Pacific Shipping

Cruising Yachts

Higher Freight Rates On Services To Islands

Shipping companies trading

tween Australia and the Fiji— >nga-Samoa triangle lifted their sight charges by 15/- a ton on ne 1.

HE increase caught many ship pers by surprise; they had been )ecting that increases, if any, iuld be made for freight carried ports between Australia and the r East.

The Australia-Far East freights re lifted early in June, but the :her charges do not apply to in mediate ports in P-NG, West New inea, etc.

Fhe new rates, from Sydney, are: Suva and Lautoka, 197/6; Apia, I/-; Nukualofa, 215/-; Vavau, nshipped at Suva, 240/-. [he rates from Melbourne are higher than those from Sydney, ile from Adelaide they are 30/her.

The companies which benefit from the new charges are the USS Co.

Ltd., American Trading and Ship ping Co. Ltd., Matson Lines, and CSR Co. Ltd.

Other companies which operate between Australia and some or all of the groups in the triangle, are also expected to increase their charges.

These include the P and O-Orient Line, and the Tonga Copra Board, which operates the Niuvakai.

"Malaita" Sold To

Hong Kong

The Burns Philp passenger-cargo ship, Malaita, has been sold to the Manners Navigation Co., Hong Kong, for an undisclosed price.

It is understood that the Manners Co. was nominee for another com pany as far as the sale is concerned.

The Malaita was on her last run from Sydney to New Guinea ports and return in June-July.

She will be replaced by Burns Philp’s new ship Moresby, which is expected to go into service about the third week in July.

The Malaita, built in 1933, was well-known in the Western Pacific.

She had traded to most P-NG ports, including Bougainville, the BSIP, and the New Hebrides.

She was torpedoed off Port Moresby during World War 11, but managed to get back to Sydney, and after repairs returned to the Aus tralia-Islands run.

The torpedo hit the Malaita just about No. 3 hold. The chief steward, who was injured, was the only casualty.

Ship On Fire

At Sea

A fire in the Greek cargo ship Eurymedon, while she was 300 miles south of Suva on May 30, burnt out all accommodation and had a flying boat and a cable ship racing to her aid.

The fire broke out near the bridge about 3 a.m. Although the blaze lasted only about 15 minutes, it burnt out parts of three decks, the navigation instruments on the bridge, and the radio room.

Despite the damaged radio room the ship was able to get an SOS away to Suva.

The SOS to Suva brought an RNZAF Sunderland flying-boat to

The "Malaita" just after she went into service in the Pacific in 1934.

»scene to keep watch until the le ship Mercury arrived.

Tie Monterey, on her way to Suva n Auckland, steamed towards the ymedon, but her services were required, and she resumed her mal course.

Tie master of the Eurymedon, ttain John Miskias, 36, was badly ned while fighting the fire, and was treated by the Mercury’s »eon, Mr. S. Raverty, when the ships met. The ships then sailed Suva, where Captain Miskias was ;n to the CWM Hospital.

Le Eurymedon, 8,631 tons, was her way from Los Angeles to ilong with a cargo of petroleum e when the fire broke out.

G Hydrographic Survey

Irly Finished

he Australian survey vessel luma has completed the major ; of a 14Tmonth hydrographic r ey in Papua-New Guinea waters, he Territory’s Superintendent of ■ine, Captain G. A. Hawley, said in Port Moresby early in June le the Ataluma, under the com id of Captain Peter Wiseman, was *ort Moresby for a routine check )re continuing the final stage of survey at Collingwood Bay, north- Papua. laptain Hawley said the hydro pic survey was being undertaken the Administration by Australian Irographic Services Pty. Ltd., ney, and was expected to be corn ed by September, is a result of the survey, waters ch previously had not been quately charted would be ac ible to overseas vessels wishing engage in Papua-New Guinea’s art trade. tbout 30 per cent, of the final ;e of the survey, including the iping route between Cape Vogel, ne Bay and Wanigella, Northern trict, had already been corn ed. laptain Hawley said a useful route been found in these areas through dangerous shoals of Collingwood hrveys already completed were approach to Dam, Daru borage, and the entrance to amo River, Gulf District; Tonolei hour, Bougainville; Stringer and derson Bays in the Milne Bay i near Cameron’s Plateau.

) Start For Newcomer

i newcomer to the P-NG coastal le is the 158 ft Karalta, which is rated by British East Asia Marine Hong Kong, for the Western

Australian firm of Garnew Ship ping Pty. Ltd.

Her trade run is expected to be Port Moresby-Samarai-Lae-Madang- Rabaul-Kwalakesi (near Talasea, New Britain)-Port Moresby, and other ports if cargo is offering.

She was scheduled to make a voyage from Port Moresby to Wakunai and Kieta early in May with a cargo of concrete pipes, but a breakdown in her auxiliary engines delayed her departure until May 26.

