Pacific Shipping And Cruising Yachts
pp. 99-113 · Read in the full issue
Karlander New Guinea Line Ltd., has been registered in Lae, New Guinea, with a nominal capital of £500,000 to operate a shipping service from Australia to Papua and New Guinea.
r r O ships, Elizabeth Boye and Slevik, which have already been perating a service to New Guinea orts, have been taken over by the ew company, formed by Bulolo iold Dredging Ltd., New Guinea joldfields Ltd., F. H. Stephens Pty., 4d., and Skibs Karlander, ship owners, of Norway.
All types of cargo, including live tock, explosives and inflammable joods will be handled. First sailings mder the new flag were Elizabeth hye, on July 19 and Slevik on August 1, F. H. Stephens Pty., Ltd., will act B managing agents for the new
pipping line.
• Tahiti Service: A New
ervice of five or six days duration jetween New Zealand and Tahiti was * Ue to begin in July, and operate (J two-monthly intervals. A West merman company, Tasman Pacific which has two ships Cap Rentes and Cap Domingo on the *Z-West Coast of North America ■un will inaugurate the service.
Both vessels can cruise at 18 knots and their speed may open up a market for New Zealand fresh vege tables in Tahiti, apart from frozen meat and canned foods. Maritime Services Ltd., New Zealand agents for the German company, said that if the service proved successful it would become a monthly one.
• Up For Sale: The Mv
Nikau, 248-ton BP vessel which has been engaged in inter island trade in the New Hebrides, is up for sale.
She was built in Glasgow in 1909 and is 120.2 ft long x 22.1 ft x 7.3 ft depth.
Yanawai, 434-tons gross, BP’s Suva-based inter island vessel, has replaced Nikau in New Hebridean waters, as the older vessel was too small for the current trade. Yanawai, built in Hongkong in 1937, is 151.6 ft long by 28.1 ft x 9 ft 3 in. depth.
She has four two-berth and one four berth cabin and can carry 225-tons of copra. She has also cooler and freezer capacity.
• Eleven Day Strike: Deck
officers on all Union Steam Ship Co. vessels who went on strike on July 7, over a dispute about pay and other conditions of employment, went back to work on July 18 following a compulsory conference ordered by Mr. T. Shand, NZ Minister for Labour, Masters and chief engineers were not involved in the strike which began when first and second mates refused to sail without third mates.
Settlement terms were not dis closed but it is understood they in clude certificate money, extra money for sailing shorthanded, paid study leave and additional annual leave for first and second mates.
The strike affected five ships in New Zealand ports, immediately it began, but upwards of 18 were in volved before settlement was reached.
• Liner Into Troopship;
The Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd. liner Manoora, 10,952-tons, built in Glasgow in 1935, has been sold to the Indonesian Government for use as a troop transport. She was the last of the Australian coastal passenger liners. Increasing com petition from air, road and rail transport plus the higher costs of running these vessels has gradually whittled them down. She started on her final coastal voyage in July.
FOR CABLE WORK. A total of 57 men from Fiji will assist the cable ship "Retriever" in her work in the South Pacific next year, when she will be based for a period at Suva.
In July, Captain E. J. Reilly, of the cable ship "Recorder", selected four men in Fiji and arranged to have them flown to London later in the month, where they were to join the 'Retriever" for advance work on the South American coast. Two of the locals selected are in this photo—Aminiasi Tuva and Holger Johnanson (second and fourth from the left) who are shown with Captain Reilly (left), Captain S. B. Brown (centre) and Mr. A. J. Black, manager of Cable and Wireless, Suva.
Photo: Rob Wright
• Sub Chaser In Samoa:
pia Harbour was visited by US bmarine chaser Chadron, end of me, on her annual training cruise rough the South Pacific for naval servists. There were 53 officers id ratings aboard. Among them ere five Samoans from Tutuila, lex J. Briskie, Tinou Ae, Vao unu’u, Talasa Vatia and Sope. lex Briskie had been away from imoa for 13 years and said that iere were over 3,000 Samoans in ie US Services and some 5,000 amoans living in Hawaii. Chadron iter visited Suva, departing there on aly 3. She had on board 98 cases t multi-purpose disaster relief food om the Meals for Millions Founda on Inc. consigned to the Govern ment of Tonga. After going on to onga from Suva, the ship will call I Canton Island and then return to 'earl Harbour.
