GMV Aranui

GMV Aranui was a roll-on/roll-off train ferry operating across the Cook Strait between 1965 and 1984.

Aranui in Queen Charlotte Sound in 1968
History
New Zealand
NameAranui
OwnerNew Zealand Railways Department
RouteWellington to Picton
BuilderVickers, High Walker
Cost$NZ 4 million
Yard number183
Launched26 June 1965
Completed1965
IdentificationIMO number: 6517067[1]
FateScrapped at Chittagong 1994
General characteristics
Tonnage3,281 GT; later 4,160
Length112.2 m (368 ft)
Beam18.6 m (61 ft)
Draft4.78 metres (15.7 ft)
Installed power6 × English Electric 16-cylinder 4-stroke turbocharged 16 CSVM diesel 10" x 21" design 900rpm, service 700rpm
PropulsionElectric drive to 2 shafts
Speed19 knots (22 mph)
Capacity
Crew90

History

Government Motor Vessel (GMV) Aranui was built in 1965 for the New Zealand Railways Department for the service between the North and South Islands of New Zealand.[2] She was built by Vickers in England.[3][4] In February 1965, she sailed via the Panama Canal, arriving in Wellington on 28 May[4] and entered service with her sister GMV Aramoana on 9 June.[5] In 1977 she was rebuilt by Sims Engineering, Dunedin to carry 950 passengers to meet the increased traffic, following the company's main competitor, the Union Company's withdrawal from the route.[6][7][8][9][10]

In 1983, Aranui and Aramoana were replaced by the significantly larger Arahura. Aranui was laid up in Wellington in June 1984 and sold four months later to the Najd Trading & Construction Company of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.[4][11] Renamed Aranui A and then Nui, she commenced service carrying Muslim pilgrims on the Red Sea.[4]

In 1986, the ship was renamed Najd III. Five years later, following an engine failure, she was laid up at Singapore.[8] In 1992, her owners were unable to make progress payments for a repair/refit. She arrived at a Chittagong breaker's yard on 3 November 1994.[4]

Layout

Aranui was slightly larger than Aramoana. She had a higher bridge and funnel than her older sister ship.[12]

A combined vehicle deck could carry 70 cars and 30 rail wagons.

Service

Aranui was built to operate a railway service between Wellington and Picton, later known as the Interislander.

Footnotes
  1. "Aranui - IMO 6517067". Shipspotting. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  2. New Zealand's Rail Ferry Australian Transport January 1965 page 35
  3. New Zealand Network April 1965 page 2
  4. "NZ Rail Ferry Aranui". NZ National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  5. Aranui makes last crossing Rails August 1984 page 18
  6. Refit for Aranui at Dundein Network June 1978 page 28
  7. Aranui back in service following $3 million all NZ refit Rails January 1979 pages 7-9
  8. "M/S Aranui". Fakta om fartyg. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  9. "New Zealand's Cook Strait Rail Ferries". NZ National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  10. Stott, Bob (1981). The Cook Strait Ferry Story. Southern Press. p. 44. ISBN 0908616015.
  11. Pioneer ferries sold overseas Rails January 1985 page 144
  12. "Aranui Cook Strait ferry". New Zealand History Online. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
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