THE www.nautical.asn.au LOG QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE NAUTICAL ASSOCIATION OF INC. VOL. 50, NO. 1, ISSUE 207 - NEW SERIES 2017

Howard Smith (496/1952) in Victoria Dock, in January 1963 (M.Dippy)

Howard Smith was completed for Howard Smith Industries Pty Ltd by Hall, Russell & Co., Aberdeen in March 1952 for use in Melbourne. Built to burn , she was converted to oil before entering service to resolve a manning dispute with the Seamen‘s Union. In 1969 she was renamed Melbourne to release the name for Hoegh Elm (35,719/1964) a combined ore/oil carrier which had been acquired from Leif Hoegh. On 9 August 1972 she was rolled over by Royal Interocean‘s Nieuw Holland (11,926/1958) off Gellibrand Light at the entrance to the Yarra River with the loss of five crew. She was raised on 16 February 1973 and towed to Brisbane in August of that year where she was stripped. In January 1979 her hull was scuttled in .

PRINT POST PUBLICATION NUMBER 100003238 ISSN 0815-0052. All rights reserved. On 13 December 2016 the RAN commenced a three year (with two options of one year extensions) agreement for the purpose of contractor support, maintenance, crewing and operation of the new 94 metre long multi-role aviation training vessel (MATV) Sycamore. The Damen-built MATV Sycamore, launched in Haiphong, Vietnam on 30 August 2016, will operate as a civilian registered, aviation- capable, ocean-going vessel for the delivery of military training and other services to the RAN and other Commonwealth agencies. The ship will undergo sea trials and then arrive in in 2017.

On 6 December 2016 HMAS took part in trials with the BAE Systems Australia Patria AMV35 combat reconnaissance vehicle and a Rheinmetall Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicle from the LAND 400 project. The project seeks to find a replacement for the Light Armoured Vehicles currently in service with the Australian Army.

In mid-November the RAN conducted one of its largest maritime warfare exercises off the coast. Exercise OCEAN RAIDER involved eleven warships and submarines, supported by aircraft and more than 1,500 personnel from Australia and the USN over a three week period. The LHD HMAS Adelaide led six ships south from Sydney, while HMAS Warramunga and two submarines sailed from Western Australia. HMAS Darwin was also en route after completing her disaster relief duties in . The Navy‘s mine clearance divers, Clearance Diving Team One, and minehunters HMA Ships Gascoyne and Huon, also trained in . All of the ships then sailed to Bass Strait for the final week of OCEAN RAIDER where they conducted war games and tested their ability to conduct joint sea combat in task groups.

The Spanish Navy's F-100 class frigate Cristóbal Colón began her deployment to Australia in January 2017. After conducting operational qualification trials in the Gulf of Cádiz, the frigate began her 120-day deployment from 9 January. The long-term deployment was framed within the agreement between the Spanish Navy and the RAN to enhance the interoperability between the two services, and to provide individual training on board the frigate for the crews of the new Hobart class destroyers, designed by Navantia. After a stopover at Fleet Base West, he ship will visit Adelaide 5-10 February. During the deployment, all the ship‘s capabilities will be put to the test, including maintenance and logistic support procedures in far-off theatres of operation. Cristóbal Colón is scheduled to return to Spain in June 2017.

Meanwhile, the Italian Navy FREMM frigate Carabiniere also visited Australia during January and February. The tour, backed by Fincantieri the frigate‘s builder, included visits to Fremantle, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. In April 2016 Australia shortlisted proposals from BAE Systems, Fincantieri and Navantia for the RAN‘s program to build nine new frigates. The anti-submarine frigate was delivered to the Italian Navy in April 2015, the fifth of ten to be eventually commissioned.

Border Force

On 12 December the RAN returned the Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Nelson to the Australian Border Force after operating the vessel on loan for 14 months. Cape Nelson, and her sistership Cape Byron, were leased to the RAN at a cost of $3 million a year to fill a gap in border protection capabilities. This arrangement came about after the Armidale class patrol boat (ACPB) HMAS Bundaberg was destroyed in a fire while undergoing maintenance in Brisbane, reducing the Fleet to 13 ACPBs. The RAN‘s ACPBs had been operating under extreme pressure since the initial boats entered service in 2006 and several had been laid up and repaired due to associated structural and mechanical problems. Cape Nelson sailed more than 55,000 nautical miles during her service with the RAN, operating around Christmas Island, off the northwest Cape, north of Darwin off the Tiwi Islands, up off Torres Strait, into the Coral Sea, and east to Norfolk Island and south to Brisbane.

To replace the pair of leased patrol craft, the first of two additional Cape class patrol boats for the RAN was rolled out on 8 December 2016. ADV Cape Fourcroy was launched mid December and is scheduled for delivery to the RAN in April 2017, with the second vessel, ADV Cape Inscription, following in May 2017. The two vessels will be leased until at least 2019.

63 The Log quarterly journal of the

NAUTICAL ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INC.

www.nautical.asn.au

ABN: 18 382 946 943 Vol. 50, No. 1, Issue 207 - New Series 2017

Contents President‘s Report for 2016...... 4

The Long Forgotten Karuah (1908-1932): A Story in Three Parts...... 5

Correspondence...... 14

Interesting Ships No.59, Ugly Ducklings and Beautiful Swans...... 17

Boyhood Memories of the Steam Tug Eagle...... 25

Sydney Shipping Recalled...... 27

Reviews...... 30

From the Pen of Peter Nicolson – Port Line Streamliners...... 31

Colour Pictures from Yesteryear - Ellermans...... 32

Maritime News...... 34

Opposite: David Kirby‘s shot of Royal Interocean‘s Van Cloon (2,843/1955) at Hobart on 20 September 1965. She was built by Bijker‘s at Gorinchem in 1955 and served her owner without mishap until sold in 1969 at which time she was renamed Eastern Prosperity and then Eastern Prosper a year later. She ended her days at Kaohsiung at the end of 1984 as Meng Horng the name she had carried since 1982.

Errata: Page 176 of Issue 205, caption for picture, should read Searoad Mersey II, not Seaway Mersey II. Page 211 of Issue 206 – Titania was renamed Aristotelis in November 1961, not Arisotelis Page 243 of Issue 206 - Publications by Ron Parsons the published email address for Louise Thompson was incorrectly rendered, it should have read: [email protected]

3 PRESIDENT’S REPORT FOR 2016

The year past was ‗steady as she goes‘ for the Nautical Association of Australia (NAA). With thanks once again to our Editor, Russell Priest, plus Dale Crisp and the Maritime News team, the four issues of Volume 49 of The Log again covered almost 300 pages of Australasian shipping history, nostalgia and current news, all well-illustrated by interesting, high-quality photographs. The Log remains the pre- eminent journal of record for Australasian maritime history.

The overdue increase in the subscription rate from mid-year was a regrettable necessity but The Log remains good value for money and I am pleased that we have lost few subscribers. That said, its long- term viability depends on maintaining the subscription base. If you read a borrowed copy, please give us your support by becoming a subscriber and encouraging your friends to do likewise.

Our Editor has also continued to develop the NAA‘s digital database of ship photos with off-site back-up. This is not only a valuable resource for The Log but also available on request and with due acknowledgement to other publications. It will become more valuable over time. If you have a collection that may be of interest, please contact The Editor. The focus is on Australasian shipping and foreign-flag ships that have been in service to Australia and New Zealand. Identified maritime incidents, port views and on-board views are also appreciated in both colour and black-and-white. This photographic database is being drawn on for the NAA‘s work-in-progress on the Fleet History of the from its establishment at the end of 1956 to the sale to French owners in 1998. This is now mostly drafted up to about 1970 and we aim to complete the draft manuscript by the end of this year. As advised in the previous issue of The Log, Iain Steverson, Mike Carolin and Barry Pemberton are the lead writers with Rex Cox updating the fleet list. If you have ANL recollections, materials or photos, we would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted through The Editor.

The relentless contraction of Australian-flag, Australian-manned shipping continued in 2016 with the disposal of the alumina carrier Portland and the registration offshore of CSL Melbourne and CSL Brisbane. One bright spot was the arrival in December of the new Bass Strait ro-ro Searoad Mersey II, which continues a proud Australian tradition for innovative ship design. The argument for our island nation to maintain a core of maritime and shipbuilding skills must continue to be put to those in power who claim to support jobs, but not maritime jobs. Meanwhile cruising continues to boom with 41 foreign- flag, foreign-crewed ships scheduled to make a record 900 port calls in Australia (33 ships and 600 ports in New Zealand) over the summer of 2016/17. Passengers bring a welcome boost to local economies, but local inputs to the ships are limited to not much more than pilots, stores and fuel.

A final observation concerns the China Navigation Company, founded by John Swire & Sons in 1872 and still thriving as a family firm 145 years later. CNCo opened a liner service from China and Hong Kong to Australia in 1883 and today is still a very regular caller at Australian and New Zealand ports with a mix of container, break-bulk and bulk shipping. On 16 November 2016 CNCo completed a large four-year newbuilding program with delivery of its 241st new ship, appropriately named after its first Yangtze River steamer, Tunsin. Her prior sisters, the bulk carriers Taiyuan, Tientsin and Tsingtao, also revive familiar names in Australian waters, and in November Aotearoa Chief was commissioned into the coastal cement trade in New Zealand with NZ manning! The NAA published a short history and fleet list of CNCo in Beancaker to Boxboat (1988) and also In Coral Seas (2004), a short history of its New Guinea Australia Line. The latter is still available from the NAA along with the history of the famous coastal and trans-Tasman shipping company Huddart Parker (2008) by Bill Laxon et al. and A Lucky Ship (2013), the story of the long-lived coaster Tambar by Craig Mair – all good reads and also good presents.

My thanks to the Committee and in particular our Treasurer, Alan Knott, Log Mail Team Coordinator Philip Meyer, New Zealand agent Lindsay Butterfield, Secretary Peter Cundall and Past President Lindsay Rex for their efforts in keeping the Association running smoothly.

Howard Dick Newcastle, NSW 4 THE LONG FORGOTTEN KARUAH (1908-1932): A STORY IN THREE PARTS

from H. Dick

Part 1: New South Wales

The Newcastle & Hunter River Steamship Company Ltd (NHRS) was a good business. Since the amalgamation of the Newcastle Steamship Company and the Hunter River New Steam Navigation Company in the New Year of 1892, the company had enjoyed a monopoly of the passenger trade by sea between Sydney and Newcastle. Although a rail connection had been made in 1891 with a across the Hawkesbury River linking the two sections, it was a slow journey and impractical for all but small parcels of freight. The fast steamers Namoi and Newcastle alternated with daily sailings at 11 pm while smaller cargo steamers ventured up river to transfer cargo to and from shallow draft droghers. In the mid-1900s the company maintained a steady dividend of 6%.

Hawk departing Sydney in NHRS colours (I.J. Farquhar collection)

The problem faced by the company was the lack of scope for expansion. The intrastate trade north of Newcastle was in the hands of the North Coast Steam Navigation Company, that to the south by the & South Coast Steam Navigation Company. In between, the trade of the Hawkesbury and was very small beer. Nevertheless, the directors did see bright prospects for the trade with the natural harbour of Port Stephens, which despite its early settlement had long been a backwater. Besides fish and timber from the Myall River, the opening up of the rich district of Gloucester with road connections via Booral and Stroud meant growth of butter and supplies, to which could be added the likelihood of cargo for the new railway to be built north from Maitland. Port Stephens was even being touted as a possible site for the new national capital. Accordingly in July 1906 NHRS bought from local operator Vicenzo Latona the new wooden-hulled steamer Hawk (140/1903), which was providing a weekly passenger and cargo service from Sydney, and also the little feeder vessel Grace (25/1892). Callen of Newcastle were already providing regular sailings from Newcastle. Initial results were promising, so NHRS decided to make a serious investment. On 19 February 1907 the Sydney Morning

5 Herald (SMH) reported that the company was drawing up plans for ‗an up-to-date cargo and passenger steamer suitable for the trade between Sydney, Newcastle, and Port Stephens‘. It would have ‗superior accommodation for about 50 passengers, up-to-date cargo handling appliances, and cool chambers for both fish and butter.‘ The announcement came a fortnight after the launch by Ramage & Ferguson of Leith of the new packet steamer Hunter (1840/1907), which was completed the following month. At the half-yearly meeting of NHRS at the beginning of February 1908 it was announced that a tender had been accepted for the Port Stephens steamer. Because the same builders obtained the work, there may well have been favourable terms for a flow-on order. Hunter had been yard number 208; the new vessel would be number 215. In between the yard delivered four steam yachts, a small cargo vessel and the Wellington harbour and salvage tug Terawhiti (260/1907).

On 8 June 1908 SMH mentioned that Captain Phillipsen (often also as Phillipson), hitherto master of Hawk, had just sailed for London by P&O mail liner Britannia to take command of the new steamer, now identified as Karuah. The name was taken from the river flowing into the Port Stephens estuary from the western side and was shared by the village on the southern side of the Pacific Highway punt. Phillipsen would have arrived in good time for the launch on July 29, report of which (SMH, 31/7/08) gave further details of the vessel:

―The Karuah, which has been specially designed to suit the requirements of the passenger and cargo trade between Port Stephens and Sydney, is a twin-screw steamship of about 250 tons gross. She is 130 feet in length, with a beam of 26 foot and a depth of 8 feet 6 inches. The Karuah will have accommodation for between 30 and 40 passengers, and will be capable of maintaining an average speed of 10 knots. The vessel will be electrically lighted throughout, and deck cabins are to be fitted. Cool chambers are to be provided for the carriage of butter, and others for the shipment of fish.‖

After fitting out and running trials, Karuah sailed from Leith in ballast on 25 September 1908. The public were kept informed of her progress from brief items in the shipping pages of DCN and the Herald, beginning with a call at Malta on 10-12 October. Because of the ship‘s modest bunker capacity, it was a leisurely voyage via Port Said 17/10, Aden 26/10 and Colombo 6/11, Singapore 14-19/11, via Torres Strait with further calls at Thursday Island 5/12, Port Archer (Cooktown) and Townsville 8/12. She duly reached Sydney on 15 December after a delivery voyage of almost three months.

SMH (17/12/08) provided detailed coverage of the new ship in a format suggesting that there is nothing new in journalists treating company PR as news:

―[Karuah] is a fine type of passenger and cargo vessel combined, with a straight stem, and was designed by the company's superintendent engineer, her construction being supervised by Mr. James Sted Thomson. The Karuah is 130 feet in length, with a beam of 27 feet, and a depth of 10 foot 6 inches. Her gross register tonnage is 215, her net tonnage 185, and her deadweight carrying capacity about 150 tons.

The whole of the passenger accommodation is on the spar deck, amidships, and will be reserved for through passengers for Port Stephens, notwithstanding the fact that the Karuah will call in at Newcastle on the way. There are 14 two-berth deck cabins, fitted according to the latest mode, with bedsteads and wire mattresses. The dining saloon is a very comfortable apartment, and is well lighted and ventilated and supplied with electric fans.

A feature of the Karuah is a large hatchway forward, 20 feet in length, capable of taking long lengths of timber and big girders. It is expected that the vessel will carry large quantities of material in connection with the construction of the North Coast railway, Port Stephens being the port of Gloucester. Refrigerated space has been reserved for the carriage of fish, butter, and other perishable descriptions of cargo, and the vessel is electrically lighted throughout. The engines of the new steamer are of the triple-expansion type, indicating 400-horsepower, and steam-steering gear has been fitted. She is built of steel, with teak decks, to the British Corporation rules.‖

6 It may be added that Karuah was a twin-screw steamer with a schooner rig. The company postcard, probably a trials view, shows furled sails on both masts plus a jib. After docking and inspection, Karuah was registered at Sydney on 21 December 1908 as 52/1908 (ON 125178) and took her first sailing the next day (Tuesday 22nd) at 4pm from the Market Street wharf for ‗Port Stephens‘ (Nelson Bay) and again the following Saturday 26th at 2pm, just in time for the Christmas-New Year holidays. Henceforth this would be her regular schedule, Tuesdays and Saturdays leaving Sydney northbound, Thursdays and Mondays from Port Stephens southbound, calling at Newcastle for bunkers when required. Advertisements noted that there would be a launch connection at Port Stephens for passengers travelling up river. Hawk was relegated to the Newcastle-Port Stephens run.

Contemporary photos, including N&HR‘s postcard view, show a smart little steamer with a profile typical of small NSW coastal steamers, that is focsle and mast, well deck and a long bridge deck with accommodation block, mainmast and after hatch. Karuah was distinctive in that the accommodation block was fully enclosed, which allowed more space for cabins and gave good weather protection in winter but would probably have been too warm in hot weather. This feature made the ship look more like a Scottish or Scandinavian coaster than a NSW one. Yet ironically, and this could never have been anticipated, Karuah would spend two-thirds of her life in sub-tropical and tropical waters.

Karuah at Sydney ready for sea (I.J. Farquhar collection)

On Tuesday 12 February 1909 Karuah sailed as usual from Darling Harbour, passed the heads at 6.50pm and at 8.5 knots was off Norah Head at 11pm. Half an hour later off Bird Island the Mate, Daniel Molloy, relieved Captain Phillipsen who went below to his cabin. In the early hours about 2.30am he awoke to the ship‘s bumping, rushed to the bridge and ordered full astern, but no avail. In bright moonlight and calm weather, the ship had grounded fast in the middle of Stockton Beach, about ten miles north of Newcastle and only a mile north from the wreck of AUSN‘s collier Mareeba (1,747/1898), which had stranded the previous July. Over the next half hour distress rockets were fired off, which alerted Nobbys signal station, but with no sea running the ship was in no immediate danger as the tide ebbed. At dawn the pilot steamer Ajax arrived on the scene in company with the lifeboat Victoria and offered to take off passengers and crew but they elected to remain for the time being. Anticipating that he

7 would get off on the next tide and pending instructions from the Newcastle office, Captain Phillipsen also declined assistance from the tugs Commodore and Leveret. Ajax returned to Newcastle with his report, whereby NHRS became aware of their ship‘s plight.

Fortuitously NHRS Superintending Engineer J. Thomson and Foreman Shipwright T. Clouston had just arrived from Sydney on Hunter. They promptly engaged Peter Callen & Sons‘ small tug Carbine (49/1889) and steamer Storm King (43/1890) which stood off Karuah around 11am on the Wednesday. By this time the tide and the sea had come up and waves were breaking over the ship, which now lay broadside on. It was impossible to get a line across and they returned to Newcastle to organise salvage. That afternoon Taylor‘s steamer Bellinger (229/1902) was able to pass a line and slew the ship around but the line parted before she could be hauled off. The passengers remained aboard to observe all these proceedings. Not until the Thursday morning did the rocket brigade go up by land and bring them all ashore.

On Thursday 14th Captain Spinks took charge of salvage on behalf of the underwriters, working with tug owners and salvors Peter Callen & Sons under the direction of Norbert Callen. Carbine took up two heavy anchors from Hunter. These were laid out as kedges and connected by hawsers to Karuah, allowing her stern to be dragged around before the tide dropped. For the next few days there was little movement in the tides and not much could be achieved by the winches, although the ship was moved some feet seawards on the Sunday afternoon. At dawn on Monday 19th work resumed on a higher tide with more success and by 6am the ship was at last afloat. She immediately proceeded under her own steam to Newcastle, rounding Nobbys just after 7.30am, then two hour later sailing for Sydney. Docking revealed no structural damage to the hull from five days in the , though a broken winch and windlass would need to be replaced. Repairs to hull and machinery were duly assessed as £625 plus £1625 salvage. Callen & Sons were praised for their salvage efforts and Norbert Callen‘s son Terry Callen, a long-time contributor to The Log, wrote of the feat as the only ship to be salvaged from Stockton Beach (The Log, Nov. 2006).

The Marine Court of Inquiry convened a fortnight later and heard the usual conflicting evidence. The Master claimed that when before turning in on the night of the 12th, he had instructed the Mate to steer N. 15 degrees E. to Redhead, then N.E. until he picked up Port Stephens Light. The Mate, however, denied he had received such instructions but was to keep N. by E. and work along Stockton Beach in the smooth water, which was common unofficial practice to avoid the southerly current. He claimed to have altered course off Nobbys to NNE when it became hazy, which the man at the wheel confirmed. However, whereas he believed himself to be three to four miles off Nobbys, the signalman reckoned only two miles. If so, the Mate did not have the margin of safety that he believed, and in fact admitted that he had been ‗over-confident‘. He himself had held a master‘s certificate for 16 years and had served in command for nine or ten of those, including with the NHRS, before reverting to Mate for family reasons. The court held the Mate to have been at fault and suspended his certificate for six months.

After this near death experience, Karuah quickly resumed her regular schedule, taking her next sailing at 6pm that Friday 20th in place of Hawk. The daily advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald now became a bit more explicit. Instead of just mentioning the destinations of Port Stephens, Bulahdelah, Booral and Myall Lakes, it was now specified that the ship would meet coaches at Booral for Stroud and Gloucester. This might imply that the Karuah River had been cleared enough for Karuah to ascend to the old Booral Wharf, though the rock ledge across the river above Allworth makes this unlikely. Commencement of railway construction on the North Coast line, especially the section from Dungog to Gloucester via Stroud Road brought good business to both Karuah ex Sydney and Hawk ex Newcastle in regard to passengers, supplies and materials. Some advertisements emphasized that Booral was the nearest port to the railway works. In mid-August 1911 the line was opened from Maitland through to Gloucester but not until February 1913 was it completed through to Taree. Traffic then dropped off, so in April Karuah‘s schedule was brought back to serving Port Stephens only, that is Nelson Bay, Salamander Bay and perhaps the village of Karuah where there was a punt crossing on the coastal ‘highway‘. Commissioning of the new drogher Myall River allowed for transhipment through to the Myall Lakes.

8 During this period there were a couple of minor mishaps. On the morning of Sunday 23 July 1911 while entering Nelson‘s (sic) Bay in windy conditions, Karuah was steering around Cain‘s steamer Ballengarra (221/1911), which was sheltering from the weather, when it struck Corrigan‘s Kiltobranks (272/1908), also at anchor, stripping away 20 feet of the latter‘s wooden bulwarks. Karuah was undamaged. A year later on 28 March Karuah did herself damage, suffering minor dents when her stern bumped the jetty during berthing at Nelson Bay (SMH, 30/3/12).

When Karuah was docked for five-yearly survey in October 1913, the opportunity was taken to make some minor alterations. The refrigerated fishroom was expanded in size while the foremast was moved forward and a longer derrick fitted ‗to expedite the handling of cargo‘ (SMH, 16/10/13). When next docked six months later she was given new propellers (SMH, 16/4/14). The brief report of this added that Port Stephens was becoming increasingly popular with fishermen and others during Easter holidays. However, this was only one week of the year. Overall passenger traffic was probably declining. Opening of through rail traffic between Maitland and Taree in February 1913 meant that passengers from the Gloucester district could now readily travel through to Newcastle and there either change trains for Sydney or catch the overnight NHRS steamer. What remained was freight, for which Karuah had fairly limited capacity.

The outbreak of war in August 1914 had no immediate impact on Karuah‘s local operations and her schedule of twice weekly sailings remained unchanged. On Tuesday 30 May she sailed from Sydney as usual, then on the Wednesday, without explanation, the Friday sailing was advertised by Allyn River (143/1915) at the earlier time of noon. This much smaller wooden steamer had been completed only the previous year for use as a drogher on the Hunter River but had some sea-going capability. A week later the reason for this switch became clear: Karuah had been sold to the Commonwealth of Australia and her register transferred. DCN of 14 June stated that the ship was about to leave Cockatoo Dock after completing general overhaul and structural alterations and would shortly commission for lighthouse service.

The suddenness with which Karuah was taken out of commercial service with immediate delivery on 2 June suggests that the ship had not been listed for sale. More than likely, it had been a case of the Commonwealth Government shopping around in a tight market for the best ship available at a price it was willing to pay. In view of the stagnation of the Port Stephens trade, NHRS would have been willing to negotiate. Even allowing for inflated wartime prices, the agreed price of £17,000 would have been a satisfactory way for NHRS to extricate itself from an unprofitable investment and deploy a smaller and more economical vessel in Allyn River to look after the freight business. The funds could then be set aside until the war ended and when shipyard capacity freed up for construction of a new passenger steamer as a proper consort for Hunter on the Sydney-Newcastle run. There was never another passenger steamer built for the Port Stephens run.

Part 2: Queensland Lighthouse Service

At Federation in 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia was granted the power to administer lighthouses under s.51 of the Constitution. Nevertheless, for the first decade there were other more urgent priorities than lighthouses. Thus it was not until 1911 that a Lighthouse Act was passed. Two years later a very capable Yorkshire-born civil engineer Joshua Ramsbotham, who lately had been supervising harbour works in Fremantle, was appointed Director of the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service (CLS), located in the Department of Trade and Customs in Melbourne. His task was to ensure that operations could be transferred from the States to the Commonwealth by the start-up date of 1 July 1915.

