''YWAM Koha'' is a New Zealand-registered Medical Aid Ship, built in 1968 as the

buoy tender A buoy tender is a type of vessel used to maintain and replace navigational buoys. This term can also apply to an actual person who does this work. The United States Coast Guard uses buoy tenders to accomplish one of its primary missions of main ...

''Konrad Meisel'' for the German Government and later owned in South Africa as ''Isibane''. As the ''Claymore II'' she provided the essential transport links to the remote Pacific territory of

Pitcairn Island Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, in the southern Pacific Ocean, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS ''Bounty''. Geography The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

, part-funded by the British Government until 2018 when she was replaced by the '' Silver Supporter''.

Buoy tender

''Konrad Meisel'' was built in 19681966 in some sources is erroneous by Jadewerft Wilhelmshaven GmbH,

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

for the Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Cuxhaven (Waterways and Shipping Office Cuxhaven) of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. When built, she measured 514 gross register tons with dimensions of 48.82m

LOA , also called loa, are spirits in the African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou and Dominican Vudú. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their iden ...

, 44.30m LBP, 9.56m beam and 4.65m depth, and a draught of 3.25m. She was powered by two Deutz 8-cylinder diesel engines, totalling 1103 kW (1500 bhp), geared to a single propeller. Over the single

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (compartment), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...

an eleven-ton crane was installed. During ''Konrad Meisels 30-year service with WSA Cuxhaven, she was responsible for the maintenance of marine navigation

buoys A buoy (; ) is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navigation buo ...

in the lower

River Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

and the adjacent sea areas. In 1998 the ship was retired by the WSA Cuxhaven and sold to the South African Government. The tender was allocated to the

South African Maritime Safety Authority The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is a South African government agency responsible for the implementation of current international and national regulations regarding the maritime industry as well as upon all recreational marine v ...

and renamed ''Isibane'', Zulu for 'light', by which time she had been remeasured as 486 gross tons. In 2004 she was sold to South African company Zonnekus Mansion Pty Ltd and transferred to the Panamanian flag.

Passenger-cargo vessel

In August 2009 ''Isibane'' was purchased by Nigel Jolly, of Stoney Creek Shipping Co Ltd,

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

, New Zealand, modified to carry cargo and 12 passengers, and renamed ''Claymore II''. Stoney Creek Shipping had been providing a passenger and cargo link to Pitcairn at the request of the British Government since 2002 with ''Braveheart'', a former Japanese fishery research ship. ''Claymore II'' was contracted by the Pitcairn Island Council, and subsidised by the British Government, to make four annual round trips to deliver cargo and supplies to

from New Zealand, loading at

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

. She also made eight subsidised round trips each year, from Pitcairn to

Mangareva Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent p ...

, the nearest airport, for passengers to connect to the air service to Tahiti. Outside these scheduled services, the vessel was available for charter. As Pitcairn has no port facilities, all cargo and passengers were landed on the island from ''Claymore II'' by

longboat A longboat is a type of ship's boat that was in use from ''circa'' 1500 or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest bo ...

. , there were concerns regarding the continued availability of the loading berth at

. However, the vessel was still servicing Pitcairn from the Port of Tauranga The ship is the subject of a 2011 $1.80 Pitcairn Islands stamp.

Medical Aid Ship

In July 2019 the ship was renamed the ''YWAM Koha'' in a ceremony in

and after dry-dock maintenance she will be relaunched as a volunteer-based medical aid ship providing

Primary Health Care Primary health care (PHC) is a whole-of-society approach to effectively organise and strengthen national health systems to bring services for health and wellbeing closer to communities. Primary health care enables health systems to support a pe ...

Dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...

, Ophthalmic Surgery and

Optometry Optometry is the healthcare practice concerned with examining the eyes for visual defects, prescribing corrective lenses, and detecting eye abnormalities. In the United States and Canada, optometrists are those that hold a post-baccalaureate f ...

services operated by '' YWAM Ships Aotearoa''. She will then be taken on a multi-port promotional tour around New Zealand to raise awareness, supplies and funds for her future deployments to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Notes

References

External links

2011 $1.80 Pitcairn Islands stamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:YWAM Koha 1968 ships Ships built in Wilhelmshaven Cargo liners Merchant ships of South Africa Passenger ships of New Zealand Ships of New Zealand Pitcairn Islands Merchant ships of West Germany Merchant ships of Germany Merchant ships of Panama