taken by Gordy Ross, www.shipspotting.com
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A ship with an interesting history - the 1844th ship to be built in the yards of James Pollock, Sons and Company, for starters.
Building commenced in Faversham in 1945 to fulfil a Royal Navy order for a Royal Navy Aircraft Transport, "Sea Hurricane", which was cancelled the following year. Work was suspended until the vessel was sold to new builders in 1948, who completely redesigned and rebuilt the vessel on the stocks as a merchant ship for her new London owners, E.J. and W. Goldsmith.
Sourced from Ships of NZ Facebook page
Anchor Shipping acquired her in 1955, and after arriving in New Plymouth from Ghent on her delivery voyage, she began fourteen years of trading around the New Zealand coast from March that year.
A number of her calls into Onehunga in the 1962-3 period were made on charter to NZ Cement Holdings, carrying bagged cement while "Westport" was being converted to a bulk cement carrier.
Powered by a Crossley 480bhp diesel engine at an average speed of 9.5 knots, she had a crew of fourteen, while after her first year of service around the coast, she was bolstered by extra derricks, a new winch and an additional generator.
She was sold to Papua New Guinean interests in September 1969, and also served Maldives owners before being scuttled off Male in late 1983.
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