A critical need was for lighthouse tenders to serve remote and island lighthouses. The State governments all had miscellaneous small ships that served the purpose as required but none of them were really satisfactory, being either too small or too old or both. The comprehensive Report ‗Lighting the Australian Coast‘ (1913) by Commander Brewis, RN, on which the Commonwealth Government acted, recommended the building of three 500 grt, 200 ft lighthouse vessels, for which tenders were issued in

9 March 1914. Then the Great War intervened and suddenly there were more urgent priorities. Ramsbotham found himself in a pickle. The best he could do to inaugurate the CLS was to buy two small motor ketches and for the rest charter in the best available vessels from the State governments, thus from Victoria Lady Loch (487/1886) and from South Australia the little Governor Musgrave (266/1874), which was sent across to Western Australia. Queensland had the luxurious paddle steamer Lucinda (301/1884), an official yacht which had an occasional role as lighthouse tender, but CLS had to be satisfied with the interim charter of the tiny wooden steamer Excelsior (132/1900), which was sent north to Cooktown. But with so much work needing to be done along the treacherous coastline of Queensland, something bigger and better was obviously needed. Karuah was less than ideal, as would soon become apparent, but she was relatively new, in excellent condition, and had more capacity for both freight and passengers than the inaptly named Excelsior, whose charter then lapsed.

Lighthouse steamer Karuah on Peters‘ Slip, Brisbane for annual docking (Queensland M.M.)

Karuah‘s registry was transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia on 7 June. After necessary alterations had been carried out at Cockatoo Island, a crew was engaged and she set sail for Brisbane, arriving on 1 July. She berthed at Peters‘ Slip, Kangaroo Point, to take on stories and supplies, then sailed again on Wednesday 5th on an inspection tour of lights as far north as Torres Strait. On board were the Director Ramsbotham, the Surveyor-General, the District Officer of Lighthouses and the Queensland Postmaster-General (BC, 30/6/16). It would have been an interesting voyage.

Because Karuah had been rushed into lighthouse service in mid-1916, in November 1917 opportunity was taken with delayed annual docking to do a thorough overhaul. The outlay of £2,532 was considerable but the ship was kept in British Corporation class and as well suited to her new task as could be achieved. Meanwhile, as there was no immediate prospect of new ships being built, CLS took over Governor Musgrave and in July 1917 Lady Loch for £9,050 less the two years‘ charter money.

On 20 January 1918 Karuah was at Mackay when a cyclone hit with torrential rain – 53 inches in 3 days – and a 25 foot tidal wave up the Pioneer River. The town was devastated and all telegraphic communications were broken with the outside world. However, a young man, John Vidulich knew Morse Code and one night by means of a battery and car headlight from the roof of the main hotel was able to send to the lighthouse on nearby Flat Rock a signal that was in turn relayed to Karuah, whose radio allowed long distance transmission. For the next three weeks the lighthouse tender served as a

10 telegraph station.

In mid-1918 Karuah proved her worth in towage. Cockatoo Island had built two non-powered lightships to be positioned at Breaksea Spit at the northern tip of Fraser Island. On 25 May Karuah left Sydney towing Breaksea Spit No. 1, then a month later on 15 June sailed with Breaksea Spit No. 2. One of these would be on station, the other held in reserve until they were swapped around for docking and maintenance, beginning with the hosing down and scraping away of the encrusted thick layer of bird lime. The following year Karuah returned for two more lightships, leaving for Brisbane with Carpentaria No.1 on 19 March and Carpentaria No.2 on 17 April. Though destined for Booby Island off the tip of Cape York, the latter two lightships would lie at Brisbane until 1926 because Karuah was deemed unable to complete such a long tow and the Commonwealth was too stingy to pay for a commercial tug. Too bad for the safety of mariners!

In December 1921 Captain (Henry) Perry Hildebrand, an ex-AUSN man, took over from Captain C.J. Brown as Master of Karuah. By now she was well settled into routine duties along the 1,500 nautical miles of the Queensland coast from her base port in Brisbane as far north as Thursday Island (TI) at the entrance to Torres Strait. Each voyage involved periodic inspection and maintenance and also the landing of supplies and the exchange of lighthouse personnel. For outlying manned lighthouses such as Lady Elliott Island and North Reef there were regular side trips to deliver mail. The unmanned lightship at Breaksea Spit had to be checked four times a year and every six months given a new supply of acetylene for the light. In addition, Karuah had to carry materials and machinery for the construction of new lighthouses. It is remarkable that despite a huge increase since the mid-1880s in the number and tonnage of ships navigating the Great Barrier Reef, almost no new lighthouses had been built, except around Moreton Bay, so there was much to be done. The length of voyages from base port Brisbane varied greatly. A short trip to Bundaberg to exchange the lightship could be less than a fortnight. A routine supply voyage working all the way up the coast to TI and back could be two to three months. But in the second half of 1924 when there was a lot of work to be done in Torres Strait, Karuah was ten weeks working in and out of TI and the ship was just over five months away from Brisbane.

In February 1924 an exchange in Brisbane‘s Courier Mail (9 and 16/2/24) gave a fascinating insight into Karuah‘s limitations as a lighthouse vessel, especially in regard to construction projects. On the 9th ‗Merchant‘ wrote:

“(Karuah) under normal conditions would have a cargo capacity of 70 tons, but owing to the necessity of making long journeys, such as from Cairns to Thursday Island, extra coal and water had to be carried, and these reduced the space available for cargo. During the financial year 1922- 23, it may be mentioned, the cost of the Karuah, including attendance and work carried out at lighthouses, was about £12,400. The crew of the vessel is larger than is necessary under the Navigation Act, but that is because from 8 to 10 of the men are employed on repair work at lighthouse. The average cost of overhauling the vessel has been £2500 annually, but this year it will be £3000, as the Karuah is undergoing a special survey, and is being altered.‖ (CM, 9/2/24).

Merchant was obviously well informed and on the 16th in reply he was even more specific:

―With regard to the Karuah's expenses, the £12,400 mentioned in your paragraph would pay for wages, overtime, and victualling. I stated £30,000 per year was being spent on a most unsuitable vessel to carry 30 tons of cargo. Will the C.L.S. [Commonwealth Lighthouse Service] furnish particulars of wages, victualling, bunkers, and ship stores – the amount that has been spent on the morgue, mortuary chamber, or freezing chamber that is installed in this vessel? The statement that the Karuah's overhaul this year will cost the department £3,000 will not stand investigating. £3,000 would not pay for labour or slip expenses without taking into consideration the question of material, I still submit that, whatever money is spent on this vessel is simply money wasted. She is employed principally on construction work between Cairns and Thursday Island. She leaves Cairns with 80 tons; bunkers and water, and 30 tons of material, this 30 tons being a portion of approximately 200 tons of material that will be required to complete a light-tower. The site of the new light may be 400

11 miles away: it keeps the Karuah very busy to deliver 30 tons of cargo and scurry (not hurry), back for another 30 tons. Calculate the cost of delivering 30 tons iron, cement, and sand in a most elaborate yacht class of vessel, with a speed of 7 knots per hour, a staff of 30 men, and 80 tons of bunkers at approximately £3 per ton.‖

Unsurprisingly, there was pressure to cut corners. When Karuah sailed from TI on 6 December 1925, her draught was recorded in the ship‘s log as 6‘10‖ forward and 9‘0‖ aft. This was later crossed out in blue pencil and amended to 7‘2‖ and 9‘1‖ with a note by the Deputy Director that the ship had been overloaded by 2.5 inches or about 17 tons and the Master was cautioned as having made ―a serious breach of the Act‖.

The wonder is that the Commonwealth persevered with such poor logistics for so long but Ramsbotham as Director of Lighthouses had been continually frustrated in all his efforts to let tenders for construction of new lighthouse tenders. First the war intervened then at first peacetime prices were too high before the postwar recession lost the Commonwealth vital Customs revenue. During Karuah‘s major survey at Sydney‘s Cockatoo Dock from December 1921 to March 1922, Ramsbotham had sought an opinion of the probable life of the vessel and had been assured of another five years. Nevertheless, the annual outlays for keeping this small ship in class remained uncomfortably high: £3,769 in August 1920, £3,466 in August 1921 and £2,467 in January 1923, then another £3,765 in November 1923 and £3,672 in November 1924 when some twenty thin hull plates had to be replaced. It may have been around this time that the hull was repainted from standard black to a much smarter and no doubt cooler light grey. An undated photo in Brisbane shows the painting under way.

Eventually Ramsbotham despaired of ever gaining the approval of the obstructionist Comptroller General of Customs and went above him to the Minister, who gave the green light. At last in March 1924, ten years after the original aborted tenders, contracts were awarded to the Cockatoo Dockyard in Sydney for two oil-fired lighthouse steamers of 1,400 grt (840 dwt), almost three times the size of those originally recommended. Costed at around £100,000 each [ultimately £121,000], they would be 235 feet in length with plenty of accommodation, heavy-duty cargo gear, a designed speed of 13.25 knots and a radius of 3,000 miles at a service speed of 10.5 knots (SMH, 11/12/24). However, it would be more than a year before the first ship was ready to commission and in the meantime the situation was parlous. The 50- year-old Governor Musgrave had been brought back from WA for inspection at Cockatoo in February. Approval was given for £19,000 of essential repairs, but after closer inspection had revealed badly rusted waterline plating and frames, Lloyd‘s surveyor condemned the vessel as unseaworthy. She was stripped of gear and fittings and the hull and machinery sold to the Dock ‗as lies‘ for £100. That left the thousands of miles of remote coastline between Esperance and Darwin without a lighthouse vessel. A hurried search was made for a second-hand replacement. In April the Lighthouse Service purchased the North Coast S.N. Company‘s passenger-cargo steamer Kyogle (735/1902), which had been lying in reserve at Sydney since the new express passenger steamer Wollongbar (2,239/1922) had come into service in January of the previous year. After a brief refit, Kyogle was sent across to the West in June. Though in better condition, Lady Loch on the Victorian station was almost fifty years old. So for the time being nothing could be done to replace Karuah.

Alarm bells were set off in March 1925 when the Supervising Mechanical Engineer for the Department of Works & Railways passed on the information that almost the whole of the Karuah‘s plating below the water line, except for those recently replaced, had corroded to the minimum allowable thickness of 4/20‖ and the main and upper decking also needed renewal. Later in May 1930 he would attest to a parliamentary committee that ―I have personal experience of the Karuah… I know that when we were carrying out repairs on that vessel it was amazing how the old parts would fall to pieces as soon as an endeavour was made to put in new rivets…‖. Anyway, in June 1925 the Director sought further advice from the surveyors. He was assured that the machinery and boilers were sound and that as long as the old plates were replaced progressively at each annual overhaul, the ship could be kept in commission indefinitely. Examples were given of the Lass O’ Gowrie (168/1878), Edina (360/1854), Wortanna (213/1875) and Flinders (521/1874). The prospect of the next three overhauls costing £4-5,000 each and up to £10,000 when the boiler needed to be replaced was daunting. Nevertheless, it was anticipated

12 that Karuah could be kept in commission for a few more years to work with the first of the new lighthouse steamers on the Queensland coast while the other vessel would be sent across to Western Australia. Their designated names of ‗Cape York‘ and ‗Cape Leeuwin‘ anticipated this deployment. Karuah returned to service and on 4 April retrieved the Breaksea Spit lightship from blowing ashore off Lady Elliott Island.

Karuah in the Burnett River with the Breaksea Spit lightship lashed alongside (Queensland M.M.)

The first of the new steamers was duly launched on 10 December 1924 as Cape Leeuwin, completed on 1 June 1925 and immediately placed in service on the Queensland coast. Cape York followed six months later, being completed on 10 November, at which time Karuah was still busy north of Cairns. Further adventures with breakaway lightships that on one occasion nearly put Karuah ashore, plus various maintenance issues, continued to expose the vessel‘s limitations in size, power and durability. Reluctantly the Lighthouse Service decided that Cape York would not take over from Cape Leeuwin but in fact replace the old Karuah, so that the two new ships would work in tandem to deal with the backlog of construction and maintenance on the Queensland coast. Western Australia would have to keep the more elderly Kyogle in service for another five years until a third new steamer, Cape Otway, could be completed. Only then, thirty years after Federation, could it be said that the Lighthouse Service was at last properly equipped in all three of its sectors.

In the New Year of 1926 Karuah made a last voyage southbound, including a short side trip from Mackay for North Reef light on 8 January, then continued on to Bundaberg en route to Brisbane, where she terminated on the 26th. The new Cape York had arrived from Sydney on the 18th and the two ships lay alongside for a couple of days at Nixon-Smith Wharf while gear and stores were transferred. Karuah then went across to Peters‘ Slip to decommission. Any other removable gear and equipment deemed useful for the Lighthouse Service was placed in its store at New Farm. Captain Hildebrand, who had been the usual master of Karuah since 1921, transferred to Cape York, which was allocated to work along the Queensland coast as far as Townsville – two years later he would join the Torres Strait Pilot Service. On 8 February the sister ship Cape Leeuwin also came back up from Sydney en route for Cape York and the two new ships would both work the Queensland coast together until January 1933, when Cape York repositioned to Melbourne and the veteran Lady Loch became the reserve vessel at Brisbane until sold off in mid-1935.

13 On 3 March 1926 the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs minuted that Karuah should be disposed of as being deemed ‗unsuitable for Lighthouse work‘ and her repair being ‗a constant source of expense to the Government‘. A month later on 3 April the District Engineer of the Lighthouse Service advised the Director that Hugh Peters of Peters‘ Slip, where Karuah lay at Kangaroo Point, had inquired of him whether the ship was to be put up for sale and, when this was confirmed, had made an offer. He would have known the ship well from years of maintenance and had no doubt given careful thought to what she was worth. Public service wheels turned slowly and not until 23 April was approval given for the sale, and then by public tender ‗as lies‘. Ten days later ‗everything useful‘ that remained aboard was removed from the ship and the watchmen withdrawn in lieu of £2 per week being paid to Peters‘ Slip to keep an eye on the vessel. Tenders closed on June 9. Assessing them was a simple matter because only one tender was received, that of Peters‘ Slip for £675 for the hull. Although this was several hundred pounds below what the Director-General of Works had expected, there was little alternative but to accept it. Delivery was a simple matter because the Slip already had the ship alongside in its care. For all the items removed from the ship and offered by separate tender, the only bid was by Horn Engineering Ltd of £25 for furnaces. The balance of unwanted items awaited the next Customs sale. The Government would have done better to have left the equipment on board and sold the ship in seagoing condition. It may be noted here that it was not only Karuah that finished up in 1926. After thirteen years of hard work without much support to establish the Lighthouse Service, Ramsbotham strongly objected to a proposed restructuring, returned to England, and from there resigned.

To be continued. CORRESPONDENCE

Interstate Steamships Pty Ltd‘s Ellaroo from P.J. Dermott

The recent article referring to this vessel shows that the above Company only owned her for some twelve months.

In 1959, the vessel was due for a major overhaul/Survey, however, the owners had informed the charterers (BHP) that the expense of the proposed lay-up etc was an uneconomical proposition, therefore the current charter agreement would be concluded. When this became known, Scott Fell Pty Ltd senior executives approached BHP and asked if they would have the vessel back on charter if they purchased her? The answer was ―Yes, provided the vessel passed the Commonwealth Navigation Department requirements‖. At the request of the Department, certain repairs/replacements were carried out, which enabled the current certificate to be extended for twelve months.

R.W. Miller & Co Pty. Ltd., offices were in the same building and were friendly disposed to each other, as R.W. Miller was the selling agent for the total out-put of the Scott Fell Colliery (Maitland Main) in the Newcastle area.

The R.W. Miller officers were made agents for their two vessels, and it is interesting to note the following:

Ellaroo completed her working life on the Australian coast at the end of the charter period and was sold after 38 years of service.

It is a credit to everyone involved with the vessel that she did not go off hire at anytime during the charter period of 12 months, which was at the time when trimmers, firemen, were a declining race!

Capt. D. McLean was in command during the above period – his previous command being T.S.M.V Duntroon which he laid up pending her sale. Mr Val Smith was Chief Engineer.

I understand Ellaroo and Howard Smith‘s Era (3,148/1921) were sisters and at a time were the largest vessels trading on the Australian Coast, both vessels having no tween decks – quite unusual in 1921.

14 The demise of Echunga was due to all interstate coal shipments being forwarded in R.W. Miller (RWM) /Australian National Line (ANL) chartered tonnage. On two or three occasions RWM was able to use the vessel when no suitable ANL tonnage was available. On all occasions she discharged at Port Adelaide (Osborne).

As the Company had retired from shipping, management of three ANL vessels was also relinquished, viz Iranda, Talinga and Lake Sorell. RWM was successful in obtaining the agency for these vessels.

In addition to exiting the shipping industry, the Maitland Main Colliery was coming to the end of its economic life, as all coal, including pillars, had been extracted.

The National Bank of Australia Ltd was the Company‘s banker, no doubt to the end.

Due to the above factors, both Companies were eventually wound up, a sad ending for an organisation which was well respected in coal and shipping circles for many years.

Capt. McDonell and other matters from Capt. P. Hay

I was saddened to read of the death of Capt. Ralph McDonell, one of the great characters on the coast. In the early 70s I was 2/O on Mundoora of ASP with Capt. Marshal while Ralph was on ANL‘s Iranda. Both ships were on the sugar run, and both Masters were the best coastal navigators that I sailed with. They appeared to spark off each other in finding new routes. While rock hopping for the sake of it is frowned on, on that run there was some justification. When you left Lucinda half loaded heading for Bundaberg to top off, if you went like the clappers you could save a tide. I was doing chart corrections and saw a shoal sounding between Hamilton Island and Dent Island in the Whitsundays. I looked it up to see who had reported it, and sure enough it was Iranda. If anyone else had found it they would have got a fishing boat, or similar to report it, rather than admitting to where they had been, but that was not Ralph‘s style. Later on when I joined ANL I had the pleasure of having Ralph as relieving Master when I was on one of the ‗Trader‘s‘. If you showed any interest, both Masters were only too happy to show you all the marks and leads, and let you have a (supervised) go.

A few years ago in my article on the Fly River, (issue 191) I mentioned that the river had not been charted then. I recently came across one of the photos I had been given to use as a chart and had it restored. It shows the junction of the Fly and Ok Tedi rivers. It is an interesting photo, but not much good as a chart! Kiunga, also marked, only had a population of a few hundred then. Now it is 8,000.

In my article on the Geordie Colliers (issue 206) I omitted to say that when Stephenson Clarkes went into liquidation in 2012 they were the oldest British Shipping company – founded in 1730.

15 Brisbane‘s two Coringas from B. Martin

Mr P.J. Demott, in the last issue of The Log raised the question which Coringa undertook a voyage to the UK in the early part of World War II?

Brisbane had two steam tugs named Coringa, but the one which returned to Britain in both World Wars was the same vessel of 294 tons and launched by Denny Bros., Dumbarton, Scotland, on 17 December 1913. As related in the original article, she was lost on 23 June 1940.

In December 1948 the steam tug Empire Peggy arrived in Brisbane and worked under that name while permission was sought to rename her Coringa which occurred on 31 March 1949. She was sold late in 1972 and moved to Cairns, with her new owners planning to convert her to diesel propulsion for salvage work. She carried out one salvage job before a diesel engine replaced her steam machinery in 1973, but the conversion was never completed. In 1974 she reverted to Empire Peggy and was cut up in Cairns as an unwanted derelict in 1977.

Empire Peggy was a modified Warrior-class standard tug built for the Ministry of Transport by Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd, Beverley, England, and launched in May 1945. Of 259 tons, she measured 114 ft x 30 ft x 13 ft 6‖.

Awatea from J. Mathieson

September 2016 saw the eightieth anniversary of the arrival in Australia of the Union SS Company of New Zealand‘s beautiful steam turbine-powered passenger liner Awatea. She left Auckland at 1700 hours Friday 18 September 1936, was reported through Sydney Heads at 0545 Monday 21 September, to berth by 0800 at No.2 Circular Quay. She was described at the time as one of the most graceful ships ever seen in Sydney Harbour. On her way up the Harbour past Garden Island, she was given a hearty welcome by the Royal Australian Navy. Awatea cleared the Heads at 1737 Friday 25 September for return to Auckland. As is well known locally, she was a World War II loss. As a troopship, on Wednesday 11 November 1942, she was bombed by aircraft and sunk one mile north of Bougie Breakwater, Algeria, while bound Bougie/Algiers.

Awatea (13,482/1936) at Sydney (R.A.Priest/NAA collection)

16 INTERESTING SHIPS OF THE AUSTRALIAN COAST No. 59 UGLY DUCKLINGS & BEAUTIFUL SWANS, THE BRITISH PHOSPHATE COMMISSION’S TRIADIC, TRIONA, TRIASTER & TRI-ELLIS

from Capt. I.G. Steverson

The British Phosphate Commissioners (BPC) lost three of their four company owned ships to German raiders Komet and Orion, each being captured and sunk in the vicinity of between 6 and 8 December 1940. They were Triona (4,413gt/1931) on the 6th, with Triaster (6,032/1935) and Triadic (6,378/1938) both sunk on the 8th. This resulted in their fleet being reduced to the sole survivor, the 1938 J. G. Kincaid and Co. Ltd, Greenock, built motor ship Trienza (6,738gt). With the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific in August 1945, BPC sought replacements to supplement the chartered tramp tonnage employed in the phosphate trade from Nauru and Ocean Island. Both islands had been severely damaged, especially the phosphate infrastructure, initially by the German raiders and later following the Japanese occupation. This required extensive reconstruction of the loading gantries and replacement of the mooring-buoy system.

Triona (7,283/1943) discharging phosphate at Risdon (R.Wilson)

BPC did, however, manage to have a war time replacement built in 1943, with the necessary bow fittings for the eventual handling and replacement of mooring buoys at both islands post war. This was required following the loss of the similarly fitted Triaster (1) the first raider casualty which also had accommodation for 40 passengers. Her replacement was the coal-burning steamer Triona (2) 7,283gt, built by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow.

BPC‘s first post-war replacement was Triadic (2) ex HMS Dungeness/Levuka, purchased in 1947, a modified Canadian built ‗Victory‘ Class , completed on 2 October 1945, by West Coast Shipbuilders Ltd, Vancouver, British Columbia as HMS Dungeness. She was intended to be a component of the British ‘s Fleet Train in the Pacific and East Indies theatres of war. Triadic was purchased as the combined passenger cargo ship Levuka from the W.R. Carpenter fleet which was the subject of an article in The Log, issue 181, August 2010, Interesting Ships No.35.

17

Cosmetically, BPC vessels were always maintained in excellent condition, thus the heading of this article refers more to the design of the two war-built ships, which aesthetically contrasted starkly with the two beautifully designed Harland and Wolff built sisters Triaster and Tri-Ellis of 1955 and 1958 respectively. This pair were in the writers‘ opinion, the most elegant and attractive passenger-cargo ships to operate in this area of the Pacific.

Triona was an ungainly and unattractive modified Empire class, initially a coal burner with a very tall funnel and a clipper bow which housed the heavy winches required for mooring buoy maintenance. She was completed in February 1943 and spent her first two years under the management of Andrew Weir & Co. (Bank Line). On 11 January 1944, when 300 miles south of Ceylon, she was torpedoed by U-532 which fired two torpedoes at her while proceeding unescorted. Both torpedoes exploded in her nets so damage was slight and she reached Fremantle safely. BPC took over management during 1944.

Triadic (7,611/1945) underway at Hobart (R.Wilson)

Triadic ex Levuka, and her sister Lakemba, on the other hand, following Carpenter‘s modifications which included the addition of a forecastle head, were the two most attractive of the extensive Canadian ‗Fort and Victory‘ Class. Perhaps referring to Triadic as an ‘ugly duckling‘ is a little harsh, especially as she proved to be the longest serving BPC ship and one of the longest serving of the Canadian standards, with 29 hardworking years for her owner.

The Royal Navy (RN) in 1944 had placed an order with three British Columbian shipyards for 21 NavNavalal Auxiliary maintenance supportsupport shipsships whichwhich camecame toto bebe referredreferred toto asas thethe ‘Beachy‘Beachy Head’ Class after the nnameame of the original lead ship. ThThee yards contracted were Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd, North Vancouver, North Vancouver Ship Repairs and West Coast Shipbuilders Ltd, (situated in False Creek in what is now part of Vancouver‘s CBD). Sixteen of the Class were completed and commissioned into the Royal Navy in five differentdifferent categoriescategories of of specialistspecialist type type maintenance maintenance ships ships.. TheyThey werewere givengiven namesnames ofof geographicalgeographical features around the British Isles and a designated pennant number. With 12 of the class being retained by the RN and Royal Canadian Navy upon cessation of hostilities,hostilities, ththee Vancouver builders were left with ten ships forfor whichwhich theythey hadhad beenbeen paid,paid, butbut declareddeclared surplus surplus to to naval naval requirements. requirements.

