Cruising Yachts

Pacific Shipping And Cruising Yachts

Fiji’s treacherous reefs claimed another victim on Novem ber 27 when the 9,000-ton Norwegian freighter Ragna Ringdal ran aground about 8.30 p.m. on Vatoa Reef in the Lau Group.

! IX days later, a salvage expert 1 Captain L. Sandorv who flew out om Oslo to make an on-the-spot lamination for the underwriters, ascribed the ship as a total write-off.

Captain Sandorv said in Suva that * attempt would be made to pull e ship off the reef as she was “too ir gone”.

He estimated the loss at about ,000,000. One bright spot was that ost of the cargo of timber could be Ivaged.

The ship’s master, Captain E. ndresen, with tears in his eyes said at the Ragna Ringdal would obably be his last ship. He had tired from the sea about three years o, but had returned to command e Ragna Ringdal.

When asked how the ship came to ound on the reef, Captain Andresen id: “I can’t tell. If I had known would have avoided the accident”.

The Ragna Ringdal was on a •yage from Vancouver to Sydney.

Capt. E. Andresen, master of the "Ragna Ringdal" (left) with salvage expert Capt.

L. Sandorv. —Photo: Stan Whippy.

She carried a crew of 40 and three passengers who were on a round-the world trip.

When word was first received at Suva that the ship had stranded a message was flashed to the Tofua, then between Suva and Nukualofa, to stand by and give assistance if possible.

The Tofua tried unsuccessfully to

pull off Ragna Ringdal on the night of November 28. As she could be of no further assistance, and as the passengers and crew could get safely to Vatoa Island, she continued her voyage.

The next night a fairly strong wind sprang up, and the Ragna Ringdal, taking a pounding from rising waves, started to settle on her stern on the reef.

Meanwhile, the Government ship, Degei 11, was called back to Suva from a trip to Lautoka to take on extra fuel and food to go to Vatoa with a party of Customs officers and police. The Royal New Zealand Air Force had already made a flight over the ship, carrying the Fiji Harbour Master, Captain E. L. James.

The departure of the Degei II from Suva was delayed pending the arrival of Captain Sandorv, but she got away on December 2.

On the same day, the RNZAF was called on to fly a mercy mission to Vatoa to bring a crew member of the Ragna Ringdal to Suva who was suffering from an infected forearm.

The RNZAF crew had a good look at the Ragna Ringdal and reported on their return that she was well down in the water, with a list of 15 to 20 degrees to port. Seas were then breaking over the port stern.

The Sunderland brought back two passengers, Miss Dorothy Daily, of Burbank, California, and Mrs.

Elizabeth Goebner, of Millbrae,

This aerial view of the "Ragna Ringdal" on Vatoa Reef was taken by a RIM staff writer soon after she went aground.

California. (The third passenger was Mrs. Goebner’s husband).

Miss Daily said in Suva that she and others were watching a cinema show in the evening of November 27 when the ship started to shake.

Everybody got up, and there was a violent jar. As they ran outside they could see the surf line, but did not know till afterwards that the ship had grounded.

“We had three nights on board after that. They were not comfort able nights as the ship shuddered every time the waves hit her,” Miss Daily said.

Miss Daily said that two nights after the stranding the engineroom flooded and the generators stopped.

The ship was in darkness till an auxiliary lighting plant was brought into action.

Miss Daily was full of praise for Captain Andresen who, with his crew, did everytyhing possible to make the passengers comfortable.

She also praised the Fijians of Vatoa for their assistance.

Another woman in the Ragna Ringdal, the radio operator, attractive Anna Eikliru, of Tonsberg, Norway, said that apart from a slightly sunburned face, she felt “pretty good” after the ordeal.

Some of the crew were brought to Suva in the Degei, others in the island trader Tui Cakau.

Soon after their arrival, arrange ments were made for their repatria tion to Norway.

The Ragna Ringdal was the second big ship to strand on a reef near Vatoa. In 1942 the American cargo ship Thomas A. Edison, carrying $7,000,000 worth of supplies for the

United States forces in Fiji, strut Vuata Vatoa Reef, about three mill SSE of Vatoa.

A detachment from the Fiji Labo< Corps managed to salvage aboi $3,000,000 worth of the cargo. a i U EOR THE NEW hebride; A 47 ft vessel, to replace the Ne He brides Condominium Administr tlo n’s Don Quijote, will be launch* in March. The ship is being built B Messrs. Lars Halvorsen Ltd., of Sy ney, and will be called Navaka.

