23
HEN a ship is in
port, supplies are
readily available
and provisions
are plentiful for an upcoming voyage.
Spending long periods of time at sea,
however, can deplete those supplies
quickly. By the time the Sallie Marvil
arrived in Wilmington, her food, fresh
water, and other critical items for her
crew of five officers and 20 sailors
weren’t just low, they were gone.
Once she was safely in port, and
the necessary discharging and loading
operations were underway, the captain
could begin replenishing his vessel
— an exercise that has been done for
centuries by a ship chandler.
A ship chandler specializes in
supplying the required commodities
for a shipping vessel and its crew. That
list might include groceries, potable
water, fuel, charts, navigation supplies,
rope, canvas, tools, and spare mechan-ical
parts.
Top: O.E. Durant services the oil/chem-ical
tanker BW Iridium. Left: With the
Port of Wilmington in the background,
pallets of supplies are wrapped and
ready for delivery on the chandler’s
barge.
O.E. DURANT, INC.
O.E. DURANT, INC.
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