# Nauru Shipping



## Jan Hendrik

Leaving the thread on "Union Auckland" on Union Shipping , NZ, hereby the story of Nauru Shipping of Nauru, a small Polynesian island.
This shipping company operated several ships in the 70's and 80's out of Nauru Building, Melbourne.
Bulkcarriers Rosie-D and Kolle-D regularly picked up phosphate from Nauru to Australia.
They also operated "Eigigu" and "Eigamoya" , both standard cargo ships and also looked after a large fishing boat.
The company folded early 90's.
Is there anybody with more information?I knew all vessels very well, supervised drydockings in Melbourne and elsewhere and hereby some pics of Kolle-D which docked in Subic Bay, Philippines in 1982. And yes that is a young me on the photo.
The dockyard Philseco was established and initially operated by Kawasaki Japan who send about 40 Japanese technicians.
Kolle-D was the 4th ship to drydock in this massive 500.000 tonnes drydock.

"Kolle-D used an exceptional good quality anitfouling"


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## flyer682

KOLLE D (1973/19,564grt)was also a regular visitor to New Zealand, mainly to North Island ports.
The ROSIE D I don't think came here much.
EIGAMOIYA (1969/4,426grt) I saw in Auckland a couple of times, she came for drydocking, but otherwise she never came here. I believe she was built as a supply ship for the Island, with the capability of being able to lay and retrieve the large buoys used around the Island. I always thought of her as a particularly attractive little ship.
EIGUGU was another of the fleet that used to come to Auckland for docking.
ENNA G (1961/9,423) was another of their ships. She was built as the PRINSES MARGRIET in 1961 for the Dutch Oranje Lijn for their Europe - St. Lawrence - Great Lakes service.
The funnel colours used by the Nauru Pacific Line are interesting. The dark blue of the funnel represents the ocean, the narrow yellow band stands for the equator with a twelve pointed white star below it - Nauru being situated just south of the equator. The twelve pointed star represents the twelve basic tribal groups in Nauru.


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## Jan Hendrik

Thanks for the story David.
Yes, I also remember the Enna-G , however, they did not operate that vessel for a long time.
I visit my old office later this week, so will try to dust off some archives, there must be thousands of photos gathered over the years, but have to try and find them.
The "Eigigu" was originally British I think.
The "Eigamoya" has been laid up in Melbourne many times.
Each time Nauru Shipping did not pay their bills, then the easiest we did was to arrest the Eigamoya.
I presented accounts to the sherriff's office and bingo within 2 weeks the funds were released.
At one stage the vessel was there over a year with only 4 crew members on board until she was sold.
Nauru went bankrupt and even had to sell "Nauru House" a 53 storey building in the centre of Melbourne.


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## tanker

ROSIE D,Namura built 1977,in 2004 in service as JI MEI DA.
KOLLE D Namura built 1973 sold and renamed POPI ,and now broken u
Ciao
Gp


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## Jan Hendrik

In fact it was the Enna-G which was laid up for over a year alongside the Duke and Orr Drydock in Melbourne at the time.
I remember having been on board various times, they had a crew of 4, just getting paid to keep watch.
I remember the Dutch names on the cabins and also some teakwood panelling and doors, the ex" Prinses Margriet".

The Enna-G is probably gone and so is the shipyard in Melbourne.
The floating dock was shipped to China by a huge Chinese tugboat, but both the dock and the tugboat sank halfway, this is back in the late eighties.
I know I took photos, but where are they...?


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## flyer682

tanker said:


> ROSIE D,Namura built 1977,in 2004 in service as JI MEI DA.
> KOLLE D Namura built 1973 sold and renamed POPI ,and now broken u
> Ciao
> Gp


Thanks, Tanker. Anyone know what happened to the EIGAMOIYA? I've often wondered......


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## tanker

EIGAMOIYA, built 1969,Robb Caledon Leith,in 2004 result the ASOKA II,Hond.
flag ,unconf, fleetmanagers.
Gp


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## flyer682

Good to see she may still be around. Thanks for that!


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## Jan Hendrik

Now we are getting to the details.
Yes. There was Bill Shorton, a Scotchman, and John Loving, the latter died of a heart attack some 10 years ago.
I heard that Bill Shorton has also said this world farewell. 
So the dockmaster was Geoff Nelson, good old Geoff, after Duke and Orr disappeared, I mean the floating dock, (read: sank halfway Melbourne and China) then Geoff took over the one and only small slipway left in Melbourne, straight below the Westgate Bridge.
I had many ships to look after on this slip,. but only few months ago, it all disappeared.
The slipway is still there, but it is one of those fantastic government bureacratic money spending endless bottom pit schemes for which tax payers pay the price (as always).
The multi million dollar train track over Duke and Orr has cost the taxpayers millions and millions and we never saw a train passing until it was demolished couple of years ago.
Does this answer your question? I have more info, but better do not write it down in this forum.......I am a tax payer in Aussieland and I may get into trouble when I start criticising.....oh oh oh and oh


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## Jan Hendrik

What a story.
I knew Bill pretty well (he was called Bill here) and I also remember that his waistline became bigger and bigger.
He was surrounded by his mates "painters and dockers" which at the time had the most powerful union in OZ and the office was always full of empty beer cans. (Pint) 
The dockyard no longer exists, in fact Melbourne no longer has any slipping or docking facilities left.
Bill was quite a character, but still very helpful when you needed him.


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## robbo

*Willie Shorten*

George and Jan

Wonder if he is related to "Young" Bill Shorten of the AWU(?) who looks like heading for parliment (If they can find him a safe seat) Had a small difference of opinion with him down at Esso's plant at Longford in Gippsland. 

Robbo


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## Jan Hendrik

I do not know whether there is a relationship. I often wondered too.
I may have written the name wrongly, indeed it could be Shorten (not Shorton).


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## trotterdotpom

Alan Whicker, of "Whicker's World" fame, did a hilarious program about Nauru in the '60s. At the time, the island's population were the richest per capita in the world, thanks to phosphate. Sadly, with the money mis-managed and the phosphate gone, they are now at the other end of the spectrum.

I met several ex Nauru shipping employees working on Australian ships, all had tales of woe about getting paid. Even in the good times they could be seen jumping up and down in Nauru House demanding their pay. 

One memorable person, who's name I can't recall has to be the most honest man I ever met.

He was an Engineer Superintendent with ANL and held the same position with Nauru Shipping. The island big shots decided they needed a fishing industry so he was dispatched to Peru where a couple of likely trawlers were up for sale.

A couple of million US dollars were lodged in a Peruvian bank in his name and he was to inspect and, if in good shape, purchase the ships. I think I would have found the lure of Acapulco too much, but he resisted the temptation and bought the trawlers.

On several visits to Nauru on phosphate ships, the trawlers were always there, tied up to buoys and they reputedly never caught a fish - the sea around the island being a squillion fathoms, most of the fish hang around just off the beach.


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## Doug Rogers

Once sailed past it but perhaps fortunately never stopped. Brings back many memories of the Nauruan ships, we used to work them very regularly out at La Perouse, its nice to know that at least one of them may remain still afloat. 
Its a shame that Nauru ended up the way it has, I believe that their Prime Minister used to spend more time in Nauru House in Melbourne than back home in Nauru. I think they had their own airline at one stage, only a couple of planes but I would anticipate those have long gone with the financial hardships that occured when the phosphate ran out. Probably sold the the fishing trawlers too!!. 
Doug


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## Jan Hendrik

My company was supplying products to Nauru Shipping all the time and each time we had to arrest a vessel in order to get paid through the further intervention of the sheriff which always included a commercial interest percentage from the date of lodgement.
So out of hundreds of accounts this was our very best one as they were charged top dollar prices and after a court order we got the money after we held up one of their ships during a fortnight or so,.
Those ships , instead of 3 days, always moored alongside in Melbourne for 2 weeks or so in order to get the court order cleared after payment was made in full.
Mismanagement I think is a very weak term in this case.
They even phoned me from Nauru House to tell me which vessel was best to be arrested that particular week and kept us up to date upon exact arrival and anticipated departure. We were then requested to lodge the claim asap so that the hold up in port could be restricted.
It was just a question of time before they went under.

