Solvay 102

Solvay 102, registration NY30370F, was built in 1930 at Choisy-le-Roi with a 30 hp Deutz engine.  The information on this page is obtained from Vagus-Vagrant.fr unless otherwise indicated.

Solvay 102 replaced an earlier wooden unpowered barge that Solvay had purchased second hand and then resold - see 'Solvay 102 Original'.

She was put up for sale in 1980 by Solvay, when Yves Ghislain transferred to Solvay 91. It was bought by a barge operator, Mr. Boudran, from Nancy (54), who operated it under the name Ben-Hur. Unfortunately, there are no photos from this period! A few years later, it was sold again, and Mr. Rohart changed its name to Agriport 1. It ended its career moored for a long time in Andrésy, in the Favé branch of the river, before being scrapped there in May 1994. 

Solvay 102 in the 1930s:

And around 1940 in Bassin-Rond:

In the 1950s emerging from a lock in the Montgon valley in Ardennes;

And another one exiting a lock in the Montgon valley:

This is from the 1970s heading towards the Liverdun tunnel on the Marne-Rhine canal.  The tunnel no longer exists as the canalised Moselle has bypassed it:

Here she is (and a close up) of Solvay 102 on the Seine at Champlatreux:

This one is probably from the 1970s and possibly at Antwerp;

An undated view of Solvay 102 emerging from a lock:

An aerial view at Le Chesne entering the top lock of the Montgon valley on the Ardennes canal:

When Solvay 102 was sold by Solvay she was renamed Ben Hur and after a later sale, Agri Port 1.

Here is Agri Port 1 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine  in 1988: