Voyages From Hull to New Zealand in 1954

[Captain Cuttle]

Hi,

Anyone have any idea how long would a typical voyage would take carrying five new  prototype Jowett cars and forty  tons of spares from Hull to a South Island  port of New Zealand to arrive there in October of 1954.

Regards

 

[cctransuk]

15 minutes ago, Captain Cuttle said:

Hi,

Anyone have any idea how long would a typical voyage would take carrying five new  prototype Jowett cars and forty  tons of spares from Hull to a South Island  port of New Zealand to arrive there in October of 1954.

Regards

 

 

No - but that must be the most obscure enquiry that has ever been made on RMweb!

 

CJI.

[Gordon A]

That would depend on the route the ship was ordered to take and how many other ports it stopped at, either to load / discharge cargo or take on fuel.

[Mol_PMB]

Present-day shipping times for containers are 8-12 weeks.

However, in 1954 it would have taken a lot longer. Not because the ships were slower, but they would have made more stops in ports en route and those stops would have been up to a week rather than 24 hours. I'd say it could easily take 6 months in total.

[Bon Accord]

Depending on the shipping company used, it'd take anywhere between 6-10 weeks.

The five main players engaged in the direct Kiwi trade at the time were the New Zealand Shipping Company, Shaw Savill Line, P&O/Orient Line, Port Line and Blue Star Line.

The former three operated faster passenger ships which also had significant cargo capacity and which made the run in about 6 weeks, as well as slower cargo vessels which took a few weeks longer, whilst the latter two companies operated cargo ships.

There were other British companies involved in the NZ trade, but those were the big five.

General cargo (mostly manufactured goods) was the outward bound trade, the return was generally NZ foodstuffs such as apples, lamb, butter etc.

Hull wasn't a primary port of departure for NZ, that was usually London, Liverpool or Southampton. Before heading outbound a vessel would call at a number of ports around the UK to load prior to final departure. Voyages were usually direct with only short calls at places like Aden or Curacao for bunkers (fuel) depending on whether the route was westbound or eastbound.

Upon arrival in NZ, Auckland and Wellington would be visited first, then the South Island ports in turn, usually 2-3 weeks after Auckland. It normally took about a month to turn the ship around in NZ, i.e. discharge and then back load for home.

As is the case today, how long it takes depends on how much a shipper was prepared to pay. Cargo space on the faster passenger ships came at a premium.

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Bon Accord

[tigerburnie]

Funny that, me and my parents were due to emigrate there in '54, until my mother failed the medical because she was pregnant, this was in March and my brother didn't arrive until December, so it might indicate the journey could take months rather than weeks.

[Captain Cuttle]

26 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

No - but that must be the most obscure enquiry that has ever been made on RMweb!

 

CJI.

Maybe more obscure if i had asked the name of the ships cat?😄

[cctransuk]

1 minute ago, Captain Cuttle said:

Maybe more obscure if i had asked the name of the ships cat?😄

 

Tiddles.

 

CJI.

[Bon Accord]

For an example of a passenger ship schedule, see the following link detailing that of Shaw Savill's Southern Cross in 1955.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Fascinating. I'd assumed that a consignment of about 50 tons would have gone on a freighter that would have spent longer at the intermediate ports.

There would also be the trip from Hull to Southampton / Liverpool / wherever to consider, and the time spent in trans-shipment. 

[Bon Accord]

2 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

Fascinating. I'd assumed that a consignment of about 50 tons would have gone on a freighter that would have spent longer at the intermediate ports.

There would also be the trip from Hull to Southampton / Liverpool / wherever to consider, and the time spent in trans-shipment. 

 

The big passenger ships of the day all had massive cargo capacity as that's where the real money was made.

For example, the P&O/Orient ships such as Arcadia/Oronsay had cargo capacities of circa 8-10000m3, whilst the likes of Rangitane (NZSCo) and Dominion Monarch (Shaw Savill) had cargo capacities of approx 18000m3. Those ships also had passenger capacities of anywhere from 400 odd (Rangitane) to over 1300 (Arcadia).

The cargo ships of the companies mentioned steamed out there more or less directly and weren't as slow as many would perhaps assume, even 70 years ago. Those cargo ships engaged in "liner trades" were generally reasonably fast compared to contemporary merchant ships of the time.

Most of those ships that went to NZ had significant refrigerated capacity for the perishable items (foodstuffs) that were brought home, accordingly speed was key to making sure as much of it got here in as good condition as possible.

[Captain Cuttle]

19 hours ago, Bon Accord said:

Depending on the shipping company used, it'd take anywhere between 6-10 weeks.

The five main players engaged in the direct Kiwi trade at the time were the New Zealand Shipping Company, Shaw Savill Line, P&O/Orient Line, Port Line and Blue Star Line.

The former three operated faster passenger ships which also had significant cargo capacity and which made the run in about 6 weeks, as well as slower cargo vessels which took a few weeks longer, whilst the latter two companies operated cargo ships.

There were other British companies involved in the NZ trade, but those were the big five.

General cargo (mostly manufactured goods) was the outward bound trade, the return was generally NZ foodstuffs such as apples, lamb, butter etc.

Hull wasn't a primary port of departure for NZ, that was usually London, Liverpool or Southampton. Before heading outbound a vessel would call at a number of ports around the UK to load prior to final departure. Voyages were usually direct with only short calls at places like Aden or Curacao for bunkers (fuel) depending on whether the route was westbound or eastbound.

Upon arrival in NZ, Auckland and Wellington would be visited first, then the South Island ports in turn, usually 2-3 weeks after Auckland. It normally took about a month to turn the ship around in NZ, i.e. discharge and then back load for home.

As is the case today, how long it takes depends on how much a shipper was prepared to pay. Cargo space on the faster passenger ships came at a premium.

 

Thank you Jim for your detailed reply. I will see what i can find out from the club.  It may well have been from Liverpool.

[Ohmisterporter]

On 19/12/2023 at 13:16, tigerburnie said:

Funny that, me and my parents were due to emigrate there in '54, until my mother failed the medical because she was pregnant, this was in March and my brother didn't arrive until December, so it might indicate the journey could take months rather than weeks.

 

The baby could have been born on the ship and mum may not have been pregnant when they set off.

[KeithMacdonald]

1 hour ago, Ohmisterporter said:

The baby could have been born on the ship

 

If that happened, would the baby be a British or New Zealand citizen?

 

1 hour ago, Ohmisterporter said:

mum may not have been pregnant when they set off.

 

But might have been by the time they got there?

[ikcdab]

59 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

If that happened, would the baby be a British or New Zealand citizen?

A child's nationality is usually determined by the nationality of its parents.   If this is undetermined and born in international waters, the baby has the nationality of the ship's flag.