SS Erne 1960-1984

The SS Erne was a single-screw product tanker built in 1960 by Charles Connell & Company Limited, Glasgow. Built for James Nourse Limited, a prominent British shipping company that had been founded in 1903, ownership changed to Hain-Nourse Limited in 1965 following the Hain Steamship Company merging with James Nourse Limited. In 1969 it was sold to Trident Tankers Limited, a subsidiary of the P&O Heritage, formed to own and manage bulk oil tankers. 

From 1970 the Erne was managed by the Union Steam Ship Company. Converted in Singapore that year with specialized bitumen and cargo tanks, for the next 14 years the ship carried petroleum products such as bitumen, fuel oil and marine diesel from Marsden Point Refinery around New Zealand ports. In May 1984 the Erne was sent to shipbreakers in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, and sold for scrap.