Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 71, 20 September 1930, Page 30

Ships and the Sea

A SWEDISH DINNER

SHIP'S MASTER ENTERTAINS

A dinner to representatives of comjiercial interests in tlie city was given this week on boavil the Swedish motor- ; ship Parrakoola to mark the iuaugur ation of tho Transatlautic Steamship iJompauy's monthly service from the Pacific Coast of America to New Zealand —a service in whipli the. motorship Mirrabooka was the first vessel and the Parrakoola the second. Among those present were the chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board (Mr.' J. W. M'Ewan), the Swedish Consul (Mr. J. T. Martin), and the vice-president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce (Mr. C. J. B. Norwood). Captain Carlssen, master of tho vessel, presided. The meal was on the lines usually associated with a Continental hotel, and was served up by the ship's three stewardesses. In accordance with the custom prevailing on Scandinavian vessels, the captain's table was decorated with Swedish and British flags.

After the toas' of the "Kings of Sweden and England" had been honoured, Mr. A. G. Brown, of Spedding,

Ltd.) New Zealand agents for the Transatlantic S.B Co., traced the history of the inauguration of the service to New Zealand. Mr. C. J. B. Norwood, who proposed tho toast of "The Transatlantic Steamship C 0.," congratulated Captain Carlssen on his very fine ship and expressed the hope that the company would be successful in its efforts to inaugurate a service which would prove one of tho links connecting New Zealand with all the ports of the globe. Captain Carlsscn, in hia reply, referred to tho early operations of his company, which had commenced a service to South Africa nearly twenty-five years ago, after . having established lines between Sweden and % many of the European ports. . The Transatlantic service, tho first to bo inaugurated by a Swedish line, had been extended to Australia, and now it was intended to include New Zealand. There were now thirty ships running under the company's flag. He was sure that in New Zealand the same consideration would bo received as had been shown in Australia. .He referred to the fact that the ships engaged on the run, though primarily freight carriers, also had accommodation for twenty passengers. The toast of "Tho Wellington Harbour Board" was proposed by the Consul for Sweden (Mr. J. T. Martin), who spoke of Sweden as a growing trade centre, and said that, although New Zealand should do all it could to establish trade between the different points of the Empire, in these days of low prices the opportunity should not bo lost of obtaining business with other parts of tho world. Sweden bought a considerable amount of wool, apples, and tallow that was produced in tho Dominion, although much of it was purchased on the London market, and it would be to the advantage of the •> New Zealand exporters • to ship direct to Sweden. ' . . . He concluded by paying a tribute to the facilities offering in the Wellington Harbour, and Mr. J. W. M'Ewan, in.replying, said that the Harbour Board was always ready to welcome such ships as the Parrakoola, since more ships entering the harbour meant more trade was there for Wellington. . Ho said that in her visit of last year, the whaler Kosmos spent about £9000 locally. The health of Captain Carlssen was proposed by Mr. W. Wallis, and at the request of the captain the company drank the toast of the "Press." Old Ships. "Bosun" writes: 1 was most interested in the article on the old Union Company's ships and I congratulate the author on the most interesting list that he has compiled. I served on quite a number of them, notably tho Penguin, Waitaki,. Wainui, and Monowai. . I remember quite well the wreck of the Boojum at Petano Beach in 1887. The Boojuxn went out to attempt to save the crew of the sailing vessel Northumberland but got caught in tho breakers and capsized. The Northumberland had launched a boat by this time and managed to save the engineer of the Boojum. If I remember correctly all the crew of the Northumberland were saved. The hull of th Boojum came ashore at about 6 o 'clock that night. Tanker Adrift at Sea. The Vacuum Oil Company's tanker Yarravillo, which was at Auckland this week, was delayed for seven weeks at San Francisco for repairs to her engines, which broke down at sea and necessitated her retm-n to port, states the "New Zealand Herald." The vessel sailed from San Francisco on 13th Juno with a bulk oil cargo for discharge at Sydney and othei ports. When she was 400 miles from port an accident o .curred to one of the cylind ers of the engines and disabled the vessel for time. Temporary repairs were made by the engineers. During the 36 hours the engineers were carrying out the work, the vessel drifted helplessly, >-ut fortunately the weather was line and no assistance was required from other vessels. When tho repair work was completed tho Yarra villo steamed back to San Francisco, where her cargo of over 3,000,000 gallons of oil had to be unloaded before permanent repairs could be done. When the vessel was again ready for sea she loaded her present cargo of 3,769,000 gallons of oil fuel, of which 1,300,000 was unloaded at Auckland and the remainder at Sydney and Brisbane.

The Yarravillo is the newest of four sister ships which were built at Glasgow for the Vacuum Oil Company's Australian and New Zealand trade. Their speed la about 12 knots.

