UNION STEAM SHIP COMPANY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14161, 29 September 1911, Page 9

UNION STEAM SHIP COMPANY.

BUILDING- PROGRAMME.

LAUNCH,OF THE MAUNGANUI.

(rnov ova owjt comubspoWdekt.)

LONDON, August Iβ. * Sir Jumee Hills, chairman of the Union j fiteim Ship Company, is now in Eoglond, and will bo present at th« launch or the , corapany'e sow attamer, the Meutigaoui, at Qlaecow, on tho .24th met. The vessel will ho christened by Miss G oral dine Mills, but i there will bo so formal ceremony in ■ the i ehapo of lunoheon. speeches, otc. It is hoped to a«apatcti the Mttungasui about tho ena of October so as to rpach Melbourne early in Decciixibar, to takL her place in the intercolonial eervioe. The delivery of thie vessel is fulty three nionths behind contract time, erejit delny having been cauecd by the protract od strike of boilermakera at the beginning of the year., and by tho shortage of some classes of ship labour, even, up to the present time. Sir 7am®s Mill* has jo*t made a contract ■with the ■well-known shipbuilders, John Brown and Co. (the builder* of the Lusitania) for a new steamer for tho Canddianr Australasian eervita. This vessel will be e< considerable advance on anything yet seen in colonial waters. Her dimensions will be 522 ft Cm in length by 66ft beam, and her pow«r will enable her to maintain 17 knots at eea. She is to be fitted with the combined reciprocating and turbine «agin«, with three ohafta end propellera, while her bunkers and boilers.will be adapted for the use of cither oil or coal, a» may be desired. It is thought probable that sho will be able to procure oil in Vancouver on. terms -which will enable her to use that fuel' entirely. The engines will practically be a duplicate of thoae sow being fitted by the same builder* to the Orient Company* new steamer Orama, and are of the same typo as eupplied to thd white Star atcarocn LauronUc, Olympic, and Titanic, all of which have been a pronounced success. Not only i» there economy in the consumption of fuel, but the various parte of the engines are co much lighter that leas vibration is ejet up, and the coefc of upkeep is less than in the caee of reciprocating engines of the en-mo power. The contract ; time foT the building of ,the chip in sixteen months, co that if her delivery is not interfered with by labour troubles, ehe should arrive in New Zealand by the end of n*xi year.