To avoid confusion, a second group of 16 similar ships with the prefix ‗Fort‘ were completed as supply or stores issuing ships. Eight were retained long term with the Royal Navy, being manned by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) with a number visiting Australia between the 1940s and 1960s. The remaining eight were initially retained by the Royal Navy, but became surplus from 1947 onwards and were also disposed of for conversion to merchant ships. The Beachy Head Class were shelter deck type, five hold, mainly riveted, single-screw steamers. Tonnages varied slightly with the lead ship of 8,580 displacement tons for the maintenance ship class. 18 Length overall 441‘6‖ (134.57m), between perpendiculars, 425‘0‖ (129.54m), beam 57‘ (17m), draught 28‘ (8.54m) and 37.4‘ (11.27m) moulded depth. Triadic was fitted with a 34‘ (10.36m) forecastle head. They were fitted with a simple 2,500ihp (1,864kw) triple expansion steam engine constructed by Canadian Allis- Chalmers Ltd, Montreal, and were capable of 11.5 knots at very best. The triple expansion engine cylinders were 24.5‖, 37‖ and 70‖ with a 48‖ stroke. Fitted to burn oil (bunker capacity 1,297t) with daily consumption of 30 tons and a range of 7,000 nautical miles. They were supplied with two Babcock and Wilcox or Foster Wheeler water tube boilers, superheaters and forced draught. Five hatches with lengths 35.5‘,34.5‘, split No.3 hatch 19.5‘, two aft at 34.5‘ x 19.5‘, wooden hatches, beams and tween decks fitted throughout. In service two 42 feet long, heavy lift derricks were placed at No.2 and 4 hatch to service the two wooden landing craft that were a standard fitting and functioned as crew work boats when stationed where the ships were based. Five sets of union purchase derricks five on capacity, were fitted at each hatch and were housed vertically except at No.3 hatch. A full complement of 270 Officers and ratings was carried with accommodation fitted throughout the tween decks. An extensive defensive array of 16 single mounted 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns and a 4‖ gun at the stern, with gunners provided, together with Paravane equipment attached to the two mainmasts. A ‗Christmas tree‘ flag and communications array was housed on top of the bridge. The cruiser stern was a narrow arrangement while the bows were rounded, a case of the ‗sharp end‘ being at the stern. The fully fitted out maintenance ships certainly looked very impressive ships compared with the utilitarian earlier ‗Fort‘ class.

W.R. Carpenter purchased four of the ‗Beachy Head‘ class during 1946, the first pair, HMS Dungeness and her Burrards-built sister HMS Spurn Point were converted at Vancouver in the same manner, with the latter retained as their long serving passenger-cargo ship Lakemba (Interesting Ships No.6 May 2003). HMS Spurn Point (F42), having been well advanced prior to VJ day, was completed as a Landing Craft maintenance ship. She was launched 8 June 1945, commissioned in January 1946, and proceeded to the UK, one of the five including her sister HMS Dungeness to serve in European waters.

The other pair purchased by Carpenters were built by West Coast Shipbuilders namely, Orfordness (F67, r/n Rabaul) launched 12 April 1945, completed October 1946 and Tarbat Ness (F67, r/n Lautoka) launched 29 May 1945, completed January 1947 which did not receive/retain the extra accommodation or raised forecastle of the earlier pair. These two were sold in 1947 to the Peninsula and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. Ltd, (P&O) receiving the names Dongola (purchased 29/12/1947) and Devanha (purchased 3/9/47) respectively. In each case the four ships were converted for their merchant service at their respective builders‘ yards.

Five of the original class remained uncompleted and were not commissioned into the Royal Navy despite receiving pennant numbers and/or being designated as HMS. These were Carpenters, Orfordness and Tarbat Ness with the remaining three namely, Selsey Bill, (F54, r/n Waitemata) by the Union SS Co. NZ. Ltd, Rattray Head (F73, r/n Iran) and Mull of Oa (F96, r/n Turan) by the Iran Navigation Co. Ltd, of Tehran. Waitemata was intended to be an armament maintenance ship and was fitted with a more modern bridge and accommodation block.

The primary subject of this article Triadic, the former Levuka/HMS Dungeness, was launched from West Coast Shipbuilders Ltd, as Yard No.152 on 15 March 1945, commissioned 2 October 1945, and designated F46 as a landing craft maintenance ship. Her RN Captain was Commander James Campbell Allen RNR who stood by her from May 1945 ‗till 18 January 1946, which may also possibly be her Naval decommissioning date. HMS Dungeness had been preceded from the same yard by HMS Buchan Ness (landing craft maintenance ship) commissioned July 1945. Next commissioned was HMS Duncansby Head from Burrards (escort maintenance ship) commissioned August 1945, both were despatched immediately to the Far East and were eventually retained in long term Royal Navy service. HMS Dungeness however departed on completion immediately to the United Kingdom as did HMS Spurn Point. The 12 Beachy Head Class sisters, commissioned prior to 15 August 1945 (VJ Day) were retained by the Royal Navy in different roles, for varying length of service. One of these HMS Fife Ness was transferred to become a RAF Depot Ship, while the lead ship Beachy Head was initially loaned to the Dutch Navy and later became the Royal Canadian Navy‗s HMCS Cape Scott. Her sister HMS

19 Flamborough Head was transferred in 1945 to become HMCS Cape Breton, these pair having been built at Burrards, North Vancouver.

Commander Allen of HMS Dungeness wrote the following letter in thanks to the Builders: ―Both my officers and myself would like to express to you and all personnel of West Coast Shipbuilders Ltd, our appreciation and thanks for a very fine ship which you are handing to us. Despite delays caused by late delivery of material and the general upset following the cessation of hostilities, we feel that we have the best Maintenance Ship so far to be commissioned in Vancouver.‖ From the Chief Engineer Lt. Commander W. Irwin in a similar vein: ―We are now on the eve of our departure to the Old Country which with luck we should reach in time for Christmas leave. I may say for all on board that we are happy and proud to take ‗Dungeness‘ home, as she is a great credit to you, the builders and is a fitting addition to His Majesty‘s Navy. We have finished our working up program. Everything has gone splendidly which no doubt, will contribute to making a comfortable and happy ship. We wish to thank you and all others in the yard for their good workmanship; also for many other things done for our comfort, convenience and ease of working the ship.‖ Dated at the Royal Canadian Naval Base, Esquimalt, BC. 8 November 1945. The ship was certainly off to a good start.

On arriving in the UK, the well fitted out Dungeness went into reserve soon after, most likely on 18 January 1946, an indication of decommissioning as noted by Commander Allen‘s standing down. It is noted that Carpenters purchased her in the UK from lay up in 1947 so it can be assumed they returned her to the Vancouver builder‘s yard with a merchant crew. HMS Dungeness thus became one of the first of the Royal Naval post-war completed ‗Beachy Head‘ class disposals.

As the newly renamed Levuka, Official Number 181713, she was surveyed in Glasgow to Lloyds 100A1 in September 1947. Her maiden Pacific voyage as Levuka commenced from Vancouver, loading at Cowichan Bay 16 February 1948, Victoria 25 February 1948, both ports being on Vancouver Island, then returning to Vancouver to complete cargo and board her 60 passengers on 28 February 1948. She sailed direct to Sydney, NSW, arriving 24 March 1948, thence Melbourne. This voyage, which had already been scheduled, was under the ownership of B.C. Vegetable Oils (a W.R. Carpenter subsidiary perhaps).

As noted in the history, The Phosphateers, in January 1948 BPC despatched their Marine Superintendent, Captain Murray Johnstone, to Vancouver to inspect Levuka prior to purchasing her. They were looking for a cargo ship with adequate passenger accommodation, to service the phosphate islands and were obviously impressed with Levuka as they promptly purchased her.

The following article appeared in the May 1948 issue of Shipbuilding, Ship Repair & Services:

―Recently completing her maiden commercial voyage for B.C. Vegetable Oils Ltd. Vancouver the passenger-freighter Levuka has been sold in Australia, to the British Phosphate Commissioners. Built in Canada during the war and given by the Canadian Government to the Royal Navy, she was fitted as a floating workshop with accommodation for 1,500 men. She saw no service and was sold to B.C. Vegetable Oils, which converted her to a freighter with accommodation for 50 passengers. The Manager of the Melbourne Steam Ship Company (Mr. C. Kenley) told a representative of this journal he did not know the exact reason for the sale. The same company has a sister ship Lakemba which was last month loading lumber in Vancouver for Sydney and Adelaide. She too will be on her maiden voyage. Levuka will be renamed Triadic and used on the Nauru-Ocean Island- New Zealand-Australian service of the British Phosphate Commission‖.

The accommodation for 1,500 persons as mentioned in the above quote is of passing interest. The largest crew for the class as recorded was Girdle Ness (F04) which became a RN guided missile trials ship and for this purpose her accommodation was increased to house her original complement of 30 officers and 370 men, plus an additional 80 officers, 536 scientists and sundry other officials when on tests to a maximum of 1,016 persons. Pretty much a full house, but still well short of the aforementioned 1,500.

20 Renamed Triadic, registered in London, call sign GDNM, she departed Melbourne on her first voyage for her new owners to Ocean Island on 17 May 1948, with an all Australian crew. Meanwhile her two sisters Triona and Trienza were manned with Australian officers and Indian crews. Triadic is an adjective, from the noun ‗triad‘ meaning a group of three. It had been intended to name the 1938 built BPC vessel of the same name ‘Triad‘ but the name was already taken by another ship. It was resolved therefore to name her Triadic (1).

In her civilian role as Triadic (2) her tonnages are shown as 7,461 gross, 5,431 nett, 9,853 deadweight. A single heavy lift derrick was retained at No.2 for occasional lifts together with her five sets of union purchase derricks. The ‗Christmas tree‘ array was removed and four gravity davits with associated lifeboats were fitted, two mid-ships, two aft, adjacent to the crew accommodation. At the Vancouver refit an additional deck of accommodation was fitted with No.3 hatch being trunked through the boat deck. During her BPC service she was fitted with radar, gyro and radio telephone, having previously been fitted with a direction finder (DF) and an echo sounder. Her passenger numbers were reduced to 38 persons, with a crew of 64 persons. Triadic‘s passenger accommodation was fully utilised for the transfer of shore based BPC staff to and from Nauru and Ocean Island before the air field on Nauru was built.

Triaster (9,994/1955) at Sydney July 1964 (J.Y.Freeman)

The Commissioners in 1951 were concerned that the rates for chartered shipping were too high and the necessity of acquiring more of their own tonnage, was therefore determined to be a necessity. The cost of building replacement ships in Australia at that time was prohibitive. Consequently, an order was placed with the Harland and Wolff yard at Govan in July 1951 with delivery to be October 1955. This was Triaster specially designed, including a passenger complement of 48 and with the provision of single berth cabins for an Australian crew. BPC had come to the realisation that the era of crews recruited from Asian nations on Australian based ships was not going to be feasible in the future. Sadly, the pioneer of the Pacific phosphate trade, Sir Albert Ellis, died 11 July 1951, a few days after the order had been placed but he was to be remembered in the naming of Triaster‘s sister ship Tri-Ellis which followed three years later in 1958.

The design of these two strikingly elegant ships was the result of Harland and Wolff‘s naval architects being given an outline brief of what was wanted and leaving them to shape the design. One would envisage that no cost was spared, as that was BPC‘s way though perhaps the displaced Banabans of Ocean Island following their court case would disagree. The Harland & Wolff design and finish resulted in two outstanding ships, practical for the purposes of their intended employment and modern to the last detail. Both Triaster and Tri-Ellis were in this writer‘s eyes the ‗Beautiful Swans‘.

Meanwhile Triadic continued to serve the Australian phosphate market, operating mainly to east coast

21 Australian ports and less frequently to New Zealand. In her career, as an example, she visited just once - 17-21 September 1957. Her sisters also paid only one visit each to the major Ravensbourne discharge wharf facility in Dunedin Harbour, with Triona (10-16 February 1957) and Trienza (21-27 March 1958). The New Zealand phosphate trade tended to be handled by charter ships, especially those of the Norwegian company Ditlev Simonsen who had ships on charter pre-war, Bank Line, Lyle Shipping Co. and sundry British tramps. One of the Ditlev Simonsen ships, Vinni, had been sunk the same day off Nauru as the two BPC ships plus the Union Company‘s new steamer Komata.

Triadic made five visits to Risdon, between January 1961 and January 1964. She was sighted in Fremantle and around the Australian coast during this period. She also, in the early 1970s, was one of the last overseas ships to dock in Duke and Orr‘s Melbourne graving dock now occupied by Polly Woodside.

In 1974 she was allocated again to the Christmas Island – Western Australian phosphate run. The disadvantage of a steamer on this trade was that when standing off waiting for any length of time for the weather to subside, water and fuel would have to be replenished by diverting to Singapore. She spent much of her period in the Western Australian trade visiting the outports of Geraldton, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance which as a steamer suited the short haul voyages from Christmas Island. Her last call at Fremantle was in September 1975. With arrival in 1976 of her replacement, Scottish Ship Management‘s Cape Otway, she became surplus. She spent her final year trading between Nauru, east coast Australia and New Zealand ports. Her last port was New Plymouth where, following discharge, she departed 4 February 1977, bound in ballast for Shanghai for scrap. Her arrival there is noted as prior to 6 March 1977.

One memorable voyage came to the writer‘s attention, when in about mid-1976 Triadic visited Port Kembla, NSW, with a full cargo of phosphate to discharge, plus expensive automobiles from the islands for mechanical servicing locally. By this time she had reverted to an Indian crew and Australian officers. Port Kembla was at that time a port with a disturbing record for slow discharge rates, not taking into consideration the AIS/BHP Inner Harbour operation with their own cargo discharge facilities. One fine morning Triadic steamed into port and was allocated to an inner harbour berth (which eventually became the berth for the Lysaght ships) without crane discharge facilities. Port labour was scarce and the ship commenced using union purchase derricks, after the stevedores had rounded up for attachment some ancient small grabs. The job plodded along with the usual disputation associated in those days with the locals, no longer all that familiar or receptive to operating ancient steam winches with union purchase cargo gear and associated wire cargo runners. Eventually after numerous movements, due in a couple of cases to bad weather, bouncing off wharves, to different unsatisfactory berths around the harbour (both inner and outer), she finally, after about two weeks, managed to be allocated to the shore cranes at No.6 Jetty outer harbour. This was the then premier general cargo berth and the discharge rate improved slightly. Finally, after nearly four weeks she steamed away with the automobiles well serviced, in immaculate condition overside having delivered probably the most expensive 8,000 ton phosphate cargo ever discharged in Australasia. Then some bright individual put a ship from Chile/Peru Bordabekoa into Port Kembla to undertake a full discharge of 8,000 tons of fish meal, that of the fragrant aroma! Mind you probably better than a Sydney discharge but that is another Port Kembla legendary waterfront story.

A memorable ship which her first RN Commander Allen would have been proud, and correct in his assumption that she was the best of the Beachy Head class, soundly built and comfortable. To have worked hard for a total of 31 years was quite remarkable, a credit to her builders and subsequent owner. Inspecting her during her extended visit to Port Kembla she appeared in remarkably good condition for a ship of her age. Strangely Triadic the ‗ugly duckling‘ outlasted her two modern sisters the ‗Beautiful Swans‘ which were sold to the Nauruan Government, Triaster in 1970 and Tri-Ellis in 1974. Triadic became the last ship owned by The British Phosphate Commissioners. Her ‗ugly sister‘ Triona having preceded her for scrapping at Hong Kong in May 1960.

Triadic was certainly one of the finest examples of the 354 10,000 ton hulls to go down Canadian wartime slipways. 22

Tri-Ellis at Sydney (J. Mathieson)

BPC Nomenclature

Triona - O for Ocean Na for Nauru Triaster - Three Stars Trienza - E for England, NZ - New Zealand, A - Australia Tri-Ellis - Named for Sir Albert F. Ellis discoveries of the deposits and for many years the New Zealand Commissioner Triadic - Triad with ‗ic‘ addition

Post Script

Regarding the longevity of the Canadian wartime building program especially the Beachy Head class, the following sad demise of the last two survivors of the Canadian Emergency War-time Ship Building Program, which built a remarkable 354 by 10,000 ton hulls. This mighty effort has now faded like so much maritime history.

One of Triadic’s Burrard built sisters, HMS Rame Head (F34) completed in November 1944, was finally towed from Portsmouth to be scrapped at Ghent, , departing 25 February 2009. She had been employed as an accommodation vessel in Portsmouth Harbour from 1976 to March 1987 being used finally as a training platform for Special Forces, after a service of 64 years! The writer spotted her at anchor during visits to the UK over the years, having entered into correspondence at the time in support of organisations who made efforts to have the Canadian government retain one of these last two Canadian built ‗Victory‘ class, (either Cape Breton or Rame Head) as permanent examples of the massive Canadian maritime war effort. Just as the USA had undertaken by retaining a ‗Liberty‘ and an American ‗Victory‘ type, in recognition of their wartime service and the valiant mariners that sailed in them it was felt that the Canadians could undertake the same.

I received numerous replies to my letter published in Ships Monthly March 1993 supporting Rame Head‘s retention amongst which was one from a UK crew member, a Mr. Fern, who served on her from 1945-47. He advised the following movements which were an example of how the Beachy Head class were engaged in supporting the Allied Occupation Forces in the Pacific post war. Having joined with the British crew in Vancouver and after commissioning, Rame Head‘s maiden voyage was from Vancouver

23 to San Francisco followed by a month nonstop to Brisbane where they spent Christmas 1945. They then moved to Hong Kong where they were based for 12 months shuttling between Kure, Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, in Japan and finally Singapore, before sailing her back to England to be demobbed.

Rame Head (7,300/1945) moored at Portsmouth in October 1987 (R.A.Priest/NAA collection)

Meanwhile the Royal Canadian Navy‘s Cape Breton launched as Flamborough Head (F88) by Burrards 7 October 1944 which had been retained in numerous static roles at the Esquimalt Naval Base, Victoria, was finally disposed of and sunk in an upright position as a dive site (artificial reef) off Snake Island in Nanaimo Harbour, Vancouver Island on 20 October 2001, despite numerous protests. It was considered she was too deteriorated to preserve. The distinctive cruiser stern of the ship was cut off and placed on the waterfront near the former Burrards Shipyard, North Vancouver in a cradle as a lasting memorial with the intention of forming part of an intended Maritime Museum. This fell through in 2007 through lack of support, and in September 2013 the local council scrapped the stern section due to the deterioration of the cradle. Prior to the sinking the main engine, weighing in at 135 tons, was removed, hopefully to be retained as the only remaining reminder of that massive wartime ship-building program.

References:

A Great Fleet of Ships. The Canadian Forts and Parks: S.C. Heal. Conceived in War, Born in Peace: S. C. Heal. The Oceans, The Forts and the Parks: Mitchell and Sawyers. The Unknown Navy Canada’s World War II Merchant Navy: Robert G. Halford. Janes Fighting Ships of World War II. The Phosphateers: History of the British Phosphate Commissioners and Christmas Island Phosphate Commission, Maslyn Williams and Barrie MacDonald. Ships in Focus: Record No. 53. The Specialised Fleet of the British Phosphate Commission. A. Bell. The British Phosphate Commissioners: N. J. Kirby and W. G. Volum, The Log Vol.2 No.4, July 1969. Bank Line 1885-1985: WSS, H.S. Appleyard. Fremantle Branch WSS: September 2016 Branch Bulletin: Barry Shaw. NAA: I.J. Farquhar, Rex Cox, Chris Gee, L. Rex: Personal records and memories. Emigrant Ships to Luxury Liners. Passenger Ships to Australia and New Zealand 1945-1990: Peter Plowman. P & O Fleet History: World Ship Society, Stephen Rabson and Kevin O‘Donoghue. Lloyds Registers: Various. The Motorship: Various. Shipping Building, Ship Repair and Services: Various. The Phosphate Islands: Sea Breezes article, Captain V.H. Ridges.

24 BOYHOOD MEMORIES OF STEAM TUG EAGLE

from I. Burgess

It was a sunny Saturday morning in 1952 when my older brother Malcolm and I first sailed on Huddart Parker‘s well known tug, S.T. Eagle (229/1890), in Melbourne. We were both mad about ships and determined to go to sea as soon as we could leave school and often spent our free time at both Station and Princes Piers, talking our way on board any ship in port for a ‗look around‘.

On that particular Saturday we hadn‘t had much success with the various gangway ‗guards‘ but then as we started for home we noticed Eagle alongside, her wheelhouse level with us and her captain leaning on the bridge rail. Some discussion ensued about our love of ships, our usual opening gambit, and slanted subtly towards the possibility of us coming aboard for a look around. Captain George Monty Reveleigh, as he turned out to be, suggested very kindly and to our surprise that we might like a trip on Eagle but insisted that we check with our parents first so we raced to the ‗phone box at the Pier entrance and somehow got approval from our mother, who must have wondered if she‘d ever see us again!

So we went happily aboard and after exploring her thoroughly, we set sail on our first great sea-going adventure on a tug. The Captain kept us in the wheelhouse when under way and of course when towing and assisting vessels. We had a great time, feeling very privileged as we clicked away with our Box- Brownie cameras and drinking in all of the sights and sounds of the Bay and the Yarra. We ‗paid off‘ later that afternoon at Williamstown having been fed by the cook and encouraged to sail with Eagle again.

Subsequently, whenever we could, we would

head into Melbourne on the tram, then bus down to the Piers searching anxiously for our tug on arrival. If she was in sight, a bit of wild waving would attract the crew‘s attention and we‘d be picked up once more. If there was no sign of Eagle we might hitch-hike to the Yarra chain ferry and cross to Williamstown to search for her there.

On one occasion when our family waswas farefarewelling welling friendsfriends on Dominion Monarch, up river, there was Eagle in attendance and that time our younger twin brothers were invited aboard too! I don‘t remember how our father felt aboutabout havinghaving toto retrieveretrieve wewe fourfour brothers brothers from from Williamstown Williamstown afterwards! afterwards!

Our association with Captain Reveleigh continued happily with many adventures until June of 1954 when my parents in their wisdom decided to return to England, taking four reluctant little Aussies with them. We sailed from Station Pier early in the evening of our departure, aboard Aberdeen & Commonwealth‘s Esperance Bay and yes, Eagle was in attendance to see us out. For the last time we attracted the

25 Captain‘s attention and he and his crew, our ‗ship-mates‘, waved and sounded her whistle as she turned and we steamed slowly apart.

Eagle steaming in the Yarra (229/1890) (J.Solomon)

My older brother and I both went to sea when we left school, he as a deck officer with the Blue Funnel Line and myself as a marine engineer with the well-known tramps of The Hain Steamship Company. Returning to Melbourne on their M.V. Trevalgan (8,783/1961) in 1962 I discovered that Eagle had been sent for scrap in 1960 after 70 years serving the Port of Melbourne. As far as I know the only surviving relic of Eagle is her bell which hangs in Carlton High School. How easily it seems, in hindsight, that we allowed so many grand old vessels to fall to the scrap-yard‘s ‗gas-axes‘ or more ignominiously to simply be scuttled off our coasts. Fortunately photographs survive in many cases as in that of Eagle.

From our boyhood photographs I have constructed, as accurately as possible, a large scale model of S.T. Eagle as she was to us in the 1950‘s in the process of which all of these memories have come flooding back.

NAA PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE

A LUCKY SHIP –The Nine Lives of the Australian Coaster ‘Tambar’ 1912-1960……………… . $30.00 THE CURRIE LINE OF MELBOURNE……………………………………………...…………………… $7.00 IN CORAL SEAS - The History of the New Guinea Australia Line………………………………..….. $15.00 HUDDART PARKER - A Famous Australasian Shipping Company 1876-1961……..……………... $30.00 Prices include pack/post for Aust. & NZ. Aust. orders to The Treasurer, NAA, A.Knott, PO Box 237,Leopold, Vic. 3224. Visa/Master cards accepted. Email [email protected]. NZ customers can pay by cheque only, payable to NAA in NZ$ equivalent to above, to Lindsay Butterfield, 10 Guys Hill Rd, Napier, 4110. Prices of the four older publications have been reduced. Special sale prices are also available for these four older books if ordered in conjunction with a copy of Tambar. Details are also available on the NAA website www.nautical.org.au Ask for pricing for multiple orders not involving Tambar.

26 SYDNEY SHIPPING RECALLED - A DAY IN THE LAUNCH ON SYDNEY HARBOUR

from J. Mathieson

In the days of conventional ships there were still several movements in Sydney on any one day, and Saturday 24 March 1962 was no exception, when Manly ferry captain Ron Hart took fellow photographer Jim Freeman and myself out in his launch.

The 0900 Quay/Manly trip was made in the diesel-electric ferry Baragoola, from which Jones Bros Coal‘s inbound SS Koorine, Sydney (2,416/46) was photographed rounding Bradley‘s Head and heading for Blackwattle Bay with her usual cargo of coal from Newcastle. Hong Kong Ocean Shipping Co Ltd‘s Sha Chau, Mogadishu ex Lady of Victoria-69, ex Koorine-64, ex Dandenong-60 arrived Friday 5 November 1971 at Kaohsiung, where Chin Ho Fa Steel & Iron Co Ltd began demolition the following month.

