Solvay 80

Solvay 80, registration NY3134F, was built in 1932 at Villeneuve la Garenne.  Unless stated otherwise all information is taken from Vagus-Vagrant.fr.  Solvay 80 ended its career in ‘Panama’, and was then cut up in the dead end of the port of Dombasle, at the end of the 1970s, like Solvay 65.

Solvay 80 was commanded solely by three captains from the same family: Alphonse VAN-HOEYLANDT, Félix VAN-HOEYLANDT, and Yvon VAN-HOEYLANDT. This is quite rare and worth mentioning.

She became a Panama barge in 1973. The small Solvay barges assigned to the Dombasle-Sarralbe service and the return trip carrying coal from the Saar to Dombasle were called the "Panamas". These boats didn't have a permanent crew. Their drivers were employees of the CGTVN (Compagnie Générale de Transports du Nord), the electric loco barge towing company, and later of Bargest. They would swap boats mid-journey when they met another one coming from the opposite direction, as did the locos. The control centre for this traffic had its office in Dombasle near the Pierre Escuras bridge. The first person in charge was Alfred Piant, whose sister ran the Spar grocery store at lock 22 in Dombasle. Two or three large Solvay barges ended their careers this way. Often, after years as Panama barges, they were scrapped in the dead end of the Dombasle port; Solvay 80 was scrapped at the end of 1975..

Here is Solvay 80 at Heer-Agimont, the customs post on the Meuse:

Solvay 80 at Givet, from Facebook Souvenirs de mon métier de Batelier posted by Claudine Declef-Hubert: