Tofton for bunkers

Tofton arrived this morning and anchored in Bedford Basin for bunkers. The ship, built in Spain as long ago as 1980, as Pokkinen for Finnish owners, is heavily reinforced for navigation in ice. She was acquired in 1996 by B&N, one of the predecessors of the current Rederi AB Transatlantic, along with Gorthon Lines. She was later sold to Filon Co Ltd, but chartered back to Transatlantic, and still wears their funnel colours. She is registered in Gibraltar.

I believe she is under charter to Kent Lines (although this is difficult to confirm) and carries paper/ pulp and other forest products, as well as bulk cargoes. Due to her Lloyd's ice class 1A Super, she is able to navigate in winter conditions to ports in the Gulf of St.Lawrence, the Baltic and other icy spots. Two years ago she ran a regular year round run from Greenland to Newfoundland with ore.

She is no longer listed in Transatlantic's sailing schedule, and Kent Line no longer publishes a schedule (it has become more of an agency than a shipping company.) However the ship was most recently in the Baltic, and crossed the Atlantic with a visit to an unknown port in the Gulf of St.Lawrence.