• Oil Tanker’S First Visit:
tbout 650-tons of Mobile gasoline ar the Vacuum Company’s bulk forage tanks at Sogi, West Samoa, discharged from the Vacuum 'O.’s oil tanker Pacific Enterprise ttiddle of July. The fuel had been aaded in Suva, where the Master, -aptain B. J. Partridge, said it was be first time the vessel had called
there. Pacific Enterprise is a single screw tanker, home port Lae, New Guinea, built in Holland in 1952.
Her crew is Chinese. She is fitted with two pumps each capable of dis charging petroleum products at the rate of 150-tons per hour, and can do 10i knots. Normally she operates between New Guinea ports, the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides and North Australia. Captain Partridge came to the Pacific in 1951 and spent six years with the British Phosphate Commission. He was then master of Davarra running between Tasmania and the Australian mainland and then with Blythe Star.
• Silent Service: A Long,
loud silence still persists in some quarters as to why Eastern Queen,. under charter some months ago to> the French Government for the repatriation of Vietnamese from New Caledonia to Communist North Vietnam was taken off the job so suddenly. Rumour has it that “certain conditions of the charter were not met”. Meanwhile, Eastern Queen is back on her usual Sydney, Hongkong, Japan, run.
• Not Uneventful: There
arrived in Sydney in July an Aus tralian Naval lighter manned by 16
v Guinea native seamen. The ter had come from Manus Island al base to Sydney for replacement, tut official naval messages about trip failed to tell the story of first few days of the voyage in ch everything went wrong, be ship is a refrigeration lighter ch had been kept at Manus as serve unit for shore refrigeration allations. But before it could to sea a jury-rig deep-freeze had )e mounted on the main deck be se the main installation was out arder. oon after the voyage started the !>-freeze also failed to function, later the radio transmitter be ie inoperative. dter 36 hours when nothing had a heard of the ship a general alert it out and plans went into opera i for an air search. Two aircraft e prepared for take-off at Rabaul a third stood by at Madang. he Rabaul aircraft, fuelled up nine hours’ flying and carrying es and life rafts, were within five mtes of take-off when the missing entered Rabaul Harbour for 10 and refrigerator repairs, tnyhow, after a good look at ney, the native crew left for home ln on July 24 in replacement ter MRL2S3. 1 new ARRIVALS: After two p of talking and planning, Burns Jp has at last taken delivery of ; e new steel ships for the Papua v Guinea coastal trade. One is v in service out of Port Moresby ‘the others out of Rabaul. he y are Kalili and Kurwina of
227-tons gross and Dedele of 103-tons gross. They are Gardner-powered and cruise at 8i knots.
For students of fine line in ships the newcomers were a bit of a dis appointment because of their transom type sterns, but in their design and appointments the ships will prove highly suitable for their work in the Islands.
The ships were built in Hongkong’s Taikoo Dockyard, and were delivered under Captain S. Barling. Some concern was experienced during the
delivery voyage when shore stations lost radio contact with the three ships for 14 days. Bad radio con ditions were later blamed Kurwina, in early August, was undergoing inspection at Rabaul after grounding on a reef near Cape Palliser. New Britain, on July 30. • FOR SALE: The Bougainville Company, Ltd., of New Guinea, has put up for sale the 28-year-old twin screw motor vessel Kilinailau at an undisclosed reserve price. Kilinailau was perhaps best known as one of the Southern Cross series of ships operated by the Melanesian Mission.
She has, in fact, outlived her suc cessor, which ran aground in the BSIP last year.
The Bougainville Company is keep ing fairly quiet about its plans in re lation to the sale. If a satisfactory price can be obtained for Kilinailau the company will no doubt be in the market for a newer ship, but failing this there is undoubtedly a lot of work left in Kilinailau. The ship is in continuous and satisfactory service with the company at present, and re cently completed her 100th voyage.