• For Work On P-Nl

COAST: The former Army shi Vasey, now named the Elizabe' Helen, left Sydney on December tor Port Moresby for work on coast] routes in P-NG.

The ship was in the news in Au traha recently when a Labour men ber claimed in the House of Re? resentatives that 11 Papuan seame engaged in the Territory as crew wei living in “shocking condition! aboard the vessel while waiting i leave for the Territory.

However, when five of the Papuai returned to Port Moresby in laj November, they told the Assistai Administrator, Mr. H. H. Reeve, th; they had no complaints and ha made none in Sydney.

A close-up of the "Ragna Ringdal" show ing seas working over the port stern on December 2.

On the contrary, they said they had ijoyed their stay which included cht-seeing trips. They had accepted offer to return home to be with sir families.

• Call At Savusavu: The

rO-Orient liner Orcades will call at vusavu on Fiji’s Vanua Levu Island June 26. This will be the first ;it by a cruise liner to that port, lich is situated in one of the most sasant parts of Fiji. (See picture, ge 81.) The Orcades will be hove to off va Point between 3.30 p.m. and p.m. on June 25 for Customs and sdical clearances before sailing to vusavu. She will arrive at Savusavu 7 a.m. next day and will leave at p.m. for Suva where another day 11 be spent.

• A New Moresby For The

\N; A new survey ship, now be -1 built at the Newcastle Dockyard r the Royal Australian Navy, is to named Moresby in honour of Cap in John Moresby, who charted 600 lies of the New Guinea coast and scovered Port Moresby in 1873. le ship, which will cost £2,000,000, ill be of 2,300 tons. She is expected be completed in September, The Minister for Navy, Senator orton, who released these details in anberra, said the ship would be e second RAN vessel to be called oresby. The earlier one, one of e RAN’s first and best-known sur y ships, was in commission from ►25 to 1946.

• New Service To Japan:

abaul will see two new ships when e Dominion Line inaugurates a gular monthly passenger and cargo rvice between Australia and Japan March with the British liners Fran s Drake and George Anson (each 400 tons).

H. C. Sleigh Ltd., general agents Australia for the Dominion Navi ition Co. Ltd., has announced that ich ship will carry 131 first-class

passengers in fully air-conditioned ac commodation and about 4,500 tons of cargo.

The two liners have large deck space and swimming pools.

On north-bound voyages the liners will call at Melbourne, Sydney, Bris bane, Manila, Hong Kong, Keelung (Formosa), Kobe and Yokohama, Stopovers in Japan will extend over seven days and in Hong Kong four days.

On the return trip the ships will call at Guam and Rabaul. The round trip will take about 66 days.

• New Mission Ship

NAMED: The London Missionary Society’s new 125-ton ship John Wil liams VII was officially named by Princess Margaret in a ceremony at Shadwell Basin, London, on Novem ber 29. The ship, which is 85 ft long, cost £lOO,OOO. It was bought and will be maintained mainly by gifts of children of the Congregational

churches of Great Britain, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The John Williams, which will be based at Tarawa, GEIC, will provide transport between Pacific islands for mission workers, high school students, and medical teams. Every two years She will collect delegates for the LMS south-west Pacific conference held in the Cook Islands.

About 12,000 children visited the ship in London before she sailed on her 2i-month voyage to the Pacific.

TRADER: The 85-ft.

"Moisana", which was acquired by Messrs. Harry Brut nall and Bert Jacob sen from Steamships Trading, Pt. Moresby In October will be used to trade be tween Rabaul and Manus in company with Brutnall and Jacobsen's "Leilani".

Bsip Ship Lost; The Bsip

or vessel Loma sank early on smber 17, about 11 miles west of ,i, Malaita, but the crew was safely sd at Auki. The ship was carry a large number of full dieseline ns, many of which floated loose became navigation hazards. All aing was warned to keep a good »ut.

Nauruan Wanderers Re

IN : An excited crowd gathered Tauru’s boat harbour on Novem '9 to welcome home a party of iruans who had left the island in Gunnars Knot on July 25 to visit Marshall and Caroline Islands— -e many have relatives as a re of their wartime transfer by Japanese. f the 81 who left in July, six Jed to stay in the Marshalls. On other hand, four of the men ight Kusaian brides back with i, and there were five visitors i Kusai and the Marshalls, olunteers worked late into the t and all next day unloading the is that the wanderers brought Among the items unloaded ; three speedboat hulls, five pedal ns, 20 Kusaian outrigger canoes, zs, live turtles and about 2,500 ets of fresh fruit.

