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That vessel looks to have seen some !ife

My first introduction to the North Sea oilfields 1978 was on the Oregis, quite an eye opener. As a side note, on another Houlders vessel SS Brandon Priory I sailed with a Dave Hobson R/O 1974, from South Shields, maybe the same Dave?

Brings back a few memories

Rrrrr

Yes I remember this I was 13 years old went down in Morris 1100

That's my Granda leading the Boys Brigade, 15th Company from the Bethesda church

Last saw Jimmy Farthing Good Friday Easter 1968. "You still owe me a tea yah bugger !!" :)

It had just come out of Smith's docks North shields when the rudder had technical problems thus it ended up on the rocks

Year was 1974 drew it for art exam ,Redwell co.sec modern school lake ave s/shields.I passed o level in art thanks to Yvonne Lawson canadian teacher & a mr.Fraser .bring back the owld days snow in dec salvos of snowballs flying towards bus conductors hats as they went past school on No.11 bus😹

My uncle was on watch onboard Oregis when it went aground

How much you wanna bet more people showed up for Ali than the Queen.

This happened a few years before I left school, one of many I saw, most of the town would turn out when ever 'anything ' happened on the Tyne, from big ships arriving to others going aground on the black middens, the Giant Corr's revenge :).

All of those great tradesmen gone and lost forever. Today we’re all fat and can’t even change a tyre on a car.

Most of those enormous supertankers had service lives of only 10 to 12 years due to their crack prone single skin construction, poor design and mediocre built quality. They were built cheaply on fixed price contracts which ended up losing the yards an awful lot of money as the 1970's inflation kicked in. They were ecological maritime disasters waiting to happen. Not necessarily the fault of the shipbuilders but the greedy oil corporations who just wanted the biggest ship possible for the cheapest possible price regardless of safety. As these enormous vessels dumped their load around the world in various accidents and mishaps (perhaps the most notorious being the Amoco Cadiz) the oil companies got the message and they were all rapidly sent to the shipbreakers. The Texaco Great Britain lasted only 10 years. This is a great video but on fixed price contracts these yards were literally building themselves into bankruptcy.

Nice upload

Thanks david for this amazing footage

1983 - the hot one. Won by Carlos Lopes of Portugal

yeah remember it well my dad was a shotblaster in the yards and worked on all of these supertankers, he was one of the people who made the papers when details of the pay they earned was made public by a jealous blaster who was shit at his job and couldnt make pricework pay. he lived to be 82 and his bookmaker was very rich , hey ho , the good old days.

Little Big town

My Dad, Syd worked for Houlder Bros back in the 60s and served on this vessel as an engineer when she was still an Ore carrier, I remember visiting Barrow in Furness when she was laid up alongside her sister ship Mv Orelia I think during the National Seamans strike.

WOW, What a blast from the past. The Oregis, I remember watching this unfold as a young lad in North Shields ,also the tug Ironsider ( I think ) was also beached during the attempt to save the Oregis. Was this the first or second time that it was on the Black middins ? After its long stay on the rocks it was taken back up the Tyne for repairs etc, then again on its way out they lost it, and back on it went again. Only for one day I think.. My home overlooked the river Tyne. I witnessed everything, including the fishing boat blockade of the Tyne and all of the super tankers leaving never to return . I also remember a Greek cargo ship almost hitting the Groyne in thick fog possibly called Aliki or something similar. Enjoyed the vid.

I sailed on the Texaco Great Britain back in 1980 for 5 months as an engineer cadet.

That is a fantastic piece of film and so much nostalgia of a time gone by. My Uncle worked in the shipyards at Wallsend the whole of his life, nobody realises the how hard the men worked in those days in terrible conditions. I left the area in 1974 and I suppose shipbuilding has all gone now, there was a huge amount of pride in a Tyneside built vessel.

I remember seeing this. She was certainly well aground!

Yesterday I was filming the arrival of the Arcadia, but while I was waiting, I got talking to a retired merchant navy chap. I mentioned seeing a ship that had run aground during the 70's and quick as a flash he remembered 'MV Oregis'.

Shame there is no sound..it's like a tidal wave of pleated skirts rain Mack's and hair nets

Binns!! Amazing to see the hustle and bustle of King St, compared to now. Heartbreaking to watch the town centre wither, full of charity shops or discount stores. The dearth of a nation, online shopping and closure of heavy industry. What next?😦

This is incredible😍

Allah bless Muhammad Ali

Thank you for finding this, these old vhs home movies are wonderful. Nice to see the place again after 45 years away.

Used to go to that area a lot when my relatives were alive. It was certainly a wild and lonely place when the wind and rain were blowing. Would that ship have not have got the pilot on board at that point. Wonderful bit of nostalgia.

Binns!

Metro station is there so early 80's

My old pal Jim Scrimmger singing away in the rear rank, third from left.