Shortly after tying up at Manly Wharf, we left Baragoola to pick up the launch at North Harbour, Balgowlah, then headed towards the Bank Anchorage.

Sameland (3,327/1943) arriving Sydney 24 March 1962 (J.Mathieson)

First vessel photographed from the launch was Swedish Orient Line‘s MV Sameland (3,327/1943) the second ship on the Boomerang Cargo Line service between Australian east-coast ports and Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil (The Log p15 1/1962, p44 3/1962, p177 11/2002). She was sold in 1964 to Zafir Co Inc. Greece and renamed Sporades. Sold again in 1972 to Aharnai Cia Mar S.A. Greece and, as Sporades (not Ilkon Sophia as reported earlier), was delivered Sunday 24 September 1972 to the Turkish shipbreakers Hatipoglu Kollektif Sirketi. She was in the course of demolition at Istanbul at the end of the following month.

Next was China Nav‘s MV Anshun (6,186/51), on a 1100 departure, clearing Sydney Heads at 1148 on her usual run to Hong Kong and other Asian ports. As Safina-E-Abid, owned by Pan-Islamic S.S. Co Ltd, Karachi (later taken over by Pakistan National Shipping Corp, Karachi), she arrived at Gadani Beach Sunday 26 May 1991 to await demolition.

27 Then followed two more departures and an arrival:

Transatlantic S. S. Co Sweden‘s MV G.D. Kennedy, Goteborg (7,123/58) on the PAD service between Australia and the west coast of the USA. Cosco Guangzhou‘s Yu Zhi ex Chang Shu-86, ex Chiang Kiang-70, ex G.D. Kennedy-67 arrived Hong Kong Friday 21 November 1986 and subsequently was employed as Shore Navigation ship at Guangzhou.

Kaituna (3,722/1956) arriving Sydney 24 March 1962 (J.Mathieson)

Blue Star/Salient‘s MV Townsville Star, London (10,725/57) – arrived Wednesday 18 June 1980 at Kaohsiung, where Nan Long Steel and Iron Co Ltd began demolition on Monday 14 July; and one of USSCo‘s improved ‗AE‘-class: MV Kaituna, Auckland (3,722/56) – Fortune Seagull ex Maldive Jade- 85, ex Climax Jade-81, ex Kaituna-75 arrived Wednesday 23 January 1985 at Gadani Beach to be scrapped by the Pakistani shipbreakers, Siddique & Jahangir.

Up the Harbour, we photographed A.F. Klaveness & Co‘s MV Woodville, Oslo (9,499/58), anchored off Cremorne, waiting to load bulk wheat for China – on Wednesday 7 December 1983, Merry Rich Shipping Inc‘s Peter Rich, Panama ex Capitan Angelo-80, ex Angel-70, ex Woodville-70, on voyage Bangkok to Malacca, struck a submerged object near Pulau Mungging. She was beached at 01.22N 104.18E just south of Singapore and abandoned as a total loss.

Geoffrey Seagoe/Soc. Maritime du Pacifique‘s 250dwt MV Aldebaran, Port Vila (300/25 ex Coast Steam‘s Kooraka-61) at White‘s Balmain for maintenance – wrecked at Goro, , on Monday 25 April 1966; also anchored off Cremorne to await berth 6/7 Glebe to load bulk wheat for Japan was SS Atlantic , Chios (10,149/57), one of many steam turbine-powered sisters built in Japan 1954-1958 for Livanos, Greece. Hydra Glamour, Piraeus ex Arta-75, ex Atlantic Sun-73 was sold in 1982 by Hydra Glamour Shipping Corp to Elsayed Mohamed Amin Mostafa for demolition at Suez, where she had been lying in damaged condition since Tuesday 27 June 1978 – reported still aground there some fourteen years later.

Back down the Harbour for inbound ―Orion‖ Schiff.-Ges. Reith & Co‘s MV Carola Reith, Hamburg (8,279/57), in to load bulk wheat for China – Lena Shipping Co Ltd‘s Lena, Valletta ex Rosario Lofaro- 79, ex Irmgard Reith-73, ex Carola Reith-72 arrived Bombay Tuesday 22 December 1981 to await demolition by Gupta Steel at Darukhana; ANL‘s SS River Fitzroy, Brisbane (4,958/44) on the buoy off

28 Clarke Island – on Wednesday 27 March 1963, she and River Murchison departed Sydney under tow of Nihon Senpaku Kaisha‘s twin screw motor salvage tug Nissho Maru, Tokyo (1,081/61), clearing the Heads at 1125 hours for Japan, where Amakasu Sangyo Kisen K.K. began demolition in May 1963 at Yokosuka (just south of Yokohama).

McIlwraith‘s 2,183dwt ‗sixty-miler‘ MV Hexham Bank, Sydney (1,616/53) was next to arrive, on her usual coal run from Newcastle. While under charter to R.W. Miller on the Bass Point/Sydney blue trade, suffered extreme fire damage Wednesday morning 21 June 1978 about three miles off Bass Point, south of Port Kembla (p.86 The Log 8/1978) – towed by Pacific Offshore S.A.‘s motor tug Pinoy, Panama (292/63 ex McIlwraith‘s Elton Griffin-78) from Sydney, Tuesday 14 November 1978 to the Philippines, to be cut down to a dumb barge in 1979 and renamed Barge P.O. 2250.

Eastern City (5,236/1941) arriving Sydney 24 March 1962 (J.Mathieson)

Next was Reardon Smith‘s MV Eastern City (5,236/41) – in to load at 6/7 Glebe a cargo of wheat for the Continent, she was at the time second-oldest in their fleet to MV Atlantic City 5,281/41. Helmos Compania Naviera S.A.‘s Nicopaul, Beirut ex Helmos-69, ex Eastern City-62 departed Singapore Roads Saturday 28 March 1970 for demolition at Dalian, at the southern tip of the Lu-ta Peninsula (Liaodong Bandao), China.

Finally, 1700 arrival of Wilhelmsen‘s MV Tamerlane, Tonsberg (6,778/36), then the oldest ship in their fleet – sailed the following evening after her last trip into Sydney. As eventually Naviera Maritime Fluvial S.A. Peru‘s 6,591grt Alisios, Panama, departed Talara (north coast of Peru) Sunday 17 October 1971, and delivered Monday 20 December 1971 to Chinese shipbreakers at Shanghai, where demolition commenced before year‘s end.

An interesting cross-section of mainly amidship vessels, including tramp ships that would be utilised/fitted out for break-bulk cargoes, some bringing in bulk from overseas and refitted to take out bulk, others bringing in general cargo or timber from overseas and also fitting out to load a bulk cargo – from any Australian State.

Acknowledgments: My thanks to Ian Farquhar for the fates of some vessels

29 REVIEWS

PRODUCT TANKERS, by Nick Tolerton and Michael Pryce, published by Nick Tolerton, 2016. ISBN 978-1877418-23-5. Hard back with dust jacket, 256 pages, more than 350 illustrations (about 260 in colour), index of more than 1,100 ship names.

Written by NAA members Nick Tolerton and Captain Mike Pryce, this book covers hundreds of ships familiar in Australian and New Zealand ports. Chapters cover the history of product tankers from the war-built standard ships and the classic post-war general purpose tankers through to the innovative specialist product tankers of the late 60s, 70s, and 80s, and today‘s product and chemical carriers. There are also chapters covering the histories of the Shell and BP product fleets and New Zealand‘s coastal tankers. The book is also rich in reminiscences from men, and includes a chapter on ice navigation and a chapter on product tanker involvement in the Vietnam and Falkland wars.

Orders for delivery to Australian addresses should be directed to Vibex Books, www.vibexbooks.com.au, A$69 includes P&P. There is a 10% discount for NAA subscribers. Enquiries for orders for New Zealand addresses should be directed to Nick Tolerton at [email protected] or PO Box 36392, Merivale, Christchurch 8146. Non-Australian and New Zealand orders are being looked after by UK nautical booksellers Ships in Focus, email [email protected]

NAUTICAL ASSOCIATIONNAUTICAL OF AUSTRALIA ASSOCIATION – ADDRESSES OF AUSTRALIA – ADDRESSES The following addresses should be used for communications to the Association: Editor: R. A. Priest, 2 Editor: R. A. Priest, 2 Bebington Close, Ringwood, Vic., 3124. Email [email protected] Treasurer: A. Knott, P.O. Box 267, Leopold, Vic., 3224. Email [email protected] Secretary: P. E. Cundall, Unit 9, 70-74 Phillip Street, Parramatta, NSW 2150. Email [email protected] Photographs for inclusion in The Log should be sent to R.A.Priest, at the above address. Photographs submitted to the NAA, unless accompanied by written instructions to their use and/or return, will be accepted with the implied consent for the NAA to use them in The Log, or other NAA publications. Such photos to be retained in the NAA archives, and the photographer to be acknowledged if and when they are published.

EDITOR‘S NOTE REGARDING PHOTOGRAPHS REPRODUCED IN THE LOG

It is the Editor‘s policy to seek permission to publish any photograph believed to be in copyright. It is also policy to include the location, date and original photographer where these are known. When the original photographer is not known, the source of the photograph will be indicated. Also note the ‗standard‘ wording regarding submission of photographs to the NAA, included in the NAUTICAL ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA - ADDRESSES box each issue.

30 FROM THE PEN OF PETER NICOLSON

PORT LINE STREAMLINERS

31

City of Winchester (10,594/1952) at Hobart 27 June 1964 (D.E.Kirby)

City of Canberra (10,306/1961) at Cape Town (R.A.Priest/NAA collection)

32

City of Brooklyn (7,557/1949) at Montreal in May 1965 (R.A.Priest/NAA collection)

City of Dundee (6,977/1961) anchored 24 May 1965 (W.Volum/NAA collection)

33 MARITIME NEWS

Closing date for the next issue is 1 May 2017. Please forward all contributions, corrections and additional information to Dale Crisp: [email protected] or post to 104 Head Street, Brighton, Victoria, 3186. Photographs should be sent to Russell Priest: [email protected] or posted to 2 Bebington Close, Ringwood, Victoria, 3134.

Maritime News is compiled by Dale Crisp, who thanks Bill Barber, Mike Carolin, Peter Grunberg, John Nunn and Lindsay Rex (Vic), Buster Browne, John Burne, Peter Cundall, Ian Edwards, Ross Gillett, John Mathieson, Peter Plowman and Alan Travers (NSW), Chris Mackey (Qld), Rex Cox, Bob Silberberg and Glenn Towler (Tas), Chris Gee (WA), Reinhard Thieme (ACT) and Alan Calvert, Brent Hanson, Mike Pryce and Ross Walker (NZ) for their assistance.

Information has also been sourced from a range of vessel owners, operators and agents, company websites, industry publications, mainstream media and the newsletters of the Hobart, NSW, Victoria and WA branches of the World Ship Society.

NB: A number of sections have been held over until next issue: Dredging; , Fishing and Miscellaneous Craft; Historic, Preserved and Museum.

AUSTRALASIA AND SOUTH PACIFIC

Cruise Shipping

Norwegian Cruise Lines‘ re-entry to the ANZ market has had an unfortunate start with technical problems afflicting Norwegian Star (2016, p. 248) forcing a substantial number of port calls to be dropped on positioning and Australian and NZ cruises. Norwegian Star‘s difficulties were just one of a number of mishaps and incients involving visiting cruise ships this season (see Accidents & Mishaps).

P&O Cruises Australia passenger numbers rose 55% to more than 460,000 in the year since last November when Pacific Aria (2016, p. 96) and Pacific Eden (2016, p. 29) joined the fleet, with those ships alone carrying a total of 160,000 passengers from seven ports—Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Cairns, Fremantle and Singapore. The addition of the two ships enabled P&O to use Cairns as a homeport for the first time and again operate Asian cruise holidays with a season from Singapore. The company now visits more than 90 ports, having added 17 new ports in 2016, including several around the Australian coast as well as Gizo in the ; Sabang, Ujung Pandang, Jakarta and Probolinggo in ; Langkawi in Malaysia; Phuket, Krabi, Ko Chang and Koh Samui in Thailand and Cambodia‘s Sihanoukville.

Carnival Corporation has announced that the 133,500 GT newbuilding that was originally designated for P&O Cruises Australia (2016, p. 29) will now be delivered to Carnival Cruise Line when it is completed in 2019, at which time Carnival Splendor (9333163, 113,562/08, Carnival Corp, USA, owners & mgrs.; Panama flag) will be transferred to P&O Australia and renamed. It has been stated that right-sizing for the market and concerns about port infrastructure in Australia and across the Pacific factored in to the decision. The new ship would have had berths for 4,500 passengers, but P&O Cruises Australia president Sture Myrmell said, ―Having reviewed the market, we believe a 3,000-passenger ship is the right size for the P&O fleet to drive further sustained growth in our market. It is increasingly apparent that the improvement of cruise ship infrastructure in Australia and across the Pacific is not moving as fast as we had hoped to support a ship the size of the newbuild we had intended for the fleet in 2019. We also look forward to greater certainty around costs, berth availability and infrastructure.‖

The issue of ‗inadequate‘ infrastructure has been prominent during the inaugural Australasian deployment of Ovation of the Seas (2016, p. 248), which did not call Melbourne and is unable to berth in Auckland and Lyttelton. The first cruise from Sydney did not go completely to plan, as bad weather

34 prevented scenic cruising through Dusky and Doubtful Sounds on 21 December, and the call at Port Chalmers next day had to be cancelled, with extra time in Wellington on 23 December.

Ovation of the Seas (168,666/16) sailing Port Chalmers 3 January 2017 (A.Calvert)

Arriving in Auckland on 27 December, the vessel had to anchor out in Waitemata Harbour, with passengers going ashore by tender, as it is too big to berth at Queens or Princes Wharves. RCCL has been negotiating with Ports of Auckland to find an alternative berth since plans were suspended for an extension on one side of the Bledisloe container wharf for large cruise ships. The ship sailed from Brisbane 22 February at the end of its first season.

Cunard will base the post-refit Queen Elizabeth (2016, p. 248) in Australia for two months in 2019, marking the longest deployment in Australian waters for any vessel from the line. The 2,068-pax will sail from Sydney and Melbourne on seven cruises to NZ, South Australia and Tasmania. They will include two roundtrip New Zealand voyages - one from Sydney and the other from Melbourne - plus three roundtrip voyages including Tasmanian itineraries, two from Melbourne and one from Sydney. Queen Mary 2 (2016, p. 248) undertook ‗side voyages‘ during its 2017 season, including to Kangaroo Island, South Australia from Melbourne and Port Arthur/Hobart from Sydney. Australia is now Cunard‘s number three source market after the UK and US.

Re Viking Sun (2016, p. 29): Viking Ocean Cruises‘ inaugural Australian season (2018) and those of the following two will be undertaken instead by the fifth of the 930-pax class Viking Spirit (details TBA). The initial 13 itineraries will see departures from Sydney to Auckland and reverse from December 2018 to February 2019, 14-night cruises that will visit nine ports. Two 16-night cruises from Sydney to Bali or the reverse will also be offered, departing November 30, 2018 and March 10, 2019, stopping at 11 ports including Lombok and Komodo Island in Indonesia, the Whitsundays and Newcastle.

Re Columbus (2016, p. 249): The 2017 version of Cruise & Maritime Voyages‘ round-the-world cruise was taken by Magellan (8217881, 46,052/85, ex Grand Holiday-15 etc, Epic Cruise Ltd, Global Cruise Lines Ltd, Greece, mgrs.; Bahamas flag) which called , Bora Bora, Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Hamilton Island, Cairns and Darwin mid-February-early March during its first visit to Australasia.

French expedition line Ponant will offer Kimberley cruises for the first time in July 2017 and again the following year, when four 10-night cruises will be offered during July and August 2018 using L’Austral (9502518, 10,944/10, Compagnie du Ponant Marseille; French flag) (See also Accidents & Mishaps).

What is claimed to be the first-ever cruise from China to the South Pacific was undertaken by Costa Atlantica (9187796, 85,619/00, Costa Crociere SpA, owners & mgrs.; Italy flag) which left Tianjin on 30

35 November 2016 for a 46-day voyage visiting 12 islands in nine countries including Vanuatu, Tonga, , American , New Caledonia and .

Following the entry into service of Aranui 5 (2016, p. 30) Aranui III was sold By SA Compagnie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime, France to M2 Vessel Ltd, Cayman Islands and renamed M2.

Deepsea Ferry

In early December 2016 ferry operator Strait Shipping was acquired from the Barker family by investment funds manager CHAMP Private Equity for an undisclosed price. Under the Bluebridge brand, Strait Shipping operates the ro-paxes Straitsman and Strait Feronia (both 2016, p. 274) between Wellington on NZ‘s North Island and Picton on the . As well as the ferry operation CHAMP has bought Barkers‘ trucking company Freight Lines and freight forwarder Streamline but the family is keeping Bulklines and Stocklines. Negotiations for the sale were underway when company founder Jim Barker died on 28 August (2016, p. 251-252).

Interisland Line resumed full Cook Strait road, rail and passenger services in early December for the first time since a 7.8 magnitude earthquake damaged terminals at Wellington and Picton on 14 November (2016, p. 274). Interisland Line and Strait Shipping were able to resume limited services in the week after the ‗quake but with major restrictions. Interisland‘s rail/ro-pax Aratere could not operate, however, forcing the company to transfer rail freight to road trailers at either end of the service. Interisland investiged the possible resumption of historic direct ferry services from Wellington to Lyttelton; however, a combination of domestic and international container services has been marshalled by the company to keep freight flowing (see below). Despite Aratere returning to service, trains can only proceed as far south as the Spring Creek freight hub near Blenheim and freight will have to be transferred to trucks for up to 18 months. Faced with an expected 50% drop in Cook Strait freight Interisland announced a 15.5% ‗earthquake levy‘ would apply until at least June 2017.

Midwest Ferries, originally established by Whanganui businessman Neville Johnson in 2010, is now looking for support from road transport operators for a proposed Cook Strait service from Whanganui to Motueka which will reduce traveling time for trucks by-passing Wellington and Picton. The project will need resource consent for deepening and reclamation work required at both ports to operate a 135- metre roll on-roll off vessel. The company is seeking around $50 million as a start-up fund. To be viable it is estimated that 28,000 passengers a year would need to use the service, between terminals based at Castlecliff and Port Motueka, whose main wharf is owned and operated by Talley's Group. The proposed new route would save four hours on a typical Auckland-Christchurch journey.

American Samoa‘s US$13.6 million new interisland ferry Manu’Atele (9769520, 613/16, Govt of American Samoa, owners & mgrs.; US flag) arrived at Pago Pago 5 January from builders, Washington State-based Nichols Brothers. The small ro-pax operates between the main island of Tutuila and the Manu‘a island group but in the future may sail to other neighbouring islands, such as Samoa, Niue and , the government says.

The latest addition to the Tonga ferry fleet is Vaomapa (8875570, 194/91, ex Daeheung Ferry-17, Tofa Ramsey Shipping Limited), arrived in Nuku‘alofa in mid-January. Although described as a landing barge- type vessel it is officially listed as a passenger/ro-ro cargo ship with cargo capacity of six trucks and a deck passenger certificate for 270 people.

Two Incat, Hobart-built catamarans have recently changed operators: The 96-metre Highspeed 6 (9221346, 6,360/00, ex Milenium-10, hull no 056), has been sold by Hellenic Seaways to Spanish company Naviera Armas and renamed Volcan De Teno. South Korean company Dae-A Express Shipping has obtained the 81-metre long Orange I (9129328, 4,114/96, ex Sunflower II-12 etc, originally Stena Lynx III, hull No 040), from JH Ferries. It has been renamed Ocean Flower 2 and placed on the Busan to Tsushima, Japan, route.

36 Antarctic, Research and Other Non-Merchant

The private residential cruise ship The World (2010, p. 221), has broken the record for the most southerly navigation reaching 78°43•997´S and 163°41•421´W at the Bay of Whales in Antarctica‘s Ross Sea. Carrying 145 residents and guests plus 272 crew, the vessel achieved the record at 10:41hrs ship‘s time (New Zealand time) on 28 January during a 22-day expedition to the Ross Sea, including 12 days in Antarctica, assisted by EYOS Expeditions. Setting sail from Hobart, the cruise included 12 days in Antarctica, timed to coincide with the peak of the Antarctic summer. (See also Accidents and Mishaps.)

France will this year take delivery of a new multi-purpose polar logistics ship/icebreaker to replace L’Astrolabe (2016, p. 173). The hull of the 72-metre vessel, also to be called L’Astrolabe, was launched on 22 December 2016 by CRIST, Poland and is being outfitted by Chantier Piriou of Concarneau, France. It will be owned and operated by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) administration, the French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV) and the French Navy and will accommodate 60 people. The new L’Astrolabe will replace the existing Antarctic supply ship and the veteran Indian Ocean patrol vessel L’Albatros (6708800, 1,597/67, withdrawn in June 2015) and thus, rather than spend six months of every year idle, will operate from Hobart between November and March and in French Polynesia/Indian Ocean the rest of the year. The current L’Astrolabe left Hobart on its first 2016-17 seasonal re-supply voyage to France‘s Durmont d‘Urville base on 22 November.

The People‘s Republic of China also has a new polar research/supply vessel under construction, at Jiangnan Shipyard, Shanghai for 2019 delivery. In 2012, the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) awarded a contract for the concept and basic design of the research icebreaker to Aker Arctic, who tailored the design for specific scientific missions in the Arctic and Antarctic. After the concept had been developed, Aker Arctic performed model tests in open water and ice at its Helsinki laboratory in order to verify the vessel‘s performance. The new 122m x 22m vessel, which will replace Xue Long (2016, p. 124) and is first such ship built in China, will have an extensive scientific outfit including both wet and dry laboratories, a large aft working deck served by several cranes and winches, and a moon pool with scientific hangar. There will be accommodation for up to 90 scientists and crew, a large forward cargo hold, heavy crane and cargo fuel tanks allow the vessel to carry out resupply missions to scientific research stations. The aviation facilities include a landing platform and a hangar for two helicopters. The Polar Class 3 icebreaker will be capable of continuously breaking up to 1.5 m thick level ice with a 20 cm snow cover both ahead and astern. The diesel-electric power plant and propulsion system, which consists of four main generating sets, two 7.5 MW azimuth propulsion units and two transverse bow thrusters, will provide the vessel with redundant DP2 class station-keeping capability.

Research/survey ship Akademik Tryoshnikov (2016, p. 97) arrived Hobart 19 January (previous port Cape Town) and departed again 22 January after completing the first part of its three-month circumnavigation of Antarctica; the ship‘s eventual destination was Chile.

Italica (2016, p. 249) arrived Lyttelton 4 December from dry-docking at Auckland and sailed 30 December on its final Antarctic deployment to Terra Nova Bay. Returned to Lyttelton 20 February en route to Ravenna where it will be laid up awaiting its fate; moves are still ongoing to have the vessel saved as a museum ship.

Ocean Giant (2016, p. 97) arrived Lyttelton 9 February from Port Hueneme to load stores and equipment for the American base at McMurdo Sound as well as Scott Base for New Zealand scientists. Fuel supplies to McMurdo station for the season were carried by Maersk Peary (2016, p. 97) which used a channel broken through the ice by the icebreaker Polar Star (2016, p. 97) which also called Lyttelton on its return voyage.

The South Korean research ship Araon (2016, p. 97) visited Hobart 14-15 November 2016 southbound for the Antarctic summer and arrived Lyttelton 14 January from Terra Nova Bay to load further supplies, departing again 20 January. Expected at Lyttelton again 4-7 March before returning to Inchon.

37 Research vessel OGS Explora (7310868, 1,408/73, OGS, Argo Srl, Italy, mgrs; Italy flag) arrived at Hobart 14 January from Port Said and sailed three days later for NZ.

Coastal General Cargo

Re Searoad Mersey II (2016, p. 252, 25,406/16, Searoad Holdings Pty Ltd, PoR Devonport): Reached Fremantle 4 December 2016 but departure delayed 48 hours by ‗red tape‘; arrived Devonport 0900 11 December 2016. First commercial voyage, Devonport-Melbourne, overnight 14-15 December. Searoad Mersey II then operated in partnership with Searoad Tamar (2016, p. 200) until 23 December when the latter sailed from Devonport to Fremantle for drydocking at BAE Henderson; it returned to service on 16 January. During that period Searoad Mersey II operated with Searoad Mersey (2016, p. 252) which continued to make weekly King Island calls. The latter returned to regular Bass Strait service from end- February for about one month while Searoad Mersey II is stemmed in Sydney‘s Captain Cook graving dock for the under-warranty replacement of its silicon underwater coating, which was applied by the builders‘ contractors in Denmark but which stripped during the delivery voyage.