Arlington Court Delayed. A prolonged wait at Ocean Island and continuous head winds and seas experienced oh the trip to Auckland caused considerable delay to the steamer Arlington Court, which arrived recently at Auckland, states the "New Zealand Herald." Owing to bad weather and the loading berth being occupied most of the time by other vessels, the Arlington Court was a month at Ocean Island before she completed loading her cargo of 7400 tons of phosphates. Further delay owing to continuous head winds and seas experienced during the first six days | after she left Ocean Island caused"a shortage of coal on board, and necessitated tha vessel diverting her course j to Suva, where the bunkers were re;- J plenished on 25th August. Head winds i and seas were again experienced after the vessel left Suva, and the continued boisterous conditions further prolonged ths passage by about two days. The trip from Ocean Island "to Auckland should have been completed in 10 days, but owing to tho delay she took 15 days. It is just a year ago since the Arlington Court previously arrived at Auckland, and since then she has travelled many thousands of miles. She arrived on 30th August, 1929, with a full cargo of sulphur from Galveston, Texas. After-

wards she loaded- coal at-Westport for lahiti, and from Tahiti she proceeded to Makatea Island and loaded phosphates for Honolulu. After discharge she returned to Makatea and loaded phosphates for Tahiti. Her ports of call afterwards were Port Kembla, Fremantle, Colombo, Bombay, Bassein (near Eangoon), Shanghai, Nauru Island, Newcastle, Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Wallaroo, Sydney, Newcastle, and thence to Ocean, Island to load her prosont cargo. The Wool "Bace." For yeara keen interest has been displayed in shipping circles in the efforts of various vessels to bo the first to reach the Continent with consignments of new season's Australian wool. With a number of new ships in the service, it was likely that this year's "race" would have special interest, but the decision to hold the first sales at Perth has, apparently, upset arrangements, says a writer in the "Sydney Morning Herald. " It is now likely that, if any "contest" (no official race is recognised) takes place at all, it will be after the second Sydney series, in October. The first Sydney series opens on 15th September, six days after the commencement of the Perth sales. The Commonwealth and Dominion motorship Port Alma, a fast vessel, which secured the coveted honour 'last year, will lift a consignment and sail for Dunkirk direct on 23rd" September, whilst the next vessel, the new Wilh. Wilhelmsen motor-ship Thermopylae, if present intentions are adhered -to, will not depart until 27th September. Although her performauco on her maiden voyage to Australia recently was impressive, it is unlikely that she will be able to make up four days. Economical running, combined with speed, is claimed for the now German steam freighter Stassfurt, which consumes pulverised coal. She will lift new season's wool for Continental ports on 30th September. Other companies have not yet announced their intentions. New P. and O. Steamers. An order has been placed with Alexander Stephen and Sons, Ltd., Glasgow, for two steamers, of 14,500 tons each," for tho P. and O. Straits-China-Japan mail and passenger service, stated a writer in tho "Sydney Morning Herald" recently. One is expected to be completed by August , nest year, and the other by the following October. The announcement is of special interest to Australia, in view of the intention of the P. and O. Com pany to release the liners Naldera and Narkunda for the Eastern service as soon' as the new 21,000-tou liners—the Strathaird and Strathnaven —are com missioned for the London-Australia ser vice. Thus provision is being made for the replacement of four of the company's older vessels now in commission'in the East. The new vessels for the Eastern service will have cruiser sterns, two funnels, aud two pole masts. They will be 520 feet in length, with a beam of 70 feet, and a maximum draught of 30 feet, and will be propelled by single-reduction geared turbines of .14,000 horse-power, with steam from high-pressure water-tube boilers. Cabins will be provided on two decks for approximately 154 first and 150 second class passengers. Features of the design will bo verandah cafos, enclosed by sliding glass win dows, and a spacious children's nursery on the boat deck, with an enclosed playing space. Loss of the Eurydice. In a letter to the Auckland "Star," reference is made by a correspondent to the foundering of the warship Eury dice in 1878. It may interest your readers, states the correspondent, to know the cause. It was a boautiful Sunday morning as the vessel was approaching port. The men wore in high spirits, cleaning the ship and their uniforms, a. they expected to be in harbour by the evening. The ports were opened for the sako of fresh air, but a squall came on so suddenly and so severely that there was not time to close the -ports, and when tho ship heeled over the water simply poured in, and she sank. In the year 1879 I was ono of nearly 200 passengers on board the ship Piako, bound from London to Lyttelton. One day, in the early part of the voyage, some of tho passengers, contrary to orders, opened some of the ports. It was reported to Captain Boyd, who came down and lectured us severely. Ho was a very excitable man,- and said a great deal in a very short while. He reminded us that the loss of the Eurydico was caused by the ports being loft open. Needless to say, the ports on the Piako were not opened again on that voyage.