New “Northern Star"
The Shaw Savill line's new passenger liner for the Pacific "Northern Star" is now being fitted out for her maiden voyage in August next year. She was launched at Newcastle- On-Tyne by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on June 27. She will carry one-class passengers only and is a sister ship to the "Southern Cross". This photograph was taken just after the launching. (See "PIM", July, p. 105).
I Koro Sea Drama: Caught
the open with a full load of copra )ard, Adi Keva returning from Lau Suva developed a 30 degree list in Koro Sea on July 14. Seas build up on the vessel’s port beam :led her over to starboard until the Ider had little purchase on the ter. It was nearly a half hour be t Captain Smith was able to bring f round and right her. The Adi Vo had a 5 degree list when she tered Levuka to shelter and have ne of her cargo restacked before ing on to Suva.
• Identity Cards In Suva:
tarf labourers in Suva will use entity cards from August 1. This cision had been reached in order “de-casualise” the present system employing labour on King’s Wharf. >rds will carry photographs. Village d country based labour may still got in the usual manner at short 11.
• Two Day Storm: The
ench liner Polynesia berthed at 'dney’s Circular Quay 24 hours late July after 20 foot waves battered
the vessel on the trip from Noumea.
Captain L. Morize said the ship avoided the worst of the storm by following the Australian coast south from Forster. Polynesia had a rough time because she was not carrying much cargo.
• Searching For Wreck:
Captain Stan Brown was to take his cruise ship Maroro, which he operates in Fijian waters, back to Nairai in July to search for more pieces of a wreck which may be that of the American brig Eliza which sank in June, 1808, in the Lomaiviti group.
Villagers from Lawaki found some wreckage in June while fishing (see June PIM, page 17, and January PIM, page 75).
• 1,000 Mile Voyage: Two
New Zealanders, Messrs. Stuart List and Syd Fearon, returned to Suva on July 18, after travelling in a 25 ft. launch around the Lomaiviti group, Vanua Levu and the Yasawas. The voyage in the small boat covered about 1,000 miles and took seven weeks. Mr. List, employed by the Shell Co., in Suva, spent over a year rebuilding the launch Lavinia given to him by Mr. Ackland Thomas of Auckland.
The Lavinia is powered by a 10-12 hp Simplex engine and has a main sail and jib. She averaged about 8 knots on the trip and consumed 84
gallons of petrol, Mr. List plans to visit the Lau group next and expects Mr. Fearon to come up from Auck land to join him on the trip,
• Japs In Sydney: The 2,430
ton Taisei Maru, a Japanese merchant service training vessel, with 91 cadets and crew of 65 aboard, spent six days in Sydney in July. The master, Captain Ginzo Tanaka, was com mander when she made her first visit to Sydney in 1959,
• Queensland Survey: The
Scripps Institute of Oceanography of the University of California is ex pected to undertake a further survey of the ocean bottom, this time in Queensland waters, inside the Barrier Reef, sometime before Christmas, ac cording to Mr. Bert Cummings, owner of the Malita which took part in the recent Java Trench oceano graphic survey for Scripps in company with the US vessel Argo. At present Malita is engaged in running cargo to Marina Plains in Princess Charlotte Bay and Port Stewart. Cargo is
For New Hebrides
"Mangaru", the name chosen for the new British Residency vessel delivered to the New Hebrides in July, means "flying fish". She was built by Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty. Ltd. in Sydney, where she was photographed in July just before heading for Vila. At her wheel are Captain H. Kirkwood, officer-in-charge of the British Marine Section in the New Hebrides and (background) "Trig" Halvorsen (See "PIM", July, p. 110 and p. 107 this issue).
cipally for the cattle stations g Australia’s York Peninsula, ng to the increased activity in the ?a bauxite field, sea traffic has sased considerably in the area. iuse of this, Mr. Cummings is avouring to dispose of Malita for rger vessel to cope with the trade.
