NEW ORIENT LINER

Evening Star, Issue 22086, 20 July 1935, Page 6

NEW ORIENT LINER

MAIDEN VOYAGE IN NOVEMBER LARGEST SHIP ON AUSTRALIAN RUN " ’ The 1 new _ ..Lifie,,. passenger steamer, Orion, 1 which will be .the largest liner on the Australian run and which it is claimed .possesses every possible modern quality of design and equipment, will make her maiden voyage from Australia to England at the end of November this year. The Orion, which has been built by Messrs Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness, was launched last November by wireless from Brisbane by H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester.

Both the outside appearance of the vesse ]_her Hues—and the equipment on board are described as strikingly modern. The has been designed to give the appearance of “stream-lining.” Although of great power and capable of a> high speed she will have only one must and one funnel, a departure from the conventional manner of passenger ship construction made expressly to afford extra deck space and accommodation while preserving beauty of line. The hull will probably be painted cream with a slight admixture of brown, over a green water line The dimensions of the vessel are as follow:—Length 665 ft, breadth 82ft, draught 30ft. Her speed will be 21£ knots, and , she will carry 486 first saloon and 663, tourist class passengers. She is generally of a typo similar to that of the Orontes, but enlarged and improved in the light of experience gained in the running of the five liners built by the company, in the last 10 years. EQUIPMENT. Though the vessel is larger than the Orontes, her tonnage being 24,000 tons gross instead of 20,000, she is designed to carry fewer passengers in more roomy cabins. Many of the cabins will have inter-communicating doors,- and the number of special state rooms with private bathrooms has been substantially increased. The needs of children have been specially studied. In the first saloon class they will have a separate dining room, and in both classes a special play room and a deck. The tourist class passengers wall be accommodated in one, two, three, and four-berth cabins, many of them intercommunicating. Hot and cold running water will be laid on in all first saloon cabins. One deck lias been continued right aft to give another .deck to the tourist class passengei’s, and there are two open-air swimming baths which can, when the ship is cruising, be thrown together into a single large “Lido. Lifts will be fitted in both classes, and there will bq a ship’s shop and, modern hairdressing saloons. SAFETY' ENSURED. All the latest precautions have been taken to.ensure the safety of the passengers. The lifeboats are swung from the latest form of gravity davit. Fireresisting metal has been largely used, and automatic sprinklers have been fitted throughout. The ventilation will bo particularly thorough. The air m the first class dining saloon will b* specially treated to control its, tomperature and humidity. _ . The second voyage of the Orion item Australia will be in March, 1936. It is understood that passenger bookings fop the first voyages from Australia are already heavy, especially for the March voyage, which is in the height of . the Homeward passenger season.