Last year Nauru House was sold on account of huge debts to many creditors and yes you are right " The President" was always in Melbourne sitting in luxury on the top floor and sacked staff as he pleased with no reason, yet a healthy redundancy pay out was always taken care of as they knew they had no hope in court otherwise.

Yes they also had an airline of which the maintenance was done by Air New Zealand. By memory they had 3 planes at the time.
Today as far as I know they are still operational between Brisbane and the Polynesian Islands with only one boeing 737 left.

.....There are many chapters in this book........but I better stop. =P


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## Doug Rogers

Jeez isnt it good to remember some of these things!!.
Doug


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## Jan Hendrik

It was actually so stupid that we were supplying the ship with products , worth thousands of dollars, whilst at the same time we arrested her through the sheriffs office to get the previous lot paid and then 3 months later when she returned it started all over again with retrieving the previous outstanding.
This was going on for years and the administration of Nauru Shipping was total chaos, except the personnel was quite willing and cooperative but their hands were tight.
Nobody wanted to supply products/fuel/water/chandlery buss. unless they got C.O.D. payments, yet we were the only company which just kept supplying and went through monthly routines of arresting the same vessel or another one of the fleet.
The best account ever simply because the prices were never questioned.

When product A could be obtained against 100 dollars cash or exactly the same against 400 dollars on account, they opted for the latter.

The purchase dept. (poor Harold D.) knew the ship was to be arrested then, but at least he did not need to go through days of trouble to get the cash.

.......so Doug this was chapter two......you want to get the other chapters too??.....the story is even getting better......stop =P


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## flyer682

This is fascinating - more chapters please!!


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## Doug Rogers

More please Sir...I want more!!


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## Jan Hendrik

One has to be careful what to put to paper, however, this shipping company completely disappeared and I do not think you can expect any action from anybody in case they feel offended.
They should not anyway as I do not make up the stories.

Last story then hereby.
The "Kolle-D", their largest bulk carrier was off to the drydock in Subic Bay back in 1982. That shipyard called "Philseco" was brand new and was built and managed by Kawasaki people from Japan. It could handle 500.000 DWT.
They were teaching the locals how to run such yard. 
Mr Marcus , the president of The Philippines at the time, called Mister 15 percent, did of course officially open the yard and got his usual brown paper bag.

The "Kolle-D" was only the 4th vesssel to dock and all yard's equipment was still very new and in excellent condition and with 40 Japanese experts around , then you could not go wrong.
I flew over there to undertake the supervision during a 10 day period.
We sold USD 165.000 worth of products to the ship, two containers full of paint which was all used on this vessel. (abt 16.000 litres I remember).
There was nobody in OZ, i.e. our competitors, who were game enough to put in a bid as they all wanted C.O.D. prior to shipment to the Philippines.
I knew that and simply took them on, charged them full list prices and arrested the "Eigamoya" 3 months later and received the funds by cheque.
The latter even included interest from the date we seized the "Eigamoiya" until they paid through the sheriff's office.
It must have been one of the biggest profits I ever made for the company taking the quantity into consideration.

USD 165,000.- back in 1982 , how does this rate in today's terms ? Remember these were only the costs of the paints, add another couple of hundred thousands for surface prep. and application and this only concerned the paint job.......docking a ship is expensive indeed.

This shipyard was taken over by Keppel Singapore and I think they are still running it and no doubt in an excellent way Singapore style.

This is Nostalgia, exciting times. 

........last chapter........ =P


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## Doug Rogers

Wonderful tale and yes I think you are right with the dockyard. am sure Keppel has a hand in it.
Doug


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## John

Very interesting stuff!! I had a relatively short involvement with Nauru Shipping in the Eighties and can certainly confirm that life around the Nauruans was, to say the least, never dull. Jan Hendrik tells a few stories and I could also keep this space occupied for a long time. But that is for later.
I would correct one point that was mentioned. It was not "Enna G" that lay alongside the Floating dock in Melbourne for some time. It was "Eigamoya" and she was ultimately sold for further trading. "Enna G" ended her days laying in the lagoon at Majuro in the Marshall Islands to act as an hotel ship. I took her there from Guam at the end of her last trip from San Francisco.Whether she ever had any paying guests I don't know nor do I know how long she lay there before going to the breakers. "Eigigu" was built in East Germany and was purchased from Booker Line for trade around Micronesia. She was a sister ship to BHP Shipping's "Iron Baron" of the late 1970's but without the Stulken heavy lifting gear.

John


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## Doug Rogers

Thanks for the update on the Nauruan ships, wonder what ultimately happened to the Iron Baron...cant recall seeing her name around for a long time.
Doug


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## trotterdotpom

Doug Rogers said:


> Thanks for the update on the Nauruan ships, wonder what ultimately happened to the Iron Baron...cant recall seeing her name around for a long time.
> Doug


Thanks for bringing Iron Baron up John and Doug.

I sailed on the Baron, or "Hitler's Revenge" as she was known round the BHP traps, in about 1981. She was engaged in carrying steel products from NSW to New Zealand and Kwinana, West Australia. Pig iron was backloaded from Kwinana for Geelong. This was in the balmy days before the NZ port reforms!Happy days. I seem to recall she was sold in about '83 as a going concern to an overseas company.

BHP obtained another Iron Baron in the late '80s which became famous for going aground on a reef at the entrance to the Tamar River, Tasmania, in 1995. She was towed out and scuttled in Bass Strait a few days later.

Regards, John T.


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## Doug Rogers

Yes I can remember that now, watched her being towed out and scuttled on the TV...Tassie wasnt too kind to BHP was it??.


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## Dave Edge

The "Iron Baron" was sold in 1984 to Cypriot owners and renamed "Iron B". She was sold again in 1986 and renamed "Vixen", still Cypriot flag. After suffering major engine trouble she was broken up in Kaohsiung in 1986.
Dave Edge.


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## Doug Rogers

Dave,
Thanks for that info on the Baron, I couldnt remember what happened to the last one and then a quick sentence and I could remember seeing her towed out and sunk..think I must be getting old!!.
Doug


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## airds

*More on Nauru ships*

Just signed on and reading this thread about the ships of Nauru. Got a few bits and pieces about the ships


Spend some time there, the worst nearly a month ... a favourite night picture from the monkey island of Denholm's *Scotspark* - so must have drifted over the Equator a good few times ....

The Island uses philately to generate some badly needed income, and over the years the ships have featured on various stamps issues. The most attractive was the sheet on this *webpage* I made up for the ship-stamp list. The nice 7c stamp with the Eigamoiya (then renamed Chrysanthi, Windsor III, & Asoka II ??) is attached, along with a scan from a postcard, of her on what looks VERY like the Clyde.

Hopefully I'll post more stuff as it's found, b.rdgs, back to 16.


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## airds

*Yet more Nauru & ships*

This post:-

(i) Another of the 'Eigamoiya' on a 60c stamp celebrating the 75 Anniversary of Phosphate Shipments

(ii)Hungry Hogarth's/S.S.M. 'Baron Minto' under the infamous Nauru loading gantry/cantilever, sets of stamps issued by various countries for 150 years of Lloyd List (1984) See the excellent Scottish Ship Management shipmates website *here* 

and (iii) another of Denholm's 'Scotspark' loading phosphate see from shoreside.


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## Jan Hendrik

*Nauru stamps*

Amazing to find out that a nation relies on phylately.
Hereby arguably the most beautiful stamp they issued back in 1982.
I purchased 1000 or 2000 pieces and our company added such original souvenir stamp to a newsletter which found its way to many worldwide shipping customers.

I got permission from Nauru House at the time to use their stamp as advertising, after all I purchased these.
We made reference that all our products were used on board these vessels.


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## Doug Rogers

Ah pure Nostalgia, so glad I didnt visit but just passed by!!. Nice Posting!!


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## airds

Jan Hendrik said:


> .
> Hereby arguably the most beautiful stamp they issued back in 1982.
> I purchased 1000 or 2000 pieces and our company added such original souvenir stamp to a newsletter which found its way to many worldwide shipping customers.
> 
> .


Thanks Jan

Can I ask what your product was?