Suva Harbour Crowded:
y in July, nine overseas vessels a number of inter-island craft 5 Suva’s harbour a crowded place, e ships had wharf space, Port dham from UK; Waitomo from ey; and the Russian research Voeykov. Overseas vessels in the m included HMS Cook, Japanese ig ships Tenyo Maru and Banshu h, the Aoniu, Pacific Enterprise, the tanker Sonja from Palembang. around were the Adi Keva, ur, Maroro, Viking Ahoy, Malo- Adi Talei, Wilma, Tui Levuka, Natoba, Ange May, Marama Ni na, Rob Lynn, and Tuvalu.
Cubs Invade Hms Cook :
:ream, squash and biscuits were y distributed to 20 members of First Suva Cub Pack, aged 8-10 i, when by invitation they med aboard HMS Cook as guests le Captain and crew, on July 16. ship was paying her fourth visit iji. On August 28, HMS Cook sail for the Gilbert and Ellice ds. Meantime she will carry out ographic surveys on north coast anua Levu.
UNLUCKY: Swiss born Tony scher, who worked his way from dand to Hongkong aboard May ?r ( ex-Maui Pomare ) went from ! to Japan by passenger ship and on to San Francisco. Two hours I he arrived in America he iged his traveller’s cheques into dollars and coming out of the ; at lunchtime had powder thrown «s face and his wallet snatched. wallet contained about 350 irs! He recognised one of the 'es and informed the police. For tely, he got a job in a Swiss Want in San Francisco, according PlM’s roving shipping corres lent Jim Shortall, who is now 10 Officer on SS Shaukiwan.
. First On Slipway: Dis
ion of being the first vessel to Suva’s new slipway, went to the gan Government ship Aoniu on WHALING LOSS: The Norfolk ld and Byron Bay Whaling Co., ’ .faces a substantial loss on rations at its New Zealand station.
Operations at Norfolk Island were delayed until June 20 and the catch up to July 18 was 37 whales. A poor run of whales is the cause of the New Zealand worry, and this could have a serious repercussion on overall earnings. • GULF SHIPPING: Increased activity in the Gulf of Carpentaria has brought about some changes.
John Burke’s passenger-cargo vessel Waiben ex-Morialta, 1,379 tons which normally ran each month from Brisbane to Thursday Island has now had to extend down to Weipa field after discharging at Thursday Island.
Keith Holland Shipping Co., which
had been running Maluka, 100 ton steel vessel, for several years from Cairns to Thursday Island has now acquired the former Adelaide Steam ship Co. vessel Katoora, 327 tons, built in Greenock in 1927, which had been engaged in transporting sugar.
She is now running cargo from Cairns to Weipa while Maluka has been diverted to Gulf of Carpentaria ports in competition with John Burke Line’s Cora.
Also active in the Gulf is the small wooden vessel VFC 2, owned by Mason Bros., running to Weipa under charter to the Aluminium Company, She was formerly John Burke’s Britha. (Over\
BACK TO FIJI: Macuata, once IP’s coastal fleet and now owned L and J. Lidgard of Auckland, ed in Suva end of June. Macuata s slightly different, but workman with new upper deck and the en mast removed. After her ad ores last year (she was twice in mlties on her voyage to New and), Macuata was completely hauled, and her owners plan at moment to base her at Suva and anises in Fiji waters. Mr. Roy ard left Suva with the ship for Astrolabe Lagoon, Kadavu, on 4. Macuata was built by ppy’s of Suva in 1948.
\ Surcharge Lifted: The
d Line Service has lifted the harge of 20/- on freight rate he rn London and Lautoka. Lautoka mber of Commerce hopes local s will have their goods freighted p to save handling costs.
■ Undersea Link: A Sub
ine coaxial cable may link Aus a and New Guinea before the of the year if negotiations between Jral Government, Overseas Tele munications Commission and k and Wireless, Ltd., London, are pleted. British cable ship Re er left Brisbane in July to survey sea bed route for the cable. Later cable might be extended to Hong s' and Japan. Dr. D. R. Kraus, American oceanographer, was in order, to supply technical assist- Wireless telegraphy is the only 0 communication at present be
tween New Guinea and Australia.
