When I was the manager of a travel agency in the 1970s I often had the opportunity to inspect the cruise ships operating out of Sydney, and one of the more interesting vessels I had a look over was named Enna G. Operated by Nauru Pacific Line, Enna G was not really suitable for the cruise trade at all, but had an extremely interesting and most unusual career.

Enna G was originally named Prinses Margriet, the second completed of a pair of sisters built in The Netherlands for a Dutch shipping company, Oranje Lijn. Prinses Margriet had also operated for two other Dutch companies without being renamed before being bought by Nauru Pacific Line.

Oranje Lijn had been founded on 16th July 1937 as NV Maatschappij Zeetransport by Anthony Veder, who purchased two cargo vessels to transport fruit and nuts from southern Europe and North Africa to the Netherlands. In June 1938, Veder expanded his operation include a service to the Great Lakes in the summer months, but everything came to a halt in 1940 when the German Army invaded The Netherlands.

After the Second World War Veder began rebuilding his company, and adopted the trading name Oranje Lijn as his ships were all named after members of the Dutch Royal Family. In 1953 the Prins Willem van Oranje was built with accommodation for 60 passengers. Cabins on the Upper Deck had three berths while those on Passenger Deck were twin bedded, and all had private facilities. There was a large lounge overlooking the bow, and a spacious Dining Saloon on the port side.

In 1955, Oranje Lijn signed a co-operation agreement with a Norwegian company, Fjell Line, which was also operating a service from Europe to the Great Lakes, and vessels from both lines on the Great Lakes had the name Fjell-Oranje Lines painted on their hulls.

In 1958 Oranje Line was purchased by another Dutch shipping company, N V Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, which translates as the Royal Packet Navigation Company. Once the largest Dutch shipping company, when operating services from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies, around those islands, and to Australia and Asian ports, KPM had fallen on hard times after the Dutch East Indies became Indonesia in 1947, KPM hoped to improve its financial position by acquiring Oranje Lijn, which continued to operate as a separate entity.

PRINSES IRENE

The size of ships operating beyond Montreal to the Great Lakes was governed by the size of the locks then in place on the St. Lawrence River, but in 1954 work had begun on a new waterway, which would open in April 1959 as the St. Lawrence Seaway, and enable larger vessels to reach the Great Lakes. In preparation for this, Oranje Lijn had placed an order for their largest vessel to date with the “De Merwede” Shipyard at Hardinxveld, yard number 546. It was named after the second daughter of Queen Juliana, Prinses Irene, who launched the vessel on 12th July 1958.

When completed in April 1959 Prinses Irene was 8,526 grt, with an ice-strengthened hull 455 feet long, and fully air conditioned accommodation for a maximum of 115 passengers in one class. All cabins had a private toilet and a bath or shower, and beds that could be recessed into the walls, creating comfortable daytime sitting rooms. Located forward and aft of the passenger quarters were five holds, which included four tanks for edible oil and six chambers for refrigerated cargo.

Prinses Irene attracted considerable attention on both sides of the Atlantic as it was the first passenger liner specifically designed for the trade between Europe and the Great Lakes. Holland America Line saw a bright future in the new service to the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway, and in 1959 purchased half the shares of KPM, thus also gaining a major interest in the Oranje Lijn.

On 29th April 1959, Prinses Irene departed Rotterdam on its maiden voyage, calling at Southampton and Le Havre before crossing the Atlantic and arriving in Montreal on 8th May, receiving a warm welcome. Although the St. Lawrence Seaway had been opened for shipping on 25th April, the voyage terminated there, and Prinses Irene returned to Rotterdam from Montreal, with a call en route at Saint John, Halifax, Plymouth, Le Havre and Antwerp. On the second voyage, which departed Rotterdam on 10th June, Prinses Irene passed through the St. Lawrence Seaway, to become the first ocean going passenger liner to reach the Great Lakes, going as far as Chicago. The smaller Prins Willem van Oranje continued to operate only between Rotterdam and Montreal only, not extending into the Great Lakes.

On its third voyage, Prinses Irene made its first call at Toronto on 11th September, the Windsor Star newspaper describing Prinses Irene as being ‘Like a Private Yacht.’ On 21st September Prinses Irene departed Chicago on its eastbound voyage from the Great Lakes, calling at Sarnia on 22nd to 24th September and spending a week in Montreal, departing on 3rd October, arriving back in Rotterdam on 11th October. The fourth westbound voyage left Rotterdam on 24th October, calling at Southampton the next day, reaching Montreal on 2nd November and Toronto on 6th November, the voyage terminating at Chicago on 11th November.

