One of the Faroe Islands operated vessel that was a regular visitor in Malta was the tug THOR SERVER that was used as a guard/chase boat with seismic operations.
She was built in 1978 by Marine Builders Pte Ltd at Singapore as yard number 1016 named as AL JUBAIL VIII trading until 1985 where she was acquired by Mohammad Al-Mojil Group (MMG) of Saudi Arabia and renamed AL-MOJIL XVIII trading until February 1997 where she was sold and renamed as ARA until June 1998. Then she was acquired by Abu Dhabi Petroleum Ports Operating Co (ADPPOC) and renamed HAMOUR of which she was a regular visitor to the Medserv Base at Manoel Island, Malta.
All images leaving Marsamxett Harbour, Malta from Medserv Base at Manoel Island are back to December 1999.
In 2003 she was acquired by the Faroe Islands shipping company Thor PF and renamed as THOR SERVER and was homeported at Belize (BLZ Flag). She used to call at Malta for uplifting bunkers, mobilizing especially with a CGG Veritas seismic vessel and repairs.
Above images while she was leaving Aberdeen , UK back to Monday 9th September, 2013.
Above images are whilst she was entering Grand Harbour, Malta back to Friday 14th November, 2014.
She was sold in 2016 and renamed THORAN with Comoros Flag (COM) homeported at Moroni. On Saturday 7th October 2017 she was intercepted by Spanish Forces including the Civil Guard, National Police, the Assistant Customs Supervisory Authority (DAVA) and the British National Crime Agency (NCA) under the coordination of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center – Narcotics (MAOC-N ) in Lisbon with 4 tons of cocaine on board, 870 km off Canarias, during a voyage from Colombia to Spain. The cocaine had been placed in 165 packages of approximately 23 kilograms each. All 7 crew members were arrested.
On Friday 17th August, 2018 THORAN capsized and sank in Cadiz Port, Spain. The Port Authority pointed out probably a water ingress caused the sinking . A pollution control plan was activated and oil booms were laid out to avoid fuel contamination. Spanish report with photo: https://www.lavozdigital….
Also we issued an article about the story in August 2018 – https://maltashipnews.com/2018/08/22/casualties-tugboat-thoran-sank-at-cadiz-spain-17-08-2018/
On Monday 27th August, 2018 salvage operation started to refloat the semi sunk tug THORAN at Cadiz Port, Spain. The operation was being done by the Spanish Diving Company – DIVERSHIP S.L.
On Wednesday 24th October, 2018 THORAN was towed to Santa Maria with the salvage personnel working round the clock to keep her afloat and no pollution is done. She was due to remain berthed until she goes out to auction.
Watermarked Photos are by Capt. Lawrence Dalli otherwise stated. NO PHOTOS can be used or manipulated without our permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Thursday 18th March, 2021.
