LIGHT COLOURS FOR SHIPS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19985, 18 December 1934, Page 7

LIGHT COLOURS FOR SHIPS

ORIENT COMPANY’S EXPERIMENT. When the Orient liner Orama, of 20,000 tons gross, arrived in Sydney from London recently, a change in the colouring of her paint gave a different appearance. The usual black paint of the hull had been replaced by a light tint, which is perhaps best described as cream, wfith a suggestion of brown. The colouring of the white upperworks and buff-coloured funnels remain as hitherto, but the front of the bridge is painted white instead of being varnished teak, and the masts and Samson posts, in place of a brick colour, are painted the same buff shade as the funnels. The waterline is green instead of red. Much thought has been given by the managers to the changes, but whether the new scheme is adopted permanently and is extended to the other ships of the line or not will depend largely on the impressions formed during the forthcoming voyage of the Orama.

Experiments on a small scale have confirmed the belief that a lightcoloured paint for the hull of a ship somewhat reduces the amount of the sun’s heat which passes through the plating, but experience alone can show if the benefit from this reduction in a modern and well-ventilated vessel is appreciable or if the temperature of the air from the forced circulation is the real factor that determinates the temperature in the accommodation. Appearance of the Orion. A light colour for the hulls is thought likely to give more of the appearance of handsome yachts to ships which pass through tropical waters. Should the experiment prove a success the other vessels of the fleet will be painted similarly in due course, and the new steamer Orion, which is now being built for the Orient Line at Barrow should, with her one funnel, one mast, and a cream-coloured hull

be a very picturesque unit of the British mercantile marine. Light colours have not been used for the hulls of Orient ships since the liner Ophir was specially painted before sailing as a Royal yacht to carry the King and Queen (then the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York) on a world tour to open the Federal Parliament in Australia in 1901..