Yes the sheet is very attractive and interesting. My scan came out well, did you check the link for to the ship-stamp list page *here?* The miniature sheets still come up on ebay ocassionally. However, there is a spelling mistake - the Eigamoiya was built at Leith (Edinburgh, Scotland) not Leigh. There was also a later sheet featuring an unknown ship at the loading gantry - see first attachment below. The second is a daytime view of my ship loading phosphate.

Also, remember the refugees picked up by the 'Tampa' (Wilhelm Wilhemsen Shipping) in September 2001 ended up on Nauru amid some 
controversy and concern, but generating income for the island - paid for by Australia. There is still some articles on the *BBC World News *site

Right better go - think with all this talk about the Mid-Pacific I have my time zones mixed up 

rdgs


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## Jan Hendrik

Marine paints, story of my life, 39 years with the same company, retired 1st January this year, now painting the house (with some marine paints) and minding the garden.
Doing a lot of presentations to clubs (e.g. Rotary) and Associations on maritime subjects etc.


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## airds

Jan Hendrik said:


> now painting the house (with some marine paints) QUOTE]
> 
> Hope there is not a boot topping around the outside ..... (Gleam)


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## Jan Hendrik

Brick house, timber framed windows, so not too bad.
Not subject to floods, so did not need a boottop.

Remember the old boottop paint?? Since 20 plus years this no longer exists and the name disappeared too, only old "rots" still know what is a boottop paint...
They paint Antifouling till deep load line now. In the old days Antifouling was not "weather resistant - read UV resistant- " but today " no worries mate"


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## R58484956

Air Nauru. 1 B737-4LJ. registration VH-RON Serial No 26960. operated for norfolk express.


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## lakercapt

Remember Narau well as it was a dot in the middle of nowhere.
One time we spent 30 days drifting off waiting for the swell to ease off so we could get tied up to the buoys.
I got a steel splinter in my eye and ended up in the local hospital. The two doctors there were from Oz and were at one time consulting Melbourne about amputating my eye. Fortunately it did not need to be done. 
I was a walking patient and managed to get about the island and see more than most visiting ships crews.
There was a long runway for plane but no service and we used to take passengers to Oz or New Zealand.
There was many Japanese plane wrecks and gun emplacemants as the captured they Island during the second world war.
One of the naval guns was in place which was taken from Singapore.
I don't know if it was a good thing but the Japanese rid the island of leoprosy as all the poor victums were loaded on a barge and taken out past the reefs ang shot. Fed to the sharks.
The Islanders at that time were rich and only did token work. Other islanders were brought in as were Chinese and Indians workers.
A chince fellow was riding round the island on his moped and hit a Narauian. They were big people and the rider came of the worst.
Great to get back on board the ship again.
One of the big concerns was fresh water as none was available at Narau.
WE used to chace rain clouds and pulg the scuppers and feed to E/R tanks.
Washed our selves to and did some dobhi if it lasted long enough.


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## trotterdotpom

airds said:


> .....Also, remember the refugees picked up by the 'Tampa' (Wilhelm Wilhemsen Shipping) in September 2001 ended up on Nauru amid some
> controversy and concern, but generating income for the island - paid for by Australia. There is still some articles on the *BBC World News *site


About a year ago I was offered a month's temporary work at the Nauru detention centre but unfortunately my present employers wouldn't release me. I was quite interested to see the island again but no such luck. The island wasn't all bad - I recall a riotous afternoon in a 'bar' called Aunty Peggy's (or something like that) - cheap beer and overrun with grey piglets. Also the supermarket sold duty free much cheaper than that available on board.

I believe the last of the assylum seekers, having received temporary visas for Australia, left the island a few weeks ago and the detention centre has closed. Expect more stamps!

Funny the stamps don't show the scrap cars and bottles and cans that seem to litter the whole place - maybe they don't anymore.

John T.


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## Jan Hendrik

Nice to hear some stories from people who actually spent some time on the island (good or bad), so will be on the lookout for the next stamps.


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## perham

Not meaning to cause an argument, but it was the Eigamoiya that was laid up in melbourne at duke and orrs.
Enna G was laid up in Majuro atoll for a similar period after being rejected by USA coast guard for carrying Ameriacn passengers around the Pacific.


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## Iain Lourie

*Eigamoya - Launching*



tanker said:


> EIGAMOIYA, built 1969,Robb Caledon Leith



As a cadet, at Leith Nautical College at the time, I watched her launching.
Two Nauruans (sp?) were cadets on the course and they sailed on her after fitting out, if I recall.
Henry Robbs wasn't it?
From memory, her flu had a big navy blue band with a large multi-pointed yellow star.............. She also had a twin anchor arrangement port and starboard. Thats about all I can remember of her. 

Any photos of her?


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## airds

Iain Lourie said:


> Any photos of her?


One scannned from an old postcard and another of her on an attractive stamp issued by Nauru. Also, see this webpage I'd made up, with the Nauru fleet on a sheetlet on Nauru Phosphate Shipping. But check her build port - 'Leigh' (sic) - obviously lost something in the translation !

http://snipurl.com/ck7x

The funnel colours scheme is based on the country's flag - which I believe the white star represents the 12 tribes/areas of the Island with the yellow band the equator - as Nauru lies only 12 miles or so South of it. See http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/nr.html

ps According to (German) Wikipedia, 'Eigamoiya' was a Nauruan Queen.


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## Iain Lourie

Cheers for the pics and the info'


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## Ian Menzies

Strangley enough, the old Iron Spencer ran aground on exactly the same reef a few years previously but this was never picked up by the media. (but that story's another thread, for sure)

ian


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## tmaher

*Enna G*

Enna G, alive an well in Honolulu. Yes, this is an old photo. But still seems like yesterday when we were enjoying the warmth of the Pacific, the rumble of the engine, a happy and warm crew, friendly passengers, great food, and memories for a lifetime. For those who remember: SF, Honolulu, Majuro, Ponape, Truk, Saipan, Samoa, Tonga, Christmas, Subic, Guam.


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## tmaher

*Enna G*

Enna G, alive an well in Honolulu. Yes, this is an old photo. But still seems like yesterday when we were enjoying the warmth of the Pacific, the rumble of the engine, a happy and warm crew, friendly passengers, great food, and memories for a lifetime. For those who remember: SF, Honolulu, Majuro, Ponape, Truk, Saipan, Samoa, Tonga, Christmas, Subic, Guam.
View attachment 6909


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## KIWI

Would not be sure but have an idea the Enna G lay in Wellington for quite a long time under arrest. Kiwi


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## bobw

In the early 1970's Nauru Pacific Line was looking to acquire another vessel which they were going to name "Cenpacrounder" as it was only to do the rounds of the Pacific Islands. She was to be purchased from Palm Line if I remember correctly.
This was at the time they were building the Kolle D.
Does anyone know the history of Cenpacrounder?

BobW


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## airds

Great images of Nauru and these gantries from Google Earth.
All the info and the program download here _*http://earth.google.com*_

(Suppose I'd better include all their bumff:-
"Google Earth streams the world over wired and wireless networks enabling users to virtually go anywhere on the planet and see places in photographic detail. This is not like any map you have ever seen. This is a 3D model of the real world, based on real satellite images combined with maps, guides to restaurants, hotels, entertainment, businesses and more. You can zoom from space to street level instantly and then pan or jump from place to place, city to city, even country to country. Get Google Earth. Put the world in perspective." )


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## John Cassels

Anyone come across by cousin , Victor MacLeod , who was ch.eng on the 
Rosie D around 1972 ?.


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## lakercapt

Good shots of Nauru David.
Looks a lot greener than I remember and I did not see the buoys at the loading cantilevers.
A place I would definitely put on my places not to go to on a world cruise.
See earlier posting
Bill R


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## Mc OZ

Re Nauru shipping . My Father worked there after Japs bombed the place Re building the cantiiever. Mum and Dad were married there . The ships that serviced the Phosphate run were the TRIONA TRIADIC TRI-ELLIS owened by the British Phosphate commission Mark T.


