LONG OCEAN TOW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23106, 3 August 1938, Page 12

LONG OCEAN TOW

TASK OF SALAMAUA THE MAKO FOR SYDNEY' VESSELS DEPART TO-MORROW Making the first * ocean tow from Auckland for more than three years, the 6676-ton motor-ship Salamaua will sail to-morrow for Sydney with the well-known Richardson Line steamer Mako of 505 tons. The Mako, which has been purchased by W. R. Carpenter and Company, Limited, of Sydney, owners of the Salamaua, will be used in the company's New Guinea service. Captain Andrew Smith, master of the Salamaua, stated yesterday that no crew will be carried on the Mako, but that permanently-lighted navigation lights will be shown by the steamer during the crossing. A single heavy wire hawser, attached by bridle gear to the poop of the Salamaua and the stem of the Mako, will bridge the ships, the gap being 600 ft. long. To avoid possible danger to shipping in the busy portions of the harbour, the actual tow will begin outside the port limits. The difficulty of manoeuvring the Mako when 600 ft. from the Salamaua in the harbour has resulted in a decision to have the steamer towed past Rangitoto beacon by an Auckland Harbour Board tug. The Salamaua will take the tow after dropping the pilot. Although the unsettled weather m the Tasman may affect the time taken for the two ships to reach Sydney, Captain Smith stated that he hoped to make the crossing in a week_ It is considered likely that the Mako win ro* ceive overhaul at Sydney and continue the voyage to Salamaua, the new capital of New Guinea, under hor own steam. _____