STEAMER WAINUI

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 218, 11 June 1929, Page 13

STEAMER WAINUI

CONSIGNED TO THE SHIPBREAKERS. Dominion Special Service. . Auckland, June 10. After lying idle at Auckland for two years, the Union Company’s small steamer Wainui, it is understood, has been sold to the ship-breakers, who will dismantle everything of value on board and then dispose of the shell of the vessel by sinking it at sea <Sr by other means. ’’ The Wainui is a steel steamer of 684 tons gross, and is the oldest vessel but one owned by the Union Company. She was built at Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1886, and during most of her career she was engaged in the southern coastal trade. Since the Wainui has been withdrawn from active service she has been utilised at times as a store ship for coal, and her condition is such that it would be too expensive to put her into commission again. When the Wainui came to New Zealand on her maiden voyage the company had only thirty steamers, the largest of which was the Mararoa. This vessel, only a year old, was the njost luxurious and fastest 'steamer in the intercolonial service. Her tonnage was 2598, and her sped was 15 knots. The Mararoa and the Wainui are the only two steamers left of the company’s 1886 fleet. Other vessels of the period have all been replaced by more modern and larger craft.