BARQUE PAMIR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26772, 15 May 1948, Page 8

BARQUE PAMIR

FUTURE IN DOUBT RETURN TO FINLAND LIKELY EXAMPLE SET BY BRITAIN P.A. WELLINGTON, May 14. The future of the sailing ship Pamir, now on her way back to New Zealand from Antwerp with a cargo af basic slag, will have to be determined on completion of her present voyage. If New Zealand adopts the course followed by the British Government with Finnish ships acquired during the war in similar circumstances, the Pamir will be returned to Finland, from whom the ship was seized in 1941 on her arrival at Wellington with a cargo of guano from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean. The Pamir was one of the famous Erikson Line of sailing ships of Mariehamm, Finland, established by Gustaf Erikson. who died last year. The line is now being operated by his son. who succeeds his father as the only surviving sailing ship owner in the world. The Pamir, which was seized in prize by the New Zealand Government at the time of the formal declaration of war with Finland, did useful work for the Allies during the war, when ships were scarce, making several voyages between New Zealand and the Pacific coast of North America.

■ With shipping now becoming more readily available, the question of what to do with the Pamir presents a problem. She is capable of carrying only specialised cargoes. These are neither plentiful nor easy to secure. She is also costly to operate by New Zealand standards, and this has been revealed in recent official reports.

The report of the Controller and Auditor-general, presented to Parliament last year, showed that the voyage the Pamir made in 1946 to Vancouver and back resulted in an operating loss of £17,787.

On her present voyage the Pamir was tied up in London for several weeks awaiting a suitable cargo. She was also laid up in Sydney for three months on her previous voyage, but on,that occasion shipping trouble was responsible. The Pamir then remained in Wellington for several months before leaving on her present voyage.It is generally conceded that the Pamir has a definite value as a training ship for New Zealand boys desirous of taking up the seafaring profession, and there have been representations from various organisations that she should be used for this purpose. On the other hand, the question arises whether there are sufficient New Zealanders wishing to train as mariners to justify the maintenance of a ship like the Pamir. On the declaration of war with Finland, the United Kingdom seized several Finnish ships in similar circumstances to the Pamir, and it is reported that the United Kingdom has returned these ships to their former Finnish owners. There is no obligation to return the Pamir to her former owners, as Finland abandoned all claims under the peace treaty, but the opinion is held in sqjne quarters that .if Britain could make a gesture of this kind in returning the ships she seized New Zealand might very well do the same.