Solution to Crossquiz

from page 78

Raft Drifts East

When last heard from on February 4, the raft Tahiti Nui, which left Papeete, November 8, to drift to South America and back, was apparently at last heading in the right direction —East.

A New Zealand radio-ham picked up her position on that date as 35 degrees 12 minutes South; 127 degrees 24 minutes West.

This puts Captain Eric de Bisschop and his crew of four on board the bamboo-raft, somewhere out in the unoccupied South Pacific Ocean south and east of Pit cairn Island.

However, apparently everything is still going to schedule as it was ex pected that the raft would have to go a long way south to pick up the current and winds that would waft it up and towards the western coast of South America.

The original raft-drift in Kon Tiki was in order to “prove” that Poly nesia was populated from South America and not Southern Asia, as is generally believed, de Bisschop wants to show by his double drift that drift voyages from Polynesia to South America, as well as the reverse, were possible—although they did not necessarily have to have any bearing on the origin of the Polynesians.

Viria Has “Gone Finish”

From P-Ng

The Swedish-built Viria, which has been used by New Guinea In dustries of Lae, New Guinea, for a number of years for the transporta tion of petroleum products for Vacuum Oil Co., has been sold through Sydney shipbroker, Captain W. L. Kennedy. She was making her last NG trip in February and will then proceed to Sydney for sur vey prior to going to her new owners, who will use her on the NSW coast in the sugar trade.

It is understood that New Guinea Industries will not replace the 700-tonner. Bulk oil installations in P-NG centres have tended to make Viria’s recent job redundant; she carried petroleum products between Australia and NG, backloading timber.

Tanker For Ni Whale Oil

A tanker for carrying whale-oil between Norfolk Island and Sydney will arrive in Sydney from Norway about March. She is the Forsoe, with a net oil capacity of 250 tons.

The Norfolk Island and Byron Bay Whaling Co. will charter her for 12 months at a cost of £A12,500; and at the end of 12 months will pur chase her for £A31,000.

There is about 1,100 tons of whale oil stored at the company’s tanks at Cascade, NI, from last year’s operations. Current price of whale oil is round about £95 per ton — which means that the company has a considerable amount of money tied up in its unsold oil. This

probably accounts for the rather unusual arrangement for purchase of Forsoe.

Although there was no difficulty in catching the quota of whales from the NI station, it is apparent that some difficulty has been ex perienced in shipping the oil to market.

At one time it was thought that it might be shipped in one of the Australia-New Guinea Line ships, but this would have meant the in stallation of special tanks for the purpose.

More recently it has been rumoured around the Sydney water front that M, Marinacce’s Deutgan would be purchased for the job— but apparently this idea was scrapped also.

Twelve Miles, Perhaps—But

Not 200

After more than five years of study of the question of territorial waters the International Law Com mission, a group of 15 top legal men of many nations, has recommended to the United Nations that no firm decision be made on the subject and has suggested that the question be settled by a special international conference.

The Commission recognises that international practice is not uniform but considers that international law does not permit an extension of the territorial sea beyond 12 miles.

The commission found that while many States have fixed a breadth

greater than three miles, other States recognise only a three-mile limit. The British representative

said that his country had always championed the three-mile limit, and declared that any extension

would cause some countries to have seriously to reconsider their posi tion. He said that the Commission had already granted coastal States the right to take unilaterial action to protect fisheries outside terri torial waters and, if further con cessions were granted regarding the

The Bougainville Co.'s 430-ton "Polurrian" on the slips at Rabaul. She was the biggest ship to be slipped there since the end of the war.

territorial sea, some States might well start claiming the continental shelf.

The latter appears already to be the case with several South Ameri can countries, and Australia has apparently been thinking of extend ing its territorial waters to include the continental shelf which extends up to 200 miles off-shore in places.

Australia has already taken action to control fisheries over this area, as have many other countries.

Another For Jap Junking

The old Maria del Mar of many nautical adventures under the Savoie flag has been sold to the Carr Shipping and Trading Com pany, ship owners and scrap merchants of Sydney. Maria, which is registered in New Caledonia, will probably retain that registration and shortly be sent to Japan (with a New Caledonian crew) for scrap ping, in the path of other Pacific ships such as Oliver Mac and Neo Hebridias.

Such old faithfuls seem to be more valuable as scrap than as ships these days—which fact probably points a moral of some sort.

Carr Shipping & Trading Co. were owners of the Awahou, well known in Islands waters, which mysteri ously disappeared without trace on a short voyage between Sydney and Lord Howe Island in September, 1952. Eighteen lives were lost on her.

Former Yachtsman Missing

Some residents of Polynesia will recall the English yacht Debonair, which called at several Islands ports bound for New Zealand in 1950.

Aboard the yacht were Mr. and Mrs.

Sydney Patrick Fisk, a son Robin, aged six, and a daughter Carol, aged four.

Debonair arrived at Tauranga, NZ, in November, 1950, and the family has lived there ever since, there now being four children. Mr.

Fisk, aged 37, has been employed as an inquiry officer in the Inland Revenue Department.

On December 5, his Government car was found parked on the side of the main road in the wild

Urawera bush country inland from Tauranga. Despite a wide search, no clue as to the whereabouts of the missing man has been produced.

Mrs. Fisk has advertised a reward of £lOO for anyone supplying details of his whereabouts. The family was said to have been a very happy one.

Fisk, 6 ft II in. in height, good looking and popular, was said to be a particularly level-headed citizen.

