New Union Ship for Island Run?
p. 36 · Read in the full issue
Island Run?
THE Union Steamship Company is considering having built in the United Kingdom a new 4,000-ton ship for the South Pacific trade. The new ship would be designed to carry fruit, and also 100 passengers.
The route would be a duplication of that run now by the 4,193-ton motor vessel “Matua” that is, Auckland, Suva, Tonga, Western Samoa.
The “Matua,” which was built in the days when there were numerous ships on trans-Pacific routes, was designed to carry only 40-odd passengers, in single and double cabins. Cabin accommoda tion was good, but neither this nor the limited dining and lounging facilities were sufficient to cope with the greatly enlarged passenger lists of the post-war period. About 100 passengers are ac commodated now between Auckland and Suva the majority of them in shake downs.
Two or three 6,000-ton cargo ships are also under consideration by the USS Co., for the trans-Tasman run.