Built under yard No 184 as a sterntrawler factory vessel by De la Ciotat, Le Trait, France for Soc. Navale Caennaise (Normandic Péche), France. Launched under the name NEVE.
Tonnage 1.598 gross, 1.200 dwt. Dim 280 x 44 x 20ft. Powered diesel electric, three diesels 2.350 bhp. ( 2.200 kW), one propeller, speed 15 knots.
1967 Delivered to owners.
Used as a deepsea trawler in the waters of the North Atlantic.
April 1983 bought by the French Navy and thereafter converted in a Polar Fisheries Protection ship for service in the Antarctic waters.
Renamed in ALBATROS (P681).
Displacement 1.800 ton standard, 2.800 ton full load. Dim. 85 x 13.50 x 6m.
Armament 1 – 40mm AA guns and 2 – 12.7 MG.
Crew 47 with additional berths for 15 passengers.
19 May 1984 commissioned.
She is based at La Reunion, and used for fishery protection vessel in the waters around the French territories in the Antarctic waters. Her current plans are that she will continue in service until 2015.
SG194
Auke Palmhof
Source: Register of Merchant ships completed in 1967. Watercraft Philately CD-ROM A-D Ships on stamps. http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/europe/france.htm