Pacific Shipping And Cruising Yachts

Cruising Yachts

Big Build-Up Soon Of French Nava! Strength In Tahiti

Nearly 8,000 French sailors will be based in Papeete, Tahiti, soon when the French combat fleet is transferred to that port. This will make it the most important French war port in the world.

N announcement that the combat fleet was to be stationed in >eete was made at the French vy headquarters in Brest in May. liis announcement, together with recent decision of the French vernment forcing the United tes Consulate in Papeete to close M, May, p. 123), suggest that nee’s plans to explode nuclear ices at Mururoa Atoll in the imotus will probably be put into ct in the near future.

Tench naval strength in Tahiti built up considerably since it . announced in April, 1963, that ruroa Atoll, 775 miles south-east Tahiti, was to be used as an lear testing base. It was then fially stated that the base would ready in three years ( PIM, June, 3, p. 59). tmong the ships to be based in eete are four transformed liners, me, Medoc, Morvan and Berry, ti of which house 250 engineers technicians.

Tie Ouragan, a landing barge isport, left Brest for Tahiti via

Martinique on May 10. This ship has a crew of 200 men and 12 officers.

The Ouragan is equipped to carry helicopters on her decks and 464 troops. She has two cranes of 35 tons each.

Other ships either already in Papeete or to be stationed there are the escort ships Verdon and Charente, the transport La Foudre, and a large fleet of refrigeration vessels, supply vessels, tugs, landing barges and floating workshops.

The combat fleet which will join these vessels soon includes the aircraft carrier Foch, the anti-air craft cruiser de Grasse, and several escort ships.

The Foch and her sister ship Clemenceau are France’s biggest aircraft carriers. They each have a displacement of 22,000 tons and carry 1,500 men, 560 petty officers and 179 officers.

The crew of the de Grasse is 710 men, 190 petty officers and 85 officers.

Well-Known Trading Schooner

Damaged By Fire

A fire which broke out in the main cabin of the well-known Islands trading schooner Tiare Taporo soon after midnight on May 10 caused about £3,000 worth of damage.

The schooner, which is owned by Mr. Tom Low, of Vila, New Hebrides, was anchored in Vila Harbour when the fire broke out— apparently as a result of an electrical fault.

The fire completely destroyed the main cabin, and damaged the decking below the cabin and the engine room.

The fire had reached the fire extin guishers on board before they could be used.

The combined efforts of the voluntary Condominium fire brigade and the British and French police saved the ship from complete destruction.

By the use of pumps from a boat, the fire was brought sufficiently under control by 4 a.m. for the schooner to be towed alongside Mr. Low’s jetty, where the fire was put out.

The schooner was carrying a cargo of copra and sandalwood, and 500

'lons of fuel, but neither the cargo r fuel was damaged.

A. report from Vila says the vessel s not insured, and that considerable •airs will be necessary to put her :k into service.

Lhe Tiare Taporo was built in ckland in 1913 for A. B. Donald 1., of Auckland and served nalds in the eastern Pacific until Tch, 1963, when she was sold to . W. B. Christophers, of Rotorua, ►he was resold to Mr. Low towards end of last year, and has been d since then mainly in trade ween Tanna and Vila.

Other Overloading

>E In Fiji

iliame Cola, a Fiji ship’s master, fined £l9/7/6 in Levuka gistrate’s Court in May for ying 37 passenger from Wainunu Vanua Levu to Levuka on nary 22 when his ship Adi Talei licensed to carry only 16. : was the fourth case of over ling in recent months (PIM,

/, P- Hi).

iliame, who admitted the offence, it was a fine day and he had led the excess passengers for the “ of school-children who were ious to get back for the start of pw school year. iliame also pleaded guilty to a ge of having entered and left uka in the Malowai without ranees from the port authorities, was fined 30/- with 5/- costs.

Ure Of Suva Seamen's

B In Doubt

iva’s Flying Angel Club for len is attracting so little patron these days that it may not re i open much longer, he chairman of the Missions to nen, Captain Peter Hough, who Tji’s Assistant Harbour Master, in his annual report that only it one seaman uses the club every days, and that the Missions to nen cannot ask the Govern t or public for funds to keep club going if seamen did not ort it. e says seamen of today are plant to make use of the club’s ces, “except, of course, in times iced and distress when they are - to appear on our chaplain’s step”.

Gan Ship Loads

Sum For Fiji

ie Tonga Copra Board’s motor :1 Niuvakai made a trip from to Kangaroo Island, South Aus-

tralia, in May to pick up 1,600 tons of gypsum for Fiji Industries Ltd.

She will resume her Australian coast-Fiji-Tonga service when she unloads the gypsum in Suva.

