General Cargo	5,129	Sold in 1954.
MV Kano Palm	1958	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5181342	14¼	General Cargo	8,734	Sister ship of the Katsina Palm (1957). Sold in 1979 and scrapped in 1982.
MV Katsina Palm	1957	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5183883	14¼	General Cargo	8,734	Sister ship of the Kano Palm (1958). Sold in 1978 and broken up in 1984.
SS Kumasi Palm	1943	Furness Shipbuilding Company	n/a		General Cargo	7,221	Sold in 1960.
SS Lagos Palm	1947	Shipbuilders Corporation	5261271		General Cargo	5,047	Renamed Oguta Palm in 1960, then sold and scrapped in 1973.
MV Lagos Palm	1961	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5202275	16	General Cargo	6,256	MV Lagos Palm leaving Freetown in 1979. Sister ship of the Lobito Palm. Wrecked in 1983 and broken up in 1984.
MV Lagos Palm	1982	Stocznia Szczecińska	7822768	16	General Cargo	15,575	MV Lagos Palm (1982) in the English Channel. Chartered in 1984, then sold in 1986. Had many name changes before being broken up in 2009.
MV Lobito Palm	1960	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson	5210143	16	General Cargo	6,256	MV Lobito Palm (1960). Sister ship of the Lagos Palm (1961). Sold in 1979 and scrapped in 1983.
SS Lokoja Palm	1947	Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd	5210973	10½	General Cargo	5,122	SS Lokoja Palm (1947). A standard cargo ship from wartime. Sold in 1966 and broken up in 1971.
MV Lokoja Palm	1982	Stocznia Szczecińska	7822770	16	General Cargo	15,576	Often chartered to a German company and renamed Wameru. Sold in 1986.
MV Makeni Palm	1951	Joseph L. Thompson and Sons	5218028		Oil Carrier		Bought in 1961. Sold in 1967 and scrapped in 1978.
MV Makurdi Palm	1953	AG Weser Seebeckwerft	5218080		Oil Carrier		See MV Tema Palm.
MV Matadi Palm	1948	Sir James Laing & Sons			Oil Carrier	6,246	Sold for scrap in 1963.
MV Matadi Palm	1970	Swan Hunter	7025243	16	Oil Carrier	13,700	MV Matadi Palm (1970). Built to carry different types of vegetable oils. It had 28 separate tanks. Sold in 1986.
SS Mendi Palm	1936	Deschimag Seebeck			General Cargo	5,419	Sold in 1959.
SS Niger Palm	1948	Furness Shipbuilding Company			General Cargo	5,202	Sold in 1966 and scrapped in 1968.
MV Oguta Palm	1943	Furness Shipbuilders			General Cargo	7,221	Sold in 1960. Sank in 1962 off Funchal.
MV Opobo Palm	1942	Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson			Oil Carrier	6,083	Sold in 1961 and broken up in 1963.
MV Sapele Palm	1954	AG Weser	5313775		General Cargo		Operated under the German flag at first. Transferred to Palm Line in 1960.
MV Takoradi Palm	1937	Deschimag Seebeck			General Cargo	5,452	Sold in 1959 and scrapped in 1963.
MV Tema Palm	1953	AG Weser Seebeckwerft	5218080		Oil Carrier	6,255	Operated under the German flag at first. Transferred to Palm Line in 1960 and renamed Makurdi Palm. Scrapped in 1976.
SS Volta Palm	1936	Howaldtswerke			General Cargo	5,129	Sold in 1954 and broken up in 1960.