Workhorse Bulker Casts Off for Last Time as a Liverpool Record Holder

To look at her, the Yeoman Bank, a self-discharging bulk carrier, looks fairly ordinary. However, after more than 30 years of service, she is sailing off as a record holder. 

Holcim UK, a manufacturer and supplier of sustainable construction and building materials, reports it is retiring the vessel. Built in 1982, she is one of the last Greek-built ships coming from the Eleusis Shipyard, but her record comes as the longest-standing vessel serving the Port of Liverpool, and as the ship to have delivered the most cargo there in history.

Marking its 195th voyage, the Yeoman Bank cast off from Liverpool for the last time this week and is sailing to Wilhelmshaven, where she is due to arrive on August 3. The company reports that since arriving on the River Mersey and at Liverpool in 1991, the vessel has transported nearly seven million tonnes of aggregates delivered to the port. She served the Port of Liverpool as part of a long-term strategic partnership between Holcim UK and the terminal operated by Peel Ports.

Phil Hall, Port Director for Mersey Ports at Peel Group, told the Liverpool Business News her final departure was really the end of an era. He noted she had been a workhorse and constant presence at the Port of Liverpool. 

“The Yeoman Bank has been more than just a vessel; it has played a vital role in our supply chain for over three decades,” said Simon Turk, Holcim UK Marine Logistics Director Its consistent service into the Port of Liverpool, along with our long-term, strategic partnership with Peel Ports Group, has supported the delivery of construction materials to some of the UK’s most significant infrastructure projects.

 

Yeoman Bank transported more than 36 million tonnes of aggregates and holds the record as the longest service vessel to the Port of Liverpool (Holcim UK)

 

Yeoman Bank is 38,995 dwt and sails under the flag of Liberia. She is 205 meters (672 feet) in length.

She sailed for nearly a decade for her original owners before being sold and rebuilt in Norway in 1990 for a company called Foster Yeoman, one of Europe’s largest independent quarrying and asphalt companies. The bulker started service calling at the Glensanda super-quarry in Scotland in January 1991. There she was loading specialist aggregate materials, transported by sea to support everything from road construction to the new runway at Manchester airport.

In addition to supplying the UK from Glensanda, the vessel was also key to Holcim’s wider European supply chain to the UK. This included transporting over nine million tonnes of rock gypsum from Garrucha and Carbonneras in Southeast Spain to the Royal Portbury Dock, Avonmouth.

Holcim UK calculates that she has transported around 36.4 million tonnes of aggregates and has completed 1,918 voyages during its time in the fleet. The company, which acquired Foster Yeoman in 2006, says the vessel played a central role in the successful development of the super-quarry’s supply chain, which exports millions of tonnes of specialist aggregate materials to key projects.