COMFORT FOR CREW IN NEW CARGO SHIP

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 117, 19 May 1945, Page 8

COMFORT FOR CREW IN NEW CARGO SHIP

In the ships Australia has built and is building the Australian Shipbuilding Board is setting new standards in crew accommodation. In the River Loddon, for instance, shortly to be commissioned, the oldtime fo'csle is the bosun's store and the crew is housed on the main deck, amidships, in cabins, some of which are an improvement on those which used to be available to people in tourist-class ships.

The captain has a suite under the bridge comprising lounge, bed cabin and bathroom. The lounge is finished in silver ash and Queensland maple panelling and all the furniture is solid timber, also of Queensland maple. Below is an officers' dining saloon and adjoining it a lounge, all panelled. Officers and engineers have single cabins and the largest cabin on the ship holds four stewards. Seamen and firemen have three-berth cabins and convenient to them are changing rooms and hot showers. Timber work is most attractive and all through the ship are radiators, fans and special ventilation.

Provision has been made to arm the vessel fairly heavily and the gun crews will live in special cabins astern, where also there is a twobed hospital. There are many signs that the vessel is a wartime one. All exterior doors are shut off with canvas screens and fitted so that interior lights are extinguished automatically when the door opens. Portholes have special covers. Crash panels which can be kicked out in a moment are fitted to all cabin and exterior doors so that no one should be trapped by jammed doors. Special escape ladders have also been provided.

The River Loddon is regarded as a most up-to-date cargo vessel, capable of handling either general goods or grain. Normally she will be an oil burner, but she can be converted in about an hour to coal, which, incidentally, is fed automatically.