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Cutaway two-colour printed drawing of Austin & Pickersgill SD15 standard cargo liner, c.1970.

The SD14/15 vessels were built by Austin & Pickersgill of Sunderland in the late 1960s and early 1970s as ‘Liberty ship replacements’. They were satisfactory but rather out-dated tween-deckers of some 15,00dwt. The advent of containerisation for general cargo and bulkers for cargoes like coal and ores rendered them obsolete quite early on. Nevertheless they were bought second hand by many Greek, far Eastern and South American owners and employed on trades upon which containerisation had yet to encroach until quite recently. Welsh shipowners Gibbs & Co. of Newport bought three vessels of this design in the ealy 1970s and operated them until the end of the decade - Welsh Trident (1973-78), Welsh Endeavour (1973-78) and Welsh Troubador (1973-80).