CREW FOR BARQUE PAMIR

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25678, 15 December 1948, Page 4

CREW FOR BARQUE PAMIR

MANY NEW ZEALAND APPLICANTS PREPARATION FOR TRIP TO ENGLAND “The Press” Special Service WELLINGTON, December F 4. Hundreds of New Zealanders appeared anxious to join the Pamir for the voyage to England, said the Finnish master of the barque. Captain W. Bjorkfelt, to-day. Letters had been received from all parts of New Zealand, and there were many callers every day. The same thing was told all inquirers. said Captain Bjorkfelt. The Pamir was not yet picking up a crew, and all had to be members of the New Zealand Seamen’s Union. It was unlikely that more crew would be signed on until January, just before the ship’s departure for South Australia to load wheat. He added: “The ship will be expensive enough to take to England without signing on a crew too early.” He estimated the cost of the voyage at £lO,OOO. Many letters had also been received from people who wished to travel in the barque to Australia, or even as far as England, continued Captain Bjorkfelt. The Pamir, although her crew accommodation had been modernised and extended, had no room for passengers. With better conditions for seamen all over the world, sailing ship running costs! were increasing to uneconomic proportions. The Erikson Company was endeavouring to sell the Viking, which was laid up in Antwerp, for £50,000, and had had several prospective buyers among the Scandinavian Governments. which wished to turn the big sailing vessel into a training ship. The possibility of a grain race between the other Erikson barque, Passat. and her sister ship Pamir, depended on loading conditions in the Australian wheat ports. The Passat was to leave London tomorrow for South Australia, said Captain Bjorkfelt. She would take 80 to 85 days on the voyage, and would arrive after the Pamir.

Extra ballast for the Tasman voyage would be loaded by the Pamir from to-day. This would take some time to put aboard, and after that, the ship would be cleaned in the floating dock, Captain Bjorkfelt concluded.