New And Quicker

Services

N. Guinea and Solomons Vessels on Improved Itineraries.

SOME re-arrangement of the time-tables of the Burns, Philp steamers, affect ing New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, has been made as a result of the introduc tion of the new motor vessel Malaita, which has just arrived from England.

As will be seen from the time-tables published elsewhere, the Malaita replaces the Mataram in the Solomon Islands ser vice in January. It will be noted that her greater speed enables her to make the Solomon Islands round trip in January- February in less than four weeks.

Taking advantage of the new vessel’s greater speed it is proposed, commencing in February, to extend the Malaita’s run from the British Solomon Islands up to the coast of Bougainville and through to Rabaul, the round trip then taking, ap proximately, six weeks.

In consequence of this, it is proposed to alter the itinerary of m.v. Macdhui, which is one of the vessels carrying on the Papua-New Guinea-Sydney service. In the past, the Macdhui has run out from Rabaul to the Bougainville Island ports (about every six weeks) and back to Rabaul, before returning to Sydney. It is now arranged that the Macdhui will re duce her itinerary by about a week, by cutting out the Bougainville run and giv ing more attention to the goldfields ports, in the manner shown in the new published time-table. The Malaita, running up from the Solomons to Rabaul in the manner described, will give service to the Bougain ville ports, in place of the Macdhui, The advantages of the new arrangement are three—the Macdhui will provide a quicker service between New Guinea and Papua and Australia; the Morobe gold fields will have a better service; and a valuable new link will be established be tween Rabaul and the British Solomons.

Incidentally, from the tourist point of view, the new run in the Malaita up through the Solomons to Rabaul, via Bougainville, should become highly popu lar. It will be a very attractive and in teresting trip.

The itinerary of the Montoro (which

takes in the Manus calls) has not been altered.

It should be explained that these new time-tables have been exceedingly difficult to fit in, and there has been much com munication concerning them between the Federal authorities and Messrs. Burns, Philp & Co., Ltd. The arrangements set out above are merely tentative for the present, and extend only until the end of March.

The Malaita, on her maiden trip, arrived in Salamaua from England direct on December 13, and went on to Rabaul where she was due on December 15. She is proceeding to Sydney via Samarai, Townsville, and Brisbane.

M.V. Macdhui—which is of same type as M.V. Malaita.