THE MOOLTAN

Southland Times, Issue 19101, 20 November 1923, Page 3

THE MOOLTAN

NEW MAMMOTH LINER. FOR AUSTRALIAN TRADE. A new phase in the development of the fleet of the P. and O, Steam Navigation Company has been entered upon with the completion of the two liners Mooltan and Maloja, which are the largest vessels in the world to use the Suez Canal. The post-war development of Australian oversea shipping trade, particularly in the mail liners, has led to marked changes in design. The famous M class of P. and O. liners has long been departed from as models, and the most recent vessels placed in the Australian trade have been larger cargo carriers than heretofore. At the same time, great strides forward have been, made in passenger accommodation. With the two new vessels Mooltan and Maloja, the P. and O. Company has ships in the Australian trade that can house, dine, and sleep in approved comfort 656 saloon passengers on levels two tiers or more above the main deck. In size, 21,000 tons gross register, the new liners are equal to the moderately large ships of the Trans-Atlantic trade. The greater length of 625 ft and beam of 73ft has rendered possible compact room and convenient arrangements of the passenger accommodation. In the hull of the vessel may be seen that softness of contour which distinguished the two Belfast ships of the ’eighties, the Arcadia and Oceana, and in the Mooltan, the latest finished product of the same yards of Harland and Wolff, Ltd., anything approaching sharpness of line is accentuated by the cruiser stern. The Mooltan is different to other P. and O. liners in appearance, chiefly from her two eliptical funnels of somewhat remarkable dimensions and two pole masts. She is divided by 11 bulkheads into watertight compartments, and a double bottom, consisting of oil and water ballast tanks, extends *for the whole length of the liner. Like other P. and O. liners, she has large mail, bullion, and baggage rooms, and insulated storerooms for the carriage of her provisions. The holds are also insulated for the carriage homewards from Australia of the large quantities b of refrigerated cargo v.’hich the vessel is capable of stowing. The Mooltan left London on October 5 for Bombay on her maiden voyage, and on her return will make her first voyage to Australia, where she is due to arrive in January next. The new liner will be under the command of Captain S. Finch, 0.8. E. R.N.R., and will be followed a month later by her sister ship the Maloja.