However, she broke down again off Hood Point, about 60 miles south-east of Port Moresby, and drifted towards a reef.

The possibility of abandoning her was considered, but the tides finally took her away from the danger area and the engineer managed to get her

going under reduced power. She returned slowly to Port Moresby.

Early in June she was being repaired, and the agents, Steamships Trading, hoped she would be ready to sail about mid-June.

The Karalta was formerly owned by the Adelaide Steamship Co., and operated on the North Queensland coast as a sugar lighter.

"Aldebaran" Repairs

To Cost £12,000

A Suva ship repair job on a pre fabricated basis on the French owned Aldebaran is expected to cost about £12,000. The work is under way at Miller’s engineering depart ment in Suva.

The Aldebaran went on a reef at Nanukulevu, off Taveuni, on Nov

The Greek ship "Eurymedon", which caught fire 300 miles south of Fiji on May 30, spent a week or so in Suva early in June for repairs. Her master, Captain John Miskias, who was badly burned in the fire, was left behind in hospital. He will be flown home to Athens when he is better.- Photo: Stan

Whippy.

er 16, and was refloated about 1 months later and towed to [. [survey showed that the bottom le hull was badly damaged, venty-six tons of steel plating frames have to be removed and iced in a complicated engineer operation. 1 the steel work is being pre cated in Miller’s workshop.

Lion Ship

U<S Up

ic Kambuhu, 40 ft mission ship, broken up on a reef at Cape lie. New Britain, after running md there recently, lother mission boat went to the le and was able to take off the and cargo, but the Kambubu, hull badly smashed, was not l salvaging. e Kambubu belonged to the ith-day Adventist Mission.

Harbour

Iging

edging of the harbour at Voco , Lae, New Guinea, started late lay to remove silt which had up considerably in the last five e P-NG Public Works Depart hopes to cut the harbour shore 30 to 40 ft. is the first time the harbour has dredged.

New Wharf For

Oro Bay

Oro Bay, in the Northern District of Papua-New Guinea is to have a new wharf for which there are two estimates—£l4o,ooo and £250,000.

Engineers will soon start test pile driving.

The lower estimate was made by a sub-committee set up by the Northern District Advisory Council 7 the other by the Department of the Administrator.

The sub-committee forecast that tonnage in and out of Oro Bay would rise to about 23,000 tons in 10 years.

By that time the wharf charges would be 12/6 a ton, which would cover the overhead costs of operating the wharf.

Trading Schooner

Refloated At Huahine

The Society Islands trading vessel Tamarii Raiatea, which ran aground last November on a reef at Huahine, about 100 miles north-west of Tahiti, was refloated in May.

The ship, which has had a severe battering from the sea, was at first thought to be a total loss. It is now expected that repairs can be made to put the ship into service again.

Formal Inquiry Into

Collision Near Rabaul

A formal inquiry will be held into the collision between two New Guinea trawlers, the Jason, 54 ft, and Leilani, 66 ft, off Tavui near Rabaul, on May 19 {PIM, June, p. 27).

The Jason, which sank after the collision, was carrying about 350 bags of copra, worth £2,500, and a small quantity of deck cargo.

The Jason was built in 1961 by the Toboi Shipping Co. and cost £20,000.

10 Offers For

Wrecked Ship

About 10 offers, by tender, have been received for the Liberian ship.

Ever Prosperity, a 1,000-ton former Liberty ship, which was wrecked

The Rabaul-built trawler "Jason" which sank after a collision with the trawler "Leilani" near Rabaul in May.

t four miles off La Foa, New donia, on February 26. te tenders are being studied by ance company representatives, ic fuel, oil and life boats from Iver Prosperity were sold in New lonia.

A/Ler Up For

I In Moresby

ie 4H ft trawler, Wongawill, ms, owned by Mr. Walter God of Palm Beach, Sydney, was >r sale in Port Moresby in June, e hull of the Wongawill, ;hed in 1964, was built at ton, Newcastle, and the trawler ed by Mr. Goddard on his own ay at Palm Beach. ■. Goddard sailed the Wongawill isbane early this year. Then he ;red the 51 ft motor vessel \eo to Malekula, New Hebrides, the Noelo, former Tasmanian g ship, to Vila. . his return from the second ;ry trip Mr. Goddard sailed the krwill up the Queensland coast ooktown and Thursday Island, From there he sailed her alone >rt Moresby.

Fua" To Be Withdrawn

Un Three Years

e USS Co’s Matua, which has ted a New Zealand-Pacific Is service since 1936, will be rawn towards the end of 1967 irly in 1968. e chairman and managing or of the company, Mr. F. K. arlane said this in Suva in June, aid the Matua would be sold, )ly for scrap. new ship, about the size of the i, or slightly larger, would be to replace the Matua. wever, the new ship was not m the drawing boards. It was )le tenders would be called mid-1966.

