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Perim
Coal Company 1883 and 1884
The following is taken from a
description of the opening of the concession on Perim,
written by Hinton Spalding whose Liverpool company had
taken out a 30 year lease.
“Within a month of the signing of the lease Commander M
Squire RN, as Managing Agent, left England for Perim to
take possession of and open up the concession. At the
same time a large sailing ship was fitted out with
condensing apparatus and tanks and a small ice machine
and loaded with coals and general stores, two lighters
in section, and everything requisite in a small way for
making an experimental start. She was sent out from
Liverpool in tow of a steamer via the Suez Canal.
Captain [sic] Squire arrived at
Perim on 21st June 1883 with a small steam launch,
boats, tents, stores and two sailors. He made his
surveys of the harbour and ground and decided to lay out
the station in its present position on the West and
North West [sic] of the island. The sailing ship, [the
hulk Ben Nevis, towed by the ss Embleton] with 1,000
tons of coal, etc, arrived at Perim on 22nd July 1883
and on 29th August the first steamer to coal at Perim
[the ss Cascapedia] went alongside her. When, although
every white man and native on the spot was hard at work
on the job, it took about 23 hours to deliver 150 tons
of coal.”
According to other statistics the
Cascapedia was coaled on 1 September and only took 140
tons; the second ship to coal did not do so until 29
September, and this was the Embleton. The hulk Ben
Nevis can be seen in the watercolour of the harbour in
Perim Harbour 1888.
In 1886 there was an unofficial census of the population
on Perim. Only one of the two able seamen listed as
sailors in 1883 was included; the other had been killed
in October 1884 when he fell from the crosstrees onto
the deck of the Ben Nevis. (See also
Perim Cemetery.)
Although the Cascapedia had been
coaled at the end of August 1883 she had brought stores
to Perim. The coaling station was not ready to open for
business until October, when two ships coaled. Three
more coaled in November and five in December. Very few
steamers were larger than 3,000 tons and only some ships
of the Hall Line were in excess of4,000 tons.
1884 started fairly slowly, 43
ships coaling in the first four months. But with the
onset of the monsoon season business picked up, as it
was to do every year. In the next four months 94 ships
called to coal. The total coaling in the final four
months was 48.
Of the 207 ships coaling in the
first 15 months some 59 belonged to just four shipping
lines (William Milburn, Clan Line, Hall Line and City
Line.) These were the companies which had reckoned they
were being unfairly treated at Aden by having to anchor
an above-average number of their ships in the outer
harbour (see Dredging the Harbour
at Aden). In the 15 months several of their ships had
coaled three times and one, the City of Agra, had coaled
on four occasions. |
