The Columbus New Zealand

The <em>Columbus New Zealand</em>

Columbus New Zealand, the first all-container ship to visit New Zealand, at Beach Street Wharf, Port Chalmers, on 26 June 1971, before the container terminal was built.

Note the clear decks optimised for container stowage. Most boxes were stowed below, secured by steel cell guides that went deep down into the ship. The ship’s red mobile gantry crane was removed once New Zealand ports had completed their container facilities.

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13 comments have been posted about The Columbus New Zealand

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Heinz-Ruediger Schneider

Posted: 07 Mar 2014

Foto should have been taken in the early `70s ( 1972 ... 1975 ) since it´s exactly how it looked when I first came to Port Chalmers with the TS Columbus New Zeland in 1975. I made several voyages with this vessel as ships engineer until 1981 when I quit the merchant marine.

Paul Miller

Posted: 17 Jun 2013

@John Knowles - I also worked on this ship (for passage from NZ to the US) in 1988. Hard work and long days but what an experience. We went east through the Pacific, stopping to pick up a German film crew at Pitcairn, passed through the Panama Canal and broke down in the Bermuda Triangle (adrift for 3 days), before docking at Camden, NJ. Good times....

John Knowles

Posted: 12 Jan 2012

I'm curious what year this photo was taken. My mother and 15 year old brother worked their way to Sydney from Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada on the Columbus New Zealand in 1984. I did the same a year later. It was a wonderful experience. Long days of hard work but we saw some great port cities along the way plus a big storm where we nearly lost a few containers. If anyone has any other stories about this ship, I'd love to hear them. cheers!

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