S.S. Burco Trader
The S.S. Burco Trader was a Liberty Ship built during the Second World War for the purpose of transporting men and materiél to combat areas. These remarkable vessels were designed for quick mass production. Originally named Michael J. Owen, she was built at the Todd Houston Shipyard in Texas and launched in September 1944.
In 1949, she was sold to the Polarus Steamship Company of New York and renamed Polarus Trader. A year later, she was transferred to another New York-based company, A.L. Burbank. It was with Burbank that the vessel sailed with the name Burco Trader for ten years.
The Burco Trader was sold again in 1960, this time to Tiger Steamship Company, a subsidiary of Standard Marine, Ltd. For a year, she sailed as the Montego Sun until the parent company transferred the vessel to another subsidiary, Sky Shipping, Ltd. At this point, the vessel was registered in Greece and renamed Diskos. Her career under the Greek flag lasted less than a year however; in 1962, she was run aground and sustained so much damage that she had to be scrapped.
Asbestos insulation was used extensively in the construction of seagoing vessels prior to 1980. The reason was because of fire danger; even experienced mariners fear nothing more than a fire at sea. In September 1934, the cruise liner S.S. Morro Castle caught fire at sea off the coast of New Jersey, killing about one-fourth of those aboard.
In the wake of the Morro Castle disaster, Congress passed regulations requiring the use of asbestos insulation aboard seagoing vessels. Fireproofing was used especially in the fire room, around boilers and in the engine room. Legislators had good intentions, but asbestos product manufacturers were well aware of the health hazards of their wares. Medical researchers had long suspected the toxicity of asbestos; their suspicions were confirmed by the mid-1930s.
Asbestos manufacturers kept this information a secret for four decades while spreading propaganda about the “safety” of asbestos products. Warnings about the health hazards of asbestos like mesothelioma reached the ears of the Roosevelt Administration by March of 1941; however, the President was reluctant to say anything about the matter for fear it would drive much-needed workers away from war production.
Eventually, “advisories” were issued to shipyard workers in 1943 and recommendations that respirators and ventilation be used at job sites were made. By then however, the asbestos producers had delivered their message quite effectively, and such warnings were not taken seriously resulting in many mesothelioma navy cases.
By the 1960s, medical research was finally being made public about the connection between asbestos and respiratory disease. However, asbestos disease has a long latency period; symptoms do not often show up until decades after one is exposed. When asbestos victims brought legal action against asbestos manufacturers, lawyers for the corporations claimed that their clients had no knowledge of asbestos toxicity at the time of exposure and thus could not be held liable.
In 1977, the discovery of the “Sumner Simpson Papers” proved that asbestos manufacturers had full knowledge of asbestos toxicity. These documents consisted of correspondence between the CEOs of Raysbestos, Inc. and Johns-Manville in which it was agreed to suppress information regarding asbestos toxicity as long as possible.
Anyone who sailed aboard the Burco Trader and has not yet developed symptoms of malignant mesothelioma should consult with a physician and have a thorough examination.
Sources
Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception: The Terrifying True Story of How Asbestos is Killing America. New York: Touchstone, 2003.
Mariners. “Liberty Ships – M.”
http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsM.html