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## airds

*More on Nauru stamp issue - '150 years of Lloyd's List' (1984)*

'150 years of Lloyd's List' - from the presentation pack (1984)


*250th ANNIVERSARY OF LLOYDS LIST*​ 

Over the last few centuries LLOYD'S have become a unique institution, and in every country in the world this name is synonymous with insurance and shipping.​ 
The name 'Lloyd's' is derived from the enterprise of Edward Lloyd, who kept a Coffee House in the City of London in the 17th century. A practice arose for Marine Underwriters to resort to his Coffee House to transact their business. Edward Lloyd started his Coffee House in Great Tower Street about 1688, and moved it to Abchurch Lane in 1692. Underwriters would sit there to do business, and merchants or brokers who desired to effect insurances would go there to deal with them. Any policy so effected was, of course, a contract made with the Underwriters who signed it, and Edward Lloyd, who was merely landlord of the Coffee House, was no party to any such contract. Every policy was in the form which is still used, by which Lloyd's Underwriters sign it - 'each one for his own part, etc'. Besides keeping the Coffee House, Edward Lloyd in 1696 started a newspaper of shipping and other intelligence which was of service to his customers in providing them with information. But his main function was to provide a room in which they could do business, which took the place of an 'Exchange' or 'Bourse' as a place of meeting.​ 
Later on, after the death of Edward Lloyd, it was found convenient for Marine Underwriters to have a similar place of business, and in 1770 the 'Society of Lloyd's; as a voluntary association, provided Rooms for its members in Pope's Head Alley. Still later this society moved to rooms in the Royal Exchange, where it remained till 1928, when it moved to its own building in Leadenhall Street. The Society, which until 1871 had been a sort of private club with a committee of management, was then incorporated by an Act of Parliament as the Corporation of Lloyd's. The Act opens with a recital that 'there has long existed in the City of London an Establishment or Society formerly held at Lloyd's Coffee House . . .'​ 
The functions of Lloyd's, as a Corporation, are similar, though on an enormously increased scale, to those of the Coffee House from which it derives its name. Rooms are provided where Members may transact their business and the Corporation publishes daily 'Lloyd's List', which was established in 1734 and is, with the exception of the 'London Gazette', the oldest newspaper in the United Kingdom.​ 
It is and was inevitable that an Island dependent entirely for its very existence on the export of phosphate (and for imports to sustain this industry and foodstuffs for the Nauruan population) that the Nauru Pacific Line shipping should be intricately bound to the Lloyd's operation, and as such shortly after the post independence period the Nauru Phosphate Corporation was appointed Agent of Lloyd's on Nauru Island.​ 
Over a period of 78 years dating from the arrival of the first steamship 'SS Inger' (for the purpose of laying the first moorings) until now, Nauru has been fortunate with its shipping operations. At no time has a tragedy been experienced, apart from the first three ships to visit the Island during the period 1906/1909, these vessels being the 'Inger', Fido' and the 'Ocean Queen', excluding abnormal activities when the 'Triadic' was sunk by enemy action during the Second World War in 1940.This extraordinary record bears testimony to the skill of the many captains who have over the years moored their vessels on the treacherous reef surrounding the Island. Given in stamp value sequence, technical details in respect of the four vessels depicted in this series are as follows:​ 

*20c SS OCEAN QUEEN. *
Completed in February 1909by W Gray & Co Ltd, West Hartlepool, for Jacob Christensen of Bergen, as a spar deck steamer of 3188gt being wrecked at Makatea on the 16th September 1909 whilst nearing the end of a ballast passage from Papeete to Makatea. Two interesting features relating to the 'OCEAN QUEEN'
1. The fact that the owner was in 1909 actually Lloyd's agent at Bergen - Mr Christensen's company (who still hold the appointment)
2.The vessel, being fitted with mooring gear, was to signal a new era in the laying of the moorings, but met with disaster when the mooring gear was actually carried away in addition to the fact that the vessel was wrecked as described above.​ 

*25c MV ENNA G. *
Built in 1961, of 9423gt and carrying 125 passengers, this vessel was initially registered the 'PRINSIES MARGRIET` of the Oranje Lijn (Maatschappij Zeetransport) N.V., Rotterdam, serving the North Atlantic to Canada and the Great Lakes. The Oranje Lijn was jointly owned by two Dutch companies, N.A.S.M. and K.P.M., and in 1964 ownership was transferred to Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij N.V., Rotterdam, prior to purchase by the Government of Nauru, and renamed 'ENNA G'.​ 


*30c PHOSPHATE LOADING. *
Dating from the early days of phosphate extraction and production, engineers engaged in the industry had visions of a mechanical loading appliance which would permit loading of phosphate direct to a vessel's holds, thus dispensing with the relatively slow, laborious and expensive operation of lightering. This dream was realised on Nauru with the completion of Cantilever No. 1 in September 1930 which permitted a rate of loading of 1,000 tonnes per hour. Designed by the Corporation's Consulting Engineers with the Nauru Engineer and his Executive staff, the installation was completed by a Manchester Company of Civil Engineers and at the time of commissioning was given worldwide publicity in the Professional Press as 'A miracle of Engineering in the Central Pacific’. Following the success of Cantilever No.1, a second Cantilever (featured on the 30c stamp) with a greater loading capacity (1,500 tonnes per hour) was designed and built in Australia and commissioned in 1961.​ 


*40c MV TRIADIC. *
The fourth functional ship built for the British Phosphate Commissioners, 'TRIADIC' was a motorship of 6378gt. On December 6-7, 1940 enemy raiders 'ORION' and 'KOMET', accompanied by the supply ship 'KULMERLAND', attacked shipping drifting off Nauru Island resulting in the loss of three ships of the four owned by the Commissioners. 'ORION' was responsible for sinking the 'TRIONA', 'TRIASTER' and 'TRIADIC' (motorships built in 1931,1935 and 1938) whilst the 'KOMET' sank two charter ships being the Union Steamship Co's KOMATA (built in 1938, 3900gt) and the Norwegian ‘VINNI' (motorship built in 1937, 5181gt).​ 
The Nauru appointment as Agent of Lloyd's must surely rank as being the most distant point of operation of all Agencies under this global Corporation.​ 

The basic layout of the stamps was designed by Mr Leslie Curtis of Great Bookham, England. The central illustrations for the stamps, plus the Official First Day cover and this Presentation Pack were designed by Mr Beverley Barnard of Brighton, England. Although Mr Barnard is a well known Marine Artist (being the President of the SCMA Assoc), this set of stamps is the first he has designed for Nauru. The stamps were printed by lithography in 5 colours, by The House of Questa, in sheets of 50 stamps, on CA Spiral Watermarked paper. The stamp size is 30.56 x 38.00 mm (vertical format), and the release date is 23 May, 1984.​


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## Butters

Jan , having been an old 'UNION AUCKLAND', man I have enjoyed this story on Nauru Line as my immediate superior ( a Yorkie) Martin Moore was a deck officer with them as was a couple of other Kiwi people i no Nick Batterby and a Chief Steward called 'Flannel Foot'.

keep up the history it is great

Butters


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## Jan Hendrik

David,
Thanks for this interesting summary.
Quite an extraordinary company but the people in the office (Nauru House) were so nice, very cooperative, yet the ships and their crew had to persevere a lot on account of late payments so they could not leave ports
and just do in which they excelled i.e. loading ships and taking them from A to B.

Butters,
Thanks 

Jan


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## 3knots

bobw said:


> In the early 1970's Nauru Pacific Line was looking to acquire another vessel which they were going to name "Cenpacrounder" as it was only to do the rounds of the Pacific Islands. She was to be purchased from Palm Line if I remember correctly.
> This was at the time they were building the Kolle D.
> Does anyone know the history of Cenpacrounder?
> 
> BobW


It is nearly two years since BobW’s query above regarding Nauru Pacific Line’s MV “Cenpac Rounder” but I may be able to fill in a few gaps as I served, many years ago, as First Mate and briefly as Master of this ship.

According to the Miramar Ship Index “Cenpac Rounder” was built by Port Weller Dry Docks, St. Catherines, Canada (Yard No. 29) and launched as the “Federal Palm” on the 26/08/1961. She was 3196 gross tons, 90.8 metres LOA, with a beam of 15.8 metres. She became “Cenpac Rounder” in 1972, and is recorded as being broken up in Pusan, Korea with delivery to the breakers on 06/06/1979.