Re King Island (2016, p. 176, 252): On 5 December Port & Coastal Marine Services advised the Tasmanian Government it was unable to continue as preferred proponent for the King Island service due to difficulties with the procurement and conversion of Siem Supplier which, despite earlier statements, had never left Brazil. With no vessel available the joint venture with SeaRoad, Bass Strait Island Shipping, was automatically dissolved. The government announced it was committed to ensuring a King Island service and was negotiating with a number of parties, including SeaRoad, over a contingency and ultimately a replacement service; it is understood TT Line was directed to seek a suitable vessel in the event that no agreement with a private sector supplier could be reached. Meanwhile, SeaRoad had placed the otherwise redundant Searoad Mersey on the market and was considering offers from international buyers. On 12 January the government announced it had reached agreement with SeaRoad to maintain once-weekly Devonport-Grassy sailings until early April using Searoad Mersey which, due to the lack of a suitable berth in Devonport, lays-by between voyages at Bell Bay. On 22 February the Tasmanian Government advised an interim replacement service would then be provided by TasPorts, understood to be using the landing craft Toll Investigator (2015, p. 207; expected to be renamed) for ―at least weekly‖ sailings between Grassy and Devonport. Toll Investigator left Darwin 3 March with ETA Devonport 19 March. The government said its medium-term expectation was that a triangular King Island, Tasmania, Victoria service would be established.

With little prospect of the immediate restoration of South Island roads and rail services or Wellington‘s container terminal following the 14 November Kaikoura earthquake (2016, p. 274) KiwiRail, in partnership with Ports of Auckland, Lyttelton Port of Christchurch and ANL Container Line, established NZ Connect in early December. The new service moves cargo from Auckland‘s Wiri Inland Port and KiwiRail‘s Southdown Freight Hub to Lyttelton‘s Midland Port or KiwiRail‘s Christchurch terminal via ANL shipping services. Subsequently in February ANL announced it would resume weekly Wellington direct calls using the three geared containerships of its TranzTas service. According to reports only preliminary repairs have been made to Wellington‘s container gantries, wharf apron and slumped hardstand and all pure container services continue to bypass the port with the exception of ANL and two calls by MSC‘s geared Capricorn service vessel Penelope (2016, p. 260).

Liquid and Dry Bulk

BP Shipping is renewing its product and crude tanker fleet and ahead of the delivery of long-term- chartered, new 46,000 DWT handysize product tankers and 109,000 DWT R class aframax crude tankers (all South Korean built). Since 2014 the company sold off all units of the Virtue and Tree classes, and more recently Bird class, to mostly South Korean (Sinokor) and Greek (Hellenic Tankers and Laliotis‘s Sea World) owners with short-term charter back. As the new vessels enter service and the old charters end, the former Australian-crewed/coastal tankers British Fidelity (2016, p. 101) and British Loyalty (2015, p. 123) have lost their ‗British‘ first names. Of others in that class, British Liberty (2016, p. 101) was renamed Liberty in Tauranga on 6 February while Bird class British Curlew (9258894,

38 63,661/04) had BP colours painted out at Kwinana 29 January and was subsequently renamed Pytheas for Pytheas Shipping Co Ltd, Tsakos Columbia Shipmanagement SA, Greece; Malta flag.

Stolt Yuri (7,488/16) arriving Melbourne 11 February 2017 (D.E.Crisp)

Stolt Yuri (9750218, 7,488/16, NYK Stolt Shipholding Inc, Japan, Stolt-Nielsen Singapore, mgrs.; Cayman Islands flag), one of two 12,500 DWT parcel tankers ordered in 2014 from Usuki Shipyard Co Ltd, Japan for charter to Stolt NYK Asia Pacific Services Inc (SNAPS) arrived in Australian waters in February. Sistership is Stolt Hagi (9750206, other details identical); the vessels are fitted with 18 stainless steel tanks. A further, similar pair due for 2017 delivery is Stolt Satsuki and Stolt Renge.

Re the former Teekay coastal tanker Hugli Spirit (2016, p. 252): buyers were Lynda Victoy AS (Champion Tankers AS, mgrs) of Norway and renamed Leonora Victory, NIS flag.

Ship-to-ship gas transfers in Moreton Bay resumed on 10 January following the arrival from the Middle East of George N (9377224, 36,459/09, General Gas Carrier Corp, Neu Gas Shipping International, Germany, mgrs.; Liberia flag). Transfers were made to coastal regulars Gas Shuriken (2015, p. 214) and Gas Defiance (2013, p. 49) and the PNG-bound Gas Sikousis (9343704, 3,434/06, Gastech Inc, Stealth Maritime Corp SA, Greece, mgrs.; Marshall Is flag).

First steel for the second new NZ coastal (bitumen/product/chemical) tanker (2016, p. 179) was cut at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co Ltd (Hull no 2561) on 3 January, with the owner nominated as ASP Marine NZ Ltd.

India‘s state-owned gas importer Petronet LNG has allocated the fourth of four chartered LNG carriers to ship gas from the Gorgon project. The 173,000 cu m Prachi (9723801, 112,791/16, India LNG Transport Co No 4, NYK Line, Japan, mgrs.; Singapore flag) was delivered by Hyundai Heavy Industries in November 2016 to an owning consortium of NYK Line, MOL Corp, Mitsui, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and The Shipping Corp of India, in which Petronet in February 2017 took a 26% stake. The LNG from Gorgon will be delivered to the terminal at Kochi in the southern state of Kerala. Prachi‘s three sisters are dedicated to the Qatar-India LNG trade.

The first two of six LNG carriers ordered by a consortium of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, China COSCO Shipping Corporation and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) for the China FOB Transportation Project have been delivered. CESI Gladstone (9672820, 113,397/16, China Energy Aspiration LNG, China Energy Ship Management Co Ltd, Hong Kong; HK flag) was delivered by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co Ltd, Hudong at the end of October and CESI Qingdao (9672832, China Energy Hope LNG, other details identical )on 6 January. The remaining four are due for completion by 2018; all will sail under a long-term charter to SINOPEC to transport gas from the Australia Pacific LNG project, Curtis Island, Gladstone.

39 Hydrogen shipments from Australia to Japan could start in 2020 after the mid-January signing of a pilot project agreement for the chemical to be shipped in bulk liquid form. Currently, the carriage of liquefied hydrogen is prohibited under the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gasses in Bulk (IGC Code), which is a mandatory code under the SOLAS convention. However, the carriage is allowed if there is an agreement between the flag state of the ship and the ports of loading and unloading, and changes are developed to the code and taken to the IMO for approval. The Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain Project is part of a drive to build a CO2-free hydrogen energy supply chain, using Australian brown coal to produce hydrogen, which would then be converted into liquid for transport. Japan‘s Kawasaki Heavy Industries is building the pilot project‘s liquid hydrogen carrier; the interim carriage requirements specify the construction standards of containment vessels for liquid hydrogen carriers, and mitigate the safety risks associated with transporting liquid hydrogen by sea. This pilot project is expected to inform future amendments to the IGC Code which will allow liquid hydrogen to be carried in bulk under the code without any special arrangements.

Following a downturn in fuel demand following the near-completion of several major projects BP withdrew the small tanker Spectrum (9535412, 14,355/09, Hong Lam Logistics Pte Ltd, Hong Lam Marine Pte Ltd, Singapore, mgrs.; Singapore flag) was withdrawn from Singapore-NW WA shuttle operations in October. Consequently the employment of the Teekay manned-and-managed Hong Lam bunker tanker Enthral (2016, p. 36) also ended and the vessel departed Dampier 31 October 2016 for return to Singapore.

The first commercial bunkering of LNG in Australia took place on 23 January when EVOL LNG fueled (from road tankers) the Woodside-chartered platform supply vessel Siem Thiima (9727235, 4,768/16, Siem Offshore Rederi AS, Siem Offshore AS, Norway, mgrs; NIS flag) at the King Bay Supply Base near Dampier. EVOL LNG is prepared to obtain licences from other major Australian and regional WA ports to conduct LNG bunkering operations, and look at investing in infrastructure, if there is sufficient interest. The company to be able to supply Fremantle customers with LNG at a price competitive with low-sulphur marine diesel and would be able to refuel ships at up to 45 tonnes per hour, which is comparable to traditional bunker fuels.

On 20 October 2016 Fortescue Group advised that construction of eight VLOCs (very large ore carriers) was on schedule with the first ship due for delivery in late November 2016 (see below); capital expenditure on VLOCs was US$35 million during 1Q FY17 with remaining FY17 spend of US$235 million and US$180 million in FY18. On 14 November FMG announced it had concluded financial agreements with China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co Ltd (CDB Leasing) for 85% of the total cost of US$556 million on ‗highly flexible‘ terms, including optional early repayment after four years of the 12-year term. The VLOCs are being constructed at China‘s Jiangsu Yangzijiang Xinfu and Guangzhou Shipbuilding International shipyards; FMG says they are designed to maximise uplift from Port Hedland and will improve load rates, efficiencies and reduce operating costs, and when fully operational will provide 12% of Fortescue‘s shipping requirements. The first four VLOCs are FMG Nicola (9747778, 133,500/17, 260,000 DWT, FMG Hong Kong Shipping Ltd, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, , mgrs.; HK flag); FMG Grace (9747780); FMG Sophia (9747792) and FMG Sydney (9747807) named after FMG chairman and founder Andrew Forrest‘s wife and three children. FMG Nicola was officially named in Shanghai on 29 November and arrived at Port Hedland for the first time on 19 December. The previous FMG Grace (2012, p. 177) was renamed Mineral Charlie on 1 November 2016 and FMG Matilda (2012, p. 177) was renamed Mineral Maureen.

During its drydocking in Singapore (2016, p. 253) CSL Brisbane was renamed Adelie. It remains under the Bahamas flag and is still listed as managed by CSL Australia but is no longer Australian-crewed and since January 2016 registered owner has been Hull 2227 Shipping Ltd, c/o CSL Americas, Massachusetts.

CSL Whyalla (2016, p. 254) moved 26 November from Cape Preston to the Dampier anchorage and returned to Fremantle on 29 December 2016, remaining at anchor until 24 January when it underook further repairs and modifications at BAE Henderson. The vessel departed again for Cape Preston on 1

40 February. Following the 11 January fire (See Accidents and Mishaps) on the transfer barge Spencer Gulf (2012, p. 250) some Whyalla transhipment work has been undertaken by the self-discharger Iron Chieftain (2011, p. 50).

Re Ravensdown Shipping (2016, p. 255): The company also has on charter the bulker Topflight (9278882, 30,051/05, Azalea Shipping SA, Nitta Kisen Kaisha Ltd, Japan, mgrs.; Panama flag) which also carries Ravesndown funnel colours.

Re Aotearoa Chief (2016, p. 254): Officially christened in Auckland on 15 November by Lee Thorburn, national supply chain manager for Golden Bay Cement. The vessel was designed by Singapore cement carrier specialist Shiptech and model testing of the hull, propeller and rudder was conducted in Denmark by Force Technologies. Details: 8,745 GT, 8,024 DWT, service speed 13k, crew 14, registered owner China Navigation Co Pte Ltd, Singapore; NZ flag, PoR Auckland.

Re Buffalo (2016, p. 254): Called Lyttelton 5 January on its delivery voyage from Singapore to Timaru where it arrived three days later to carry out manifold trials. Sailed Timaru for Nelson the following day to have some upgrading work completed; as of early February was still at Nelson.

Following storm damage to the (not-yet-installed) Taharoa Single Buoy Mooring (see Accidents and Mishaps) the dedicated ironsands carriers Taharoa Eos (2015, p. 240) and Taharoa Providence (2016, p. 37) at end-February remained anchored off Taharoa and Taharoa Destiny (2015, p. 39) in Tasman Bay; NZ Steel owner Bluescope Steel has estimated the cost of the disruption to export operations at up to $20 million.

The Swire Bulk newbuilding Tunsin (2016, p. 254) made its maiden commercial voyage from Kashima, Japan to Melbourne in January/February. Late last year and in early 2017 China Navigation Co purchased, for US15.5 million each, five 38,800 DWT Green Dolphin-type handysize bulkers originally ordered by and in some cases complete for Germany‘s FH Bertling but sold by the builder, Huanghai Shipbuilding. Originally intended names were Cumbria (9753296), Galicia (9753301), Venezia (9753284), Sulawesi (9753272) and Sumatra (9753260, 25,569/16). The last-named was initially acquired by Germany‘s Aug Bolten Wm Miller‘s Nachfolger (GmbH & Co) KG and operated under the Madeira (Portuguese second register) flag; the other vessels are due for 2017 delivery, with all for Swire Bulk operation. The Swire Bulk division has expanded exponentially over the past year: on 1 January 2016 it was operating 27 vessels but by 31 December the fleet had expanded to 55.

The largest shipment of to be loaded at Port Hedland departed 1 March 2017 on HL Tubarao (9493054, 152,219/11, 299,688 DWT, ex Hanjin Tubarao-16, GOS Shipping SA, H-Line Shipping Co Ltd, South Korea, mgrs.; Panama flag). The vessel loaded a total of 270,006 tonnes and departed at a record sailing draft of 19.95m, beating the previous load record set by CSB Years (9493092, 9493092, 151,825/12, 315,085 DWT, Nianhua Shipping SA, China Shipping Development Co, China ,mgrs.; HK flag) in April 2015 with a total cargo of 264,858 tonnes. The previous maximum sailing draft of 19.67m set by Abigail N (9334882, 9334882, 151,448/09, 297,430 DWT, General Ore Carrier Corp, Neu Seeschiffahrt GmbH, Germany, mgrs.; Liberia flag) in February 2015.

Container and Breakbulk Liner

From January 2017 Swire ceased using the New Guinea Pacific Line (originally a partnership with Mitsui- OSK Lines) and Bali Hai (until 2014 a joint venture with NYK/Kyowa/ MOL) brands for specific services, which are now included under the Swire Shipping banner. Bali Hai is now known as the Pacific North Asia service.

Kyowa Shipping and Swire Shipping have agreed to exchange slots between Busan, South Korea and the US territories of Guam and Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands). Kyowa Shipping operates two Pacific loops calling these islands as part of their rotations, whilst Swire Shipping visits them en route from the Far East to Papua New Guinea and New Zealand with the NAT (North Asia Trade) service.

41 The Kyowa Line service from North Asia to the Central Pacific is now operated by Kyowa Orchid, Kyowa Rose (both 2013, p. 58) and Papa Mau (9266542, 9,990/03, ex BF Leticia-16, etc, BF Leticia Foroohari Schiffahrts, Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, Germany, mgrs.; A&B flag).

From March 2017 Maersk Line will add direct calls at Madang and Wewak to its PNG Express service from/to South East Asia, reportedly targeting tuna exports. Full rotation will then be Tanjung Pelepas, , Lae, Madang, Wewak, Tanjung Pelepas. Rabaul and Kimbe will continue to be serviced with domestic coastal relay from Lae. Calls at Noro, Solomon Islands, have been dropped. In the same month ANL will add monthly direct calls to Kimbe to its APR service, with the first call by Merkur Tide (2016, p. 255) on 28 March.

PIL (Pacific International Lines) and its subsidiaries PDL (Pacific Direct Line) and MELL (Mariana Express Lines) has launched a new service connecting South China with the South Pacific islands, branded South Pacific Express (SPEX) by PIL and PDL and Majuro South Pacific (MSP) by MELL. SPEX entails alternating fixed-day loops from China to provide fortnightly coverage of PNG, New Caledonia and Fiji and 28-day frequency to the Solomons and the Marshall Islands, with Tarawa served on inducement. It will employ three 1,100 TEU ships turning in six weeks. The successive loops are as follows: Loop 1 - Nansha, Gaolan, Hong Kong, Shekou, Lae, Honiara, Noumea, Suva, Lautoka, Lae, Nansha. Loop 2 - Nansha, Gaolan, Hong Kong, Shekou, Lae, Noumea, Suva, Lautoka, Majuro, Nansha. Previously, coverage has been via a combination of PIL/PDL transhipment, largely hubbed over Auckland, and some MELL direct links. First Loop 1 sailing was by the 1,080 TEU Kota Hapas (9238624, 13,491/02, PIL, Singapore, owners & mgrs.; Singapore flag) from Nansha on 28 February.

In January Mariana Express Line added parent PIL‘s 1,800 TEU Kota Nabil (9356830, 20,902/08, PST Management Pte Ltd, Pacific International Lines, Singapore, mgrs.; Singapore flag) to the ANA service, joining sister Kota Nasrat (2016, p. 38) and replacing MELL Solomon (2015, p. 124). In early February William Strait (2016, p. 181) was replaced by a third PIL sister, Kota Naga (9362293, other details identical). The Surabaya, Dili, Makassar shuttle has reverted to a single-ship fortnightly service using Selatan Damai (ex Kota Damai-17, 2016, p. 38).

The PAX vessel ANL Dili Trader (2015, p. 125) was forced to drop a Dili call in late September – because the port was closed to all commercial ships 26-29 September for a visit by Japanese Navy vessels! In January ANL Dili Trader was withdrawn for drydocking/gearbox repairs and replaced for two voyages by sister ANL Kokoda Trader (9371969, 5,316/07, ex Souni-17, MCP Hamburg-15, Mirnova Shipping Co Ltd, Hartmann Shipping Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore, mgrs.; Liberia flag). APL Kokoda Trader transferred to the APR (Brisbane-PNG) service, replacing sister MCP (2011, p. 97); its place in PAX was taken by another sister, MCP London (2012, p. 251). This too is a temporary deployment, with either MCP Amsterdam or MCP Kopenhagen due to return in mid-April and take (re- take) the name ANL Dili Trader.

In late January the Merchant Shipping Esperance-Port Klang service (2016, p. 259) was using the CV110 Plus-type 1,118 TEU Frisia Alster (9434797, 9,948/07, ex MELL Sembawang-12 etc, Frisia Alster Zweite KG, Hartmann Dry Cargo Germany GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; Liberia flag).

From the end of January Maersk Line ceased taking slots on ANL‘s TranzTas service and instead re- instated a dedicated operation labelled Tasman Star and using three vessels. The fixed-day weekly service rotates Tauranga, Sydney, Bell Bay, Melbourne, Tauranga, Lyttelton, Timaru, Tauranga using the CV1100 Plus-type Pacific Trader (9406922, 9,95708, ex MELL Semakau-12 etc, Asian Hawk Shipping Co Ltd, Marlow Navigation Co Ltd, Cyprus, mgrs.; Cyprus flag), the 1,368 TEU Seapearl (9431343, 15,636/11, ex MELL Sudong-15 etc, Seamaine Shipping Co Ltd, Marlow Navigation Co Ltd, Cyprus, mgrs.; Cyprus flag) and sistership Searuby (9506540, 15,636/12, ex MELL Shepherd-13, etc, Chiamo Island Shipping Co Ltd, Marlow Navigation Co Ltd, Cyprus, mgrs.; Cyprus flag.

In early December 2016 MSC added a second weekly Bell Bay call to its New Kiwi service to, in effect, begin a new Bass Strait service. From voyage KW649A of Malte Rainbow (2016, p. 255), Bell Bay 8

42 December, the New Kiwi rotation became Sydney, Brisbane, Noumea, Tauranga, Auckland, Bell Bay, Melbourne, Bell Bay, Sydney.

Ahead of its late-January sale for demolition at Alang for US$310/ldt Chenan (2015, p. 279) was transferred from Swire‘s TRT (trans-Tasman) service to the East South East Asia (ESEA) service for one voyage, swapping with Ngankin (2016, p. 182). Ningpo (2016, p. 263) was sold in November 2016 to Orient Express Lines Singapore and renamed OEL Straits under the Panama flag. The temporary replacement for Ngankin in ESEA was to be a former ANL TranzTas charter, the Wenchong 1700-type, 1,740 TEU Acrux N (9433066, 1823610, ex ANL Euroa-15 [2015, p. 274] etc) but instead this was swung into the NAX service as the second ship (see 2016, p. 255). The long-term replacement for Chenan/Ngankin, the SDARI 1400-type, 2,357 TEU Max Schulte (9676711, 27,279/15, Bencoolen Park Shipping Pte Ltd [Bernhard Schulte], Hanseatic unity Chartering GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; Singapore flag) a sister to NAX‘s Mia Schulte [2016, p. 255]) joined ESEA in Singapore on 23 February.

Re Great Southern Shipping (2016, p. 258-259): Imara finally berthed and discharged at Port Botany on 16 December; Wehr Trave discharged into barges at Hong Kong on 17-18 December. On 22 December Great Southern Shipping Australia Pty Ltd was placed in liquidation, with David Iannuzzi and Steve Naidenov of Veritas Advisory appointed liquidators. At that time it emerged that GS Agencies Pty Ltd had also been placed in liquidation, on 15 October 2016. A first creditors‘ meeting for GSA was held on 30 December, anf dor GSSA a week later at which it was revealed a preliminary list of 47 unsecured creditors were owed a total of A$15,775,977.16, while the company‘s realisable assets stood at just over $51,000. Owners of Imara, Wehr Trave and Wehr Warnow were owed $553,151.95, $543,689.06 and $689,919.71 respectively. In early January Wehr Trave and Wehr Warnow were sold to China‘s SITC for US$3.8 million each. Imara spent some time anchored off PNG before returning to Hong Kong where it was still idle at end-February.

Lloyd Don Carlos (91,649/06) in Moreton Bay 29 November 2016 (C.Mackey)

The ‗largest containership to visit Australia‘ title has changed hands again, with Maersk diverting another vessel from its AC3 (South America-Asia via NZ) service. Lloyd Don Carlos (2016, p. 262) arrived at Brisbane‘s Cartwight Anchorage from Tauranga on 28 November before berthing 29 November. It spent almost 24 hours alongside at Patrick‘s Fisherman Islands terminal to discharge empty reefers and evacuate empty dry containers, and load export containers of chick peas in a total exchange of around 800 boxes, sailing for Kaohsiung. Lloyd Don Carlos set the new tonnage and length benchmarks at 91,649 GT, 101,496 DWT, 335 metres LOA but at 8,533 TEU (having recently been re-rated from 8,204 TEU) just failed to beat Seroja Enam‘s 8,540 TEU. The latter still holds the breadth record (45.6m, 18 container rows wide), compared to Lloyd Don Carlos at 42.8m (17 containers wide). New records loom in NZ, however (see below).

As usual, a number of services blanked sailings from Asia during Chinese New Year: Swan River

43 Bridge (WASCO), YM (CAT), YM Seattle (NEAX), OOCL Dubai and Xin Yan Tian (A3S), Xin Xia Men (A3C), JPO Taurus (ANZEX), Wide Bravo and Cap Frio (AAUS), E R France and Wide Charlie (Boomerang/). Again this year there is no formal trade-wide low-season capacity management programme: instead consortiums are making group-by-group arrangements to blank sailings and share vessels.

In the A3N service in Qingdao on 16 December 2016 Xin Yang Pu (2016, p. 257) was replaced by the former one-voyage Triple A PIL charter Balbina (2016, p. 260); after two round trips it is replaced in Shanghai on 14 March by the 4,600 TEU Bernhard Schulte (9484546, 40,877/10, ex Cap Ines-16 etc, Peaked Hill Ltd, [Bernhard Schulte], Hanseatic unity Chartering GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; HK flag). Balbina then transfers for a single voyage to the A3C service in place of the earlier-withdrawn Xin Xia Men (see above).

In the A3C service ANL Wandin (2016, p. 258) was withdrawn in mid-December and replaced on 19 January in Shanghai by the 5,551 TEU ANL Wahroonga (9235103, 65,131/02, ex Conti Gothenburg- 17 etc, Conti 10 Conti Goteborg KG, Niederelbe Schiffahrts GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; Madeira flag). Unusually, ANL Wandin retained its name upon transfer to a CMA CGM service, PEX3 (Far East- US Gulf-USEC).

In the A3S service due to drydocking Xin Chi Wan was replaced in Xiamen on 3 March by Xin Yan Tian (both 2016, p. 258); the former then rejoins the service in the latter‘s original place, Xin Yan Tian having stood down for one voyage during Chinese New Year.

As foreshadowed (2016, p. 257) following the May 2017 dissolution of the current AAUS consortium/service Hapag-Lloyd and APL will join a further revised NEAX group, from which OOCL will be excluded. NEAX will then comprise K Line (the only remaining original member), Evergreen, Yang Ming, Hapag-Lloyd and APL. As of end-February Hyundai Merchant Marine was still to finalise new arrangements.

In the CAT service, the returning Patraikos (2015, p. 125) replaced RHL Concordia (2016, p. 259) as the TS Lines contribution, in Ningbo on 3 March. After standing down YM Antwerp (above) will be replaced in mid-March by the 4,444 TEU YM Portland (9236535, 51,364/03, ex Norasia Enterprise-07 etc, Oceanus Shipping AS, SinOceanic Shipping AS, Norway, mgrs.; Liberia flag).

The again-relabelled Cosco Shipping Line, along with Shanghai Sino-Poland Enterprise Management Development Corp, have acquired Australia & New Zealand Banking Corp (ANZ)‘s 10 per cent stake in the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank. Cosco is now taking slots to/from South East Asia on Maersk‘s Boomerang, covering Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane (Adelaide is excluded), as well as on AAX and both loops of Triple A, while retaining membership of ASAL (previously held by CSCL). The Triple A Bight Loop slots are with PIL and part of a swap that sees PIL have northbound slots through Coscon on A3S and southbound slots on A3S and A3C. Coscon has also resumed taking trans-Tasman slots on Maersk‘s Southern Star (from Brisbane) and Northern Star (from Port Botany) services.

