NEW SHIP FOR N.Z. TRADE

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21087, 12 February 1934, Page 16

NEW SHIP FOR N.Z. TRADE

THE PORT CHALMERS PROVISION FOR CHILLED BEEF (rsojt ou'a ovx cosBzsroNDE.ST.) LONDON. January 12. When the new twin-screw motorvrssel port Chalmers arrived in the London clocks the owners, the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, pro■v ided an opportunity to a party of visitors to look over her. They spent a, good deal of time in the engineVoom examining the Doxford opposed piston engines, which incorporate all the latest improvements in this type of internal combustion engines. The vessel has a gross tonnage of 8335, with a deadweight carrying capacity of 11.610 tons. She is 486'. leit long and 65 feet broad. She has, :-ix holds, five of which, together with the 'tween decks, are insulated to carry perishable produce, and the total insulated space is 465,000 cubic feet. The refrigerated chambers in the Port Chalmers have varied temperatures. Frozen meat is carried at a temperature of 12 degrees Fahr., chilled at 23J degrees Fahr.. fruit at about ,';:s to CI degrees Fahr., and cheese at 44 dcgruis. For carrying dairy and fruit produce- the very l.Mcst devices are employed with ventilating fans in every chamber. Equipment for Chilled Beef An interesting feature is the fact that the Port Chuimrrs is the first ship specially equipped to carry, on a commercial scale, chilled beef from New Zealand and Australia. This has b?en made possible by the construction of chambers for carrying beef in CO2 gas—the process recently evolved by the Department of Scientific Research at their low temperature station. These chambers are made especially ga- - -tight and are of metal with all joinings welded. Nothing is so elusive as CO2 gas, which easily escapes from a chamber where the joinings are merely riveted. Electric welding has also taken the place of riveting in the oil fuel bunkers, in the main transverse watertight bulkheads, and in all the deckhouse and steel divisional bulkheads, in the main generator seats, seating for various auxiliary machinery, for all the ■water service tanks, the skylights, masts, derrick posts, and pillars. Propelling Machinery

The two main engines of the Port Chalmers have been built by Messrs Barclay Curie and Company at their North British Engine Works, Glasgow, and have been fitted on board at Wallsend. Messrs Swan, Hunter, and Wigham Richardson have supplied all the auxiliaries and other engine-room equipment. The main engines are of the reversible opposed piston, two-stroke cycle, airless injection, Barclay Curle-Doxford type, each driving a scavenging pump from the main engine. The two engines give a collective horse-power of 8500. Each engine has four cylinders 640 mm. diameter with a stroke of 2480 mm. The Port Chalmers is designed I for a speed of 15J knots. Oil fuel is carried in the double bottom and in tanks on each side of the engineroom and at the side of the funnels. There are three electric generators run by Diesel oil engines, supplied by W. H. Allen Sons and Co., of Bedford. They supply power to the winches, capstans, windlass, steering gepr. and all auxiliary machinery, as well as for lighting the ship throughout. The cargo space is divided into six holds below the second deck. The first five holds and the lower 'tween decks are insulated for the carriage of refrigerated cargo. There are also insulated store-rooms for carrying cheese and other perishable foods. The six main hatches are served by an ample equipment of winches and derricks. All the deck machinery is driven electrically. In the 'tween decks fruit will be carried, and the necessary ventilation is secured by powerful rotary fans. Living Accommodation Amidships is a steel deckhouse containing most commodious and comfortable accommodation for 12 passengers in four single and four doubleberth staterooms, which are very handsomely panelled and furnished. All of them have hot and cold fresh water supplied to the washbasins. The dining-room is a specially beautiful apartment, panelled in French ■".-alnut with cream-coloured frieze. The smoke-room is panelled in black bean wood and the upholstery is cf green leather. The senior officers' accommodation is arranged in the saloon deckhouse. The captain's rooms are in a steel house above the bridge deck, and consist of a spacious sittingroom en suite with a bedroom and bathroom. The engineers and junior officers have their quarters in deckhouses along the machinery casing on the bridge deck. The greasers and donkeyman have their quarters on the upper deck aft, and the firemen in a house in the forecastle. The Port Chalmers is commanded by Captain S. W. Hayter, previously m command of the Port Alma. PRESENTATION TO CAPTAIN

OLD MAORI CUSTOM REVIVED CEREMONY AT LONDON DOCKS (FROM O'u'R OWV COREESPONDMi.) LONDON, January 12. Many people interested in the New Zealand trade, with newspaper representatives, gathered on the bridge of the Commonwealth and Dominion Line's new motor vessel, the Port Chalmers, to speed the captain on his first voyage with the ship. The idea was borrowed from the custom of the Maoris when they set out in their big canoes for the islands ;icross the ocean. Mr R. S. Forsyth, London manager of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board, explained the ceremony and made the presentation of a greenstone tiki to Captain S. W. Hayter.

