NEW CARGO STEAMER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23222, 21 June 1937, Page 5

NEW CARGO STEAMER

MELBOURNE STAR ARRIVES THRfcE HORSES FOR OAMARU With a large quantity of general cargo for Dimedin, the Blue Star Line's twin screw motor ship Melbourne Star arrived at Port Chalmers from Lyttelton yesterday morning berthing shortly after 9 o'clock. Though on her maiden voyage to New" Zealand, this 11,590-ton vessel has been to Australia previously. From England she made an exceptionally fast voyage for a cargo steamer, arriving at Auckland 30 days and 3 hours after leaving Liverpool. Rain at northern ports has been responsible for her being five days behind schedule. On the completion of discharge at Port Chalmers, she will load general cargo, and will then proceed to Timaru, Lyttelton, Wellington and Auckland to load for England. HORSES FOR ( OAMARU In addition to her general cargo the vessel brought three horses—a stallion and two mares—for Mr Thomas Hepburn, of Oamaru. Two of the animals came from Scotland and one from Carlisle, and since the vessel left Liverpool on April 24 they have been housed in horse-boxes on the after well deck. When two days out from Auckland some squally weather was encountered, and a side of one of the horse-boxes was smashed in by a wave, but the animal suffered nothing worse than a fright. Mr G. C. Goudie, the chief officer, said that the animals suffered no ailments during the voyage, and. though they had spent eight weeks in the horse-boxes, they landed in fine condition. A. man who had been specially engaged had attended to them, and. as a result of their being handled so often, they had' 1 become very friendly with members of the ship's company, with whom, they had come in daily coh tact. Australia appeared to have been buying a number of horses .from England lately, Mr Goudie said, and it looked as though the animals were becoming more popular for use in farm work. On the ship's return from her maiden voyage to Australia, she had taken back to England 13 ponies. ; Mr' Hepburn's English horses will reach the end of their stay on the Melbourne. Star early this morning, when they will'be taken off to cover the final part of their journey to Oamaru by rail. .. LAUNCHED A YEAR AGO

Built at Birkenhead '■ by Cammell Laird and C 0.,. Ltd.,* the Melbourne Star which was launched on July 7. 1936 measures 522 ft sin by 70ft 4Jin. has .a raked stem, cruiser stern . onf funnel and one pole/mast. There are eight main watertight bulkheads forming three holds forward and three aft of the motor room. At the fore end of the motor room two transverse oiltight bulkheads form oil fuel bunkers The holds and 'tween decks are insulated for the carriage of frozen and chilled meat and fruit, and a powerful installation of refrigerating machinery is installed to supply the necessary cooling medium for the insulated chambers. In a deckhouse on the passenger deck are four double-berth and four single-berth staterooms, each with a private bathroom ' adjoining. The lounge, dining room, card room, steward's room, doctor's.room, pantry, etc.. are in a deckhouse at the fore end of the bridge deck. The vessel is propelled by two Sulzer. single-acting, two-stroke Diesel engines, with airless injection and direct-driven scavange Dumns. The engine's are. directly reversible: and each has 10 cylinders. 720 mm. diameter? and a stroke of 1250 mm. The exhaust gases from,the main . engines sunoly the heating medium for two vertical Clarksqn boilers. Which heat the cabins and serve other purposes-of. the shin '.,