Ships On First Visit

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30686, 27 February 1965, Page 3

Ships On First Visit

Two vessels are paying their first visit to Lyttelton, i One is the Somerset i (above), a two-year-old Clyde-built vessel owned by I the Federal Steam Naviga- ’ tion Company. i Although the Somerset is ' no stranger to New Zealand ; she had not previously called i at Lyttelton. She is com- i manded by Captain I. Y. Batley. 1 The Somerset will discharge ; continental cargo and load i refrigerated and general cargo for return. A 10,027-ton vessel, she is 488 ft 3in in length with a beam of 66ft 4in.

She is expected to discharge at Le Havre and London late in April. The other vessel is the seven-year-old Hartvig Maersk, < which came to New Zealand in ballast from Japan. She ; will load pelts, wool, and ; general cargo for the Atlantic coast under charter to the Columbus Line. Captain M. E. Andreasen, of Svendborg, commands the , 3646-ton Danish single-screw motor vessel, which normally trades on world-wide charters. Her engine, superstructure and quarters are right aft, leaving a lengthy foredeck to

expedite cargo operations. She is one of a merchant fleet of nearly 90 vessels owned by the A. P. Moller Company, of Copenhagen. Tankers of this large company are frequent visitors to Lyttelton. Most of the Hartvig Maersk’s crew of 32 are Scandinavians, but five Filipinos are employed in the provedore branch. The Moller fleet had been in existence for more than half a eentury, Captain Andreasen said yesterday. Both vessels were idle yesterday because of a labour shortage.