On her last voyage on this service, the Niuvakai was hit by three con secutive tidal waves which veered her 50 degrees off course. These incidents occurred soon after mid night on April 2, but the captain reported in Nukualofa that the ship was under control again within 10 minutes of impact.

On this voyage the Niuvakai carried 2,654 tons of cargo from Sydney and Melbourne for Fiji ports and Nukualofa—her largest cargo on this run.

Black Day For

Suva Small Ships

May 9, 1965, is a day that owners and crews of small ships which hap pened to be in Suva on that day will long remember.

In less than 10 minutes a 7-knot breeze became a 50-knot gale which whipped up the normally placid waters of the harbour, and led to a shipping snarl seldom seen.

The blow, which started at 5.50 a.m. lasted a bare half-hour, but that was long enough to cause small ships to drag their anchors, sweep a Fijian seaman overboard and damage yachts at the Royal Suva Yacht Club.

The Adi Talei, after dragging her anchor, narrowly missed the tourist

The Tonga Copra Board ship "Niuva kai", which made a trip to South Aus tralia in May for a cargo of gypsum for Fiji.

ser Blue Lagoon, and drifted out ontrol till the crew started the en jt that did not stop her from hit the wharf. At the moment of im the dinghy broke adrift and a hand fell overboard, nother member of the crew went board to help his companion, and got into difficulties. Both were ted by two men who were on d a yacht which had sailed to from New Zealand, hile this was going on, the Viking y dragged her two anchors and blown downwind to hit the red Komaiwai. len the USS Co.’s Ranadi ged anchors, and was joined by Vuniwai, which belongs to the ical Department. le crew of the New Zealand t cleverly manoeuvred their craft void being hit by the drifting , and then the Blue Lagoon, both ors dragging, loomed as a threat he yacht, but she also was led. ic Vuniwai drifted to the western of the King’s Wharf and was saved from crashing into a ed overseas ship by a tug be ng to South Pacific Sugar Mills, i towed her from the wharf, e SPSM tug then moved among 3ther ships running before the dropping wind, offering them as ice. e Tui Levuka, berthed at e’s Wharf, took a severe ting, and almost the whole ti of the port side superstructure torn away.

But for prompt action by the crew who removed her from the wharf, the damage would have been greater.

The gale caused chaos in the Whippy boatyard, Walu Bay.

The luxury launch, Beulah, owned by Mr. Walter Whippy, broke her moorings and drifted towards the Adi Lai and Adi Bua, but did not run into them.

The roof of the Beulah’s cabin was damaged, and the railings were bent.

The pilot launch, Seniceva, was also damaged, but not severely.

At the Yacht Club, Mr. Harvey Hunt’s trimaran, Ikavuka, was dragged from her moorings and driven on to Mr. Howard Swanbury’s Duadua.

The force of the wind moved several other boats from their moor ings and ended up on the mud about 300 yards away.

New Captain For

"Mariposa" Appointed

Captain Mervyn C. Stone, who first sailed to the South Pacific as an able seaman 45 years ago, has been ap pointed master of the Matson liner Mariposa. He succeeds Captain Harold R. Gillespie who has retired after 50 years at sea ( PIM, May, p. 129).

The Mariposa and her sister ship Monterey alternately sail through the South Pacific from San Francisco to Sydney every three weeks.

Captain Stone first sailed this route in 1920 as a seaman on the four masted barquentine George U. Hind. owned by James Rolph, then mayor of San Francisco.

Captain Stone has been master of the California-Hawaii freighter Cali fornian for the past year. He pre viously served as master of both the

Making It

Easier

Recently completed at Rabaul's Aquatic Club is a new launch ing ramp, which was constructed by a working bee of 23 members. Some 14 sail boats, as well as power boats, use the club's facilities.

iriposa and the Monterey, and as ief captain of the Lurline.

He was born in Bournemouth, impshire, England. He went to sea 1917 as a cadet in the British rchant marine.

Ichting Marina

R Suva

Fhe construction of a yachting rina in Walu Bay, Suva, was be i towards the end of April. When npleted in about six months it will the first in Fiji for small pleasure ft, [t is being built by the British Pet sum Company, whose Fiji mana has stated that reclamation alone ng the Walu Bay foreshore will t £13,000. There will be a work ip, cafe, slipway, a pontoon jetty, enclosed mooring area for nches, and a parking area for its on trailers.

[Ord Profit For

Ip Ports Authority

fhe BSIP Ports Authority had a ord net profit of £28,270 for the r ended September 30, 1964, an rease of more than £8,500 over t of the previous year, fhe authority said in its annual ort that total imports showed an -ease of 6,186 tons, or 37.9 per t. over the previous year’s total.

