On its visit to Port Chalmers last week, the log ship Chitral became the first Pakistan-owned and registered vessel to enter this harbour.
It is owned by a single-ship company, Chitral Shipping (Pvt) Ltd, which in turn, is part of the larger state-owned Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, of Karachi.
PNSC came into existence when all Pakistan-based shipping companies were nationalised into a single fleet in 1971. The fleet numbers 11 vessels, bulk carriers and tankers all of various sizes.
Chitral was acquired last October. Since November the ship has been employed carrying logs from North Island ports to China, the present voyage being the fourth in this trade.
The 26,395gt, 46,710dwt vessel was ordered from Japan's Oshima Shipbuilding Company. As Eternal Athena it was delivered on June 9, 2003, to the Quince Company Ltd of Hong Kong. Then, from December, 2005, until last year, and without change of name, it was owned by Royal Knight Ltd, also of Hong Kong.
As for the name Chitral, it is one that has been linked to the P&O group since 1925, by two passenger vessels and a container ship that became a regular caller here.
This 25,247gt, 1258teu motor ship was completed by the Mitsubishi yard at Kobe, in August 1970, as Arafura for the Australia Japan Container Line. Running mate in this service was the 24,433gt Ariake, delivered from Mitsui's Tamano yard a month later.
These two ships displaced the cargo liners operated by the Eastern & Australian Steam Ship Company (the E&A Line) from as far back as 1873. Their partnership was broken when Ariake was renamed Aotea when transferred to the Japan-New Zealand service.
After making 118 calls to Port Chalmers from February 22, 1977, to May 3, 1991, Aotea was replaced by Arafura.
Under its new name Chitral, the ship made 32 local visits over the period August 25, 1991, to March 3, 1996.
When it next appeared here on August 18, 1996, ownership had passed to P&OCL and it was trading as Matilda Bay. It made six visits under this name, the last on October 2, 1997. With the subsequent formation of P&O Nedlloyd in 1998, the vessel served as P&O Nedlloyd Tauranga until it arrived at Jiangyin in April, 2002, to be recycled.
The first Chitral, a 15,555gt, 16-knot, twin-screw steamer, was built on the Clyde by the A. Stephens yard. With berths for 320 passengers it was handed over in June 1925, to join it sister ships Cathay and Comorin (both lost in the war) in the Australian trade.
After the war, Chitral was reconditioned in 1947 for the Australian emigrant service. Then from December 1948, until its arrival at Dalmuir for demolition in April 1953, it served as a tourist-class vessel in the London-Australia service.
The second Chitral was one of two sister ships bought by P&O in January 1961. Both were twin-screw, turbine steamers that were the last passenger vessels built for the Cie. Maritime Belge (Lloyd Royal) S.A. of Antwerp for their service to the Congo and Angola.
Jadotville, the oldest of the pair, completed at St Nazaire, in July 1956, was renamed Chitral. Its Belgian-built sister entered service in October 1957, as Baudouinville and hoisted the British flag as Cathay.
Both ships accommodated about 270 passengers and had been bought to fill in on the London-Hong Kong service. They were later transferred to the E&A Line, Cathay on November 16, 1969, and Chitral on October 26, 1970.
The ships were then employed on the service from Australia to the Far East until both were withdrawn in 1975. While Cathay was sold for further service, the 13,821gt Chitral went to ship-breakers in Taiwan.
