GOVERNMENT MOTOR SHIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3889, 25 September 1928, Page 66

GOVERNMENT MOTOR SHIP.

MAUI POMARE’S FIRST TRIP. IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. On her first voyage to the port of Otago the Government motor ship Maui Pomare arrived on Saturday morning from Apia and Nuie Island. The vessel reached the Lower Harbour at an early hour, anchoring off Port Chalmers at G a.m., where she was boarded by the port health officer, and being granted a clean bill of health, she came on to Dunedin. The vessel was berthed at the cross wharf at 8 a.m., and a start was immediately made to discharge the Dunedin portion of her fruit cargo. The most important feature connected with the Maui Pomare’s visit is the fact that her cargo of bananas arrival in excellent condition. The ship brought 4000 cases, loaded at Apia and Niue. Of this total 1900 cases were landed at Dunedin, and the fruit reached the local market without any delay. The Maui Pomare brought eight, passengers. These included three members Samoan >- pecial Police Garrison, who have returned to take up their former positions in various parts of the Dominion. Sergeant-major Cockerill enlisted from Dunedin several months ago. Miss Dugdale, a guest of his Excellency the Governor’s household, made the round voyage of the ship. The Maui' Roman left Auckland on September 1 and arrived at Apia after a pleasant passage. The greater portion of the fruit was loaded at the Samoan port, and the ship sailed from Apia on September 10 for Nuie. She left the island on September 12, and met with fair weather until after passing Sunday Island. The ''vessel then encountered very bad weather, heavy westerly and south-westerly gales prevailing for several days. She battled with the adverse conditions until the East Cape was sighted last Thursday morning, when an improvement took place. The conditions, however, were still ’ somewhat unsettled, strong winds and moderate seas being encountered on the run down the coast. The distance from Nuie Island to Dunedin is about 1800 miles. The Maui Pomare averaged just on 10 knots throughout the trip. The engines functioned very smoothly Captain MacDonald last visited Dunedin in command of the motor ship Yomah, now known as the Ashburton. That was in February, 1927. He left New Zealand in 1913, and served with (he British Navy during the. war period. He was appointed to the Yomah in 1926, and brought the vessel from Glasgow and New York to New Zealand. Captain MacDonald returned to Glasgow with the Yomah, and was later commissioned to bring the new motor vessel Hautuiu, built for the Northern Steamship n Company, on the Clyde, from Greenock to Auckland. He joined the Hinemoa as master in August last year, and traded to Niue and Norfolk Islands with that vessel, and was appointed to the Maui Pomare in June last, the motor ship having been built to replace the Hinemoa. All the officers and engineers of the Maui Pomare are Europeans, while the deck, engine room, and steward members of the crew are all natives of Nuie Island, numbering 24. The natives are looked upon as being good seamen. Captain MacDonald said they are unsurpassed as boatmen, which is a big asset to the ship, as a great deal of surf boat work has to be carried out at the islands visited by the Maui Pomare.

RECEPTION ON BOARD. The vessel’s agents invited a number of business men of Dunedin to meet on board at 11 o’clock to celebrate this commencement of the Islands-New Zealand trade. Mr G. Tapley and Mr J. H. Duncan, representing the agents, welcomed the party, which included Messrs J. Sutherland Ross, G. W. Reid (Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association), E. A. Rosevear, H. P. West (Chamber of Commerce), H. E. Moller, W. J. Bardsley (Harbour Board), G. T. Wilkinson (Fruit Importers’ Association), W. Gow (Shipping and Importers’ Association), 8. B. Macdonald (Otago Expansion League), F. Johnston (Department of Industries and Commerce), the Collector of Customs (Dunedin), Lloyd’s agent and surveyor, and representatives of local shipping companies. After morning tea, Mr H. E. Moller (Otago Harbour Board) expressed the pleasure they all felt at the arrival of the steamer in Dunedin. The Expansion League, the Chamber of Commerce, and other bodies had put forth great efforts to get the ve'ssel down here, and, their efforts having been crowned with success, an important trade had been opened up between the Islands and Otago.—(Applause.) Mr G. J. Williamson (Fruit Importers* Association) said that for the last 10 or 15 years southern merchants had been working at a great disadvantage in the matter of a supply of fruit for the local market. This would not be the case any longer. Fruit was not a luxury but a necessity, and the people of the South Island were just as entitled to get their supplies of the necessaries of life as were the .people of the North Island. He considered that members of Parliament had been someat apathetic in this matter. They hau left everything to local homes and private enterprise carry on. As Auckland already had a good service with the Islands, the Maui Fbmare

should call only at Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin, making Dunedin its last port of call on one trip and Wellington on the next. The thr cities could take all the fruit the steamer brought, and they could at the same time supply to the Islands all that the people there required. Mr J. Sutherland Ross said he hoped this tr y was but the forerunner of many other visits of the steamer to Dunedin. The manufacturers realised the . nportance of doing their best to help with return cargo to the Islands, though he was not certain that, geographically speaking,’ Dunedin was the best placed town for supplying the needs of the people. _ He deprecated too much divergence between north and south. The two parts made one community, and while he admitted there was much truth in what had been said about the south being neglected in favour of the north it was perhaps their duty to bury that aspect as far as possible as long as their requirements were supplied. Mr S. B. Macdonald (Expansion League) also extended a welcome, and said he was pleased to know that that the crew were contented, notwithstanding what had appeared in the papers to the contrary. , Captain MacDonald thanked the speakers for the welcome extended to the vessel. He was sure that all concerned wished to make a success of the trade and to keep the ship running. He was quite satisfied with his crew. A lot of boat work had to be done, and when he sent a boat away with Niue men on board he knew their task would be carried out.—(Applause.) The subject of dues, he said, had been mentiond, and it seemed to him that although other ports intended to charge dues on the steamer Dunedin might set a good example by refusing to make a charge. Captain MacDonald went on to say that, as far as he could see, the trips to Norfolk Island might have to be cut out. The people of Samoa wanted the boat every 28 days, and if it went to Norfolk Island they got it only once in six weeks. Mr J. H. Duncan said that to justify the vessel calling at Dunedin it was necessary to secure outward loading, and he was sure the Dunedin merchants would do all they could to establish an export trade. -The larger that trade was the more they would be able to convince the department that the ship ought to call at Dunedin on every trip. As for dues, he thought the vessel was in the?same position as'a mail steamer, in that it was intended to serve New Zealand as a whole, and ought therefore to be free from dues. The gathering closed with cheers for the agents. DESCRIPTION OF THE VESSEL. The Maui Pomare, which, it is unnecessary to state, is named after the well-known New Zealand Minister in charge of the Cook Islands, was built by the Dublin Dockyard Company—a subsidiary company of Vickers, Ltd—which secured the contract from over 40 competitors. The contract price was £55,018, and the vessel’s keel was laid in November, 1926, but delays in her building were caused by the coal strike. The vessel is 210 feet in length, 35 feet in breadth, has a draught of 14 feet, and the dead weight of that draught is 950 tons. She is a motor vessel, her propulsion being by two Vickers-Petters C type oil engines, each developing 600 h.p. The speed is about Hi knots. One particular feature is the long insulated hold, specially fitted up in the most up-to-date manner, for the carriage of fruit. The engines are placed well aft, and this hold runs along the greater length of the ship. The refregcrating machinery is electrically driven. There is other refrigerating machinery for the ship’s stores. The Maui Pomare was built principally for the carriage of fruit, eopra, cocoa, rubber, and general- merchandise, although there is accommodation provided for the Administrator of Samoa and his staff, and a limited number of Europeans, also special -quarters for the accommodation of natives travelling between the islands.