NEW LINER

Hokitika Guardian, 13 July 1935, Page 6

NEW LINER

UP-TO-DATE EQUIPMENT. Modern metal lifeboats constructed almost entirely of a new aluminum alloy are to be used on the new 14,000ton intercolonial liner, which is now being built for the Union Steam Ship Company. The boats are the latest contribution towards ensuring the safety of life at sea, and the new vessel is expected to carry twelve of them, each boat seating about S 5 persons.

The metal of which they are made is'particularly suitable for the construction of lifeboats and other maxitime equipment, as it offers a high measure of resistance to the corrosive action of the salt water, and has been used with conspicuous success in the construction of pleasure boats. The use of more and more metal fittings in liners has been very noticeable in recent years.

A considerable amount of research has been devoted in recent years towards the minimising of the fire 'risk at sea, and the lessons learned when the Georges Pliillipar and L’Atlantique were destroyed have not been lost on the designers of modern vessels. The boats will be supported on Welin_ McLachlan gravity davits, by which they are launched, when released, by the force of their own weight, a system which has" been found to give eminently satisfactory results, and has been widely adopted. Fleming handpropelled gear will be fitted, this being a eonsiderabe improvement on the use of oars.