Mr. R. J. Drayer, of The Hague, was the artist responsible for the 7 + 5c. stamp depicting one of Holland's most noted modern merchant vessels, the Willem Barendsz, the world's largest whale-factory ship. She is named after Willem Barendsz who in 1596 led the expedition in search of a northern passage to the Indies, re-discovering Spitzbergen, where whales were found in great abundance. Very soon large fleets of ships from the Netherlands yearly sailed to these grounds and in 1614 a Dutch company was founded, the Noordsche Compagnie, and was granted a whaling charter. It established a base in Spitzbergen and existed until 1642.
On November 2, 1953, the Willem Barendsz was laid down, and just over a year later she was launched by Mrs. Mansholt-Postel, wife of the Netherlands Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. The vessel was built by the Dok-en Werf Maatschappy Wilton-Feyenoord at Schiedam for the Nederlandsche Maatschappy voor de Walvisvaart (Netherlands Company for Whaling Ltd.). This company was estab¬lished at Amsterdam on February 22, 1946, shortly after the liberation, and began by having the Swedish tanker Pan Gothia rebuilt as a factory ship by the Amsterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappy at Amsterdam. This vessel was renamed Willem Barendsz and was of modest dimensions. She was attended by a fleet of eight whale catchers, five of which were long past their best. Successively these were replaced by six corvettes which, after having been fitted out as catchers, proved most satisfactory. Such steady progress was made by the company that In November 1951, it was definitely decided to place an order for a new factory ship of about 26,500 tons carrying capacity after efforts to buy the Argentine Juan Peron, of 24,570 gross tons, had proved unsuccessful. The present ship was the outcome. She was launched as the Willem Barendsz II, and has a gross tonnage of 26,830, on dimensions 677.5 ft. x 90.5 ft. x 35.25 ft., with a displacement of 44,000 tons. Production of whale oil per day is calculated at 800 tons on a daily catch of about 30 whales. The factory is arranged forward of the engine-room and contains 19 installations for processing bone and meat and three for cooking blubber. There are also installations for the processing of whale liver; two for the manufacture of fish meal, which is automatically weighed and put into sacks; and also for the residue, the so-called "grax." Nothing is wasted. The whales are hauled up the slipway by means of two 15-ton winches and on to the slaughter deck by two 40-ton winches. A well-equipped laboratory is provided on board so that a regular check may be kept on the oil produced and on the other products.
The Willem Barendsz was also designed for carrying oil cargo, below 150 deg. F., in the tanker trade, and is equipped with 48 tanks of approximately 1,150,000 cu. ft. capacity. During the whaling season a crew of about 500 is carried in the ship and particular attention has been given to their accommodation. There is a church, and a large hospital, complete with X-ray room, operating theatre and a clinic. Navigational and communicational equipment is considered to be the most extensive ever fitted into a Netherlands merchant vessel. A plotting room is situated next to the chartroom and is used for plotting the position of whale catchers and their catches. The main propelling machinery consists of two Wilton-Feyenoord-M.A.N. single-acting, 2-stroke 6-cylinder reversible diesel engines, each having an output of 5,250 s.h.p. at 112 r.p.m. giving the ship a speed of 14 knots. The artist's representation of the blue whale at the base of the stamp has been brilliantly carried out.
SG845 SeaBreezes 7/57