Miramar does not list the machinery, but from my memory she had twin Fairbanks Morse engines coupled to a single shaft. There was a strong rumor that these were in fact surplus WW2 submarine engines obtained on the cheap!

She and her sister vessel “Federal Maple” (built by Canadian Vickers, Montreal) were, according to my memory of do***ents on board, built as a gift from the Canadian Government to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for the latter’s independence on 31st August 1962. They basically operated the ferry route between the two islands, and sometimes ventured a little further affield around the Caribbean. Passenger accommodation consisted of two suites, twenty-four ‘First Class’ two-berth cabins and two dormitories with 25 bunks each. There were three cargo holds, two forward of the accommodation separated by a masthouse and served by derricks; and one aft that was served by port and starboard cranes.

After purchase by Nauru Pacific Line she was registered in Nauru and given Nauru Register Official Number 5. She entered an island-hopping service that proved her new name “Cenpac Rounder” was indeed well thought out. If she had a “home port” it would have been Suva, Fiji which seemed to be the base for her operations. Some of the places she called on a regular basis were Suva, Lautoka, Funafuti, Tarawa, Christmas Island, Apia, Majuro, Kusie, Honiara, Lae and of course Nauru. Twice a year she would make a voyage to Hong Kong to transport Chinese contract labour to and from Nauru and Christmas Islands.

“Cenpac Rounder” was the only vessel in the Nauru Pacific Line fleet to not be managed from Nauru House in Melbourne, and to my knowledge she never visited Australia. Nauru Pacific Line in Nauru directly managed her, and this meant an interesting and varied existence for those sailing on board. Some of the anecdotes I recall follow:

One voyage she was on her way from Suva to Lae when ordered by Nauru Agency to divert to Honiara. On arrival the Master headed for the berth, but the local Agent soon appeared in a small boat and asked the vessel to heave to and take the cargo, which consisted of fourteen cases of condensed milk. After loading it, the Agent instructed the Master to proceed with all dispatch to Nauru! This was a considerable deviation from the intended voyage, and the Master queried this not only with the Agent but also with Nauru Agency and Melbourne. He was told to go to Nauru. On arrival at Nauru the vessel heaved to whilst the cargo was discharged into a boat, and she then resumed her voyage to Lae. The local store had run out of tinned milk!

On another occasion she left Lautoka on only the port engine as repairs to the starboard engine had taken longer than expected. About half an hour after dropping the pilot the starboard engine was started, there was an almighty bang, and little pieces of the engine came out through the entablature like pieces of shrapnel. Fortunately nobody was injured. She limped back to Lautoka for survey, but it was impossible to carry out repairs and it was decided the voyage to Christmas Island would continue on one engine – at about eight knots. The Chinese labourers were embarked with the intention (of Nauru Agency) of steaming to Hong Kong on one engine, but at 8 knots all water and food would be consumed long before arrival, and it would therefore be necessary to call at a number of ports en-route for replenishment. So she went to Nauru instead, from where the Chinese labourers were flown to Hong Kong whilst the ship proceeded there at slow speed for her engine repairs.

In 1979 (I’m not sure of the date) she was late leaving Suva as a hurricane approached, and ran aground in poor visibility. Although salvaged she was beyond economic repair and was towed to the breakers in Korea.

There is quite a lot of information on her, including pictures and philately, if you Google “Cenpac Rounder”. I’ve previously uploaded a picture of her on Ships Nostalgia, and a search of her name should retrieve it for you.


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## bobw

Thanks for that 3knots!


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## rjeaevans

Ships nostalgia is so right. Reading about Nauru Pacific brought back many memories, especially of when I was Mate of Enna G in the late 70's running out of San Francisco. The Master was Adam Kroeser and I often wonder what became of him.
Bob Evans


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## swanning_it

What a trove of information. Thanks all for your input.

Perhaps someone may be able to assist me with my brief history with the Nauru shipping industry!

Around late 1981 or early 1982, I was an apprentice working in Melbourne and the company I worked for had a contract to supply and install new switchboards to two (I think) of Naurus ships. I can recall the ships as being reasonably large twin engines in single engine room with gantry levels for working on the engines. The control room housed the main switchboard and had a glass window overlooking the engine room. The work was undertaken at the wharves where Docklands now sits.

Can anyone help me with the name of that (those) ships? Any assistance would be very much appreciated.


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## garry Norton

When I worked in the British Solomon Islands we sent some of our redundant crew to Nauru Shipping company.We also had one of their ships call into Honiara with a box of nails. I called into Nauru on the Bellama to land a person for the Marshal Islands on my way from the Gilberts to Honiara after repatriotating Gilbertise from the New Hebrides on a French Government charter.


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## Mark FRANKLING

*Shipping Nostalgia - Nauru (1977-1981)*

Hi Everybody!!!

My Father, Roger E Frankling was employed by the Nauru Phosphate Corporation ( 1977-1981 ) as a "STEVEDORE SUPERVISOR" at the Nauru Boat Harbour. Roger was in charge of 13 - Pacific Islanders supervising them in all aspects of marine work carried out by the department. He was also a "MARINE SCUBA DIVER" (CERTIFIED) in charge of all equipment at the marine department. His responsibilities included the mooring changes. 

HARBOUR MASTER CAPTAIN P.G HOILES (1979)


My father also enjoyed a "cup of tea" & "chat" with the "Senior Stevedores" Mr Geoff Lax / Mr McGinty / "Gentleman George" the only one on Nauru to own a BMW. He lived directly above the golfcourse. Roger's favourite ships were the M.V "EIGAMOIYA" / M.V "VALETTA"


My "Dad" Roger E Frankling then moved on to Bougainville Island/ Papua New Guinea. He was a "Assistant Manager" at the Kieta wharf employed by Rabaul Stevedores. (1981-1989 ). He was good friends with Mr John Fieldhouse "BURNS & PHILIP SHIPPING AGENT" / Captain - Vic Fisher " Lae Chief " & with the Legendary Mr Bob Strong "Transport Manager" for Rabaul Stevedores. His friend Mr Bob Strong was also the manager of the Toboroi plantation. 

I am looking for the "complete" list of ships that sailed to Nauru & Bougainville in the 1970's & 1980,s. (Sadly Roger passed away on the Isle of Wight U.K- 2001). I am looking for "old" photos/postcards/ great memories... (I am his eldest son.)


Kind Regards


Mark FRANKLING [FRANCE]


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## Brackenboy

*Nauru Shipping Line*

I worked for the Nauru Local Govt Council at Nauru House (Mel) in the early 1970's. I wore many different hats, one was ground staff for Air Nauru which meant stayingt overnight at the Tullamarine Travelodge to receive and check in passengers for the very early departures. Another hat was customer relations for Nauru Shipping. The older passengers avoided the Eigamoiya because it had no doctor aboard (carried only 10 passengers). The Enna G was popular and had several regular passengers and was a nice little ship and although it could take 125 passengers it never had anywhere near that number. Not for the want of trying and hinting I never did get to visit Nauru Island.


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## trotterdotpom

You never missed a thing, Brackenboy, apart from Aunty Peggy's bar with the piglets running around (think she was called Peggy). Welcome to SN. Lots of stuff on here about Nauru and Nauru Pacific.

John T.


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## BPCkid

*Other BPC vessels*

(Thumb) The other BPC vessels were: TRIASTER & TRIENZA(the only one not to be sunk by Germans)


Mc OZ said:


> Re Nauru shipping . My Father worked there after Japs bombed the place Re building the cantiiever. Mum and Dad were married there . The ships that serviced the Phosphate run were the TRIONA TRIADIC TRI-ELLIS owened by the British Phosphate commission Mark T.


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## ray morgan

I was there on the "Baron Minto" in 1963 or 1964 loading Phosthates for Port Kembla,never got ashore in Nauru,had a look on Google Earth seen photos of the Hotel and old empty Swimming Pool and one of a small gap in the sandhills were it said they launched there canoes,I believe a site for Boat Peoples Detention is there now.


