GMV Aramoana
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GMV ''Aramoana'' (a Māori-language word meaning sea pathway) was a
roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...
train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...
operating across
Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...
between 1962 and 1983.


History

Government Motor Vessel (GMV) ''Aramoana'' was built in 1961 for the
New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining Rail transport in New Zealand, New Zealand's railway infrastruc ...
to link the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
and
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
Island rail networks. She was the last vessel built by William Denny & Brothers,
Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
, on the
River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
. She arrived from Scotland on 26 July 1962 and entered service on 13 August. In 1965, she was joined by the similar, but slightly larger, .


Layout

A combined vehicle deck could carry 70 cars and 30 rail wagons on three tracks.


Service

''Aramoana'' was built to provide a railway service between the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
and
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
Islands of New Zealand, later known as the ''
Interislander Interislander is a road and rail ferry service across New Zealand's Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton, New Zealand, Picton in the South Island. It is owned and operated by state-owned rail operator KiwiRail. Three ...
''. Initially she provided one round trip per day (except Sunday). In her first year of service she carried 207,000 passengers, 46,000 cars and 181,000 tonnes of cargo. This was substantially more than its predecessor, the Union Steam Ship Company's ferry ''Tamahine'', which had carried 60,000 passengers, 11,000 cars and 14,000 tonnes of cargo in the final year of service. In 1965, she was joined by the similar, but slightly larger, . On 10 April 1968 ''Aramoana'' was the largest of the rescue vessels when , a New Zealand inter-island ferry of the
Union Company Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited was once the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand's largest private-sector employer. It was incorporated by James Mills (ship owner), James Mills in Dunedin in 1875 ...
, foundered after striking
Barrett Reef The cluster of rocks that is Barrett Reef (often known as ''Barrett's Reef'') is one of the most hazardous reefs in New Zealand. It lies on the western side of the entrance of Wellington Harbour, on the approaches to the city of Wellington, at c ...
at the entrance to
Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...
. ''Aramoana''s two motor lifeboats were lost in the very heavy seas. In July 1977 ''Aramoana'' left Wellington to be rebuilt by Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore to carry 800 passengers to meet the increased traffic, following the withdrawal in 1976 of the Union Company's Wellington to Lyttelton service. It re-entered service in December 1977. In 1983, both ''Aramoana'' and ''Aranui'' were replaced by the significantly larger DEV ''Arahura'' and were sold to the Najd Trading & Construction Company of
Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
in 1984. ''Aramoana'' was renamed ''Captain Nicolas V'', and renamed ''Najd II'' the following year. In 1985 she carried Muslim pilgrims on the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
. On 16 July 1992, the ''Najd II'', took on board 240 Chinese illegal immigrants from a beach at Thailand destined for the USA. Sailing east instead the shorter western route they limped to the coast of Africa before finally stopping at Mombasa, Kenya, in September 1992. By then the ship was in too poor a condition to continue and the immigrants eventually were transferred to a second smuggling vessel, the ''
Golden Venture ''Golden Venture'' was a cargo ship that smuggled 286 undocumented immigrants from China (mostly Fuzhou people from Fujian province) along with 13 crew members that ran aground on the beach at Fort Tilden on the Rockaway peninsula of Queens, ...
'' which beached near
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
on 6 June 1993.The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe ''Aramoana'' was laid up at the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
port of
Ajman Ajman ( '; Gulf Arabic: عيمان ''ʿYmān'') is the capital of the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. It is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, fifth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain. Loca ...
in 1993. In 1994 she left Ajman towed by a tug and was broken up on
Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...
beach on the western shore of the
Gulf of Khambhat The Gulf of Khambhat, also known as the Gulf of Cambay, is a bay on the Arabian Sea coast of India, bordering the state of Gujarat just north of Mumbai and Diu Island. The Gulf of Khambhat is about long, about wide in the north and up to wi ...
in India.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aramoana Cook Strait ferries Ships built on the River Clyde 1961 ships Train ferries