Tican Pioneer

Change

•rell Lines Inc. of New York iken over the Australian service irican Pioneer Line) of the d States Lines Co. along with ix cargo vessels now operating s service. 5 service is from the US tic coast, through the Panama 1 to Sydney. Occasional calls lade at Tahiti. £ six Pioneer vessels will be led Australian Galaxy (for Pioneer Glen), Australian Australian Gulf (formerly er Star), Australian Isle, Aus n Reef and Australian Surf. But vessels will be replaced “at

the earliest possible date” with new tonnage, already at an advanced planning stage.

The general agents in Australia and New Zealand are Wilh. Wil helmsen Agency Pty. Ltd.

For Pacific Service

The Chandris Line will extend its passenger liner operations in the Pacific in September with the intro duction of the 35,500-ton, one-class Australis, formerly the America.

The Australis (Greek for “Austra lian Maiden”) is scheduled to call at Suva only on her first two voyages in the Pacific, en route from Sydney to Southhampton, via Panama.

I Trading Ship

P-Ng

new Islands trading vessel, the >n Fortunate Treasure, has tied Port Moresby from Hong g after more than her share of ble. Plans are for her to trade g the south coast of Papua, een Port Moresby, Samarai and Milne Bay district, le ship was scheduled to make lelivery voyage from Hong Kong '-NG early in December, 1964, was delayed by engine trouble, le second time she set out the lin was lost overboard in the a Sea. ntunate Treasure is owned by Fortunate Co. Ltd., of Hong I , whose principals include pro nt Chinese businessmen in Port ;sby, Hong Kong and Rabaul. r. Anton Lee, of Port Moresby, okesman for the owners.

Trading Ships

New Hebrides

iptain Athol Rusden, of Vila, taken delivery of two ships for -island trade in the New ides. ley are the 260-ton MV Altair, li was bought from Morris trom Ltd., Suva ( PIM, May, p. and the MV Darega, of 205gross, which was acquired in Moresby. The Darega was built ydney in 1945 and is 110 ft

Launch For

: Waters

e Sika, a 25 ft river launch, >o into service in the Gulf Delta ■s, Papua, after trials and run in in Port Moresby harbour, e Sika, owned by the Australian Jeum Co., was built chiefly for as a fast, weather-protected nger launch to transport oil ag shift crews from the APC camp near Beara across Romilly d to the drill site at Ibiri Inlet. :mpt to emulate bligh

S Only Four Days

i Australian seaman’s hopes of wng Captain Bligh by sailing pen boat 9,000 miles across the ic ended 150 miles off the nsland coast early in June after ad been at sea for only four e man, Douglas Olifent, 43, of ane, is a former naval and hant navy officer. He set off Surfers Paradise, 50 miles i of Brisbane, on June 2 in an

18 ft boat, with the object of reach ing the Tongan island of Tofua. He then planned to turn about and re trace the 3,600-mile route to Timor which Captain Bligh took in 1789 after the mutiny in the Bounty.

From Timor, Olifent proposed to sail back to Surfers Paradise.

If he had been able to carry out this plan, he would have achieved the longest open boat voyage on record. As it was, he abandoned his boat, called Bird of Juno, and boarded a passing New Zealand freighter after battling almost con tinuously heavy seas from the time of his departure on June 2.

The freighter, the Waikure, landed

Olifent in Brisbane on June 6. She had gone to Olifent’s aid after officers had seen a distress flare.

The Waikure’s master, Captain J.

J. Lyon, told the Brisbane Press that he had been able to rescue Olifent “only by the grace of God”.

He said Olifent was exhausted and was lying in his boat when the Waikure came alongside. He was too weak to catch a line when it was thrown to him the first time. But he took the rope on the second attempt and made what Captain Lyon described as “a superhuman effort to climb a rope ladder”.

Captain Lyon added that Olifent appeared to be quite a capable sea man, but he had obviously been beaten by the weather conditions.

His mind was still wandering after eight hours’ sleep.

Olifent’s only comments on reach ing Brisbane were: “I was delirious when I was picked up, and I am still a bit groggy now. I do not even know what day it is”.

He has since stated that he would like to make another attempt to carry out his 9,000-mile mission.

An American millionaire, Mr. G.

H. Peacock, who lives on Queens land’s Gold Coast, financed Olifent’s venture.

New Master

Captain C. H. Filmer, 49, has been appointed master of the Tonga Copra Board’s motor vessel Aoniu.

He succeeds Captain I. G. Fraser, who has resigned. Captain Filmer spent 20 years in the Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm, and retired with the rank of lieutenant-commander.

Douglas Olifent.