The coaxial cable will permit at least 50 conversations to be carried out at the one time. No doubt women on both sides of the Torres Strait will be the first to benefit from cable laying.
O Master Retires: Captain L.
Sinclair has retired after 37 years service with the Union Steam Ship Company. He is 64 years old and since 1957 has served in Waikawa and Waitomo on the trans-Pacific service.
• Swapping Fish In Suva:
Tenyo Maru No. 3, mothership to the Japanese tuna fishing fleet, operating
south-west of Fiji, transferred 9,000 metric tons of tuna to the Banshu Maru No. 35, which left on July 17, to take the fish to Astoria, Oregon, USA, for processing and canning.
• Dominion Monarch For
SALE: The 27,000 ton Shaw Savill liner Dominion Monarch, which will be replaced by the newly launched Northern Star, 22,000 tons, will be put up for sale when the new liner begins service in August, 1962, • LIVELY; The New Hebrides British Service touring vessel Euphrosyne 11, which arrived in Vila in late May on her delivery voyage
At The "Joyita" has had more than her [?] of publicity in the South Pacific since time in 1955 she was the star performer [?]maritime mystery. In January, 1960, having grounded on a reef near Makogai [?]revious November, she was towed to a near the Cession Memorial, at Levuka, [?]u, Fiji. Here is a photograph of the 70-ton vessel as she looks now.
Photo: G. J. Clear
am Brisbane, is rather lively in otion. She had her first big official p in June when she took the British jsident Commissioner on a visit to mna and Aneityum. There are me who say that she is too lively. \phrosyne 11 is 68 ft with two irdner diesels. She has a double bin aft for the Resident Commis ner and cabin accommodation for other five passengers. Crew is a iian chief engineer, a Fijian boat ain and seven New Hebrides sea ;n. She has radar, an echo soun r and an automatic pilot.
The second British Residency ves , the 45 ft Mangaru, arrived in la in July on schedule from Sydney ;e PIM, July, p. 110, and also icrtograph p. 103 this issue). angaru means “flying fish” in the iin language of the northern and itral New Hebrides. • NAME CHANGE. The former nga-registered ketch Trade Winds, lich was sold to the French Ad nistration at Vila recently {PIM, ly, p. 107), was not renamed the vmandie as reported. She has been lamed Alize, which is the French uslation of her original name. The va-built Alize is a sister ship to i Moala, which BP’s used in the w Hebrides for some years until ling her to R. C. Symes in the IP. Alize has been entirely re nted.
• Trade Winds //: As Re
rted. Athol Rusden and Capt. chenska, having sold their 120-ton ch Trade Winds to the French •vernment in Vila, bought Sorana ■ Mar ex Rosalie from Captain Pie and renamed her Trade Winds. fi new Trade Winds was in Vila in full of benzine, which the rtners are buying and selling to stations, at a saving of £3 to £4 a lm - Changes have been made to the •sel to improve her accommodation, sden was in Noumea in July load ! another cargo of benzine to sell the islands. The other half in this 50 partnership. Captain Bochenska, , s a foreign master’s certificate, pg been at sea most of his life, rt °f it as service with the RN.
lews of Cruising Yachts
® TAMAM SHUD, 30 foot New «and yacht owned by Stanley w of Auckland, was in Apia, ■stern Samoa, early in July. This folder’s third trip to West Samoa, Hast being in 1956. Taman Shud fersian for “ultimate”. She passed jjugh Tonga, Pago Pago, to Apia m where she will sail to Suva.
Accompanying Holder, who is a ship builder, was Ken Walker, a farmer, who admitted to being seasick. n a nn/i/u? , . . . • BABBOON, which spent nine months in Fiji in 1960 because of a dispute over ownership was wrecked on a reef off Point Loma, near San Diego, California, end of June. Her owner, Mr. Urban Didier, had entered Babboon in the annual race but decided to drop out and sail for San Diego. Built in 1888, for the United States Secretary of State. Babboon had aboard two men from Fiji, Harry McPherson, and Max Hoeflich. An Englishman, Charles Chapman, also boarded the yacht in Suva.
