“AU REVOIR, KAIONE"

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 268, 13 November 1945, Page 4

“AU REVOIR, KAIONE"

DREDGE TO SAIL EARLY THIS MORNING FAREWELL GATHERING Her lon™ association with Wanganui having coTne to an end, the suction, hopper dredge Kaione was to have sailed at two o'clock this morning lor Brisbane direct, her new home port. She carries a crew of 23, including several Wanganui men, and is under the command of Captain F. G. Taylor, deputy harbourmaster at Wanganui. The Kaione was sold recently to tne Queensland Cement and Lime Company, Limited, the purchase price being £47,500, agreed on between her new owners and the Wanganui Harbour Board. Since then more than £5OOO has been spent on the vessel, mainly in preparing her for her ocean passage of 1400 miles to Brisbane. Given reasonably line weather, the Kaione is expected to complete the trip in 11 days, at an estimated average speed of live and a-half to six knots. Returning with her Is Colonel D. E. Evans, a Lloyds surveyor and head of Australia's major shipbuilding yards, and Mr. D. SGeary, manager of the company which has purchased the vessel. For the Tasman crossing the vessel has been fitted with a complete wireless transmitting and receiving set, manned by a qualified operator. To house this equipment a cabin has been built on to her boat deck. Six new cabins have also been built, in addition to which hot and cold showers have been installed and the galley has been .enlarged and improved. All this work was carried out by Wanganui firms, and in an interview yesterday Mr. Geary expressed his appreciation of the help given by the chairman of the Wanganui Harooui Board, Mr. E. A. Millward, members of tire board, and Wanganui businessmen. “The Wanganui people have done everything they possibly could to help get the ship ready lor sea,” Mr. Geary added. "During our stay here we have also had an opportunity of seeing some of the principal places in the North Island. I must say we have enjoyed these visits and tome day hope to re. turn to New Zealand, not on business, but for a holiday.”

The Kaione's crew was signed on yesterday and a busy day was spent in taking on board the last of the stores. The bunkers have been filled with coal, but a reserve supply of luel is aLo being carried. Additional fresh water tanks have been fitted and filled for the passage. A certain amount o£ ballast v.as also loaded. In Australian waters the Kaione will dredge coral in Moreton Bay, at the mouth of the Brisbane River, for the manufacture of cement and will be engaged in dredging, conveying and discharging this coral at the rate of approximafely 20,000 tons a month. The distance from the point of loading to that of discharge is 37 miles, the company’s cement works being located 17 miles above Brisbane. The Kaione's officers for the Tasman trip are: Master, Captain F. G. Taylor, Wanganui; chief officer, Mr. E. Mouncer; second officer, Mr. E. Boyack, Wanganui; chief engineer, Mr. W. H. Bellman, Wanganui; second, Mr. T. T. M. Boyd; third, Mr. R. Hardaker, Wanganui; wireless operator, Mr. W. F. C. Whiteman.

Wanganui members of the crew are the boatswain, Mr. McFarlane, three able-bodied seamen, Messrs L. Trigg. L. Cheyne, and J. Sollett, a aeck boy, R. Tpdd, three firemen, Messrs A. Chapman, P. O'Brien and R. Davies, and a greaser, J. Corry. In appreciation of the hospitality extended to them in Wanganui, Colonel Evans and Mr. Geary entertained members of the Harbour Board and contractors who had assisted In preparing the ship for sea at a gathering on board the Kaione yesterday afternoon.

Explaining the new role which the Kaione would fill, Mr. Geary said that at the start of World War II the company was engaged in dredging cora; for the manufacture of cement. At that time supplies obtained were sufficient to meet requirements, but with the outbreak of war the demand for cement so increased that the company was forced to resort to limestone quarries at Warwick. This involved raw material being hauled lr rail for a distance of more than 200 miles, and greatly added to the cost of production. As the dredging plant in Moreton Bay was inadequate, the company decided to consider the question of a new dredge. Inquiries showed, however, that the cost of building a modern dredge of the Diesel-electric type would reach £150,000, but delivery could not be guaranteed within two and a-half years.

Faced with finding an alternative, the company had carried out one experiment with a suction dredge on the coral beds, and had subsequently purchased the Kaione from the Wanganui Harbour Board, believing that the would do the job. It was expected that, the saving in transport and production costs would pay for the Kaione within three or four years. Colonel Evans said the deal was satisfactory not only to the Wanganui Harbour Board, but also to the Queensland Cement and Lime Co. As a Lloyds surveyor he had made a thorough inspection of the vessel, and wished to compliment the board on the splendid way in which she had been maintained, in spite of the fact that the vessel was 27 years of age. The chairman of the board, Mr. Millward, said in reply that Wanganui extended its best wishes to th? Kaione for her Tasman crossing, and also expressed the hope that she would fully satisfy the requirements of her new owners.