SHIPPING NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3016, 3 January 1912, Page 65

SHIPPING NEWS.

MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN-GOING STEAMERS.

The Arawa, from London, arrived at Wellington on December 27, The Star of Australia, from New York, via Australian ports, arrived at Auckland on December 27. The Tokomaru, from Montreal, via Australian ports, arrived at Auckland on December 28.

Tho Banffshire left Liverpool for New Zealand ports, via Australia, on December 2L The Rotorua left London on December 28 for New Zealand ports. The Wanganui and Waiwera left London for New Zealand ports on December 30. The Paparoa left Port Chalmers for Bluff on December 28 to commence loading Homeward cargo.

The Den of Andie, from New' York, via northern port®, arrived at Dunedin on December 30. OVERSEA VESSELS TO ARRIVE. AT AUCKLAND. Marienfels, left New York October 31. Star of India, due December 28. _ Rakaia, left Montreal November 18. Aparima, left Calcutta November 3; due January 2. Mamari, left London December 14. Muritai, left London December 1. Banffshire, left Liverpool December 21. AT WELLINGTON Queen Elizabeth (ship), left New York October 17. Autuco (barque), left Liverpool September 20. Ruahine, left London October 29. Star of India, left London Novemiter 8. Arawa, left London November 12 and Capetown December 3. Otaki, left London November 24. Ruapehu, left London November 23, and Capetown. December 15. Somerset, left Liverpool November 24.. Muritai, left London December 2. Tainui, left London December 10. Banffshire, left Liverpool December 21. Crosby Grange, left London December 23. Waimana. loft London December 23. Indrapura, left London December 23. Rotorua, left London December 23. AT LYTTELTON. Kaipara, left London December 4. Autuco, barque, left Liverpool September 20. AT DUNEDIN. Tokomaru. left Montreal September 22; arrived Melbourne December 12. Autuco, barque, left Liverpool September 20. Zealandic, left Liverpool November 3,’ and Capetown November 22; du\e January 5. Don, barque, left Sweden November 5. Kaipara, left London December 3. Morayshire, due January 4. OUTWARD BOUND. Wairnate, left September 20, and Adelaide October 20, for London. Kent, left Bluff October 30. Turakina, left Wellington for London November 19. Ayrshire, left Port Chalmers November 22. Kia Ora, left Wellington November 25. Rimutaka, left Lyttelton November 25; and Montevideo December 16. Athenic, left Wellington November 30. Renuora, left Wellington ’ December 15. Kaikoura, left Wellington December 20. PROJECTED DEPARTURES. FROM AUCKLAND. Delphic, January 25. -- . . from Wellington. Norfolk, December 30 Ruahine, January 11. Surrey, January 4. Opawa, January 20; Paparoa, January 15. FROM LYTTELTON. Pakehn, December 30. Morayshire, January 27, ARRIVAL OF THE MATATUA. Tho Shaw-Savill liner Matatua steamed up from her anchorage at the Heads on December 26, and was berthed at the Georg© street pier to discharge some of her cargo before coming up to town to complete her discharge. She left Gravesend on November 3, and struck a heavy gale, which lasted until reaching the Bay of Biscay. The weather then moderated, and kept fine until her arrival at Capetown on November 26. The voyage wae resumed the following day, and a good passage ensued to Sydney,’ which was reached oh December 18. After landing 500 passengers the Matatua resumed her voyage on December 21, and arrived at the Heads on Christmas Day. Her passengers are described as being an especially desirable lot of colonists, and were highly spoken of by the - officers. The health of all was excellent, and one birth occurred during the voyage. On December 12. when in latitude 46, a very brilliant’ display of the Aurora Australis was observed, covering the sky for an arc of 90 degrees,, and by its extreme brilliancy fin© print could be read pn board until the moon rose. Meanwhile the- sea was brilliantly phosphorescent, arid th© meteorological phenomena at th© time produced a vivid impression to all on board. When north-east of Kerguelen Island, a timber raft was observed floating in latitude 46.27 S., and longitude 90.14 E., and a little further on some planks were seen, having evidently broken adrift from the raft. The latter was covered with barnacles, and appeared to have been in the water about two years, but carried nothing by which it could be identified. The day after leaving Sydney (December 22) the vessel had light wisds. which gradually increased, and for about 20 minutes it blew with huiricane force, and then subsided rapidly. Heavy beam seas and long swell prevailed. unt.l making the coast, when the weather got thick -and rainy to arrival at the Head®. Captain L. B. Gilman is in charge, and hia officers are:—Messrs G. F. Gimson, W. C. Sussims, and T. Gargett; surgeon, Dr J. Wilson rohief engineer, Mr G. Windship, whose assistants are Messrs G. Briggs (second), H. C. Mathison (third). R. B. Williams (fourth), A. Oocper (fifth), and G. S. M. Batha.n (sixth); D. M‘Gowan, chief refrigerator, J. Taylor second, and SWood- boilermaker. Mr H. Brewer is steward in charge. The Matatua’s draught is practicaliv 24ft aft and 21ft forward. She will lighten at Port before coming up to town on Friday. Her cargo consists of -about . 4900 tons for th’s po.t, and the balance for Lyttelton and Nelson.