The only permanent member of the crew, Gene McLaughlin, an Ameri can, acted as navigator on the 4,250 mile trip from Suva. McPherson signed on as captain.
The passage to Hawaii took Bab boon 59 days instead of the usual 30.
During that time reports indicate the crew would have starved but for a chance meeting with an aircraft carrier. Storms opened up leaks in the 73 year old hull and the yacht was finally guided into Hawaii by tuning into Radio K Poi’s rock ’n roll programme. • A DIOS, on a world cruise with Tom and Janet Steele aboard, is re-
ted to have made Dili, Timor, ir first port of call out from rwin. From there they intend to ceed to the Mediterranean via ristmas Island and Cocos Keeling.
I AWAHNEE: 53 ft American aed Bermuda cutter arrived in nolulu during July on her way ■k to the States. She had to leave la > West Samoa, without her fibre ss lifeboat in June because it was 'en. The dinghy is valued at £7O.
> Arthur Rogers: Ex
jnouth pilot boat and island hng ketch for the past few years by Captain T. Hepworth was Santo in July on the Japanese way having her annual re-fit.
1 Outward Bound: Owner
m Caldwell, in a letter to PIM f. Jul 7 8 from English Harbour, ngua, British West Indies, said he nned to stay there with wife Mary • the kids, for two years and then tor England and Scandinavia
before heading back to Australia.
Meanwhile, Outward Bound is up for charter work. • TZU HANG: With Miles and Beryl Smeaton aboard was last seen by Caldwell at Ibiza, in the Spanish Balearics. Miles was finishing his third book, and planned to depart in June for the eastern Mediterranean after which he would go to India via Red Sea. The Smeatons have high hopes of seeing the Pacific again. • VIKING II: Is also in the Windwards with Brita and Sten Holmdahl aboard. They plan to charter the yacht for two years more and then build a 60-foot steel hulled yacht for a visit to the Pacific.
• Sea Wanderer: 34-Foot
ketch owned by Englishman Edward Allcard is doing charter work in the Windwards but will depart in August for a Cape Horn passage into Pacific waters. • YANKEE ; New super 50-foot ketch owned by the Irving Johnsons is doing charter work in the Mediterranean, and Scandinavian waters. Can accommodate up to six guests.
• HAVFRUEN II: According to John Caldwell is also under charter in the Windwards, B. W. I. Owners, Batchy and Ann Carr, have sailed back to England for a visit but will return in December. • YACHTSMEN WIN: The fight which seemed probable between the Honolulu Harbour Board and boat owners over the right to live aboard moored vessels is over. No new regulation prohibiting this is to be made and the issue is now considered dead. • LARAPINTA, 37 foot ketch, left London on July 17 with Peter and Lesley Mounsey on the second half of a round the world voyage.
They will sail to Sydney, via the West Indies, and the Pacific. For the past 18 months they have lived aboard the ketch in London. Their voyage to England via Cape of Good Hope, took 14 months. • DEPARTING: A message from S. K. Wing, of San Pedro, California (who points out that he is a descendant of a long line of English men despite his name) writes that the yacht Moaia, of San Pedro, will be departing La Paz, for Hiva Oa at the end of summer, and challenges us to pick it up in the Pacific before it arrives in Singapore. He doesn t say who will be aboard but perhaps they will let us know their move ments from time to time so we can meet Mr. Wing’s friendly challenge?
Yachts in Sydney
"Tahoe", 36 ft schooner (left), with Mr. and Mrs. Reg Blake aboard, is moored at CYC, Sydney. Home port is Vancouver, BC.
Mr. Albert Tregidga and 13-year-old son John (right) swab down the decks of their 83-foot schooner "Fitheach Ban" which has been moored at the Rushcutter Bay Marina since arriving from Auckland in June. The Tregidga family have owned the schooner for four years and are on the first leg of a possible world trip. After a few months' stay in Sydney they plan to go to the Great Barrier Reef and maybe go on to Europe.
Mrs. Tregidga admits to being a "bad sailor" but no complaints from Lyn (22), Diane (17) or Susan (15).