When the Maoris first set out from their island home of Hawaiki to rolonise New Zealand, said Mr Forsyth, it was their custom to consecrate the great canoes for the long ocean voyage. This ceremony was known as the karakia (canoe ritual) for the v.-hai-kawa (the passage across the dwelling of the sea-god). The prow and poop of each canoe (where were stowed the food supplies) were decorated with great fern fronds. The upward-stretching fronds were set up as a gesture of homage to the gods of the heavens, and the downward ones « a gesture to the gods of the ocean ' Jane and Kiwa). The high priest of the tribe, having chanted his blessing, presented the chief commanding the god, as a talisman for the voyage. mJS nling the tiki . Mr Forsyth kaid. Whenever you wear this, I am fortune will always follow

Captain Hayter, replying, said the company had been successfully carryl']«i?i!?...?£«'uce and frozen meat for

Continued la last column.

I many years. He hoped they would have as great success in the carriage of chilled meat. It was a delicate task, but they would give the same great care to it as they had given to the other produce in the past. "Towards the Sun" In the dining saloon later, Mr H. E. Davis, London manager for the New Zealand Dairy Produce Board, proposed an informal toast to the hosts and to their good ship, the Port Chalmers. "I can think of nothing more appropriate," he said, "than our wellknown New Zealand phrase with which most of you are acquainted, 'Kia Ora,' which, although loosely employed to mean 'Good Luck' or 'Good Health,' literally means 'Towards the Sun.' In a few days' time the Port Chalmers will be heading towards the lands of sunshine in the Antipodes and within a few weeks will bring back her first cargo of New Zealand products to this country. "It is indeed a matter of gratification to New Zealanders to know that the development of trade with the United Kingdom has been, is, and I trust always will be, associated exclusively with British shipping. la view of a certain amount of unflattering prominence that has lately been given to New Zealand products vis-a-vis proposals to develop Home dairy production, it may not be inappropriate to remind you that nearly 50 per cent, of Great Britain's total imports of butter is still drawn from foreign countries. It is rather regrettable that whereas in the past much of this produce was conveyed from foreign countries to British ports in British ships, now the bulk has passed to foreign shipping." The ceremony was arranged by the Dairy Produce Board and the Meat Producers' Board in conjunction with the C. and D. Line.

Mr H. W. Corry, vice-chairman of the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, replying to the toast, said that the new vessel, the Port Chalmers, was one of two ships which the Commonwealth and Dominion Line was building for the United KingdomAntipodes service. Taken in the aggregate, the building of nine vessels for the New Zealand food trade, of which the Port Chalmers was the first to be completed, was easily the biggest shipbuilding development of recent years. It was not unworthy of note that, at a time when British shipping was suffering so acutely from the world trade depression, the company was fortunate in being able to maintain and improve its services in this allBritish trade to New Zealand. Although the New Zealand export trade was only 50 years old, the whole period showed a consistent record of rapid progress. Mr Corry gave some figures demonstrating the growth of trade.

The efficiency of the Port Chalmers' equipment, he added, would be demonstrated on her return voyage when the ship would bring back her first cargo of New Zealand produce to the United Kingdom. They were confident that this produce would arrive in the freshest possible conditior ANOTHER VESSEL ORDERED (I'iUCoS ASSOCJATIOK TZLEGK.IM.) WELLINGTON, February 10. The new motor vessel ordered by the Commonwealth and Dominion Line will be 494 feet long by 65 feet, and will have an insulated capacity of 450,000 cubic feet. With the Port Chalmers, which is now on her maiden voyage from London and the Port Wyndham, which is now building at Clydebank, s'he makes three recent additions to the company's fleet of motor vessels for the New Zealand and Australian trade