Following the withdrawal of Mitsui-OSK from the Triple A consortium (2016, p. 256-257) remaining core members OOCL and PIL will, from 24 April, combine the existing twin strings (AAA1, Torres and AAA2, Bight) into a single weekly string using six c.5,700 TEU vessels (OOCL 4, PIL 2). Yang Ming Line, currently a vessel provider in the Torres Loop, will revert to slot chartering. Brisbane will be dropped from the combined port roster, which will be Laem Chabang, Singapore, Port Kelang, Fremantle, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle, Singapore, Laem Chabang.

In January MSC Sao Paulo (2016, p. 185) transferred from the Australia Express Service to New Wallaby/Boomerang, where it replaced MSC Eugenia (2016, p. 184) which was sold for demolition in India for US$340/ldt. In mid-January Carl Schulte (2015, p. 197) returned to Boomerang, replacing Tommi Ritscher (2016, p. 183). In late January Hammonia Francia (2016, p. 260) phased out in Singapore, having been sold for demolition at Alang for US$344/ldt and was replaced by the returning

44 Clemens Schulte (2016, p. 183); however, in late March Clemens Schulte will be replaced by another of the Hanjin Subic Bay 5500 class, the 5,466 TEU Maersk Tema (9698264, 51,872/15, launched as Wide Juliet, Wide Juliet Ltd [Oaktree Capital/B Rickmers], Rickmers Shipmanagement (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Singapore; Marshall Islands flag). On 24 February in Laem Chabang Irene’s Warwick (2016, p. 260) was replaced by the former Hapag-Lloyd EAX and AAUS charter Wide Bravo (see below).

Having made only one AAX voyage as S Santiago the renamed ANL Wantirna (2016, p. 260) made just two AAX voyages, replaced in late February by the 5,089 TEU CMA CGM Alcazar (9355197, 54,778/07, launched as Cosco Charleston, GSL Alcazar Inc [Global Ship Lease, UK/USA], CMA CGM SA, France, mgrs.; Liberia flag). In Singapore on 11 March ANL Werribee (2016, p. 259) will be replaced by the 5,040 TEU CMA CGM White Shark (9317975, 54,309/07, Fenice Bail 2 SNC, CMA CGM SA, France, mgrs.; Gibraltar [UK] flag). ANL Woomera (2016, p. 259) made a trial visit to the new Victorian International Container Terminal, Melbourne 5-6 January to load 400 empty 40-foot containers and become the first vessel to use the completed facility.

The ASAL service saw a number of vessel changes in December/January/February. On Singapore on 22 December Xin Quan Zhou (2015, p. 127) was replaced by the former NYK JCS service charter JPO Virgo (2014, p. 176). On 9 January in Port Klang UASC Jeddah (2015, p. 127) reverted to its build name, CPO Jacksonville. On 7 February in Port Klang Seaspan Lumaco (2016, p. 260) was replaced by the 4,526 TEU OOCL Busan (9329540, 40,168/08, RBSSAF 26 Ltd, Orient Overseas Container Line, Hong Kong, mgrs.; HK flag).

In late March the MSC Capricorn service‘s Penelope (2016, p. 260) will be replaced by the 2,792 TEU Wenchong 2800-type Cape Marin (9571325, 35,708/12, Cape Marin Shipping Co Ltd, Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd, Cyprus; Marshall Islands flag).

Newcomers listed for MSC‘s Australia Express Service: the 4,837 TEU MSC Mandraki (8613310, 52,191/88, ex Maersk Mandraki-08 etc, Marathos Shipping Inc,Costamare Shipping Co SA, Greece, mgrs.; Greece flag); the 8,034 TEU MSC Toronto (9299525, 89,954/06, Santa Leonarda Offen Reederei, Reederei Claus-Peter Offen, Germany, mgrs.; Germany flag); the earlier-flagged E R Yokohama (2016, p. 260); the 8,827 TEU MSC Adelaide (9618290, 95,390/13, launched as MSC Denisse, Usher Navigation SA, MSC Switzerland, mgrs.; Panama flag) however, all four were substituted by other vessels, as were MSC Ans, MSC Patricia and MSC Stella (all 2016, p. 261). The 5,042 TEU MSC Anya (9297864, 54,771/05, ex Santa Pelagia-14 etc, Lucas I Shipping Co [Niki Shipping Co, Greece], MSC Ship Management, Cyprus; Liberia flag, a 2011 visitor when on Hamburg Süd charter as Cap Serrat) did call, in January. Listed again, for a March voyage, is MSC Genesis (2016, p. 184); also listed is the 6,572 TEU Agios Dimitrios (9349605, 74,175/11, launched as the Iranian Fourth Ocean, Leonidas Marine LLC [Technomar], Conchart Commercial Inc, Greece, mgrs.; Liberia flag); and the former one-voyage Hapag-Lloyd AAUS charter HS Rome (2015, p. 49). E.R. Long Beach (2016, p. 260) became the first vessel to conduct a planned full exchange at the new, semi- automated Victorian international Container Terminal from 26 February, although ‗teething problems‘ resulted in an 84-hour stay alongside and the short-shipping of some 200 empty containers.

In the EAX/New NEMO service in Singapore on 28 November the Hapag-Lloyd chartered Wide Bravo (2106, p. 183) was replaced by Embiricos‘s 5,908 TEU Folegandros (9247560, 66,332/01, ex CCNI Ancud-14 etc, Folegandros Maritime Co, International Maritime Enterprises SAM, Monaco, mgrs.; Liberia flag); Wide Bravo then transferred to the AAUS service (see above). In early December the former AAX vessel CMA CGM Chopin (2016, p. 259) replaced Xin Qin Huang Dao (2016, p. 186). From January this service‘s European port rotation changed to Tilbury, , Hamburg, Le Havre and the UK terminal call was switched from Felixstowe (Hutchison Ports) to DP World‘s London Gateway. First affected vessel was CMA CGM Rossini (2016, p. 185).

From end January the CMA CGM/Marfret PAD/NASP service (including ANL to/from East Coast North America) introduced fortnightly direct Brisbane calls, commencing with V081 of Harmony N (2016, p. 107) on 28 January. On 7 February in Rotterdam the Marfret-chartered Cape Manila (2016, p. 261) was

45 replaced by the 3,104 TEU Widukind (9252735, 35,881/06, ex SCI Diya-08 etc, Esteship Reederei Tamke, Transeste Schiffahrt GmbH, Germany, mgrs.; Liberia flag). On 28 February also in Rotterdam Mozart (2016, p. 107) was replaced by the 2,872 TEU Arica (9399741, 32,901/07, ex Maersk Jakobstad-12 [as such employed on OC1 – 2012, p. 254], Arica GmbH & Co KG, NSC Schiffahrts GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; Liberia flag).

In the OVSA PSW string ANL Barwon (2014, p. 44) was damaged in a ‗stevedoring incident‘ at Oakland in early February; repairs were undertaken at long Beach with the ship resuming its delayed southbound voyage on 9 February. Oakland will be skipped on the subsequent northbound voyage to bring the ship back onto schedule.

Spirit of Melbourne (41,483/07) arriving Port Chalmers (R.Walker)

The need for drydockings sees vessel substitutions for Hamburg Süd-operated vessels in the Trident/OC1 service December 2016-April 2017. Spirit of Singapore (2014, p. 43) phased out in Melbourne on 20 December to be replaced by the 4,178 TEU Hammonia Galicia (9400186, 42,609/10, Hammonia Galicia Schiffahrts, Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, Germany, mgrs.; Madeira flag); Spirit of Melbourne (2014, p. 43) phased out in Melbourne on 10 January to be replaced by the 4,256 TEU Bernard-S (the former NZS vessel Sri Lanka, 2016, p. 261) and Spirit of Sydney (2013, p. 260) phased out in Melbourne on 14 February to be replaced by the returning Spirit of Singapore. The returning Spirit of Sydney then replaces Spirit of Auckland (2014, p. 43). The sixth of the original Bahia class, Spirit of Hamburg (9391660, 41,483/07, ex Bahia Laura-13, AR Fifth Navigation Pte Ltd, Rickmers Shipmanagement (Singapore) Pte ltd, Singapore; Singapore flag) hitherto employed on the North Atlantic, will move to Trident in early April, replacing Hammonia Galicia (above) in North America.

Following an end-January collision in the anchorage at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal (details unavailable) the OC1 southbound voyage 703S of Maersk Brani (2015, p. 119) was abandoned in order to enable repairs to take place, with all cargo ex USEC and Cartagena discharged at the Manzanillo International Terminal. The northbound Olga Maersk (2016, p. 185) voyage 648N was then turned at MIT, loading Maersk Brani‘s southbound cargo, while containers for Charleston were on-carried by RHL Agilitas (9373486, 18,480/07) and by Vega Scorpio (9491599, 9,999/10) for Cartagena and , both of which brought Oceania cargo to Manzanillo to load on the repaired Maersk Brani which then took over what would have been Olga Maersk’s original southbound position.

In early March Hamburg Süd launched a peak season kiwifruit export service between NZ and Asia. The service, expected to operate for 21-22 weeks, is being achieved through the diversion of the westbound/ northbound ASPA Sling 1 (Asia-Central/West Coast South America and return) to call Tauranga en route

46 from Valparaiso to Keelung, Hong Kong, Yantian, Xiamen, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan. Regular ASPA 1 vessels are being supplemented by (smaller) charters, listed in schedule order: the 7,800 TEU Santa Ursula (9430387, 86,601/12, Santa Ursula GmbH & Co KG, Columbis Shipmanagement GmbH, Germany; Madeira flag), the 4,254 TEU JPO Vela (2015, p. 128), the 7,154 TEU Santa Clara (9444716, 85,676/10, Santa Containerschiffe GmbH, Columbus Shipmanagement GmbH, Germany; Madeira flag), the 7,090 TEU Santa Isabel (944728, other details identical), the 7,090 TEU Santa Cruz (9444742, 85,676/11, other details identical), the 4,249 TEU Balthasar Schulte (2012, p. 181), the 7,254 TEU Santa Teresa (9430375, 85,676/11, Santa Teresa GmbH & Co KG, Columbus Shipmanagement GmbH; Liberia flag), the 7,090 TEU Santa Catarina (9444730, 85,676/11, Santa Containerschiffe GmbH, Germany, mgrs), the 7,154 TEU Santa Rita (9425382, 85,676/11, Santa Rita GmbH & Co KG, Columbus Shipmanagement GmbH, Germany; German flag), the 7,800 TEU Santa Barbara (9430399, 86,601/12, Santa Barbara GmbH & Co KG, Columbus Shipmanagement GmbH, German flag); the 7,154 TEU Santa Rosa (9430363, 85,676/11, Santa Containerschiffe GmbH, Columbus Shipmanagement GmbH, Germany; Liberia flag). Calls by the first two vessels listed above, scheduled for March 6 and March 13, were cancelled due to late ripening of kiwifruit and apple crops.

In the Maersk AC1/Triple Star southbound/South Pacific Express service (2016, p. 262) in January Maersk Utah was replaced by Safmarine Mulanje (2016, p. 260); Maersk Garonne was replaced by the one-voyage Coscon ACE charter Hammonia America (2016, p. 258); Luna Maersk entered the service in place of Safmarine Makutu while Safmarine Mafadi was replaced by the 5,466 TEU Maersk Lomé (9694593, 51,872/15, launched as Wide Hotel, Wide Hotel Ltd, Rickmers Shipmanagement (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Singapore; Marshall Islands flag). In late February Maersk Gateshead was replaced by Kmarin Aqua (2016, p. 256, the former Hanjin Aqua) and in early March Laura Maersk (2016, p. 262) was replaced by Kmarin Azur (9632492, 51,032/13, ex Hanjin Marine-16 [the former CKA vessel, 2015, p. 275], Tribridge Marine-Pacific SA, Kmarin [Kukje Maritime Investment Corp], South Korea, mgrs.; Panama flag).

In the complementary AC3/Triple Star northbound service Maersk Semarang (2016, p. 262) did not join the roster, with Seroja Enam remaining for another voyage; however, the latter was then replaced by the returning Sally Maersk (2016, p. 262) (Tauranga 19 April). Chastine Maersk was replaced in February by the 9,580 TEU Maersk Antares (9342504, 109,534/07, 122,138 DWT, AP Moller Singapore Pte Ltd, Maersk Line A/S, Denmark, mgrs.; Singapore flag) which will take over the title as the largest container ship by gross tonnage and deadweight to visit Australasia. Sister Maersk Alfirk (9342516, 109,534/08, AP Moller Singapore Pte Ltd, Maersk Line A/S, Denmark, mgrs.; Singapore flag) by virtue of a slightly higher deadweight (122,405) will wrest the record when it calls Tauranga 26 April, having replaced Maersk Seville (2016,p. 263) in the service.

It is worth noting that although heavily promoted in NZ as featuring ―new generation‖, fuel-efficient 9,500 TEU vessels, only three of the first eleven AC3 ships were 21st century designs, the rest being Sovereign Maersk-class vessels built 1997-2000, originally declared at 6,600 TEU (containers five-high on deck), then 7,226 TEU, later 8,160 TEU, subsequently 9,578 TEU after superstructures were raised 8.4m in 2011-12 to allow extra layers of containers (now up to 10-high) on deck and currently 9,640 TEU. An interesting comparison of the design generations: the Sovereign Maersk class nominal container capacity on dimensions of 348m x 42.8m x 15m, c.105,000 DWT with Maersk Shams 299m x 48m x 14.3m, 117,116 DWT.

On 1 January APL became a slot-charterer – through fellow CMA CGM Group member ANL and OOCL – in the ANZEX service between North East Asia and NZ. The replacement for Jonathon Swift (2016, p. 261) is the 4,255 TEU CPO Savannah (9440837, 41,358/09, ex Cap Hudson-16 etc, CPO Savannah Offen Reederei; Reederei Claus-Peter Offen GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; Liberia flag) which phased in at Shanghai on 19 January. JPO Taurus (2016, p. 261) was idled in Shanghai on 9 February with the scheduled next voyage blanked.

Re NZS/KIX changes (2016, p. 261): On 21 December in Port Klang NYK Futago was replaced by the Coscon-chartered 4,957 TEU Wiking (9708382, 48,385/16, Wiking Reederei Tamke GmbH, Transeste

47 Schiffahrt GmbH, Germany, mgrs.; Germany flag), another of the Jiangsu 5000 design (Wieland, Tommi Ritscher, HS Shackleton). Earlier, on 29 November in Port Klang the APL-supplied Sri Lanka (2016, p. 261, and see above) was replaced by ANL charter and former AAX vessel APL Atlanta (2013, p. 259) but this was for one voyage only: in Port Klang on 10 January the recent Maersk charter ALM Vietnam (2016, p. 184, 260) took over, resuming its previous ANL AAX charter name of ANL Whyalla (2016, p. 184). Meanwhile, in recognition of the new ship/space-sharing arrangement between PIL and APL in NZS, Kota Loceng (2014, p. 44) was renamed Kota APL in Singapore on 29 December. Early March ANL Waratah (2015, p. 276) will be replaced by the 4,255 TEU CPO (a former MSC Falcon service charter, 2014, p. 243) which is to be renamed ANL Warrnambool in Singapore on 10 March. ANL Waratah was promptly sold for scrap ‗as is‘ Singapore.

Dutch reefer specialist Seatrade has re-vamped and re-launched its Europe-South Pacific-NZ breakbulk/ container service as Meridian FDD (‗fast direct, dedicated‘) using eight reefer-heavy pure containerships including, eventually, all six of the company‘s new, modified SDARI 2100/Yangfan-type, Colour class. The 10-day-frequency service was inaugurated from NZ in late January by the 2,259 TEU Seatrade Blue (9756107, 24,905/17, 674 reefer plugs, Hai Lu 1505 Ltd, Seatrade Shipmanangement BV, The ; Marshall Islands flag) and follows a new port rotation of Nelson, Napier, Tauranga, Callao/ Paita (both Peru), Philadelphia, Zeebrugge, Dover, Rotterdam, Dunkirk, Radicatel (France), Papeete, Noumea, Nelson. In schedule order the other Meridian vessels are the STX 2600-type 2,572 TEU Catharina Schulte (9302956, 26,671/06, Regent Honest Ltd, Hanseatic Unity Chartering GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; Malta flag, the former Hamburg Süd charter Cape Bon), the SDARI 2400/Yangfan- type 2,357 TEU Melchior Schulte (9676723, 27,279/15, Beach Road Park Shipping Ltd, Hanseatic Unity Chartering GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; Singapore flag), the 2,259 TEU Seatrade Red (9690107, 24,901/16, Hai Lu 1502 Ltd, Seatrade Management BV, The Netherlands, mgrs.; Liberia flag, originally ordered by Germany‘s John T Essberger), the SDARI 2500/Wenchong-type x2,500 TEU Nordserena (9697026, 28,316/16, Nord Serena GmbH & Co KG, Hanseatic Unity Chartering GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; Cyprus flag), the 2,259 TEU Seatrade White (9756092, 24,905/16, Hai Lu 1503 Ltd, other details identical to Seatrade Red), the 2,259 TEU Seatrade Orange (9690092, Hai Lu 1501 Ltd, other details identical to Seatrade Red) and the SDARI 2500/Wenchong-type 2,500 TEU Nordamelia (9724958, 28,316/17, Nord Amelia GmbH & Co KG, other details identical to Nordserena). Two of the chartered units are due to be replaced by the still-to-be-delivered 2,259 TEU Seatrade Green and Seatrade Gold which will have increased reefer capacity of 772 plugs.

In October 2016 Matson South Pacific replaced Liloa (2016, p. 186) with the 645 TEU Liloa II (9184249, 6,264/06, ex Marcaviana-16 etc, Marcaviana Schiffahrts, Marconsult Schiffahrt GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; A&B flag), a sister to Imua II (p. 108). Liloa was subsequently sold to Tan Cang Shipping JSC (Cong Ty Co Phan Van Tai Bien Tan Cang), Vietnam and renamed Tan Cang Victory.

PIL has ordered a single 600 TEU vessel, plus one option, to be operated by its subsidiary Pacific Direct Line from China‘s Taizhou Kouan for delivery in 2018.

As a consequence of the inauguration of the SPEX service (above) from April PDL‘s Central & South Pacific service will no longer extend as far as Majuro (Marshall Islands). Instead, sailing frequency of Southern Pearl (2016, p. 186) from Lautoka and Suva to Wallis & Futuna, Funafuti and Tarawa has been increased to every 18 days. Australian and NZ cargo is centralised to Suva.

In early March AAL Dampier replaced AAL Nanjing (both 2016, p. 263) as the single ship in the six- weekly AAL Asia-Western Australia service.

In mid-December 2016 BBC Chartering launched a monthly Thailand-Australia/NZ breakbulk liner service using 1,000 TEU/15,000 DWT MPPs. Ports in other countries in South East Asia will be served upon inducement.

To meet extra pre-Christmas demand in the South Pacific PDL and SOUTHPAC partners made a number of temporary service changes in November/December. Ex re-delivery-from-charter drydock in

48 Auckland PDL voyage-chartered Liloa (above) to sail to Nuku‘alofa, Suva and Tarawa; Pacific Venture (2016, p. 177) made a one-off Suva, Funafati, Tarawa voyage; Southern Phoenix (2016, p. 108) was rostered to operate Suva, Tarawa, Kiritimati but following drydocking delays in PNG was replaced for one voyage by Capitaine Quiros (2016, p. 41, 42); Southern Trader (2016, p. 186) made a Nuku‘alofa call to supplement an overbooked Southern Lily (2016, p. 263) and as a result of this diversion the Seatrade vessel Messina Strait (2014, p. 107) was voyage-chartered Auckland-Papeete.

Breakbulk, Project Cargo, Ro-Ro and Livestock

75 new suburban trains – comprising 450 separate units - for Queensland Rail are being shipped from the manufacturer in India to Brisbane through the auspices of Orient Project Shipping (Singapore) Pte Ltd under a contract expected to extend through to 3Q 2018 The first monthly shipment arrived in early January 2017 on the Nordana-controlled MPP Hamra (9252034, 6,714/01, ex CEC Caledonia-08, etc, Hamra Maritime Transportation, Poulsen Shipping A/S, Denmark, mgrs.; Panama flag – subsequently sold for demolition as Hamraz under the Comoros flag) and the second on the Intermarine-controlled Momentum Scan (9534432, 6,693/10, CFL Momentum Beheer BV, CFL Shipmanagement BV, The Netherlands, mgrs.; Netherland flag).

Industrial Echo (8,750/10) at Napier 17 February 2017 (B.Hanson)

Another Intermarine-controlled MPP/heavy-lift vessel Industrial Echo (9407603, 8,750/10, ex Delphinus J-15 etc, Delphinus J Schiffahrts, Jungerhans Maritime Services GmbH & Co KG, Germany, mgrs.; A&B flag) arrived Napier 13 January to discharge Singapore Army cargo (for joint exercises with NZ forces) that could not be unloaded in Wellington and then returned 17 February to load Napier‘s two older model Gottwald mobile harbour cranes for Vietnam.

In the Armacup ro-ro, vehicle and project cargo service from Asia to EC Australia, NZ and the South Pacific the regular Morning Miracle (2015, p. 201) was replaced in June 2016 by sister Morning Menad (9318515, 41,192/07, Cardia Shipping Panama SA, Excel Marine Co Ltd, Japan, mgrs.; Bahamas flag); after one voyage this ship was replaced by Morning Courier (9285639, 57,692/05, Courier Shipping Ltd, Ray Car Carriers Ltd, Israel, mgrs.; Bahamas flag) in September before Morning Miracle returned in November; subsequently it lost its former EUKOR charter identity and was renamed Lake Taupo by (Lombard Corporate December 3 Ltd, Eastern Pacific Shipping UK Ltd, mgrs; Liberia flag) in early

49 January, returning to the service in China in early February.

BigLift‘s Happy Delta (2011, p. 233) arrived Newcastle on 30 January, berthing at 4 West Basin to discharge two small yachts carried on deck and a large motor cruiser carried below, following which a 200 tonne transformer was unloaded, bound for the Mount Piper Power Station, near Lithgow. On 1 February Happy Delta went out to the anchorage to await orders to load the two redundant Dyke (PWCS Carrington) shiploaders, now fitted with lifting lugs and lashing padeyes on their bases in readiness for shipment; the vessel (with loaders) sailed 25 February for China.

The semi-submersible Yacht Express (2016, p. 42) called Auckland 6 January on its annual voyage from Europe, via Papeete, with super-yachts Evviva and Latitude on board. It sailed on to Sydney Harbour (12 January), going to the Point Piper Buoy to discharge several vessels before departing late on 13 January for Hong Kong.

In response to the wind-down of car manufacturing in Australia and parallel rise in imports K Line in November 2016 K Line announced it would complement its existing ‗clockwise‘ Thailand-Australia ro- ro/vehicle service with a counter-clockwise version. The respective rotations are clockwise, weekly Laem Chabang, Townsville (alternating), Brisbane, Port Kembla, Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle (alternating) and anti-clockwise, fortnightly Laem Chabang, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne.

A Dalian-based Chinese consortium known as Sinomarine Livestock Shipping Co, will shortly introduce two livestock carriers to the Australian export trade to China. SLS is a joint venture comprising three companies and is converting, at a cost of c.$33 million each, two bulk carriers into livestock carriers. The vessels will have capacity to carry 5,500 cattle or 18,000 sheep, which SLS believes will fill the current mid-size ship market between the small and large livestock carriers in service. The vessels will be named Yangtze Harmony and Yangtze Fortune (details of both TBA) and are due to enter service in 1Q and 2Q 2017 following conversion in China. These ships will culminate a two year project for SLS to primarily carry livestock exports from Australia, New Zealand and the USA. SLS will be the third company to export live cattle to China from Australia following Elders (using Vroon tonnage) and Wellard using their own vessels. The commercial operation of the SLS ships will be carried out by WA-based, Harmony Agriculture and Food Co whose executive general manager, Steve Meerwald spent 30 years working for Wellard, finishing in 2013 as managing director.

The last two vessels built by COSCO Guangdong Shipyard, China, in the series of G-class livestock carriers for the Dutch company, Vroon (Livestock Express BV, Terneuzen, the Netherlands) Greyman Express (2015, p. 279) and Gudali Express (2016, p. 187) debuted at Fremantle on 8 February and 28 January respectively.

TOWAGE and OFFSHORE

Tugs, Barges and Landing Craft

Profits for Svitzer‘s towing and salvage services were eroded by higher competition and reduced market activity, falling from US$120 million in 2015 to $91 million last year with revenues declining from $669 million to $642 million. Lower levels of salvage due to a ―weak emergency response market‖, low commodity prices and reduced harbour towage in the US drove the decline in earnings. The company also identified the cost-saving strategies undertaken by oil and gas industries as a contributor to the challenges it faces. Despite the stiff market environment, parent AP Moller-Maersk reported that Svitzer maintained its market share and took on new business in the Americas. The division began providing towage services at two LNG terminals in Argentina and harbour towage services in Canada. ―Negative effects were partly offset with new terminal towage activity and tariff increase in Australia,‖ the company said.

