MV ''Altea'' is a ship used for training purposes by the United Kingdom's

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

National Deep Rummage Team. It was first acquired by the government after being impounded in 1989 for being used in an attempt to smuggle 17 tonnes of cannabis into the United Kingdom. In 1991 it was towed to Liverpool. It has since been sold by auction, and is currently moored at Newnham-on-Severn pending sale to an unknown Caribbean carrier.Alt URL
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Ship history

The ship was built by de Groot & van Viet at

Slikkerveer Slikkerveer is a village in the municipality of Ridderkerk, Netherlands. In 2004, 8550 people lived in Slikkerveer. It is located about 6 km east-southeast of the city of Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rot ...

in 1962 as the ''Westland Producer'' for the ''Westland Scheepvaart Mij.'', registered in

Naaldwijk Naaldwijk () is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 10 km southwest of The Hague. Naaldwijk lies in the heart of Westland. The largest economic sector is greenhouse ...

, and used as a general cargo vessel operating between England and the Netherlands. In 1967 the vessel was rebuilt for the transport of vegetable containers by de Groot & van Viet, and lengthened from to . She was sold to Gerrit de Vries in 1972, renamed ''Vita Nova'', and registered in Panama City, Panama. In 1987 she was sold to Ch. O. de Leeuw, renamed ''Moby Dick'', registered in Den Helder, Netherlands, and converted for recreational and sports purposes. In 1989 she was sold to the Opinia Shipping Company, who renamed her ''Altea'', and was registered in San Lorenzo, Honduras. In October 1989 ''Altea'' was stopped and searched in the English Channel, and 17 tonnes of cannabis was found aboard. The ship was impounded by

and taken to Dover. In 1990 ''Altea'' was sailed to Rochester where she became a training ship for the Customs service, and used to train officers in searching for contraband. In 1991 the vessel was towed to Liverpool and continued to be used as a training vessel at

Huskisson Dock Huskisson Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England, which forms part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Kirkdale. Huskisson Dock consists of a main basin nearest the river wall and two branch docks to th ...

for the

Border Force Border Force (BF) is a law-enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from its estab ...

s "National Deep Rummage Team (NDRT)". In June 2014 the ship was put up for auction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altea, MV 1962 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Training ships of the United Kingdom HM Revenue and Customs