Crazy Fortunes Of War And

Peace

The Japanese salvage firm of Okada Nanyo Boeki will spend two years salvaging about 150,000 tons of sunken Japanese shipping from the Rabaul harbour area—most of it Japanese shipping sunk by the Allies during the Pacific war. About 90 Japanese will live in compounds ashore or on their ships in the harbour for about two years while the salvage work proceeds.

About half of the tonnage belongs to private interests, who bought the salvage rights from the Adminis tration years ago; the Administra tion owns the rest of it; ownership of some of the wrecks is in doubt and court cases are pending.

There probably is some poetic justice in the fact that the Jap anese are now paying big money for their own ships which we sunk —but there are still a lot of people in Rabaul who are unhappy about the set-up and the fact that the Japs are to be permitted to live in their midst for some years. They are particularly anxious that the salvage workers should have no contact with the natives, who are not expected to understand the finer nuances of conduct between the nations at war and the same nations at peace.

The fact of the matter is, how ever, that Japan is the only nation interested in scrap at the present time; and the only nation willing to send men to salvage the wrecks and pay good money for them. Apart from the public and private profit involved, it will clean up Rabaul harbour, which has looked like a junk heap since the end of the war.

The Japs will blast the under water wrecks, raise the pieces by floating crane and carry them by boat to the land base, where they will be cut into pieces suitable for shipping to Japan.

There are about 850,000 tons of Jap shipping sunk in New Guinea waters and it appears that when the Japanese have cleared up Rabaul they will go ahead and salvage most of that. It is likely therefore that they are going to be about New Guinea for some years to come.

Solace In Nz Again

Solace, ketch, of England, arrived back at Russell, NZ, late December from Palmerston Island and will remain in NZ waters until at least the end of the hurricane season,

after which Lt.-Commander Clark will resume his westbound voyage.

Melanesia’S War History Is

w aim i ill) Does anyone know the war-time history of the famous old Mission motor-vessel Melanesia, formerly employed in the Solomons and New Guinea, and now earning its living in Fiji in general transportation under the ownership of Captain C. F. Cliffe? If so, he can confer a favour by sending details to Cap-

tain Cliffe, care of General Post Office, Suva. (See photo. Page in). schooner, 60 feet in length, and served the Seventh Day Adventist Mission headquarters at Batuna, BSI, for many years. She was partially rebuilt at Batuna in 1938, and carried on in the Solomons until the Japs invaded in 1942, when she conveyed Mission personnel to Cairns.

She then was commandeered by

the Americans, and served the Allies in Papua and New Guinea from 1942 until 1945. She was handed back to the SDA Mission in 1946, and again partially rebuilt, in Sydney, before returning to Islands service—this time she was sent to Fiji, and eventually sold there. She was in possession of Mr.

Hugh Frewen in Fiji for some years, and was bought by Captain Cliffe, a couple of years ago.

Captain Cliffe is much attached to this attractive little ship, and he has been compiling her interesting history. So far, however, he has found no one who can give him de tails of her war service—how and where the Americans used her, and whether she was ever under fire. It is believed that Mr. Ray Parer, of New Guinea, served aboard her in the war period; but Captain Cliffe has not been able yet to make con tact with Mr. Parer. (Mr . Parer, now running one oj APC’s smallships in Papua, can be contacted do A/asian Petroleum Co., Middletown, Papua. — Ed..).

Csr Launches Another Rona

The MV Rona, built by Hall, Russell & Company, Limited, Aberdeen, for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Limited, Sydney, was launched on January 15 at Aberdeen, the naming ceremony be ing performed by Lady Knox, wife of Sir Edward Knox, Chairman of

Csr.

The Rona is a single screw, shelter deck, cargo vessel with long fore castle and of about 6,600 tons d.w.

The vessel is specially constructed for the carriage of molasses in bulk and this cargo is pumped into specially constructed side and deep tanks fitted with seam heating coils to maintain correct temperature.

Rona will operate from her home port, Sydney, to North Queensland ports, the Fiji Islands and New Zealand carrying molasses and sugar in bulk to the refineries in Australia and general cargo back to Fiji and outports.

There are four hatchways fitted with steel covers of the combined rolling and pivotting type. Water ballast tanks are arranged in the double bottom, tunnel side tanks and in the fore and after peaks.

Bunkers will be carried in the double bottom amidships and in deep tank forward of machinery space.

The deck machinery is electric ally operated and includes a quick warping windlass, two warping cap stans and twelve cargo winches of 5 tons 5.w.1., serving twelve derricks of 5 tons 5.w.1., one of 15 tons s.w.l. and one of 25 tons s.w.l. Steering gear is of electro-hydraulic type controlled from the navigating bridge by telemotor gear.

Accommodation is to be provided for 43 officers and crew and is

arranged in cabins on the shelter, bridge and boat decks. Four double berth staterooms for passengers are arranged on the bridge deck, to gether with the passenger’s lounge.

The dining saloon is situated in the deckhouse on the shelterdeck.

Officers’ cabins are arranged on the bridge and boat decks. Single berth cabins for the seamen are arranged on the shelterdeck and in the upper deckhouse aft. All cabins are to be heated by electric heaters of convector type.

The new ship, which is not ex pected to reach Sydney (calling at Fiji first), until the middle of this year, replaces another of the same name which was sold about six months ago and now is operating from Hongkong for John Manners and Co., as Suva Breeze. (PIM.

Sept., p. 114).