One of the United Kingdom (UK) based fishing vessels bought locally was the 1975 built GOLDEN DAWN.
She was built at Cubow Ltd, Woolwich, London as yard no 704 for Skipper A. Cowe (later to become assistant harbour master at Peterhead) as GOLDEN DAWN with fishing matricola as PD 211. She was a Tynedraft 86 class and she was later lengthened with larger RSW tanks installed. She entered Grand Harbour, Malta on her delivery voyage to new local owners as Golden Dawn Ltd on Tuesday 6th May, 2008 homeported at Skibbereen with Irish (IRL) Flag and coming from Castletown, Ireland bearing fishing matricola BS 78 and berthed at Mifsud Verandah (VPJ Area) starboard side alongside.
Until 2009 she stayed with her light orange accommodation colour with blue hull seen going and coming from Fishing Grounds.
Her berthing was always in the same area.
In 2011 her livery was changed to a white accommodation with Blue/White Hull of which later on she was registered as MFD 43 working as tuna farm support vessel.
In February 2013 she was confiscated after 2 amateur Gozitan fishermen were attempting to smuggle into Malta some 390,000 cigarettes around 35 miles offshore Malta after rendezvous with the fishing vessel SEA LIONESS with a considerable number of boxes’ were transferred from GOLDEN DAWN to the SEA LIONESS.
Also in 2013 Customs had also found 110,000 litres of smuggled diesel aboard the GOLDEN DAWN.
Later on she was sold and renamed GRAIN M with black hull and homeported at Lome with Togo (TGO) Flag.
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Published – Monday 13th September, 2021