MISHAP TO THE KOONYA. About two hours after the Koonya left Westport last month a mishap occurred in the engine room, and the engines had to be stopped. By this time the Koonya was about two miles off shore at Cape Foulwind. and both anchors were dropped while the engine-room staff attempted, to effect temporary repairs. About 6 p.ra. the wind, which had been blowing off shore, veered round to the opposite quarter, and a very heavy gea dame humbling over the' vessel. Finding himself on a lee shore. Captain. Platts signalled to the Cape for the tug Maud to be sent out to Ins assistance,

and when tli; 1 . tug arrived, and a start was made to get in the anchors it was found that on© of them had oarriedi away. After groat risk and difficulty the tug mad© but could hardly make any headway owing to th© heavy seas and high wind. However,' by dint of good seamanship and powerful engines, the tug managed to tow the Koonya into a sheltered position, -where She dropped anchor just as th© Eamona hove in sight. The tug then returned to Westport, and the Kamona stood by for a while to render Assistance if necessary as the bar was too rough to permit tho Koonya to,enter Westport. After 26 hours strenuous toil the engineers succeeded in effecting temporary repairs, but Captain Platts deemed it prudent to come north about, and, though able to steam about six knots under easy steam, her engines could not be depended upon to go astern. Under these conditions the Koonya managed to reach Bluff safely,_and, after discharge, she returned to Port Chalmers for her annual survey and overhaul without any further mishap.

