The ‘Athletic’ barge returns to the water at 64 years old and the ‘ITV’ is in order
Euskaraz irakurri: ‘Athletic’ gabarra 64 urterekin eta nabigatzeko azterketa guztiak eginda bueltatuko da uretara
The ‘Athletic’ barge has finally returned to the water to monopolize all the spotlights on Thursday, in the Cup title celebration conquered by the red and white team on Saturday in Seville, 64 years old and the ‘ITV’, passed in 2021, completely in order.
The boat was built in 1960in the Celaya de Erandio shipyard, a few miles from its current location in Itsasmuseum-Maritime Museum of Bilbao, by order of the currently called Port Authority and was then baptized with the unpoetic name of ‘Nº 1’.
It is a flat-keeled boat, without its own propulsion and built for the transport of goods. She has dimensions of 18.5 meters in length, 8.5 meters in width, 1.7 meters in depth, a draft of 1.14 meters and a weight of 80 tons.
In its first years, the ‘No. 1’ was used to transport and supply coal to the dredges that worked in the estuary, and later, in the 1980s, it was adapted to transport concrete blocks.
In May 1983, it was renamed ‘Athletic’and on board it the champion team of that year and of 1984 crossed the great river artery of Bizkaia, in uhistoric celebrations that brought together more than a million people on both sides.
With no success to celebrate, the ship continued to be used until its retirement three decades later. On October 15, 2013 she traveled up the estuary for the last time, from Santurtzi to her final location in the dry dock of the Bilbao Maritime Museum, on a last trip in which she was honorary crew member the legendary José Ángel Iribar.
In the summer of 2020, a rehabilitation plan was presented, with a cost of approximately 200,000 euros, which was borne entirely by Athletic, then chaired by Aitor Elizegi, with its mind set on the Cup final against the Real Sociedad postponed to the following year, due to the pandemic.
The process culminated in March 2021, with a buoyancy test on the estuary, not without some controversy, due to the proximity, a month away, of the great Basque derby and another Cup final against FC Barcelona, two separate events. for just fifteen days.
The defeats in those finals dampened the party, but those works, as announced at the time, guaranteed the safe use of the barge for the next 20 years. So, with the ITV passed and in perfect condition, on Thursday the popular song “a barge was coming down the river Nervión” will be sung again, which gave rise to a unique celebration.
Source: Eitb
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