BUILT FOR TROPICS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 112, 13 May 1937, Page 11

BUILT FOR TROPICS

MAETSUYCKER IN PORT

J|> EAST INDIES SERVICE f

A graceful ship with a white hull and a squat, yellow funnel, and flying the Dutch flag at her stern, arrived in Wellington Harbour .this morning from Auckland. She was the X.P.M. motorvessel Ma#tsuy cker, and she is inaugurating the new regular service between the Dutch East Indies and New Zealand. ■ On her way ,to-Auckland and Wellington the Maetsuycker called at Samarang, Sourabaya, Port Moresby, Samarai, Rabaul, Port Vila, and Noumea. . On boarding the ship, one is immediately struck with the' amount of space and the coolness of the public, rooms. 1 There is a spacious social hall on the main deck, with large windows on either side, and the glassed-in verandah decks have also extra large windows overlooking the sea: The majority :of the chairs in the public rooms and on the decks are beautifully made, extensive use being m#de. of cane and Wicker. There are no; ■>attempts . at super-luxurious or ostentatious fittings, but everything is designed to provide the maximum of comfort for travellers in hot climates. There is accoramodation for 54 first-class, passenger*, and also separate space for carrying native passengers. .' The Maetsuycker bears the name of one of the ; early Dutch Colonial Governors. On the wall of the main lounge is a metal plaque engraved :with a ■ picture of _a high-pooped, full-rigged ship, and the inscription in Dutch .describes it as the vessel Prins Willem, of ,300 tons, in which his Excellency Johan Maet- ! suycker sailed from Amsterdam in 1650 to the New World, -to become.,three years later - Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Another plaque at the head of the main stairway has an engraving of the man himself. .Maetsuycker had a part in the sailing of the navigator Tasman on-the voyage of discovery that first.placed New Zea.land on the map of the world. One of the many features of the ship, designed for the convenience of passengers of different nationalities, is that the various printed directions and notices throughout the ship are given in both Dutch and English. Thus "dining saloon" becomes "eetsalon," and so,

on. '~■■'.... .-'•. :' ■,- . - . The Maetsuycker was launched m November; 1936, and she left Amsterdam.on the start of her maiden voyage on January 16 of this year. She sailed from Holland via Durban and Port Said, and her trial revealed a speed of 16 knots. The next ship;in the service will be the, Van Rees, an older ship,' which, for the time being, Will maintain the new service with the Maetsuycker. Captain J. J. Kooper is in command of the ship, and he has the following officers:—First officer, Mr. S. Van Leuwen; second, Mr. G. H. Hoogland; third, Mr. J. Soetens; fourth, Mr. C. Van 'Doggenaar. There are six engineer officers, with Mr. G. Van der Laan as chief. The purser is Mr. C. Van Swoll, and the medical officer Dr. D. E. de Vrics. * 7.' .