A tragic period .sx April 1991 turned out to be a disastrous month for the maritime industry in Europe .sx In the early hours of 10 April there was a collision in the English Channel between the Portsmouth-based fishing vessel Wilhelmina J and the 8714gt Cypriot flag cargoship Zulfikar .sx The fishing vessel sank and an extensive air and sea search revealed only two empty liferafts , two life-rings , an Epirb and some wreckage .sx There was no sign of the six-man crew of Wilhelmina J. It is reported that the Zulfikar , which suffered no damage , and did not stop after the collision , reported the incident to Dover Coastguard almost two hours later when a radio aerial from the stricken fishing vessel was found on her fo'c'sle .sx It is thought that Zulfikar , which was carrying 13 000 tons of sugar , was unaware that it had been in a collision until the discovery of the aerial .sx It is understood that the Cyprus Government is holding a full inquiry into the incident and is co-operating fully with the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the Department of Transport .sx About 24 hours later , an even greater tragedy took place off Leghorn , Italy , when the ro-ro ferry Moby Prince , sailing from Leghorn to Sardinia , collided in thick fog with the 186 500 dwt tanker Agip Abruzzo which was at anchor .sx In this collision , one of the Agip Abruzzo's cargo tanks was breached and the cargo spilling from this tank ignited , surrounding the ferry in flames .sx Of the 142 passengers on board Moby Prince , there was only one survivor , a cabin attendant , although all 28 crew of the tanker were able to escape in lifeboats .sx One of the problems of this tragedy is that , because all Moby Prince's officers lost their lives , it will never be positively know how or why the collision occurred , although there has been much speculation .sx The Ligurian Sea was the scene of another accident about 12 hours after the Moby Prince/Agip Abruzzo disaster .sx This time only one vessel was involved , the 232 163 dwt tanker Haven , which suffered an explosion followed by a fire .sx This raged for a few days before the vessel finally sank .sx Two bodies were recovered , including that of her Master , while three crew members are missing .sx A fleet of vessels of various types was involved in fighting the fire and in anti-pollution measures to contain the ensuing oil slick .sx On the night of Monday , 15 April , a fire broke out in the engineroom of the Greek ro-ro/passenger ferry Rodos .sx Fortunately , all 641 passengers and some of her crew were safely evacuated to another vessel .sx The majority of the Rodos's crew remained on board and successfully extinguished the fire .sx These events tended to overshadow the fact that another bulk carrier has gone missing .sx This vessel , the 141 028 dwt Mineral Diamond , sent out a brief message on 17 April to the effect that she was having to reduce speed because she was experiencing severe gale force winds .sx Mineral Diamond sailed from Dampier , Australia , on 11 April , bound for ljmuiden with a full cargo of iron ore .sx She had a crew of 27 and it is understood that there have been no reports of any distress messages heard .sx On 22 April , the tug Patricia B McAllister sank in the Gulf of St Lawrence with the loss of five of her six crew .sx Apparently , she was on passage to Pictou Industries Ltd's shipyard for an annual survey and , when she failed to arrive , a search was initiated .sx Two liferafts were found and there was one person rescued from one of them ; the other was empty .sx Four bodies were later recovered and a fifth is missing .sx The one survivor had spent 36 hours in his raft and was suffering from hypothermia .sx Welin Lambie - ninety years old and still going strong .sx This year , Welin Lambie of Brierley Hill celebrates 90 years of service and achievement in the field of marine safety .sx By any reckoning it is a remarkable record .sx Throughout an era that has witnessed all the great technical advances in shipbuilding , the company has remained steadfastly to the fore of design development , establishing in the process a name that is indelibly and synonymously linked today with state-of-the-art marine equipment .sx The Welin company was founded in 1901 by an Anglo-Swede , the late Axel Welin , CBE .sx A brilliant mechanical engineer who studied at Kings College , the young Welin was to develop several outstanding innovations in his field , among them a loading mechanism for naval guns that is still employed today .sx It was at the request of his brother , a sea captain , that Welin turned his attention to safety at sea .sx Subsequent study and experiment resulted in his producing a unique design of davit that was to overcome the heavy manual effort required to launch a lifeboat in emergency conditions .sx The success of this new , safer mechanical davit was sufficient to spawn a viable company in the UK and , as a more direct consequence of Welin's enormous personal energy , a network of agencies was set up worldwide , the particular emphasis being on the European and American continents .sx It was a start in the right direction .sx The Welin enterprise was to prosper still further with the company's expansion into lifeboat construction , in its ensuing development of a range of automatic handling systems for accommodation ladders and , subsequent to the Second World War , in the production of inflatable liferaft launching systems for ships of high freeboard .sx The bequest of these earlier activities is evident in Welin Lambie's recently patented Carousel Liferaft Launching System .sx A space-saving development , ideally designed for 'high density' passenger ferries and cruise ships , it is already recognised internationally as a significant contribution to the ongoing quest for survival provisions .sx Indeed , in the system's stringent test conditions , four 35-man liferafts were embarked in only 21 minutes .sx It is a sad fact , however , that despite the good work undertaken by maritime administrations - IMO in particular - it takes great disasters at sea to focus attention on the need for continuous vigilance .sx It was only after the Titanic disaster and the subsequent 'boats for all' demand , ( albeit for sound commercial reasons ) , that Axel Welin's work was internationally recognised .sx During world