A 15,000 TON MOTOR-DRIVEN SHIP. The German-Amerioan Petroleum Company has just placed two orders with the Germania Shipbuilding Company, Riel, for oil tank motor vessels pf about 7900 tons each, and has capped them with another order for a similar vessel of 15,000 tons. The latter vessel will be the largest oildriven vessel in the world, and proves that motor-driven vessels of large tonnage are rapidly coming into favour. Each of these vessels will have twin screws, and embody many unique features, the latter being enumerated in the London Shipping Gazette, from which we take _ the following The two smaller ships will each have two sixcylinder Krupp two stroke single-acting engines of Tlso_ b.h.p., running at 140 revolutions per minute, th© total power driving each vessel being, therefore, about 2800 i.h.p. In the larger tank ship th© engines, which will run at 125 revolutions per minute, will develop 1750 b.h.p.,: the indicated horse-power, therefore, being about 4-200. Thee© craft ar© being built for th© transport of petroleum between Europe and North America - or the Far East respectively, and the decision to install oil engines has been largely influenced by th© desire to increase thcL safety against fir©. Information to hand indicates that the 15,000-tpn vessel will l be designed bn th© Isherwobd longitudinal system, with a length of 525 ft between perpendiculars, extreme beam 66ft 3in, depth to main ' deck 33ft 6in, and depth to th© shelter deck 41ft 3in. She will be of :the shelter-deck type, with three decks running from ©tern to stern, and special arrangements have been made to gain advantage in tonnage measurement, the whole of the upper betweendeck being omitted, thus entailing a small net tonnage compared with the displacement of the ship. There ar© 22 tanks, arranged by longitudinal bulkheads into 11 compartmer. Is, which are divided up by transverse bulkheads, th© tank space occupying two-thirds of the length of the vessel; Between the second and third deck, for a breadth equal to a quarter "of the beam, an expansion hold extends over the eritix-e length of the tanks, thus reducing th© moving surface of'the cargo to one quarter of the ship’s beam. To take advantage of the freeboard rule®, and. to increase loading capacity in relation to the large capacity of cargo of lower specific weight than xs commonly carried, there are auxiliary tanks alongside the expansion hokl. The name of summer tanks has been given to these auxiliary tanks, because they enable th© fullest advantage to be taken of the lower freehold permitted during the summer season. For© and aft of the tank enace cofferdams are built, consisting of a room form©d by two traverse-bulkheads, serving to prevent leakage of oil from the tanks to the bow and stern compartments. Between tanks Nos;-' 2 and 3 there ie a third cofferdam, which permits different oils to be kept quite separate. Between tanks Nos. 5 and 6 there is a big room where the steam pumps for unloading th© cargo ar© installed, the oil piping being go arranged that the pumps can draw from any tank®, or can pump from one tank to another. A very complete service of ventilation has been arranged to enable th© tanks to be entered with safety for Inspection and repair. The suction pipes of th© tanks can be connected to a powerful ventilating engine, which quickly draws off poisonous gases while steam is blown directly into the tanks. Furthermore, there is a normal system ofventilation with pipes from the tanks carried up the masts. There are two dynamos, coupled directly With 35 horse-power engines, the current being required not only for electric light, but for the auxiliary machinery. Some additional pumps may be driven by steam or by compressed air, and this alternative ia provided for th© steering engine, although it will generally be driven by the air supply. Designed to Llyod’s Rules for the high-ret class (+ Al), this ship will embody the newest developments of shipbuilding and of accommodation with respect to her special puruosea, and. as being the largest tank ship a® well as the biggest oil-engined tank ship, she will be a noteworthy vessel.” Although these orders go to Germany, others have been already fulfilled on the Clyde. Early in November the Jutlandia, a 10.000-ton vessel, with Diesel oil engines of 3000 Lorse-poiver, was launched on the Clyde for the East Asiatic Company of Copenhagen, apd a similar vessel is also being built for the ®arae.company at Copenhagen. At the present time there are seven oil-driven vessels being built to the survey of the British Corporation, and 13 to that of Lloyd’s Survey, on© of the latter being a vessel of -14,000 ton®. , The engines of these vessels occupy less than half the space required for engine and boilers of equal power, _ and the extra cargo space and economy irt working bids fair to make the motor-driven ship a formidable rival to steam-driven vessels of equal tonnage.

Captainßlackburne, Nautical Adviser to the New Zealand Marine Department, has received from the Macquarie Island a letter, dated December 16, from Captain J. King Davis, commanding the s.-y$ Aurora. of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, thanking hjrn for a copy of the latest edition of Tables for Axirmiths. G-reaj;. Circle Sailing and Reduction to the Meridian, etc., just published ' by the Marina Department. Ha says:—“Wo have_ already several copies .of the as I use nothing else, and have insisted on my officers learning to use them, as they are ■ the only suitable tables for work, and are much handier, in my dnihion, for any latitude. I hope that they will become very widely known as I apa sure you make matters much simpler than many of-the bulky and expensive tables, which seem to he of much less value. We hare .been '*fre.rv= successful here, in getting all of r stores ashore and the 90 tons

of coal on board the Aurora. I hope w( shall have the same luck in the Antarctic.*