TSS Golfito was a passenger-carrying banana boat

Banana boat (ship)

A banana boat is a ship that carries bananas as a primary cargo, or is otherwise engaged in the banana trade. As the main produce of the West indies was bananas they were also used as a form of cheap transportation and the English cricket team that toured the West Indies in 1959–60 used banana...

 of the Fyffes Line

Fyffes Line

Fyffes Line was the name given to the fleet of passenger-carrying banana boats owned and operated by the UK banana importer Elders & Fyffes Limited.-History:...

. She was 8687 tons and 448 feet (136.6 m) long.

History

She was built in 1949 by Alexander Stephen & Sons, Glasgow and scrapped at Faslane in 1972.

Accommodation

She had three passenger decks with cabins for 94 first class passengers, public rooms and open-air deck spaces, centred between four large refrigerated cargo holds, two forward and two aft, that could handle 140,000 stems (1,750 tons) of bananas.

Trade

Her main trade was general cargo outwards (mostly British manufactured goods), returning with bananas.

Routing

She was routed on 4-5 week voyages from Southampton or Avonmouth in England to Barbados, Trinidad and up to 5 ports on Jamaica (Kingston, Port Antonio, Montego Bay, Oracabessa and Bowden) where bananas were loaded through the cool of the night.

Sister ship

She had a sister ship, the TSS Camito

TSS Camito

TSS Camito was a passenger-carrying banana boat of the Fyffes Line. At 8501.73 tons gross, 3878.90 tons nett, 448 feet long and with a cruising speed of 18 Knots, she was the second ship to bear the name.-History:...

. Together they provided a regular fortnightly service between the UK and the Caribbean.

See also

• The Ships List: Elders & Fyffes.