lecture tours , he received no fewer than seven gold medal awards from naval architect and academic institutions in Europe , America and Japan .sx Significantly , the Welin launching equipment fitted to the Titanic was given full credit at the Official Enquiry for its speedy and efficient embarking of the lifeboats , making possible the rescue of 815 of the vessel's passengers and 688 of its crew .sx As it transpired , Welin's design allowed for twice the number of lifeboats deployed and , had more been carried on the Titanic 's fateful voyage , more lives would undoubtedly have been saved .sx Despite the vicissitude of the shipbuilding industry , the company has , in its 90 years , remained true to Axel Welin's original aims for safety of life at sea .sx Scottish links were formed when Welin joined forces with naval architect , Colin McLachlan who , after 12 years' service with the Singapore Harbour Board , returned to his native land to develop the now widely used inclined trackway gravity davit .sx Accepted by the UK Board of Trade in 1923 , the equipment was fitted in the same year to the original Orient Line vessels Oriana and Oronsay .sx For the romantically minded , this style of davit will best be remembered for the almost unobstructed promenading space it provided on the boat deck , a fact much used by film-makers .sx From a more practical viewpoint , it heralded the formation of the Welin-McLachlan partnership .sx Literally thousands of ships , merchant and naval , were outfitted by the company in the great days of British shipbuilding , when over 200 ships were on order in the UK alone in one trading year .sx Mr McLachlan died and was buried at sea on 2 April 1954 , being succeeded by his son Donald .sx Axel Welin had by that time retired , and died in his native Sweden in 1951 , exactly half a century after his founding of the Welin company .sx Midlands-based Welin had , in the early 1970s , established a foothold in the UK lifeboat building market with the acquisition of the Scottish boatbuilders , Hugh McLean Limited of Renfrew , a well established supplier of lifeboats for many of the more famous liners , including Cunard Queens .sx The yard also specialised in the production of fire-fighting tenders , police launches , steel trawlers and other species of small ship .sx An unexpected decline in fishing boat production , coupled with high costs in the change-over to totally enclosed lifeboats for tankers and offshore structures , brought about the closure of Hugh McLean .sx Links were formed with other established boatbuilders who were better geared to meet the development charges .sx ( It should be remembered that all research and development in the supply industry was , and still is , undertaken from profits , unlike the financial aid occasionally donated to a shipbuilding yard for social considerations) .sx On 2 May 1986 , the Welin company joined with the long-established lifeboat builders , Messrs Lambie Lifeboats , and the company name was changed to Welin Lambie Limited .sx Over its lifespan , Welin Lambie has formed a number of far-sighted and customer-beneficial associations with lifeboat and liferaft manufacturers .sx Typical is the company's working relationship with the Norwegian company , Harding A/S of Rosendal - for many years world-leaders in the production of several types of boat , including high-class cruise ship passenger launches and the rapidly emerging 'freefall' lifeboats .sx It is interesting to note that the Scottish partner of the original company , Colin McLachlan , had visualised a 'freefall' type installation in the early 1920s after seeing Portuguese fishermen lash a small dinghy to two inclined planks which ran from the wheelhouse to the gunwale of their boat .sx In an emergency , the lashings were severed by a blow from an axe , safely releasing the small crew of three .sx Thus do the 'spirits of great events stride on before them' .sx Unfortunately for Colin McLachlan , his commercial application was several decades ahead of its time .sx Equally important is the present relationship that exists between Welin Lambie and the French safety-equipment manufacturers , ACEBI of Ancenis near Nantes , where a modern test rig facility enables a wide range of jointly-designed equipment to undergo research testing on site .sx Close links with France existed in Axel Welin's time and , immediately after the Second World War , these connections were revived to mutual benefit , since at one time a section of Welin's London office designed exclusively for the French shipbuilding market , with all design factors and drawing titles to suit .sx Today , thank goodness , the importance of safety at sea is recognised far and wide by both the various international authorities and shipbuilding industries alike .sx Having just completed 18 months of consolidation , since the management buy-out in 1989 , Welin Lambie is poised , ready to tackle the future once again with initiative and enterprise .sx In a statement concerning Welin Lambie's 90 years , managing director Norman Rose , announced :sx " Recent orders of davit equipment for the British Antarctic Survey Vessel RRS Bransfield , HMS Herald , Balmoral Glassfibre , and Viking A/S Nordisk Gummib a-circlet dsfabrik of Esbjerg , have raised our order book by more than half a million pounds sterling .sx Now , with a century just around the corner , we are looking for even better results .sx " .sx Scandinavian marine safety equipment .sx The long seafaring traditions of the Scandinavian countries are renowned throughout the world , and a look at the atlas will show why .sx The rugged long coastline of Norway , the islands that make up a major part of Denmark , and the combination of both these features in Sweden , clearly illustrate the importance of maritime transport to these nations .sx However , such voyages were not confined to their own waters and the tales of the Vikings are legion .sx Examples of the marine exploits and developments over the centuries are clearly seen at the various maritime museums such as those in the Oslo area , Bergen and at Esbjerg .sx All this has not been without cost in human life as one can see , for example , at the fisherman's memorial at Esbjerg where the names of the vessels from that port , and their crews , which have been lost at sea are poignantly recorded .sx