Summarising the year’s work, the ort detailed the construction of a pwater wharf at Honiara to pro- J an additional 210 feet of wharf ce, the authorisation of a loan of to £90,000 to help to finance that ject, and good progress on recla ion of land in Honiara, t Honiara correspondent reported Vl ay that in driving steel piles for new deepwater wharf, the con tors, Hornibrook Construction npany, had found the coral bed :h softer than expected, making lecessary to put the piles down ut twice as deep. As a result, ut twice as many piles will be ded, and the extra piles have to obtained from overseas. The tractors still expect to finish the by next Christmas, but local pie have their doubts, he new small jetty being built at it Cruz, Honiara, will be named :e Jetty, after Tome Wate, a for district headman and chief of ifou Island, who died recently, his decision was made by the P Ports Authority, s leader of the Sulufou people arranged for labour from that id to work on the Honiara water it whenever needed, he new jetty will represent a con rable improvement in port facili-

Adventure For

Party From "Te Vega"

Three students from the American research schooner Te Vega had an unexpected adventure when they went on an expedition from Suva to Wainibokasi during the schooner’s visit to Suva in April.

While heading for a reef near Mabualau Islet and Toberua, they were caught in a sudden storm and with currents against them they had no option but to go to Toberua, bail ing all the way. They spent the night with the owner of the island, Mr. J.

McHugh.

The Te Vega, which is owned by Stanford University, California, is on

a research cruise with 12 graduates from US universities and three pro fessors. She arrived in Suva from the BSIP after being “missing” for several days, but it turned out that her radio transmitter had been out of action.

After a visit to Astrolabe Lagoon, Kadavu, the Te Vega was scheduled to sail for Tonga.

More Overseas Ships

The number of overseas ships call ing at the main Fiji ports of Suva and Lautoka has been increasing steadily.

In 1964, 477 ships arrived at Suva, compared with 418 in 1963, while 190 visited Lautoka, compared with 182 in 1963.

Enos" In Mishap

Sydney

rhe motor vessel Tenos of the istralia-West Pacific Line, which > inaugurated a new service from stralia to Papua-New Guinea, was olved in a slight mishap in Syd r Harbour on May 4.

While being towed by a tug from tolloomooloo to Walsh Bay, she zed the US Navy troop carrier, ncouver, of 13,000 tons.

Phe Tenos, a freighter of 5,600 s, swung wide and although the rboard anchor was dropped and engines were reversed, she drifted jways into the warship, crushing vhaleboat on the warship’s deck.

Phe gangway of the Tenos was lly damaged and some plates were ited.

'he NSW Maritime Services Board I hold an inquiry into the mishap.

'he new service of the Tenos will flock with the Australia-West ific Line’s current monthly service Rabaul, Lae, Madang and the Far t. ’here will be a sailing from an itralian port each fortnight, to give lonthly service on each run.

'he Tenos will call at Sydney and ibane, en route to Port Moresby, ice Lae, Madang and Rabaul, be * returning to Sydney, wo other ships operating to New nea. the Rhodos and Delos, after ing the Australian coast will call

at Rabaul, Lae and Madang, and will then sail to the Far East.

"Tamata" Repairs

Cost £25,000

The French ship, Tamata, formerly Colorado del Mar, was expected to leave Suva about mid-May for the Wallis Islands after having been on the slip for about three months.

The hull of the ship was badly damaged when the Tamata went aground on Beqa Reef in December.

Repairs carried out by Bish Ltd., were estimated to cost about £25,000.

The Tamata will resume her re gular service between Noumea and the Wallis Islands, via Suva.

Trust Territory's

New Ships

Two new vessels for the United States Trust Territory Government were expected to be launched late in May in a Far East shipyard.

The vessels, 100 ft long, are de signed for full pilot house control and will be radar-equipped.

The Trust Territory Government has bought three vessels to provide a modern cargo and passenger service within Micronesia.

The first vessel ordered was the Feioch, 65 ft.

The Feioch was launched on De cember 19 in Yokohama and com pleted fitting out and trials in March.

She is manned by a crew of five, and cruises at 12 knots.

She can carry up to 40 passengers.

New Service For Norfolk

A vessel from the New Zealand shipping firm Holm & Co. Ltd. will leave Auckland on May 28 to begin a service between Auckland, Norfolk Island and Noumea. General and refrigerated cargo will be carried.

The Norfolk Island agents are R.

Hopkins Ltd.

[?]RMER NAVAL SHIP LOST: The former French naval vessel "Tiare", which had [?] used as a trader in the New Hebrides since she was decommissioned in [?]58, was wrecked on a reef at Epi recently and sank in about 60 ft of water [?] is a la rge island south-east of Malekula. The "Tiare" was under charter to J. Gubbay and Co. She is seen here as she was in her navy days in the mid-1950's.

AMERICAN VISITORS: These minesweepers of the United States Navy's Seventh Fleet attracted a lot of attention recently when they visited Rabaul en route to Australia for the annual Coral Sea Battle celebrations.