Sourced from Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1370-542-09
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Built in Auckland by Shipbuilders and Seager Brothers as a powered lighter for the US Armed Forces in the south-west Pacific, the cessation of hostilities before her completion meant she was turned over to the NZ Government's Marine Department.
The Northern Steamship Company chartered her for coastal trading in 1946, and she traded between Onehunga, Raglan, Kawhia, New Plymouth, Wanganui and Picton, with fertiliser among the cargoes carried to Kawhia.
The Union Manufacturing & Export Co in Petone purchased her in 1947, but a year later she was sold to French interests for island trading. Captain Savoie renamed her "Sorana Del Mar" when acquiring her in 1961, and he sold her to Captain Rusden in the New Hebrides a year later.
She endured a stranding in July of that year, but in July 1964, she burnt to the waterline after a cargo of 700 drums of petroleum caught fire twelve miles off Espiritu Santo, while en route from Santo to Port Vila.
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