REPLACING THE TAHITI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20650, 23 August 1930, Page 10

REPLACING THE TAHITI.

P. AND 0. LINER RAZMAK. EXCELLENT ACCOMMODATION. STARTS SERVICE IN NOVEMBER. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT*] WELLINGTON, Friday.^ The Peninsular arid Orient.il steamer Razmak, which is at present engaged in the Indian trade, is to replace the Tahiti in the Union Company s tianspacific seivice. The Razmak has large accommodation for first, second and third-class passengers, and she described as most luxuriously appointed in respect of passenger accommodation, with eight cabins-de-luxe, a large number of single-berth cabins and the remainder two and three-berth cabins. The passenger accommodation is distributed over three decks. There is ample general cargo space, with 40,000 cubit feet of insulated space in addition.

The Razmak is 10,857 tons, and therefore larger than the Tahiti. She was built by Harland and Wolff in 1925. Her dimensions arc: Length, 500.4 ft.; beam, 63.2 ft.; depth, 34ft. Her engines are quadruple expansion supplemented by a Bauer-Wach turbine. Steam is derived from oil-fired boilers. This liner is cap! able of a speed of 19 knots. The Union Company intends that the Razmak shall take up the Tahiti's November sailing.

SECOND LOSS IN SERVICE. MAITAI WRECKED ON REEF. TRADE RIVALRY RECALLED. The Tahiti is. the second liner that has been lo3t by the Union Company in the San Francisco mail service. The other vessel was the Maitai, which was lost at Rarotonga on Christmas Day, 1916. Like - the Tahiti, the Maitai was on a voyage from New Zealand to San Francisco. The accident occurred in the evening, shortly after she anchored at Rarotonga after trying in the afternoon to recover two anchors, which had been lost at the anchorage two .jnonths j previously. The evening was calm, but there was the usual ocean swell. The vessel dropped her starboard anchor and then the port anchor. She was steaming slowly ahead to ease the strain on the anchors when one of the cables parted and the Maitai then drifted on to the reef, which was very close to the vessel. She soon became a total wreck, but no lives were lost. The Maitai was originally named th« Miowera and was formerly owned by Mr. James Huddart, the founder of the Hud-dart-Parker Line, With the Miowera and the Warrimoo, Mr. Parker ran an opposition service toHhe Union Company between Sydney and Auckland. So keen was the competition between the rival companies that both firms reduced the fare to 10s between the two ports. It was said at the time that it was cheaper to keep travelling between Auckland and Sydney than to live on shore. Many tales were told of the good times steerage passengers had travelling in the saloon in the different vessels. The Miowera and the Warrimoo were sister ships, both being three-masted vessels of the same size. They were afterwards purchased by the Union Company.