The first of the pair of RAstar 2800 ASD terminal tugs under construction in Turkey for the INPEX- operated Ichthys LNG project (2016, p. 43) is named Svitzer Palmerston (details TBA).

50

Svitzer Eureka at Melbourne (P.Finnigan)

Svitzer Eureka (2016, p. 266) left Haiphong 8 December 2016; at Singapore 16-17 December; passed Christmas Island 23 December and Fremantle 30 December; called Port Lincoln 7 January; arrived Melbourne 10 January. After certification and other work entered commercial service on 3 February, assisting the inbound CMA CGM Strauss (2016, p. 39). The new tug was officially christened on 2 March by Rachel Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Victorian Ports Corporation. Svitzer Eureka replaces Tom Tough (2016, p. 43) which at the beginning of March moved to Geelong from where Tusker (2014, p. 149) is expected to redeploy to Whyalla.

In early December Svitzer offered the Newcastle Voith tractors Carrington (2015, p. 202), Wickham (2016, p. 113) and Mayfield (2014, p. 108) for sale, the first for $1.88 million and available for immediate delivery and the others for $2.1 million each and March 2017 and end May 2017 delivery, respectively. Carrington left for Sydney on 30 January, entering the Captain Cook Dock next morning for repairs to a cracked rotor casing, something that had also occurred to its sisters Mayfield and Wickham, Carrington had gone south on one engine, and when they attempted to start the second before entering the dock it unfortunately seized up.

Westug has been appointed manager of the Svitzer tugs now bareboat-chartered to CSL Australia for Arrium‘s greatly-reduced Project Magnet; Gloucester (2016, p. 266) was reported under Westug management at Whyalla on 16 December 2016. Svitzer Ginga (2016, p. 110) and Svitzer Larrakia (2015, p. 203) are expected to re-locate to Newcastle to replace the Voith tugs there (see above).

Svitzer Swift (2015, p. 230) arrived at Newcastle from Sydney on 25 January to stand-in while Svitzer Meringa (2016, p. 266) undergoes a maintenance period before its 10-year survey docking.

Tug Warren (2012, p. 222) arrived 20 February at Sydney from Port Lincoln (15 February) after being sold by AdStan Tug Charters (Svitzer/Stannard) to Sean Langman of Noakes Boat & Shipyard Pty Ltd, with the intention to tow ex Garden Island floating dock AFD 1002 around and about - to where, who knows. The exGarden Island dock is still at Harwood under refurbishment.

First steel for KT Maritime Services‘ 46-metre ART100-46 infield support vessel (2016, p. 113-114) was cut at Damen Shipyards, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates in late-January. Pending completion of the

51 ‗supertug‘ to service Conoco Phillips‘ Bayu Undan, Timor Sea, activities KT has deputised the lead ISV allocated to Prelude FLNG work, RT Beagle Bay (2016, p. 44), which will transfer to (delayed) Prelude duties when needed. RT Beagle Bay arrived at Darwin Marine Supply Base o 23 November 2016 before departing for the Bayu Undan field. Sisters RT Kuri Bay and RT Roebuck Bay (both 2016, p. 44) were officially christened on 9 November and are still at Singapore.

Damen Stan Tug 1606 Karama (46/10) has been offered for sale at Darwin by Svitzer/Stannard.

Re new BHP Billiton Port Hedland tugs (2016, p. 265): Second unit is confirmed as Iron Corella (9784960, 700/17, BHP Billiton Towage Services, Rivtow Marine Pty Ltd, mgrs.; Australian flag); the third is Iron Osprey (details TBA). Turner (2016, p. 265): Arrived 26 January at Port Moresby. TasPorts is reported to have purchased three BHP Billiton Port Hedland tugs, details TBA.

The wind-down of PB Towage continues: PB Pride (2006, p. 211) was sold November 2016 by PB Pride Ltd (Pacific Basin Middle East DMCC), Avatiu to Alphard Avid Private Ltd (Alphard Maritime Private Ltd), Singapore, renamed AM Avid. Alphard also acquired the dumb barges PB1 (4,953/07; ex Fujairah Pearl 2) and PB4 (3,857/06; ex Solid VI), renamed AM Meticulous and AM Manumit respectively. PB Progress (2006, p. 211) was sold 29 January 2017 by PB Progress Ltd (Pacific Basin Middle East DMCC), Avatiu, to Aigaion Maritime Inc (Maritime Consortium of Thessaloniki Inc), Avatiu, renamed Progress for delivery voyage from Dubai (1 February) to Thessaloniki; to be renamed Tiger Z. At end February PB Komata and PB Kaituna (both 2014, p. 178) were still idle at Dubai, PB Karori (2015, p. 282) was working at Weipa).

On 25 November 2016 Southern Ports Authority announced it had awarded the Bunbury towage contract to Mackenzie Marine & Towage Pty Ltd, ahead of long-term incumbent Riverwijs. SPA said Mackenzie would offer fees ―favourably lower on average‖, a simplified fee structure, and a four-year price freeze. The new contract took effect from 6 December with Mackenzie initially transferring Shoal Cape from Esperance and Cape Mac from Kwinana (both 2016, p. 2267; both arrived Bunbury 29 November). These were temporary deployments pending the delivery of two leased newbuilding Damen 2412 tractor tugs (63tbp): Cape Naturaliste (9783095, 299/16, Global Ship Leasing 40 BV, Sleepdienst B Iskes & Zoon BV, The Netherlands, mgrs.; St Vincent & Grenadines flag/PoR Kingstown for delivery voyage) ; and Cape Leeuwin (9783100, 299/17, Global Ship Leasing 42 BV, The Netherlands, Mackenzie Marine & Towage Pty Ltd, Perth, mgrs.; StV&G flag/PoR Kingstown for delivery voyage) left Haiphong 23 February with ETA Bunbury 15 March.

The displaced Riverwijs Grace and Riverwijs Isabel (both 2016, p. 203) were taken ashore at BAE Henderson in early December. Riverwijs Grace completed its refit and departed 15 February initially bound for Esperance to take on bunkers (18 February) and from there to Whyalla, where it arrived 22 February. Riverwijs Isabelle, which is reported to have machinery problems, remained ashore at BAE at end February.

Re SL Mallard (2016, p. 267): Australian registry closed 15 February 2017 (dual Singapore registry since 1 May 2016); left Fremantle 3 March for Dubai.

TasPorts‘ Risdon Cove (2016, p. 268) is once again relieving at Portland, departing Beauty Point 24 February; Cape Nelson (2014, p. 181) duly arrived at Beauty Point 27 February and proceeded upriver to the Launceston Shiplift the following day. Devonport‘s Campbell Cove (2016, p. 268) is relieving during Risdon Cove‘s absence, joining York Cove (2015, p. 131) which completed a refit on the shiplift on 22 February. Watagan (2016, p. 267) completed its refit on 6 January and departed for, initially, Devonport before returning to Burnie.

Re Eden tugs (2016, p. 266): Pacific Tug is now in competition to Svitzer at Eden, with the tugs Flinders Bay and and the 10.3-metre pilot tender/workboat PT Eden. As a port requirement, Keppel Bay now carries an ungainly large red portable fire-fighting unit on its stern. First ship handled was the Hong Kong flagged Xing Yi Hai (9725419, 24,991/16) which arrived on 28 November to load logs,

52 departing 30 November for Changshu. P T Kythira (2016, p. 266) left Eden 25 January to return the jack-up barge to Melbourne, where both arrived 29 January.

P T Monto (2016, p. 267) left Melbourne c.19 December for Burnie to recover an anchor lost off port by LHD HMAS Adelaide in late November. However, it is understood the tug was unable to locate the anchor and lost its own in the process before returning to Melbourne on 21 December. The anchor was duly found by minehunter HMAS Gascoyne on 19 January, with P T Monto once again deployed and returning to Melbourne 23 January.

P T Zarka (2016, p. 267) arrived back at Brisbane 3 December 2016 from Townsville with crane barge Big Boy.

The 26m motorised alloy-hulled barge Constructor 3 (2016, p. 190) was towed from Newcastle on 13 January by Leveret to Sydney, leaving there under tow of Fern Bay on 1 February and being delivered three days later to owner Atoll Offshore‘s yard at Lakes Entrance.

Edi (2016, p. 190): Left Lakes Entrance 4 February for Geelong, then Portland (8 February) and back at Geelong the following day for bed-levelling work.

Taralga (2014, p. 49) arrived at Brisbane 3 December 2016 from with barge Intan 1806 (2016, p. 190).

Tug Pacific Titan (9778636, 212/17, East Coast Maritime Pty Ltd, Gladstone) and 54.9-metre barge Rebecca Lily (1,217/13) arrived 18 February at Cairns from Tanjung Manis, Sarawak (departed 1 February). Tug was built by Hung Seng Shipbuilding Sdn Bhd, Sibu. (See 2016, p. 190); Barge‘s registered owner is (Brisbane-based) Brill Investments Private Ltd, Singapore; before that it was brokers Sinosin Sentosa Pte Ltd. Subsequently tug delivered barge to the Clarence River (23 February at Yamba) for Brady Marine & Civil Pty Ltd, who have a new bridge building project in the area.

In mid-December 2016 Bhagwan Marine was awarded a contract to supply marine vessels and crew to support construction on Rio Tinto‘s Amrun Project, the greenfield bauxite operation in the Weipa / Aurukun region of Western Cape York. Damen Shoalbuster 2709 Siskin (9563201, 221/11; ex DMS Siskin-13, Shoalbuster Tarka B V, Herman Sr B V, The Netherlands, mgrs.; Netherlands flag) and 70- metre barge Kim Heng 2370 (1,678/14, Kim Heng Marine & Oilfield Pte Ltd, Singapore) arrived 30 January at Darwin from Singapore (18 January). Tug had previously been working for Herman at Abu Dhabi. Subsequently Siskin was placed under the Australian flag (PoR Darwin) with Bhagwan Marine Pty Ltd, managers. Meanwhile Bhagwan‘s tug Samantha and (2016, p. 268) left Darwin 20 February for Weipa with Kim Heng 2370.

Tug Sea Hotel (2016, p. 113) left Darwin for Weipa 15 February with 100-metre barge Qube Transporter (9745835, 5,376/15, previously in use at Dampier). Subsequently Sea Hotel and barge Kim Heng 2370 arrived 5 March at Cairns from Weipa.

Fodico‘s 50-metre landing barge Endurance III (9675377, 705/13) arrived 18 February at Cairns from Gladstone to prepare for a Toll charter at Weipa as a cross river service vessel on the Rio Tinto Amrun project.

Tug Toll Osborne and barge Toll Hobart (both 2015, p. 281) were at Brisbane Shiplifts (The Yard), Hemmant 31 January-4 February where 300 containers were loaded for the return to Cairns (arr 9 February).

Brisbane : Bhagwan are using (inner) Cairncross Dock as a base for their work on the widening of Kingsford Smith Drive, upriver from Portside. Water taxi Taylia Rose transports workers to-and-from, while tug/utilities such as Bhagwan Jackal, Mildred and Allunga also engaged.

53 Hopper barge Darra (p. 111) owned by Yamba Shiping Pty Ltd, arrived 29 September at Brisbane and berthed at BSE Cairncross for docking; the barge had undergone a machinery maintenance period at the Goodwood Island wharf, Clarence River (where it arrived 25 March).

Steel workboat Burnu (built 2012 by Harwood Marine, 14.95m/800 bhp, Bhagwan Marine (NT) Pty Ltd, Brisbane) was shipped from Brisbane to Tauranga in January as deck cargo on Swire‘s Shengking (2016, p. 185).

Re former RAN tug Bandicoot (2016, p. 268): New owner is Cruz Holdings Ltd, Suva, alias for the three Douglas Brothers - Keith, Reg and Selwyn who, as Dalgro SI, own the former Australian tugs Belyando, Broadsound, Aphros, Kembla II, Jupiter and Bellarine. Other vessels listed on their website (cruzholdings.com) include the cargo ships Southern Phoenix (2016, p. 108) and Komaiwai II (2015, p. 128); landing barges Seni Kabuta (263/61) and Adi Waitui (180/10); tugs Mariner (ex Wellbeing No.1) and Numbo (8822791, 170/84, alloy-hulled 2000bhp Z-Peller, built at Geraldton as Fairfax for Geraldton Tug Company, sold 1989 to Sora at Noumea and renamed); and former Boskalis Australia dumb hopper barges Yarra I and Yarra II (both 2014, p. 114).

The steel-hulled catamaran Boronia is operating commercially at Sydney by owners Boronia Marine Co Pty Ltd. The second of three crane stores and ammunition lighters built at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard for the RAN, it was completed 29 September 1972 as CSL 02 and later given the name Boronia. In 1997 Boronia and sisters (CSL 01) Wattle and (CSL 03) Telopea of the designated Wattle Class were transferred to Defence Maritime Services Pty Ltd (DMS No.0457).

Having won the contract to take the ex-HMAS Tobruk (2016, p. 130) from Sydney to Bundaberg prior to its scuttling as an artificial reef Polaris Marine deployed Molly Grace (2016, p. 268), assisted by Rhumb Matilda (2015, p. 282) and the DMS tug/workboat Wattle (2012, p. 275) to tow the redundant vessel from RAN Fleet Base East at 0730 on 7 December 2016. Molly Grace and tow arrived at Bundaberg, where it was assisted by Rhumb Melba (2015, p. 282) from Townsville and local tugs King Bay (2015, p. 201) and (2015, p. 56).

In early December Port Taranaki placed a NZ$12 million order with Turkey‘s Sanmar Shipyards for a 25.3-metre, 60tbp tractor tug to replace the 45-yo Kupe. The new tug, designated a Deliçay TRAktor - Z 2500SX, with basic design by Robert Allan Ltd, is due for delivery in December and expected to enter service in April 2018, Caterpillar-powered, with Ross Royce propulsion and a DMT winch. The name Kinaki was chosen by Ngati Te Whiti hapu and the Port Taranaki board and is said to came from two stones - or mouri - that sit inside the breakwater, near the Blyde Wharf. ―A mouri [stone] is the material symbol of a life principal and source of emotions,‖ the port‘s cultural adviser said.

Timaru tug Te Maru (8404006, 245/84, Primeport Timaru owners & mgrs.; NZ flag) underwent dry- docking at Lyttelton 12 January-3 February. Nelson tug Huria Matenga (2016, p. 46) was chartered to cover its absence and returned to Nelson 4 February.

At Auckland Seapacific Ltd in early February offered the 20-metre tug Koraki (125/85; 1140 bhp, ex Sea-Tow 21) and 57-metre self-discharging cement barge Marsden Bay (1,184/92) for sale.

Offshore

On 6 February a three-way merger between Farstad Shipping, Deep Sea Supply and Solstad Offshore was announced as the culmination of a protracted attempt to restructure Farstad‘s finances and consolidate the troubled offshore supply sector. The fully-funded restructuring plan will see Farstad, together with the John Fredriksen-controlled Deep Sea Supply, consolidate under Solstad Offshore to create a combined entity claimed to be the largest in the high-end global OSV industry with a fleet of 154 vessels, comprising 66 PSVs, 55 AHTS vessels and 33 construction support vessels. Solstad had already merged with REM Offshore in 2016, and an early January plan for Norwegian industrialist/investor Kristian Siem to merge Farstad with Siem Offshore failed; meanwhile, Farstad had

54 reached a series of standstill agreements with creditors. The consolidated group will have support of Aker Capital, wholly-owned by Aker ASA, and Hemen Holding, indirectly controlled by trusts established by Fredriksen. Farstad Shipping‘s fleet currently consists of 56 vessels (27 AHTS, 22 PSV and 7 SUBSEA). The company‘s operations are managed from Aalesund, Perth, Singapore, Macaé and Rio de Janeiro with a total of 1,500 employees engaged onshore and offshore. In September 2016 Farstad closed its Melbourne management office with the loss of 30 jobs, consolidating its activities in Perth. The company blamed ―the challenging market situation with low oil price and the subsequent sharp reduction in offshore activity‖. In late November 2016 Brett Silich replaced Wayne Aitken as managing director of Farstad in Australia, and in the same month the AHTS Far Fosna (2015, p. 208) was sold to ‗an undisclosed client‘.

On 28 February MMA Offshore announced a half-year loss of $323.7 million after tax, including further asset write-down of $278 million, for the six months to 31 December 2016. This compared to a NPAT of $6.5 million the 2015 equivalent half-year. The company said it was continuing to battle historically low vessel rates and utilisation but retained the support of its bankers. MMA‘s newbuilding program is complete with all five new vessels working on long- and short-term contracts, including MMA Prestige (2016, p. 114; 9696175, 5,138/16, Malaysia flag) and MMA Pinnacle (2016, p. 114, 9696187, 5,138/16, Singapore flag) operating in the dive support market; the Inspection, Maintenance and Repair market is currently one of the stronger segments in a business starting to show early signs of recovery. The company said it currently has 13 offshore vessels operating in Australia and the region. At the same time MMA announced the sale of its Dampier Supply Base and its 50% of the Toll Mermaid Logistics Broome Supply Base to the Toll Group for $44.1 million and $8.7 million respectively, with the deals expected to close by June. MMA chair Tony Howarth said the sale marked a significant step in the company‘s strategic repositioning: ―Historically the supply base assets were a significant contributor to the earnings of our predominantly Australian-focussed operations. However, in recent years the supply base business has become less significant as the company has focused its strategy on its Australian and offshore vessel operations.‖ The Dampier facility docked 46 vessels in 2015 and only 28 in the year ending June 2016. MMA is to maintain a regional office within the Dampier Supply Base to support its vessel operations.

Yaw Chee Siew, controlling shareholder of the Singapore Exchange-listed Otto Marine Ltd (parent of Australia‘s GO Marine), in June launched a bid to take the company private via a S$26.37 million bid from his private company Ocean International Capital Ltd, in the face of the severe downturn in the oil and gas sector and its impact on offshore businesses. Subsequently, Otto Offshore filed an arbitration claim against an unnamed shipyard over the disputed construction of a maintenance work vessel; Otto Marine filed an application to wind up GO Offshore due to $180,000 in unpaid debts (GO countered by claiming it was in the process of re-paying the outstanding amount); Otto Marine issued proceedings against Robert Knutzen Shipholding and Robert Knutzen over US2.83 million in unpaid charter payments for two vessels; and in mid-August Otto Marine subsidiaries Swordfish 5 and GO Offshore each launched arbitration proceedings under the Vettal Mega Services over unpaid bareboat charter-hire amounting to US$6 million in connection with bareboat charter contracts. In late September in the WA Supre Court creditors attempted to wind-up the Australian subsidiaries Go Inshore Pty and Go Marine Group Pty over debts totaling $787,204; Otto Marine subsequently reported a first-half loss of US$18.2 million, ahead of its delisting in early October. Another Singapore offshore operator with extensive Australian connections, Ezra Holdings, has seen its shares fall substantially after analysts said they saw no turnaround in prospect.

The catamaran Guru (2015, p. 264) was sold 20 September 2016 by Bhagwan Marine [NT] Pty Ltd, Darwin to Guardian Offshore Australia Pty Ltd, Darwin who also own Offshore Guardian (2016, p. 118) since its ownership was transferred 2 March2016 from Guardian Offshore NZ Ltd, both are described as offshore supply ships. Subject to confirmation, it is believed Guardian Offshore is controlled by Grant Farris, founder of Broadsword Marine.

After spending most of 2016 operating in New Zealand waters maintaining the Maari SPM off New Plymouth AHTS Skandi Hercules (2016, p. 119) arrived Bell Bay 6 January from New Plymouth and

55 was based there until 11 February while working in the Yolla Field and off Lakes Entrance. It sailed for Fremantle (at AMC Henderson 17-18 February) and thence Singapore. Also visiting AMC (26-30 January) was the construction support/flexible pipe laying vessel Skandi Acergy (9387217, 16,500/08, DOF Subsea Rederi AS, DOF Management AS, Norway, mgrs.; Isle of Man flag) which arrived from Dusavik, Norway (22 December 2016) via Cape Town for bunkers (11-12 January). At the AMC it loaded some pipe fabrications on the aft deck and was bound for Dampier. Skandi Acergy is currently under long-term charter to the UK-based Subsea 7.

Subsea 7 in late February won a contract from Cooper Energy Ltd for the Sole Development Project, a gas field located in the eastern part of the Gippsland Basin, approximately 40km offshore Victoria. The contract scope consists of the subsea tie-back of the Sole well to the Orbost Gas Plant, including the fabrication and installation of 64km of pipeline, spool and manifold, along with installation of a 64km umbilical and the commissioning of the system. Project management and engineering will commence immediately from Subsea 7‘s office in Perth, Australia, with offshore operations scheduled to commence in 2018. In early December 2016 Subsea 7 secured a contract from Woodside Energy for the Greater Western Flank Phase 2 Project, involving the subsea tie-back of adjacent fields to the Goodwyn Alpha platform, including the installation of manifolds, umbilicals and spool pieces, together with the pre- commissioning of the system. Offshore operations are scheduled to commence in 2018.

Japan‘s INPEX and the three maritime unions have signed agreements covering up to 2,000 workers at the Ichthys LNG project. The agreements form an enhanced dispute settlement process, development and production arrangement (EDSPDPA) will be valid through 2030 and include commitments towards the development of maritime employees, a diversity program and the promotion of Australian crews on certain project support vessels. The work arrangements coverrig tenders, drilling rigs, seismic vessels, supply vessels and accommodation vessels.

On the morning of 17 February at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering former Northern Territory chief minister Clare Martin officially named the Ichthys Project‘s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility Ichthys Venturer. In the afternoon at Samsung Heavy Industries Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop named the project‘s central processing facility (CPF) Ichthys Explorer. INPEX says that at 130m x 120m Ichthys Explorer is the world‘s largest semi-submersible platform and will receive well fluids from an intricate subsea gas gathering system, located at a water depth of approximately 250m, within the Ichthys Gas-condensate Field. Most liquids will be transferred from the Ichthys Explorer to the 336m Ichthys Venturer for offshore processing and condensate offloading. Linking the massive Ichthys Explorer to the onshore production facilities is the longest subsea pipeline in the southern hemisphere, 42in in diameter and 890km in length. On 13 January INPEX had announced the completion of the subsea infrastructure following the final laying of 49km kilometres of umbilicals and flying leads.

In other INPEX Ichthys news Norway‘s Ocean Installer has been awarded a contract for the installation of flexible risers and flowlines as well as options for additional support work, as a subcontractor McDermott International Inc. The project will be managed in close cooperation with McDermott and Ocean Installer will have its project team based in Perth. Offshore operations will be performed by the construction support vessel Normand Vision (9665530, 16,954/14, Normand Vission AS, Solstad Shipping AS, Norway, mgrs.; NIS flag) and start in the second quarter of 2017.

Earlier Solstad Offshore won a subcontract with McDermott for the provision of light construction vessel services associated with Ichthys gas field development using the CSV Normand Reach (9687241, 8,973/14, Solstad Rederi As, Solstad Shipping AS, Norway, mgrs.; NIS flag). The vessel will assist McDermott‘s main construction vessel in FPSO hook up, subsea activities, pre-commissioning and survey scopes in 2017. McDermott‘s newbuild deepwater derrick lay vessel DLV2000 (2016, p. 117-118) was hired to install large subsea spools, lay infield umbilicals and lift several subsea distribution units that will provide the hydraulic, chemical and electrical distribution from the umbilicals to the subsea drill centres. Normand Reach is under a long-term charter with Reach Subsea, which last year reduced the charter rate in return for Solstad becoming a new shareholder. Normand Reach a Vard 303 design built

56 by Vard Aukra; 121m x 23m, 1300 sq m of deck space, moonpool, 250 t subsea construction crane, accommodation for 100.

Dutch offshore services firm Fugro NV has secured an INPEX Ichthys contract for field operations support, inspection, repair and maintenance services and will run for five years, with options to extend. Fugro will provide all services through its office in Perth.

In January 2017 Fugro NV announced it would no longer pursue its August 2016-proposed divestment of its subsea services business in Asia Pacific to Australia‘s Shelf Subsea (2016, p. 191) after parties were unable to reach agreement on some closing conditions. As a result, Fugro will retain all vessels, other equipment and personnel related to the business, including Oceanteam‘s CSV Southern Ocean (2016, p. 191), which has been on long-term bareboat charter with Fugro TSM Australia since delivery in 2010. The vessel, owned by a joint venture between Bourbon Offshore Norway and Oceanteam, will remain under contract by Fugro TSM Australia until the end of 2018 plus options for extension.

