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Viti
Sourced from the NZ Maritime Museum - refer the link below
Built
1940
LR No.
5382598
Gross
701
Net
261
Dimensions
51.54m x 9.63m
Registered
Suva
First Arrival
1 October 1950
Last Sailing
3 October 1950
Names
Viti
Audrey B
Years
1940-67
1967-69

Built in Hong Kong in 1940 for use by the Fijian Governor General as his yacht, and for inter-island communications in the south-west Pacific, she was used for patrol and minesweeping duties around Fiji during World War Two.

The Tasman Steam Ship Company acquired her eight years later and employed her on the trans-tasman and coastal trades, with Dunedin, New Plymouth, Auckland and Sydney her regular ports of call on the former service.

She was one of the first ships in New Zealand to be equipped to carry refrigerated cargoes, and she was the first foreign-going vessel to berth at Onehunga in the twentieth century - the Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Company vessels arrived at Onehunga from Sydney in the nineteenth century.

On her first visit to Onehunga from Sydney, she arrived off the Manukau Heads late on 30 September 1950. At this time, "Viti"'s on-board charts for the Manukau weren't up to date, so arrangements were made with the Auckland Harbour Board to set up a radio-telephone with the South Head signalman, who was contacted at 9am on 1 October and with whom arrangements were made for him to talk the vessel in over the Bar at 11.30am.


This was duly done - the first vessel on the New Zealand coast to receive this treatment - and she duly proceeded into port and berthed without incident, discharging her cargo that same day.

She then took on a full load of cargo for New Plymouth, discharged there then took on a full load for Dunedin, with Bluff the final port of call before heading across the Tasman to Sydney, where she arrived some nineteen days after setting sail for Onehunga.

You'll find a very informative feature on "Viti" on the NZ Maritime Record website - click those words to see it!

Her time with Tasman came to an end in 1961, when she was laid up for sale. Fijian interests acquired her in 1962, before Panamian interests purchased her five years later. But in 1969, she was deemed no longer commercially usable, and lay derelict in Indonesia.




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