HMAS Jervis Bay (GT 203)

On entering service, Australian Trader was assigned to Bass Strait crossings between Melbourne and Devonport; the ship departed from Melbourne on her maiden voyage on 24 June 1969, then commenced paid services on 29 June.[4][5][9]

In April 1972, the ferry was returned to the dockyard for modifications, prior to entering service on the Sydney to Hobart and Sydney to Bell Bay/Burnie routes.[4][10] Because of the longer run, more crew needed to be accommodated; this was achieved by extending the superstructure and converting some of the passenger cabins to crew use, in turn reducing the passenger complement to 172. Australian Trader fared poorly on the run: the service was dogged by bad reviews of the ship's design and amenities, while maritime union strikes disrupted service.[11]

In June 1976, Australian National Line announced plans to cease passenger service between Sydney and Tasmania, with replacement by a cargo-only service aboard Bass Trader.[12] Although due to cease operations on 3 July, delays in the completion of the new vessel kept Australian Trader in operation until the end of July, when she was laid up.[12]

Starting on 6 October 1976, the RAN began to show interest in acquiring Australian Trader for use as a training ship and troop transport.[3] The ship was sold to the RAN on 28 January 1977 for $5.7 million, and began $720,000 worth of modifications for naval service, which included the installation of a new navigation bridge and the refitting of some passenger cabins into classrooms.[3] The vessel was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Jervis Bay on 25 August.[6] Modification was not completed until January 1978.[3] Jervis Bay replaced the destroyer HMAS Duchess in the training role, with Duchess decommissioning in October 1977.[13]

Jervis Bay's primary role was to facilitate the seamanship and navigation training of officer cadets, with logistic transport of Australian Army soldiers and equipment seen as a back-up capability.[3] In RAN service, the ship's company consisted of 14 officers and 163 sailors, with up to 76 trainees embarked at any time.[7] The ship did not carry any fitted weapons, and relied on small arms for defence.[3] The vessel's first training cruise occurred in February 1978.[3] In December 1980, trials to mate Jervis Bay with the landing craft HMAS Balikpapan were successfully performed in Sydney Harbour.[3] In 1987, the deckhouse was removed, and the ship's aft deck was strengthened to allow a single Sea King or similar helicopter; more extensive plans to allow the embarkation of a flight of six helicopters were shelved.[7] In December 1992, Jervis Bay was deployed via Townsville to Mogadishu in support of 1RAR and the US-led Operation Restore Hope.[14]

Jervis Bay paid off on 18 April 1994.[15]

The ship was put up for sale in October 1994.[16] On 23 December, she was sold to Liberian company Voyager Marine, renamed to MS Agios Andreas, and registered to Kingstown, Saint Vincent.[16] The ship sailed from Sydney on 14 January 1995; the voyage to Greece was made using the port engine only, as the starboard engine had been disassembled with the ship was to receive new engines in Greece.[16] Once in Greece, Agios Andreas underwent major modifications including the installation of new engines from the ships to be scrapped, fire damaged Ionian Express,[1] extension of the superstructure along the length of the hull; this and other modifications resulted in a passenger capacity increase to 1,120 (316 in cabins), vehicle capacity to grow to 300 cars, and the ship's gross tonnage to become 11,109 GT.[4][16] On completion, the ship began ferry services between Greece and Turkey, under the operation of Greek company Med Link Lines.[16]

In November 2003, the ship was sold to Marwan Shipping and Trading of Comoros, renamed MS Ajman Leader, and began operations in the Persian Gulf out of Dubai.[4] In February 2004, ownership was transferred to Marwan Shipping and Trading of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and the vessel was renamed MS Ajman City.[4]

In September 2004, Ajam City was sold to shipbreakers, and was taken to Alang, India, for scrapping.[4]