SHIPS AND THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 102, 1 May 1937, Page 21

SHIPS AND THE SEA

TO THE EAST INDIES

(By "Spi

mnyarn.")

A voyage in a modern oil-tanker may appear to the uninitiated to be a monotonous project, comparable to the hum-drum life of vhe city, and having its fair share of discomfort and inconvenience, but this is not the case. Recently Mr. P. H. Maysmor, of the Vacuum Oil Company, had the good fortune to accept the kind invitation of Captain Tellefsen, of the tanker Thorhild, to make a round trip on the ship. And a very pleasant experience it was.

They left Wellington bound for Tandjong Oeban, Mr. Maysmor told the' writer, and after a fine-weather crossing of the Tasman reached Cape Morton Island. Here the Barrier Reef pilot was taken on board, and the vessel was soon under way again. Cape Morton is sixty miles from Brisbane, and the pilot boat is permanently stationed there to provide pilots to vessels proceeding to Brisbane. The Barrier pilots are a separate company consisting of fourteen pilots, and all are thoroughly acquainted with the Barrier Reef. The fee each way is £75. Pilotage is not compulsory through the Barrier Reef, but it is soon seen how necessary it is to have a pilot, as coral reefs and islands are passed within a couple of cables. The tropical growth in the region is wonderful. IN THE TROPICS. Two days from Cape Morton and one soon realises that the Tropics have been reached, and accordingly shorts are: worn with only an open shirt. Thursday Island was reached eventually and the pilot was dropped. At this juncture the vessel was properly in the Tropics with absolute sunshine and calm water. While passing through the Java Sea, said Mr. Maysmor, it is a wonderful sight to see the hundreds of Malayan fishermen. They anchor their craft at night without any lights, but when a steamer is sighted they hoist a lamp on the mast, and if they are in the fairway the steamer is required to alter her course. At the time of the voyage we are speaking of it was the rainy season in the Tropics, and a number of rain squalls were encountered, mostly at night, and during these squalls it was impossible to see a ship's length away. Consequently vessels in close proximity of islands had their speed reduced for safety. The Thorhild's siren was kept going continually until the squalls had passed. The run from Thursday Island to Tandjong Oeban' usually takes ten days, and the vessel arrived on time, berthing immediately^ Before commencing loading operations the water ballast was pumped out, this operation taking five hours. The loading of 15,000 tons of fuel oil was commenced at 4 p.m. on the day of arrival, and was completed in eight hours' time. Tandjong Oeban is where the.storage tanks are located, arid'they are-filled from Palembang by small tankers of not more than 3000 tons. Singapore is reached by launch, 35 miles away across.the open sea. LIFE ON BOARD. During the voyage several big fish were caught—some weighing over 501b, consisting of tuna and kingfish. For fishing operations a small mast is lashed to the rails of the after poop, and a heavy line 150 ft long, with three clustered hooks covered with a white cloth, is trailed behind the ship. The line passes through a pulley at the end of the mast, and on the deck is attached to a bucket of sand. When a fish is hooked the bucket is seen'to go up and down, and the cry "Fish!" is at once given. The nearest men run to the line, and the hauling-in of the fish provides plenty of excitement. It can be imagined that the task of hauling in a 501b fish against the speed of the vessel's 11 or 12 knots is a hard job. Deck golf also helps to pass the time on-board a tanker, and.it is also interestingfor the visitor to go to the chartroom and find out from time to time the exact position of the vessel. Radio sets- on board enable news from all parts of the world to be heard. Owing to the tropical heat the crew's hours of work are from 8 to 11 a.m., and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., thus avoiding the midday heat. The Thorhild in water ballast carries 5000 tons, and loaded carries 15,000 tons of fuel oil. She is .twenty months old, and is one of the most, modern tankers afloat. The cabins amidships are tastefully furnished in various colour schemes, and each cabin has air pumped into it, cold air while in the tropics, and hot air in cold weather. The voyage altogether occupied 40 days, 19 days up.lone day for loading, and 20 days back. She is chartered by the Union Company to bring fuel oil to Wellington, and has yet to make four more voyages before the time charter expires.

VOYAGE IN A MODERN TANKER

of the landsman, but the salvor has a shield made which covers the fracture. Th s is hauled into r>lace over a packing to make it watertight. Hooks around the edge of tne shield catch inside the vessel around the edges o'£ the fracture.. When these hooks are screwed up tight the patch is held in place and the vessel can be pumped out, thus gaining the, buoyancy necessary, to refloating. '•■' - Salvors have to make use of all sorts of makeshifts. Wire mattresses have been used as sieves to retain gold coins contained in mud which is first pumped on to the improvised; sieve and 'then washed, through it with water. Straw mattresses have been used as packings

lor shields, and all sorts of extraordinary devices have been made to serve the purpose of salvage. The lay salvor may be too ingenious, as, for instance, in the case of the Admiral who was in charge of salving a stranded warship- and who reduced Commodore Young, of the Liverpool Salvage Association, to despair by filling the vessel with cork shavings. His' idea was that cork would help the ship' to float,' but in fact he merely provided material to choke the pumps which would have created the necessary buoyancy when,the vessel had been lightened. Then there is the branch of salvage which deals with lame ducks rather than with wrecks. For some reason or other long-distance towage of big ships has fallen largely into the hands of Dutch and German interests, but in the Thames, the Mersey, and around the English coasts there are many fine tugs capable of dealing with any case of salvage by towage likely to arise in the Channel, North -Sea, or nearAtlantic.