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Westport
 Taken by the late Dough Wright, sourced from NZ Coastal Shipping Forum
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Built by Jos. Boel & Son at Tamise in Belgium for Worms & Cie of Paris, her main propulsion unit, a single screw nine cylinder Sulzer diesel of 750hp which produced a service speed of 10.5 knots, was built in St. Denis, France, in 1943, and was originally intended for a German U-boat!
She was altered twice - in 1952 and in 1955, when she was lengthened - before undergoing a refit following her sale to F.T. Everard & Sons of London, who transferred her to a subsidiary company in 1961, West River Shipping.
Chartered by the NZ Cement Co Ltd, a consortium of British cement, shipping and finance companies, specifically for the cement trade, "Westport" was originally a conventional small cargo vessel, but by using moveable bulkheads and a mobile cement pump, she could be partially converted into a bulk cement carrier - the work took place in Auckland in 1963.
By this time, she had already been distributing bagged cement around the coast since April 1961, having arrived in Westport on Good Friday that year. Upon visiting Onehunga on the 15th of that month, she became the largest ship to use the Manukau Harbour.
While under West River's charter, she retained British registry, but NZ Cement Holdings purchased her in 1967, re-registering her in Dunedin. Her conversion to a full bulk cement carrier took place between February and July that year.
In 1971, "Westport" twice collided with the Mangere Bridge while berthing, and she was laid up at the end of the year, now redundant due to the imminent arrival of "Milburn Carrier".
She was sold to Auckland shipbreakers in 1972, and made the journey to her final destination from Dunedin on 22 July that year. She was demolished by the end of October 1973, although her main engine was retained intact.
One of her interesting features was her steering system. The large steering wheel was located on the after deck, but in the wheelhouse, tiller steering was the order of the day.
 An original painting of "Westport" by Frank Mason
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