pictorial guide to BP ships

THIS VERY INTERESTING BOOK primarily covers the background to tankers controlled by the BP Oil Group of the UK from 1945 to 1975. There is also a brief coverage of the tankers owned since the BP Group commenced in 1917.

The title, BP Shipping Pictorial, reflects the main drawcard of this book, which is its wide range of photos. Easily the book’s best feature, they include both exterior and interior illustrations as well as images of vessels under construction. Merchant shipping publications seldom include images of such items as machinery, furnishings and partially built vessels. Some particularly well-chosen photos show the same ship in different guises, both wartime and peacetime.

The author, Dr Ray Solly, spent some years at sea and thus brings an expert perspective to the book. This is particularly evident in his discussion of the IGS (Inert Gas System) – a vital safety system minimising fires and explosions in flammable oil cargoes. IGS was first introduced in 1932, but it was not until the 1960s that BP adopted the system, being the first major oil company to do so.

Another important aspect dealt with in this title is oil pollution and the gradual imposition of shipping regulations to minimise this threat to marine life.

The BP Oil Group has strong Australian connections. Currently BP has an (inoperative) oil refinery at Kwinana, WA, now used as an oil storage facility. In 1967–68 the company had two tankers built at Newcastle, NSW, for the Australian coastal trade, as well as having other foreign-built vessels registered in Australia.

Overall, this is a book well worth acquiring because of its unusual perspective – both literary and visual –on these tankers and their history.

Reviewer Robert Fildes is a museum member and holds a degree in transport economics from the University of Hull, UK. He has written several books on shipping, including The Ships that Serve Australia and New Zealand (2 volumes; 2 editions) and was the editor of the quarterly magazine Australian Sea Heritage from 2001 to 2004. He is currently co-editor of the illustrated e-book Aus-Ships, which lists some 6,000 Australian merchant and military vessels, both past and present.

BP Shipping Pictorial – The golden years 1945–1975

By

Ray Solly, Published by Whittles Publishing, Dunbeath, Scotland, 2023. Softcover, 148 pages, illustrations, index. ISBN 978-184995-474-7 RRP approx $54.00. Vaughan Evans Library 623.8425 SOL