Mission Ship Refloated:

Melanesian Mission’s new ship hern Cross, which went aground he Alite Reef near Auki, Malaita, 3 , on October 24 was refloated lovember. be ship was winched across the h of the reef and pulled into a mel 120 ft long, 18 ft wide and it 2J ft deep, which was blasted 'een the ship and the lagoon by tain T. Hardy of the Royal En ers. nly a few days earlier, Captain Jy had completed another blast job— to lower Pelope Shoal in harbour at Honiara, near Point z.

The Southern Cross was en route from the Eastern District to Fauam bu, near Auki, with 30-odd leper patients for the Melanesian Mission’s Fauambu leprosarium when she went aground. The patients and crew were taken off by the MV Baddeley with out incident.

The vessel is reported to have suf fered only superficial damage from the grounding and the long haul ac ross the reef. • HE’LL SEE IT AT LAST: Cap tain Jones, master of the Corinthic, who has been one of Pitcairn Island’s best friends for many years, will set foot on the island for the first time on or about January 12 when his ship calls at Pitcairn on her next voyage from England to New Zealand. Cap tain Jones is retiring soon.

The Pitcairn Island Council wrote to the head office of Shaw Savill re cently asking permission for Captain

Jones to leave his ship for an hour or two “to come ashore and see for himself the island he has served so generously for a good many years”.

The Shaw Savill people gave the OK.

Captain Jones is keen to get up to the taro ground and shoot a goat, be sides having a quick look round to see how the trees he has given the island are faring.

• Guns Dumped In Sea: Fiji

Police dumped more than 250 guns into the sea off Suva recently. They included an anti-tank weapon, machine guns, rifles and revolvers.

The arms had accumulated at the Suva police station during two arms amnesties, through confiscations of illegal weapons and because a number of people who had left weapons with the police for safe-keeping had never reclaimed them.

Weapons which were not already unserviceable were made useless be fore being dumped into 150 fathoms of water about a mile and a half from the main entrance to Suva Harbour.

• Frigate’S Mercy Mission:

The New Zealand Navy frigate, Pukaki, made a brief visit to Suva late in November and left hurriedly on a mercy mission to Raoul Island in the Kermadecs to save the life of a man suffering from head injuries after an acident.

On board was the RNZAF medical officer at Laucala Bay, Squadron- Leader K. R. Bremner. The man hurt was one of two Auckland Uni versity professors who were landed

FIJIAN CREW: Eleven Fijians left Suva recently to join the 900-ton "Fijian Trader" in Sydney which will trade on the New South Wales coast and in New Zealand. The ship is owned by a newly-formed company, the Fijian Shipping and Trading Company, of Suva. Eight of the Fijian crew members are pictured here outside Suva's Centenary Methodist Church with the Rev.

Niko Baleiverata (second from right, front row), of the Methodist Mission in Fiji. The crew members are, from left (front row), Alipate Ravono, Meli Vunakece, the Rev. Niko and Valerio Baleivarata. Second row (from left), Sosiveta Camaiverata, Joeli Tago and Eliki Qalo. Back row (from left), Apete Tamani and Filipe Jeke. —Photo: Stan Whippy.

The Melanesian Mis sion ship "Southern Cross" aground on Alite Reef, near Auki.

She went on the reef at night at high water and stuck so fast that the only way of moving her was by winching across the reef.

Photo: John Dixon, by courtesy of the Melanesian Mission.

-Raoul from the Pukaki when the :ate sailed north.

Tie RNZAF was unable to fly a icy mission because there is no table landing area near the island. liere was a touch of drama after xaki’s hurried departure. Off Beqa nd, south of Suva, she suddenly :ied back to pick up what official :n described as “necessary supplies” ich had been left behind. She an •red in the stream while the ship’s [ply officer went ashore in a motor it for the supplies. The Pukaki n resumed her mercy mission.

» Hope For Deep-Water

RTH: The chairman of the BSIP Is Authority, Mr. L. M. Davies, hopeful that a decision will soon made on a deep-water berth for niara. dr. Davies said recently that the lonial Office had been informed the lowering of Pelope Shoal, in harbour at Honiara, near Point iz, by underwater blasting. (This .al has long been a hindrance and iger to shipping and to safe an ►rage near the shore.) dr. Davies added that talks were iceeding in London between offi- Is of the Ministry of Transport, Crown Agents, and representa-