ARRIVAL OF THE S.S. NIKAU.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 23 July 1909, Page 2

ARRIVAL OF THE S.S. NIKAU.

A FINE VESSEL. A SUCCESSFUL VOYAGE. The Anchor Shipping Company's steamer Nikau, for tha Nelson-Mo-tueka-Wellington trade, arrived from Glasgow at 10.30 this* morning, and was berthed at the Railway Wharf. She was boarded by the Health Officer (Dr. Andrew), and given a clean bill of health. The Nikau is in command of Captain D. Irving, who is a stranger fo Nelson. Associated with him are the following officers: — Ist mate, Mr E. H. Day; 2nd mute, Mr .H. J. Semple; chief engineer, Mr Irvine Brown; 2nd engineer, Mr M. A. Ladley; 3rd engineer Mr Jl Brown. Mr Irvine Brown, who is the third son of the superintendent engineer of the Anchor Company, went Home to bring the vessel out, and he was formerly in the Koi. Mr Maurice Ladley the 2nd engineer, : is a Nelson boy, and served his apprenticeship at the Anchor Foundry. The other officers are strangers here. The Nikau. is a twin-screw steamer of 247 tons gross and 98 tons net, and was built by Messrs Mackio and Thompson, shipbuilders, of Govan, Scotland, to plans supplied by the Anchor Shipping Company. She is constructed of steel to the Board of Trade requirements, and is classed, 100A1 at Lloyd's. Her dimensions are' as fo'.'lows:— Length, 120 feet; breadth, 22 fe'et; depth, S feet. She is fitted with a large bridge, on the after end of which Is the saloon, where there is accommodation for 16 male passengers. It is a Ano, commoai : .us' room, nicely set o- i - in oak, and upholstered in old gold. At the forward end of the bridge is the ladies' qabin, whlqh is similarly fitted, and haa accommodation for eight ladies. On the brldgo deck tho captain is berthed in a large steel deckhouse, At the after end of the bridge is the entrance to the ladies' cabin. The chief engineer has a similar deckhouse on the after end of the bridge deck, and from which is the entrance to tho saloon. - The other officers aro berthed in tho port alleyway under the bridge deck. The pantry and galley aro off! the saloon in tho port alleyway. The cook's and stcward'3 berths aad the lavatories are in tho sUrbr.ard alleyway. The officers' mess room is under the forward eud of the bridge deck. The crew are bertlwrl in a monkey forecastle forward. The Nikau has two hatchways, with a Clarke-Chapman steam wuieh. at each. The electric light is lustalled throughout the vessel. The machinery was supplied by Messrs Ross and Duncan, of Glasgow, and consists of two. so'-.s compound engines, the high pressure, cylinder having a diameter of 10 inches, and the low pressure cjlinder of 22 inches, with a strone df. 10 inches. The boiler is an extra large one, and is 11 feet in diameter and--10 feet in length. It is fitted with two furnaces and has a working pressure of 130 lbs. Th. funnol is an oval one of extra length. The buildring of the vessel waa supervised by Mr J. W. Bnwi:, who also superintended the building of the Waimea and Kaitoa-. Shortly after thc vessel was moored a few business men assembled in the saloon, and drank success to the Nikau and to thc Anchor Company. The toast was proposed by Mr H. Baigent, and responded to by Mr J. H. Cock, managing owner of the company. Captain Irving returns to London, where he has been appointed to the command of an 8000-toii steamer. The Nikau was visited by a large number of people during the day, and the general verdict was that she is eminently suitable for the trade for which she has been built. The chief engineer reports that the engines worked smoothly throughout tho voyage, and gave every satisfaction. Regarding the voyage, Captain Irving says:—: : '' The Nikau left Greenock on May 4th at 2.45 p.m., in fine weather, with calm sea. Next day a strong easterly wind spiing up, bringing with it a heavy sea. For tho next few days moderato south-south-west and southerly winds were experienced, with head swell. On 10th she passed Cape Roca, thj weather being fine, with westerly swell ; and- following day passed Cape St. Vincent. - Light winds with line' weather and . smooth seas were experienced across the Mediterranean, Port Said being reached on May 23rd at I.EO a.m. The passage took 17 days 7 hours 24£ . minutes, the distance travelled being 3266 miles, average speed 7.86 knots. Left Port Said on May 25th at 4 a.m., and proceeded through Suez Canal, the weather being calm and clear. Stoppage in Canal two hours. On May 26th fresh following winds sprang up, with moderate sea, and for four following days light northerly winds, clear weather; light variable winds for next two days ; and on June Ist Perim Island was signalled. Ran. into strong south-west winds on 4th Jnne in latitude 12.59 "N- .and longitude 53.23 E., with heavy seas. On Bth June the weather moderated slightly, although seas wore still heavy. After four days W.S.W. and southerly winds with moderate seas and fine weather, Colombo was reached on 12th June, at 7.45, the steam, er being berthed at 8.30 p.m. The distance traversed was 3497 miles, in 18 days 11 hours 3 minutes, at an average speed of 7.88 knots an hour. Weighed anchor next day, at 2.20 p.m., clearing tho breakwater at 2.30 p.m. Weather fine, but cloudy for three days, wind being S.W. On the third day out from Colombo tho vessel ran into heavy rain squalls, and heavy seas were .experienced, increasing to moderate gale .on June 23 when in latitude 13.55 S. and longitude 97.23 E. W«ather .moderated on 27th June, seas being still heavy, and following day wind was light, with moderato head sea. Thereafter light and fresh southerly winds were experienced, Fremantle being reached and the steamer berthed at noon on July 3rd. The steaming time from Colombo to Fremantle, 3148 miles, was 19 hours 18 days 32 minutes, avsrage speed 6.6 knots an lieur Frocaantlo ■-_*__» left- ozx -Txxly Gt&L. at 6.Z9 a.m., and Gape L-ttwin passed nt 5.35 on-^the 7th -, fine weather was experienced throughout, the winds baing from S. to E. from the 6th to the 12tb; N. and N.W. from 13th. to 16th; thenc e W. and S.W. winds ; sighted West Wanganui at 11.50 a.m. yesterday; and anchored in the Bay at 12.20 this morning, arriving- as above. The st3aming time from Fremantle to Nelson — 2970 miles — waSj 16 days 13 hours £0 minutes, average speed 7.5 knots an hour. The passage from Greenock to Nelson — 12,881 miles— occupied 72 days 3 hours 18 minutes; average speed 7.4 knots an hour. ;i - .