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## Holmes 40

Greetings to all contributors to and readers of this history of some Nauruan ships and Nauru nostalgia generally.
My contribution follows.

I was appointed Senior Legal Officer and then Secretary of the Department of Justice in the Nauru Public Service in 1968. The entire administration of justice together with various judicial and advisory duties to the President (Hammer de Roburt), the new Cabinet and Parliament and its members became my responsibility.Part of that responsibility was as Registrar of Ships following the decision of the Government to create a Registry and then to register the MV Eigamoiya then under construction in Leith, Scotland In the Henry Robb Shipyards.
Robb's client was the Nauru Local Government Council (NLGC).
The NLGC was largely the representative body of elected local officials which agitated for self government for Nauru, achieving that goal in 1968. A number of Councillors became Members of Parliament.The NLGC was comprised of senior elected people from the Tribes of Nauru. The flag of Nauru with its 12 pointed star depicts those 12 tribes.
Nauru is traditionally a matriarchal society and MV Eigamoiya was named after an early queen of Nauru from the middle 19th century.
Other ships of the Nauru Pacific Line 
KOLLE D - named after Kolle De Roburt wife of the Head Chief and then President of the Republic, Hammer deRoburt.
ENNA G - named after Enna Gadabu the wife of Ray Gadabu similarly an early Chief
ROSIE D - named after the wife of Timothy Detudamo also an early Head Chief
each follow this tradition.

I could continue with further history of life on the Island at that time and in relation to my work duties, but space and time will here not permit.

In 1971 I was asked to assume a temporary appointment in Melbourne as Nauru Government Representative for Australia and New Zealand. That 'temporary' posting existed until 1974.
I was heavily involved in all aspects of the Nauru Pacific Line and itsbships as well as membership of the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust which, as a statutory body under Nauruan Law was charged with investing the royalty monies from mining.
As one example we entered into the construction of Nauru House in Collins Street.

After a time in private business both as a lawyer and adviser to industry associations the President asked me to take over the role as Nauru's Consul General in Auckland, New Zealand in 1983. I spent another two years for Nauru in that position with full consular duties and as member of the Nauru Phosphate Corporation Board.

At one point the New Zealand Seamans Union impounded the Enna G in Wellington over Pacific Islander crewing issues for a period in excess of 6 weeks. I vividly recall a meeting between President deRoburt and Prime Minister Kirk where the two came very close to exchanging blows. The ship was released shortly thereafter.

I have lost contact with many of the people with whom I worked and Nauruan friends built up over those years of stewardship but which I recall with both satisfaction and pleasure. I do regard the Nauruan people with respect , although their fortunes have been more recently under great duress. 
Some people with a passing knowledge of Nauru and the Nauru people chose to cast derogatory views about the way in which Nauru was administered. Some expatriates and others in the employ of Nauru instrumentalities took the view that it was in their selfish interests to take as much money out of Nauru as possible without a conscious effort to contribute to the advancement of Nauru's interests. Those people do no justice to themselves- particularly as they variously relate half truths and joke about their experience.
Nauru surely has its problems and the Nauruans sometimes took ill- guided decisions more related to the heart than by European logic. All in all however given their background those leaders had both integrity and standards of compassion and justice.

A parting comment which may be of interest to readers not familiar with Nauru's racial origins.

They are in fact a distinct race and most anthropologists and historians have those origins with Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian influences as cornerstones.

Due to Nauru's occupation/ possession / administration in the 20th century variously by German, Japanese and European countries so the traditional Pacific racial mix has gradually become less predominant.


With regards

Anthony (Tony) Holmes


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## Cisco

Photo of Eigamoya alongside Duke and Orr's here http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/165684/title/eigamoya/cat/all


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## Mike Dovey

*Registered in Nauru*

The first ship to be registered in Nauru was the 1969 MV Eigamoiya, the 4th was the Enna G, followed by 5 - Cenpac Rounder, & 6 Kolle D, etc. This leaves numbers 2 & 3. One of these is the ex British Phosphate ship which became the MV Rosie D so my question is:- What was the name of the missing ship and any information as to a previous life ?


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## Holmes 40

*M V Rosie D*

Greetings Mike,

I am confident that MV Rosie D owned and operated by the Nauru Local Government Council (NLGC) was purchased from the British Phosphate Commission which used her as a general cargo and phosphate carrier into and from Christmas Island and Nauru and various Australian and New Zealand ports.
The ship also had fresh water carrying capacity for supply on Nauru.
The name of the ship prior to NLGC ownership was MV Triaster, sister ship to MV Trienza.
If your records show the registration order of other NLGC ships as you record I regrettably cannot offer alternative view or information about #3 in your list.

Cheers

Anthony Holmes


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## Holmes 40

*Triaster/Rosie D*

Mike,
Further to earlier, you might want to look at this link for further verification

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=122758

Cheers

Anthony Holmes


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## bobw

Nauru Pacific Line ships: mv EIGAMOIYA, mv TRYPHENA, mv ROSIE D, mv ENNA G, mv CENPAC ROUNDER, mv EIGIGU, mv KOLLE D, .
A couple of other vessels were chartered as required.


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## A.D.FROST

Mike Dovey said:


> The first ship to be registered in Nauru was the 1969 MV Eigamoiya, the 4th was the Enna G, followed by 5 - Cenpac Rounder, & 6 Kolle D, etc. This leaves numbers 2 & 3. One of these is the ex British Phosphate ship which became the MV Rosie D so my question is:- What was the name of the missing ship and any information as to a previous life ?


ROSIE D.(BPC.ex.TRASTER) and TRIPHENA (BPC.ex.TRI-ELLIS) Last ship ROSIE D.(II)sis.KOLLE D.bulk carrier.


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## trotterdotpom

Just for interest. The "assylum seeker" boat people who are currently housed on Nauru rioted last night. Sounds like they burned the place down. Not happy with the new "Final Solution to the Boat People Problem" perhaps - no access to Australia, sent to New Guinea where they will be safe from their "enemies". Lucky things.

John T


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## Mike Dovey

*Fleet list*

Many thanks for all the replies, I have worked out that the list below is correct for the first 9 ships registered in Nauru and that number 2 & 3 is the same ship with a name change. If anything below is not correct then could you let me know, also while I have tried to get it all in some order when I press the send button all of below could become a real mess so my apologies in advance.

1 EIGAMOIYA 1969 Nauru Local Gov. Council sold - 1993
2 Triaster 1970 Nauru Local Gov. Council re-registered same 
year as Rosie D
3 Rosie D ex TRIASTER - 1955 1970 Nauru Local Gov. Council 
sold - 1975
4 ENNA G ex PRINSES MARGRIET -64 1970 
Nauru Local Gov. Council	scrapped-1990
5 CENPAC ROUNDER ex FEDERAL PALM - 61	1971 Nauru Local Gov. Council	scrapped-1979
6 KOLLE D 1973 Nauru Corp (Victoria) Ltd	sold-1988
7 Tryphena ex TRI-ELLIS - 1958	1974	Nauru Local Gov. Council 
sold-1978
8 ROSIE D 1977 Nauru Corp (Victoria) Ltd	sold-1991
9 Cenpac 2 ex Kyokyu Maru - 1970 1982	Nauru Corp (Victoria) Inc 
sold-1988
10 Eigugu ex Booker Challenge - 1979 1983 Nauru Pacific Line
sold-1989


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## Holmes 40

Greetings Mike,
Your listing details tally with my memory.
Good hunting!

Cheers 

Anthony H


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## Captain J.Brunton

To Jan Hendryk,
I have read a few of your posts, and I am sorry to say that you are not 'The drydock king' you claim to be.You were in charge of the paint operation.You were NOT in charge of the ship-or the Drydock-I was.And you must know it for we were there together at the Philseco Yard in The Phillipinnes.N.P.L. was not perfect, but it was a generally happy company.We had issues with pay at times, but never with food, which was mostly first class.There are many people, now that Nauru is out of business who print the most awful rubbish about it.Most have never been actual officers in the Company.But I was-and commanded all ships except Eigigu.I myself am now retired.After leaving Nauru, I went up to Singapore, and worked up there for a while.But I'm now, 76 and fully
retired,and live in Melbourne.Jim Brunton,Former Master,M/V. Kolle D.