DOF Subsea Australia Pty Ltd has been awarded a contract by Technip Oceania Pty Ltd for the provision of multipurpose support vessel (MSV) Geoholm (9339139, 4,454/06, DOF Subsea Rederei AS, Norway, Norskan Offshore Ltda, Brazil, mgrs.; Isle of Man flag) for Shell‘s Prelude FLNG project. The vessel will provide ROV and light construction support services to TechnipFMC in Australia for the Prelude FLNG Water Intake Riser Installation. Earlier, a subsidiary of TechnipFMC won a contract with INPEX for riserless light well intervention (RLWI) services in the Ichthys field TechnipFMC will deploy its deepwater RLWI stack and two Schilling Robotics ROVs, from the OSV Island Performer (9682045, 12,983/14, Island Offshore X KS, Norway, FTO Services, USA, mgrs.; Vanuatu flag), to perform riserless well access services on up to 20 subsea wells in the Ichthys field, from 2017.

Atwood Oceanics, Inc‘s Australia operating subsidiary‘s drilling services contract with Woodside Energy for the semisubmersible Atwood Osprey (2016, p. 117) has been amended effective 2 February 2017 to substitute the dynamically-positioned, ultra-deepwater semisubmersible Atwood Condor (8771162, 46,568t disp/12) for the Atwood Osprey for the Greater Enfield Project campaign. The work scope is expected to commence by first calendar quarter 2018 at an operating rate of US$222,295 per day and for a total of 12 wells. The mobilization fee will be $36.5 million. Woodside and Atwood have also reached a new agreement to utilize the Atwood Osprey for an additional exploration well in 2018 at an operating rate of $190,000 per day.

From 5 October 2016 until 30 September 2017 the jack-up rig Ensco 107 (2016, p. 119) is engaged in plug and abandonment work on a series of ten wells in the vicinity of Thevenard Island in the ports of Ashburton and Onslow.

On 23 November 2016 the operator of the Maari oil-field, OMV New Zealand, ceased oil production and de-manning the Maari wellhead platform as a precautionary measure after a crack was found in one of the platform‘s horizontal struts. The crack was about 1.4 metres long, on the third level down, and four metres below the waterline. It was identified as a result of scheduled underwater checks of the platform which began on 1 November. The platform was due for a 12 December shutdown to enable modifications; production temporarily resumed on 12 January, with permanent repairs due to be completed by mid-2017. The Maari field is New Zealand‘s largest and is located 80 km off the Taranaki coast in water depths of about 100 metres.

On 11 October BP Plc announced it was cancelling its oil and gas exploration drilling program in the Great Australian Bight, which was to have used Diamond Offshore‘s harsh environment, ultra-deepwater rig Ocean Great White (9697569, 67,400t disp/16). BP said the decision followed a review of the company‘s upstream strategy and wasn‘t influenced by regulatory delays; the project wouldn‘t be able to compete ―in the foreseeable future‖ for capital investment against other upstream opportunities. The company was awarded the exploration license in 2011 and had previously estimated the drilling program would cost more than $1 billion. The drilling program, to have been mounted with Norway‘s Statoil, had attracted widespread opposition from environmentalists and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and

57 Environmental Management Authority had asked BP to revise or clarify its exploration plans three times. In 2013 BP Developments Australia Pty Ltd contracted to use the newbuilding Moss Cs60E-type semi- submersible DP Ocean Great White (claimed to be the world‘s largest: 123m x 78m, capable of operating in depths of up to 3,000 metres and drilling down to a depth of 10,670 metres; built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan), for the exploration program.

Polarcus Amani (7,709/12) arriving Melbourne 8 November 2016 (D.E.Crisp)

In 4Q 2016 Polarcus Amani (9610171, 7,709/12, Polarcus Amani AS, Plarcus DMCC, Dubai, mgrs.; Bahamas flag) undertook a month-long seismic survey off the south-west Victorian coast under contract to Origin Energy.

A number of seismic research ships were engaged working in New Zealand waters for the summer season. Amazon Warrior (9662394, 21,195/14, Gecoship, owners, Westerngeco Fleet Management, UK, mgrs.; Panama flag) the largest seismic streaming vessel in the world, arrived from Tampa and worked off the Wairapa coast with the chase boat Ocean Pioneer (2014, p. 114) from mid-November on charter to Chevron and Statoil, during which time it was subject to a number of protests by Greenpeace.

Mermaid Vision (2013, p. 130) completed its contract at the Tui oil field at the end of July 2016 and departed Port Taranaki for Cairns. Similarly Pacific Ranger (216, p. 119) which had been based at New Plymouth for three years servicing OMV‘s offshore facilities, departed for Singapore at contract end. Service tasks have been consolidated by Shell Todd, OMV and AWE and are now being undertaken solely by Pacific Runner (2016, p. 119). Maersk Server (9191371, 4,013/98, Maersk Supply Service AS, owners & mgrs.;, Danish flag) carried out work at the Raroa Field from early December and departed for Cairns 4 January.

Swire Pacific‘s Bergen, Norway-based subsidiary subsea operations specialist Swire Seabed AS in early December 2016 took delivery of its fourth subsea vessel, Seabed Constructor (9882148, 7,883/14, ex Olympic Athene-16 etc, Swire Pacific Offshore OPS, Swire Seabed Shipping AS, mgrs.; NIS flag). The vessel has secured a six-year charter with UK-based Ocean Infinity for worldwide work. Swire Seabed‘s other subsea vessels are Seabed Worker, Seabed Supporter and Seabed Prince and all are designed to perform a diverse range of light construction, IMR and survey work scopes in both the oil & gas and renewables sector.

ACCIDENTS AND MISHAPS

The brand new Seabourn Encore (2016, p. 248) was blown off its berth in Timaru, New Zealand on 12 February and became jammed between wharves. The November 2016-delivered luxury cruise ship, officially named in Singapore on 7 January, was on its first southern hemisphere deployment when it

58 arrived in Timaru at 0600 hrs and was due to depart for Dunedin at 1800. However, at around 1515 wind gusts of a reported 45 knots snapped four mooring lines and caused the ship‘s stern to swing around, striking the coastal cement ship Milburn Carrier II and then forcing Seabourn Encore between its own and the adjacent berth. Local tugs were summoned to hold the ship in position until winds abated and it could be re-moored. Most passengers were said to be ashore at the time and there were no injuries reported. However, Maritime New Zealand detained the ship for inspection and investigation of the incident.

On its first Australasian cruise deployment Norwegian Star (2016, p. 248) was left drifting off Wilson‘s Promontory for over a day after the failure of its starboard azipod in the early hours of Friday 10 February; the port azipod had already failed (see below). On-board services remained fully operational. The vessel was towed back to Melbourne on 11 February by Geelong‘s Hastings, assisted by Melbourne‘s Tom Tough and during and after Port Philip Bay entry around 1600 hours by Svitzer Marysville; the ship was re-berthed at Station Pier around midnight. Norwegian Star had left Sydney on 6 February on a 12-night Australia and New Zealand cruise and had departed Melbourne for Dunedin 1740 on 9 February (a day later than scheduled); calls at Burnie and then Milford Sound and other east coast NZ ports had already been cancelled in order to reach Auckland on 18 February. After technicians and parts were flown from Europe to complete repairs Norwegian Star sailed from Melbourne for Auckland at 1600 on 14 February. This was the second (or third time) Norwegian Star had suffered propulsion problems in two months. After leaving Hong Kong on 16 January for Sydney there were issues with the port azipod, forcing slow-steaming and port-skipping and culminating in its total failure on 25 January when the ship was between Singapore and Bali. The vessel continued to Bali and Darwin but then skipped scheduled calls in the Great Barrier Reef and Brisbane in order to reach Sydney on time. A technical issue ―unrelated to the propulsion system‖ that occurred in mid-December had earlier delayed Norwegian Star‘s departure from Singapore to Hong Kong to begin the positioning cruise to Australia and caused several ports to be dropped.

A crew member was killed on 9 February on board Carnival/Princess Cruises‘ Emerald Princess (2016, p. 248) at Port Chalmers wharf after a gas cylinder exploded. It was reported that inflatable vessels were being reinflated on deck seven when a 45kg gas cylinder exploded and flew through the air, killing the crew member. The vessel was on a 12-night round trip cruise from Sydney to destinations in New Zealand.

On 1 February 2017 a woman suffering from a suspected stroke was Medivac‘d from the cruise ship Ortelius (8509181, 4,575/89, Ortelius Scheepsreizen BV, Oceanwide Marine Services BV, Netherlands, mgrs; Cyprus flag) in the Ross Sea to the US Antarctic base at McMurdo and from there flown to New Zealand.

Two crewmembers were seriously injured in an accident on the Hong Kong-flagged bulker Shanghai Spirit (9326328, 11,751/05, Asia Maritime Pacific Holdings Ltd, Asia Maritime Pacific (Shanghai) Ltd, mgrs) as it was anchored off Port Alma in Queensland on 29 January. The men were doing routine maintenance from scaffolding in one of the vessel‘s cargo holds when it toppled over.

Maersk Brani (9409352, 35,835/2010) en route to NZ and Australia was involved in a collision on 28 January on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal anchorage area. The vessel was withdrawn from the current southbound voyage for repairs and her cargo discharged at Manzanillo for transfer to a re- scheduled Olga Maersk.

The interisland passenger ro/ro Moana Nui (6704907, 336/67, ex Sørøy, Taio Shipping Ltd, ) ran aground on 27 January 2017 on a reef at Nassau, Cook Islands, sustaining severe hull damage. Sister vessel, Lady Moana, was standing by with empty drums and equipment in case fuel needed to be pumped off the stricken vessel.

The bulk carrier Ocean Flower (9547192, 20,767/09, Panama flag) suffered main engine failure off the west coast of NZ‘s North Island on 23 January. The owners arranged for engineers to attend from Korea.

59 A 250-tonne single buoy mooring, which had been moored in New Plymouth, NZ, since November 2016 awaiting suitable conditions for deployment, broke free and was washed onto Ngamotu Beach in the early hours of 22 January during heavy weather. The buoy was destined to replace an existing SBM at NZ Steel‘s Taharoa (ironsand) Mine site near Kawhia Harbour, Waikato. The buoy was refloated at high tide on 27 January by the Port Taranaki tugs Tuakana and Rupe and taken ashore for repairs. The old buoy had been disconnected on 1 January and towed to New Plymouth by Swire Pacific‘s Pacific Runner (2015, p. 119) leaving Tararoa without a SBM and the ironsands carriers Taharoa Destiny and Taharoa Eos at anchor waiting to load.

A solo yachtsman was winched to safety in rough seas from a life raft deployed next to his stricken yacht at first light on 21 January, about 90 km SSE of . The rescue was coordinated by AMSA and assisted by three merchant ships in the area, the containership OOCL Dubai (9307023), the bulker African Lark (9682760) and the tanker Eagle Columbus (9136046) which stood by during the night.

The underwater search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 (2016, p. 34) was officially suspended on 17 January with the last search vessel, Fugro Equator, returning to Fremantle on 22 January and departing for Singapore on 27 January. The Chinese vessel Dong Hai Jiu 101 had returned to Fremantle on 7 December 2016 at the end of her last search deployment to demobilise the Phoenix Remora III remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and left to return to Shanghai on 12 December.

Ile De Re (2016, p. 250) had to stop work on the Tasman Global Access cable after suffering damage to its cable plough on the Lord Howe Rise during late December. The ship went to Nelson where repairs were carried out and resumed work off Ragan Beach 14 January 2017. The cable had been scheduled for completion at the end of 2016 but will now be completed in late March.

CSL Australia‘s Floating Offshore Transfer Barge (FOTB) Spencer Gulf caught fire on 11 January while loading the Capesize bulk carrier Great Tang (9452464, 94,710/20011, Great Tang Shipping, Sinotrans Ship Management Ltd, HK, mgrs; Hong Kong flag) . The fire engulfed the cargo handling gear on the barge and was extinguished by the crews of both vessels and nearby Svitzer tugs; the extent of damage has not been reported. Spencer Gulf is part of a barge-based trans-shipment operation in which unpowered barges load iron ore at Whyalla and are then towed to the trans-shipment point about 8 nm offshore where the ore is loaded into export vessels via the FOTB.

L’Austral (10,944/10) arriving Bluff 12 January 2017 (C.Howell)

The cruise ship L’Austral (9502518, 10,944/10, Compagnie du Ponant Marseille; French flag) made an unscheduled stop at Bluff Harbour on 12 January after what was initially reported as ―contact with a drift

60 object‖. However it was subsequently reported the ship had struck rocks off Snares Island while transferring passengers on shore excursions. After inspection the vessel continued its cruise to NZ‘s sub-Antarctic islands. However, on 9 February L’Austral touched rocks in Milford Sound, apparently without sustaining a hull breech, and then proceeded to Dunedin for inspections. The NZ Transport Accident Commission has launched a formal inquiry into the incidents.

The privately-owned residential cruise ship The World (9219331, 43,188/02) lost an anchor at Port Arthur on 12 January when its main anchor chain broke in heavy winds. The vessel subsequently visited Hobart; during its stay the tug Pacific Crest (2014, p. 252) was dispatched to Port Arthur to recover the anchor.

National Geographic Orion (9273076, 3,984/03, Fillmore Pearl Cayman II Ltd, Lindblad Expeditions LLC, Seattle, mgrs.; Bahamas flag, formerly Orion Expedition Cruises‘ Orion, 2015, p. 41) suffered engine failure on 27 December 2016 when leaving the Antarctic Peninsula. The vessel was able to return to Ushuaia, Argentina, at reduced speed for repairs; it was subsequently loaded on the heavylift flo- flo/ro-ro Rolldock Star () and transported to Frederikshavn, Denmark, where it arrived 26 February for drydocking and repairs.

The NZ registered trawler Glomfjord (9032472, 371/92) en route from Hanstholm (Denmark) to Napier, experienced engine failure 13 nm off Beachy Head on 16 December 2016 and was towed to Southampton by tug Afon Cefni. The trawler sailed from Southampton on 21 December.

The Williamstown based cruise vessel Little Gem (2016, p. 275) which sank at Gem Pier on the evening of 25 October (clarification) was raised on 24 November employing Waterways Constructions P/L crane barge Majors Bay 147 and pumps. The following day Little Gem was towed by motor yacht Dallas Brooks from Williamstown to off Queenscliff where Birdon Marine‘s workboat Willi Tell berthed her at Queenscliff Harbour, where it had been lifted ashore by early December for repair. Little Gem had been laid up at Gem Pier for c.5 or more years before these events and the engine had been removed. Dallas Brooks was built of wood by Cayzer at Queenscliff for Victorian Ports and Harbours in part as a crew transfer workboat for their dredging operations, and was later purchased by Mark Davy (correction) of Williamstown Bay and River Cruises and modified at a yacht. The steel Willi Tell was built c. 1993 for the RAN as a (numbered) dive boat and after sinking in WA was purchased by Birdon in 1999, named and employed by Birdon for their Queenscliff port maintenance program.

In October 2016, Fiji Ports Corporation issued removal orders to Venu Shipping, the owners of Suilven (2016, p. 277), sunk at the entrance to Suva Harbour, and Sinu I Wasa (2016, p. 199) sunk at Levuka, with work reportedly in progress on removing the latter.

Re the trial relating to the sinking of Rabaul Queen in 2012 (2016, p. 123 and earlier): The trial started on 9 April 2016 with witnesses from around the country flown into East New Britain to give evidence at the Kokopo National Court. After the last lot of witnesses gave evidence on 9 September, the trial stalled because of funding problems to pay for witnesses‘ travel, police and prosecution. The trial is now expected to resume in March 2017.

Re the B-train trailer unit lost overboard from Straitsman on 18 July 2016 (2016, p. 199). The company has been unable to determine what exactly caused the cargo to shift but it is suspected ―the suspended pork carcasses are likely to have increased the forces on the tug and B-train trailer lashing in heavy seas‖.

AMSA has fined the operators of Statesman (2016, p. 53) more than $13,000 for failing to hold the required operating certificates during a crossing of Bass Strait in January 2016 in which 59 cattle died. Tasmania‘s DPP is still deciding whether to lay charges in relation to the deaths.

Shipping operator Toll Transport was convicted and fined a record $1m following the death of a stevedore who was crushed while helping load the Tasmanian Achiever at Webb Dock in May 2014

61 (2014, p. 122). The company pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to maintain a safe working system; specifically, it failed to have a second stevedore in place as a look out during loading of shipping containers placed on low trailers (MAFIs) and pushed on to the vessel by prime movers.

The NZ Transport Accident Investigations Commission has found that the Interislander ferry Aratere lost a propeller in Cook Strait in 2013 because it had not been fitted properly during a major overhaul in 2011. The propeller was lost when the starboard propeller shaft fractured during a crossing on 5 November (2013, p.253; 2014 p. 37, 98, 170, 238). The propellers‘ manufacturer, Finland‘s Wartsila, had recommended that the propeller shafts be removed and new propellers be fitted vertically; instead the propellers were fitted horizontally with the shafts in situ and multiple attempts were made to fit the ill- fated propeller in an attempt to get a proper fit. The Commission found that the shaft failed due to a fatigue fracture initiated in an area of fretting on the shaft taper just inside the bore of the propeller hub. The fretting was likely to have been the result of a sub-optimal fit of the new propeller onto the existing tail shaft. Fretting and corrosion weakened the tail shaft to a point where it was unable to carry normal operating loads. Kiwi Rail has not accepted this finding and has previously blamed the fracture on an ―irregularity‖ in the propeller blade due to the manufacturing process.

NAVAL AND BORDER FORCE

On 30 November 2016, the requests for tenders for the RAN‘s new class of offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) were released to the three shortlisted designers. Damen, Fassmer and Luerssen are required to team up with Australian shipbuilders and use Australian steel, to ensure that the opportunities for local industry participation were maximised. The OPV project is currently on track with construction to begin in Adelaide in 2018 then shift to Western Australia in 2020.

In late November Australia‘s Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group released a new study to provide a brief discussion on the considerations behind the decision about the replacement of the Collins class submarines. The new fleet, which will be twice the size of the Collins class, will provide the nation with a highly effective submarine capability for many years to come, according to the study. In April 2016, French company DCNS won a competitive evaluation process with its conventionally powered Shortfin Barracuda design and feature similar range and sensor performance, stealth and endurance as that of the Collins class submarines. An inter-governmental agreement was signed on 20 December.

During August, the new LHD HMAS Adelaide (p204) operated off the east coast of Tasmania. Chinook (CH-47F) first of class flight trials were held onboard, to ensure the safe operation of the helicopters onboard landing helicopter dock ship. Cold weather aspects of the first of class flight trials were conducted of the east coast of Tasmania, while the hot aspects of the flight trials were held in waters off Northern Australia.

The new HMAS Brisbane (p281), second of the Hobart class guided missile destroyers, was launched in the Port River, Adelaide, on Thursday, 15 December 2016.

In RAN Naval movements survey ship HMAS Melville (p225) operated in the Timor Sea during July. On 12 September 2016 the ANZAC class helicopter frigate HMAS Ballarat (p205) and her ship's company returned to Fleet Base West at the completion of a six month overseas deployment, including Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 16. Five Collins class submarines (HMAS Rankin, HMAS Waller, HMAS Farncomb, HMAS Sheean and HMAS Dechaineux)were berthed alongside Diamantina Pier, Fleet Base West, with their crews, Submarine Force Headquarters personnel, and additional submarine support staff on 16 December 2016. On 16 January 2017 HMAS Anzac departed Fleet Base East in Sydney in formation with HMA Ships Melbourne and Parramatta (p281) for training exercises.

In mid-August Exercise PARADISE was carried out from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The Armidale class patrol boat HMAS Wollongong (p129) participated, alongside the local Pacific class patrol boats, HMPNG Ships Seeadler and Moresby. HMAS Wollongong returned to her home port, HMAS Cairns, in late August.

62 On 13 December 2016 the RAN commenced a three year (with two options of one year extensions) agreement for the purpose of contractor support, maintenance, crewing and operation of the new 94 metre long multi-role aviation training vessel (MATV) Sycamore. The Damen-built MATV Sycamore, launched in Haiphong, Vietnam on 30 August 2016, will operate as a civilian registered, aviation- capable, ocean-going vessel for the delivery of military training and other services to the RAN and other Commonwealth agencies. The ship will undergo sea trials and then arrive in Sydney in 2017.

On 6 December 2016 HMAS Canberra took part in trials with the BAE Systems Australia Patria AMV35 combat reconnaissance vehicle and a Rheinmetall Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicle from the LAND 400 project. The project seeks to find a replacement for the Light Armoured Vehicles currently in service with the Australian Army.

In mid-November the RAN conducted one of its largest maritime warfare exercises off the New South Wales coast. Exercise OCEAN RAIDER involved eleven warships and submarines, supported by aircraft and more than 1,500 personnel from Australia and the USN over a three week period. The LHD HMAS Adelaide led six ships south from Sydney, while HMAS Warramunga and two submarines sailed from Western Australia. HMAS Darwin was also en route after completing her disaster relief duties in New Zealand. The Navy‘s mine clearance divers, Clearance Diving Team One, and minehunters HMA Ships Gascoyne and Huon, also trained in Broken Bay. All of the ships then sailed to Bass Strait for the final week of OCEAN RAIDER where they conducted war games and tested their ability to conduct joint sea combat in task groups.

The Spanish Navy's F-100 class frigate Cristóbal Colón began her deployment to Australia in January 2017. After conducting operational qualification trials in the Gulf of Cádiz, the frigate began her 120-day deployment from 9 January. The long-term deployment was framed within the agreement between the Spanish Navy and the RAN to enhance the interoperability between the two services, and to provide individual training on board the frigate for the crews of the new Hobart class destroyers, designed by Navantia. After a stopover at Fleet Base West, he ship will visit Adelaide 5-10 February. During the deployment, all the ship‘s capabilities will be put to the test, including maintenance and logistic support procedures in far-off theatres of operation. Cristóbal Colón is scheduled to return to Spain in June 2017.

Meanwhile, the Italian Navy FREMM frigate Carabiniere also visited Australia during January and February. The tour, backed by Fincantieri the frigate‘s builder, included visits to Fremantle, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. In April 2016 Australia shortlisted proposals from BAE Systems, Fincantieri and Navantia for the RAN‘s program to build nine new frigates. The anti-submarine frigate was delivered to the Italian Navy in April 2015, the fifth of ten to be eventually commissioned.

Border Force

On 12 December the RAN returned the Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Nelson to the Australian Border Force after operating the vessel on loan for 14 months. Cape Nelson, and her sistership Cape Byron, were leased to the RAN at a cost of $3 million a year to fill a gap in border protection capabilities. This arrangement came about after the Armidale class patrol boat (ACPB) HMAS Bundaberg was destroyed in a fire while undergoing maintenance in Brisbane, reducing the Fleet to 13 ACPBs. The RAN‘s ACPBs had been operating under extreme pressure since the initial boats entered service in 2006 and several had been laid up and repaired due to associated structural and mechanical problems. Cape Nelson sailed more than 55,000 nautical miles during her service with the RAN, operating around Christmas Island, off the northwest Cape, north of Darwin off the Tiwi Islands, up off Torres Strait, into the Coral Sea, and east to Norfolk Island and south to Brisbane.

To replace the pair of leased patrol craft, the first of two additional Cape class patrol boats for the RAN was rolled out on 8 December 2016. ADV Cape Fourcroy was launched mid December and is scheduled for delivery to the RAN in April 2017, with the second vessel, ADV Cape Inscription, following in May 2017. The two vessels will be leased until at least 2019.

63 www.nautical.asn.au All persons with an interest in ships and shipping are encouraged to subscribe to The Log, the quarterly journal of the Nautical Association of Australia Inc. Since 1968 The Log has recorded the maritime history of Australia and New Zealand by publishing research articles, personal reminiscences and current maritime news. A subscription form is available on the Association website www.nautical.asn.au. Annual subscription rates are $42.00 (NZ$45.50) for individual subscribers in Australia and New Zealand, $55.00 (NZ59.50) for institutions and companies in Australia and New Zealand and A$58.00 for airmail subscribers in the rest of the world. Subscription renewals are payable annually on 1 July. Subscriptions should be forwarded to The Treasurer, Alan Knott, PO Box 237, Leopold, Victoria 3224 or email: [email protected] together with payment or with credit card details (Visa or Mastercard). New Zealand subscriptions can also be paid in NZ$ to the New Zealand representative, Lindsay Butterfield, 10 Guys Hill Road, Napier 4110, New Zealand. Historical articles, items of correspondence and photographs for publication in The Log are always welcome, and should be forwarded to The Editor, Russell Priest at email: [email protected] or by post to 2 Bebington Close, Ringwood, Victoria 3134. Contributions for the news section are similarly welcome and should be forwarded to Dale Crisp at email: [email protected] or by post to 104 Head Street, Brighton, Victoria 3186. This journal is copyright. Except for copying permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of The Log may be copied or reproduced by any process without permission of the Publisher, being the Nautical Association of Australia Inc., through The Secretary at email: [email protected] or Unit 9, 70-74 Phillip Street, Parramatta, New South Wales 2150. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those held by the Editor or the Publisher. The Log is printed by Focus Print Group, 25 Arctic Court,4 Keysborough, Victoria 3173.