Esso Gasikara
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:17 am
I have some further information on the tanker depicted on the 15 f, stamp of the new Republic of Malagasy (formerly Madagascar). A copy of the "Jersey Shareholders' Quarterly" of the Standard Oil Company (N.J.) illustrates the stamp in full colour. The caption states: "The Malagasy Republic has honoured an Esso tanker on a postage stamp which commemorates the ship's launching and calls attention to the young nation's developing industrialisation. The 200-ton vessel was built in a navy yard in Madagascar and operates from a terminal there. Her name, Esso Gasikara, is the poetic name for the island of Madagascar."
On the stamp itself only the name Gasikara is mentioned on the ship's bow. The vessel was built in 1962 at Diego Suarez by Constructions and Armes Navales for the Soc. d'Entreposage d' Hydrocarbures de la Standard Vacuum, She has an overall length of 122 ft. 1 in., a beam of 22 ft. and a draft of 6 ft. 10 in. Propelling machinery consists of two oil engines, each having six cylinders, manufactured by Moteurs Baudouin, Marseilles. SG51