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## Capt. Ivan Colaço

Thank you very much for the interesting reading on various aspects of Nauru Shipping.

I have recently been involved in moving all the Housing modules for the Government's Regional Processing Centre in Nauru and it has been equally exciting and challenging getting all the cargoes safely off in Nauru.

If anyone wants some new photographs of Nauru, I am sure I will be able to get my hands on some as I have developed close relations with some of the Nauruans especially those working in the port.


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## ernhelenbarrett

I did a good few months on"Trienza/GJJZ" both on the Christmas Island and
Nauru/Ocean Island runs with Phosphate back to OZ also a recruiting run around
the Islands picking up labour to work the phosphate on Nauru as the Nauruans
wouldnt do that sort of work, being a wee bit lazy, had to watch they didnt come
into your cabin during the night looking for grog. They did have a fleet of 3 Boeing 737 aircraft, the runway stretched from one corner of the island coming
in over the ocean and if you didnt brake you soon reached the other ocean on the other side. The Coast Radio Station was near the runway too as it was the 
R/O' job to act as Air Traffic Control on plane days. Did our fair share of drifting
off all three islands during Monsoon times too, once had 57 days off Christmas Island then 2 weeks off Nauru and Ocean Island then back to Christmas Island,
only loaded one cargo in 4 months for Geraldton, Fremantle Albany and Esperance then back up to Christmas for another drift, spent a lot of time catching sharks!!
Ern Barrett


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## Captain J.Brunton

Thanks for the two replies re Nauru.Re yours Capt Colaco-thank you for your kind offer of phoyos, but I syill have contacts on the island, who keep me well supplied with photos and news.I hear the Russians re-laid the buoys etc.But work still remains to be done.They are pretty irate that a lot of the money supplied to the island 'disappeared'.And the guy who crashed into the cantilever, was a hopeless seaman, who had NO IDEA, how to berth a ship at Nauru.Re the Lady Passenger who sent in her thread.Thanks.Yes they were good and enjoyable days.We had good food, good runs, and comprtent men.[Before the era of things being 'cut to the bone'].Thank you both.And ships Nostalgia for sending yr nessages.And getting in touch.
New subject re queries from the John Manners Officers,someone was asking about Ted Pretyman.Ted worked for N.P.L, for a bit, as Mate.I was with him at times.Not a bad guy.He then went to Wheelock Marden, and was in Command of their Canada to Far East ships for a long time.By the time he left he must have been a fairly Senior Master.Then he left.Do not know why.I actually envied him his runs.And they treated him well.No shortage of money there.Anyways, he left and went to Singapore and got a Digital Positioning Certificate.He is now employed as a Senior Opoerator,come Manager there.He lives in Sydney.We still keep in touch.So he seems to be doing well.Also to the best of my knowledge Capt Frank Adamson, another who was in N.P.L. for awhile, was still 'with us' and living in Mosman, in Sydney.Manners as run by POortugese Owner John de la Salla, had great spirit.And happy staff.Though he was a bit mean, re the 'shekels'.He certainly used his staff, to the limits of their ability.Few do things like that now.Of course it was a different Hong Kong then.Ships were generally well kept.And La Salla did really know good seamanship when he saw it.Few in Singapore can say that to-day.I guess Ted will last till they get someone cheaper to do the job.But he's just built a brand new house in Sydney.So the pay must be good.I'd rather have the job he had with Wheelock Marden.Mouth watering tuns.But that's just me.Rgds to All.Jim Brunton.


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## lakercapt

Drifting off Nauru waiting for a good time to berth at the buoys was normal and water was always a concern.
Used to see rain clouds and get the engines started and chase it.
Out in the rain with your soap and towel to get a good shower.
Shark fishing was one of the pass time hobbies and the bonus in that was the extra cash the crew got selling the fins to Chinese restaurants in Oz.
Our Walpol movie box contained "South Pacific" and after watching it so many times for a change watched it backwards!!! One place on my list of never want to see again.


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## Andy Duncan

Was with NPL for a number of years on many vessels my favourite the Kollie D good ship and good ship mates, I do how ever remember a serious incident at sea off the coast of Taiwan when the crew ran wild and injured the Mate

I think Jim B was the master, who got the crew very quickly under control prior to our arrival in Keelung for dry docking.

The Mate ( Max ?) was flown back to NZ after a period in hospital in Taiwan 

Andy


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## Captain J.Brunton

Hello Andy,
How nice to hear from you after a long time.Yes, I did catch a thread from Maxie Lambert, the only guy I ever sailed with who held both a Master Mariner's ticket.AND a Chief Engineers one.But I never sailed with him as Chief.As I recall, dual tickets was a French idea, that came to naught.But Maxie had them both.No question.I hope you are keeping well.Kind Rgds,Jim


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## namyar

It's good to revive old memories. I sailed on "Eigamoia", many really good voyages between Melbourne and Nauru with the odd deviation. One was to slip over to Tarawa (Betio) for a barge load of palm fronds. The Pres., Hammer DeRobert was throwing a knees-up for some gathering and the island palms were a bit shabby. Most of the return voyages from Nauru were light loaded, mainly empty containers but about 1,000 tons of calcined (burnt) phosphate which we discharged at a little wharf virtually under the "Westgate"bridge. I also spent a lot of time in "Eigigu" ex "Booker Challenge" most of my watches were spent under the plates welding patches and pieces on the bilge and ballast lines. Was also in "Kolle D". a couple of trips up to Isabel to supply the fertiliser factory they part owned. There were only 3 trawlers bought from Peru (bad advise there) They were all moored between the cantilevers, actually on the big ship bouys, one broke free and beat itself to pieces on the gantry foundations. The remaining two were sold off shortly after. I think they went back to south america.
I was the floating engineer for the company and did an awful lot of airmiles between ships but "Eigamoia" was the best, after the Paxman generators were replaced with "Cats" The whole place went to hell after it was flooded with indian engineers.


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## McCormack_Robert

[QUOTE

In 1979 (I’m not sure of the date) she was late leaving Suva as a hurricane approached, and ran aground in poor visibility. Although salvaged she was beyond economic repair and was towed to the breakers in Korea.

.[/QUOTE]

mv"Cenpac Rounder" was not towed to Pusan, South Korea.

April 30th 1979 I was transferred from mv"Kolle D" (Captain Brunton) at Bluff, NZ to
mv"Cenpac Rounder" at Suva, Fiji where the vessel had been towed
from Vatulele Reef after grounding during a cyclone.
The new Master, Adam Kroese had selected a skeleton crew to take the vessel to a scrap yard , possibly Taiwan or South Korea.
Thanks to the Chief Engineer, both engines were operational and remained so until delivery at Pusan, via Nauru and Saipan.

I have deliberately left out the dramas to protect the innocent.

Robert, 
Radio Officer and temporary Purser/Chief Steward for the voyage.


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## McCormack_Robert

Hi Captain Brunton,
I discovered this site only today.
Thanks for a most enjoyable voyage from Nauru to Melbourne on "Eigamoiya" - the quiz teams led by Jimmy Warburton and the schoolteacher lady whose name I forget were hilarious. 


Ken McCormack R/O


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## Andy Duncan

Hello Ken,

A voice from the past sailed with you a number of times with Maritime Carriers I was 3rd/4th Eng. Caught up with another not so long ago from NPL days Tony Proctor.

Regards

Andy


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## McCormack_Robert

Hi Andy,
Great to hear from you. I have not heard from Tony for many years and would would be great to catch up with you both.
My email is [email protected]
Cheers, Ken


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## garry Norton

The Solomon Islands sent some crew members to Nauru Shipping Company in the 1970's when they were reducing their government fleet.


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## rufl

*M V Kolle D*

Hello.

I visited the MV Kolle D while berthed in Port Lincoln, South Australia in 1971. The ship was delivering phosphate (or super-phosphate ?) to the local refinery Cresco's.

My father Jack, my mother Pauline, myself and my sister Sharon were guests of the ship's captain.

