Australis to sail for New York

Press, 7 April 1978, Page 4

Australis to sail for New York

! ' Timaru reporter The sun may not set on the cruise ship Australis at ; the Port of Timaru on April 20 , The vessel, of 26.353 tons,! which arrived on December! 23 to be laid up by the[ Chandns Line for up to six’ I months, is expected to leave, I for New York within a fortnight. Her fate is not known but it is believed that shei has been sold to American; interests. The Australis, which is: worth $lOOO a day to the: Timaru Harbour Board in! berthing charges alone, has' been manned by a skeleton crew. She is berthed at No. 3 wharf. A tanker is expected to load 4000 tonnes of heavv fuel oil for her main engines from an adjacent wharf. While the sale price has not been revealed, it is known that at present shinhuildme costs it wou'd cost between S3OM and S3SM to reniace rhe Australis, No difficulty is expected in maneouvring the shio in the inner harbour, and her boilers are thought to be Al at Llovd’s. Australians visiting Timaru i recently were not surprised i ’hat she bad been laid un at : the port. According to them ’

she was black-listed at Mel-j bourne because of her dirti-| ness. She has been referred to locally as the “dead” ship, i Mr J. H. Somerville, representing the agent, H. J. R. i Somerville and Son, said last evening that no date had (been set for the departure of I the Australis, j Americans had been inspecting her on behalf of; American buyers and there' was little doubt in his mind that the transaction had been completed and that she was! : being prepared for sea. Some Greek seamen were! I due at Timaru last evening! and others from Bangladesh would arrive on Tuesday. The Australis was the last! passenger liner working a regular New Zealand-Europe; nassage, according to the Press Association. Her last run ended at Auckland on December 21 with 2000 pas-i sengers. She was built in 1940 at Newport News, in the United , S’ates. She entered commercial service in 1946 after acting as a troopship during World War 11. Chandris bought the vessel in 1964. changing the ’ name to Australis, which means "the Australian lady,’’! and put her on the EuropeNew Zealand run. s