The captain gave us all separate gifts; the others I don't remember, and neither do they; but mine was a solid silver Newman pencil with an extendable lead, and refills, in its own padded hard case, which I still have. Its probably worth a pretty penny, but I've never had it valued, nor will I, probably, as under no cir***stances would I ever part with it.

Unfortunately I can not for the life of me remember the Captain's name, I was only seven at the time.

If anyone can enlighten me as to the identity of the captain of the Kolle D in 1971, I would be delighted, as it is one more piece of my younger life I can define.

I know this is an old thread, but here's hoping.

Russell.


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## McCormack_Robert

Hi Russell,

I wish I could help but I didn't join Nauru Pacific Line until January 1973.

Captain Brunton might be able to help you.

Cheers,
Ken McCormack R/O (rtd)


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## 8575

Captain J.Brunton said:


> Thanks for the two replies re Nauru.Re yours Capt Colaco-thank you for your kind offer of phoyos, but I syill have contacts on the island, who keep me well supplied with photos and news.I hear the Russians re-laid the buoys etc.But work still remains to be done.They are pretty irate that a lot of the money supplied to the island 'disappeared'.And the guy who crashed into the cantilever, was a hopeless seaman, who had NO IDEA, how to berth a ship at Nauru.Re the Lady Passenger who sent in her thread.Thanks.Yes they were good and enjoyable days.We had good food, good runs, and comprtent men.[Before the era of things being 'cut to the bone'].Thank you both.And ships Nostalgia for sending yr nessages.And getting in touch.
> New subject re queries from the John Manners Officers,someone was asking about Ted Pretyman.Ted worked for N.P.L, for a bit, as Mate.I was with him at times.Not a bad guy.He then went to Wheelock Marden, and was in Command of their Canada to Far East ships for a long time.By the time he left he must have been a fairly Senior Master.Then he left.Do not know why.I actually envied him his runs.And they treated him well.No shortage of money there.Anyways, he left and went to Singapore and got a Digital Positioning Certificate.He is now employed as a Senior Opoerator,come Manager there.He lives in Sydney.We still keep in touch.So he seems to be doing well.Also to the best of my knowledge Capt Frank Adamson, another who was in N.P.L. for awhile, was still 'with us' and living in Mosman, in Sydney.Manners as run by POortugese Owner John de la Salla, had great spirit.And happy staff.Though he was a bit mean, re the 'shekels'.He certainly used his staff, to the limits of their ability.Few do things like that now.Of course it was a different Hong Kong then.Ships were generally well kept.And La Salla did really know good seamanship when he saw it.Few in Singapore can say that to-day.I guess Ted will last till they get someone cheaper to do the job.But he's just built a brand new house in Sydney.So the pay must be good.I'd rather have the job he had with Wheelock Marden.Mouth watering tuns.But that's just me.Rgds to All.Jim Brunton.


On the Bank Line subsite I was asking if anyone knew how the moorings and buoys at Nauru and Ocean Island were laid and maintained. Some details of the groundwork, spread of mooring anchors, length of riser and size of mooring buoy to support same; were they single point moorings or a trot mooring? If anyone on this site can help I'd appreciate it. I'm pretty sure a Bank Line vessel brought a complete mooring arrangement and material to one of the Pacific Islands in the 1930s and also, under supervision, laid the mooring. Confirmation of that would also be welcome.


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## Robert Macdonald

*Captain J. Brunton R.I.P*

I have just learned today that Captain James Brunton died of a heart attack last June. I had known Jim for 46 years and we were in regular contact so was worried when had no Xmas Card as his was usually one of the first.

I sailed with Jim on EIGAMOYA and we relieved each other as Mate of ROSIE D and ENNA G.

We were later to sail together on CSR’s ORMISTON.

He was also my eldest son’s Godfather’

A great friend who will be sadly missed.


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## dave beaumont

Does anyone know what became of the Eigamoiya?


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## 3knots

"Captain J. Brunton R.I.P: 
I have just learned today that Captain James Brunton died of a heart attack last June"

Many thanks for posting. Jim was a fine Master and a good friend. Sadly so many from our era are now gone ...


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## airds

Waighty said:


> I'm pretty sure a Bank Line vessel brought a complete mooring arrangement and material to one of the Pacific Islands in the 1930s and also, under supervision, laid the mooring. Confirmation of that would also be welcome.


I think there was a bit about laying the early moorings in 'Ocean Island & Nauru' by A. Ellis in 1935 (the guy that discovered & realised the value of the phosphate, and started mining.) Few copies on ABE Books at the moment, but it's good awhile since I read it, so apologies if it is not that book! Maybe a library could help and source one?


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## airds

Video 'Nauru - Paradise Ruined' (45mins) by a Danish video journalist on vimeo here https://vimeo.com/34319872


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## trotterdotpom

That video won't play here but I can't imagine Nauru ever being a Paradise.

John T


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## airds

Better not watch their airline's new advert then! https://youtu.be/dFUMn0-GLGA or search YouTube for it, with 'Nauru Airlines Film 2016' 

(And vimeo.com for the above title, if your computer is having difficulties with links. Good historical gantry shots, etc)


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## 8575

airds said:


> I think there was a bit about laying the early moorings in 'Ocean Island & Nauru' by A. Ellis in 1935 (the guy that discovered & realised the value of the phosphate, and started mining.) Few copies on ABE Books at the moment, but it's good awhile since I read it, so apologies if it is not that book! Maybe a library could help and source one?


Thanks for that Airds, I'll do some tracking down. I've got a feeling that the island in question was Makatea but I could be wrong. If so, then that's not too far from Taihiti. (Thumb)


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## 8575

Having done a bit of research I've discovered that there was phosphate mining done on Makatea from 1917 to 1964 and there was a cantilever loading system on the NW coast of the island, ergo there must have been moorings and mooring buoys for ships to secure to. The port (Temao) has been abandoned since mining ceased so I assume the mooring system(s) were just left on the seabed.


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## Alan Rawlinson

trotterdotpom said:


> That video won't play here but I can't imagine Nauru ever being a Paradise.
> 
> John T


It was close, before the phosphate mining. First named ' Pleasant Island' in 1789 when visited by an American Whaling ship, " The Hunter". Nauru had fresh water, unlike Ocean Island before condensers were installed. Great pictures and description of the idyllic life in the 1935 book - Ocean Island and Nauru.


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## lakercapt

Spent a week on the Island after a shipboard accident and landed for treatment.
Was in the hospital as no hotels then but allowed out waiting till the ship could come in to load.
Had my walkie talkie with me (bought in Japan earlier).
Called the ship up when it came close enough and let them know the prospects.
Had the loan of a jeep and toured the "Island" and did not see a beach to swim from. Did see fortifications and old anti air craft guns and other WWI wrecks plus there were caves the Japanese dug for a hospital.
Nothing that would entice me back. There was no air line services then.


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## Alan Rawlinson

*Nauru history*



lakercapt said:


> Spent a week on the Island after a shipboard accident and landed for treatment.
> Was in the hospital as no hotels then but allowed out waiting till the ship could come in to load.
> Had my walkie talkie with me (bought in Japan earlier).
> Called the ship up when it cake close enough and let them know the prospects.
> Had the loan of a jeep and toured the "Island" and did not see a beach to swim from. Did see fortifications and old anti air craft guns and other WWI wrecks plus there were caves the Japanese dug for a hospital.
> Nothing that would entice me back. There was no air line services then.


Interesting to read. 

Quoting from the book again, the earlier history was very colourful. In the 1880's there were lot of European beachcombers and plenty of fighting between the locals fuelled by a fierce drink - sourToddy. The locals were well armed with repeater rifles. In 1888 the Germans annexed the island, and stayed until 1918 when they lost ownership, along with German New Guinea and other possessions which were all ceded to Great Britain under the Versailles peace treaty. 

The phosphate extraction steadily increased year on year and millions of tons have been removed. In 1933 (the last year of statistics in the 1935 book) 558,000 tons were obtained from Ocean Island and Nauru combined. The Makatea total was 79,000 tons. Not sure if both islands are now worked out commercially - perhaps someone can advise?

I do know that Nauru is now a hellish place holding would be asylum seekers to Australia.


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