The Great Lakes trade was seasonal, the St. Lawrence Seaway only being navigable between March and November, as in winter the ice would be too thick for a ship to get through, even with an ice-strengthened hull. As a result, an alternative route had to be followed during this period, and initially it had been planned that Prinses Irene would operate a shorter service from Rotterdam to Halifax and Saint John. However, for the winter of 1959/60 a charter was arranged with Holland America Line for Prinses Irene to make two voyages from Rotterdam to Havana in Cuba and then into the Gulf of Mexico, with calls at Tampico in Mexico and New Orleans.

From January 1960, Holland America Line promoted the Oranje Lijn service to Montreal alongside their own services. Prinses Irene resumed its service to the Great Lakes in March 1960, and was able to carry passengers between Canadian and American ports, but not between two ports in the one country. The majority of passengers coming from Europe would disembark at Montreal, while others would continue to Toronto or Chicago. To fill the empty cabins, Oranje Lijn began to offer sectors of the Great Lakes part of the voyage as a separate trip, which soon became quite popular.

PRINSES MARGRIET

Even before Prinses Irene entered service plans were being prepared by Oranje Lijn for the construction of a slightly larger sister ship, though with the same hull dimensions and machinery. The order was placed with “De Merwede” Shipyard shipyard, the keel being laid down on 1st March 1960. The ship was launched on 10th December 1960, being named Prinses Margriet after the third daughter of Queen Juliana, born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1943 when the Dutch Royal Family was in exile there during the war. Unfortunately, Prinses Margriet was unable to launch her namesake due to illness, the ceremony being performed by her eldest sister, Crown Prinses Beatrix, who later became Queen Beatrix.

Prinses Margriet was fitted out with exceptionally fine, fully air conditioned accommodation for 111 First Class passengers. The fifty-five staterooms were all outside on upper and main decks with two or three berths, all except two having private facilities. Located far aft on Upper Deck, cabins 32 and 33, did have a public toilet directly outside and there was a shower reserved exclusively for passengers in these two cabins on the starboard side, next to cabin 33.

There was a full range of public rooms located on the saloon deck, including a lounge forward extending the full width of the ship, a 64-seat dining room on the port side with large windows, library and writing room on the starboard side, where there was also a verandah and enclosed promenade. Elsewhere there was a hairdressers shop and hospital, and an outdoor sports deck and sun deck.

Prinses Margriet had five holds and five hatches, with twelve hydraulic winches and thirteen derricks, including one for twenty tons. A crew of 101 was carried, about a third of whom were in the catering department. Stabilizers were fitted, and power supplied by a 8,600hp Verolme-MAN diesel engine turning a single propeller, providing a service speed of 16.5 knots. As completed, the tonnages of Prinses Margriet were 9,336 gross, 5,056 net, and 7,763 dwt, with dimensions of 456’1″/139m length, 61’4″/16.6m beam, draught 28’3½”/8.6m and 36’1″/11.0m depth.

The only major difference in appearance from Prinses Irene was the elimination of the forward well deck on Prinses Margriet, the hull plating being carried one deck higher. An unusual feature of both ships was the funnel, formed out of curved blades which provided up-draughts for the exhaust.

Prinses Margriet ran trials between 12th and 15th June 1961, and was handed over to Oranje Lijn on 4th July. On 12th July 1961, Prinses Margriet departed Rotterdam for Antwerp and Hamburg to load cargo and embark Belgian and German passengers, then returned to Rotterdam on 18th July to embark Dutch passengers. The first stop was at the anchorage off Cowes to embark British passengers brought out from Southampton by tender, then across the English Channel to Le Havre to collect French passengers. Prinses Margriet then headed off across the Atlantic and up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal, arriving there on 24th July.

The voyage continued through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes, following the route established by Prinses Irene to Chicago, Sarnia, and Detroit, then back to Montreal. On the return trip there usually was a call at Plymouth, then to Le Havre and Rotterdam, on to Antwerp and Hamburg, returning to Rotterdam, the round trip taking about sixty days. Later calls would be added at Toronto and Cleveland on some voyages.

Prins Willem van Oranje remained on the shorter service between Rotterdam and Montreal only, and Oranje Line was able to offer a departure from Rotterdam and Montreal every month. The three Oranje Lijn ships became renowned for the comfort of their accommodation, and were referred to as the “Rolls-Royces of the North Atlantic.”

When winter conditions on the St. Lawrence made passages impossible, Prinses Margriet made voyages from Rotterdam to the Mexican Gulf, which was popular with passengers, the route being from Rotterdam to Plymouth, Miami, Vera Cruz, Tampico, Coatzacoalcos, New Orleans, Nassau and back to Rotterdam.

In the Great Lakes, Prinses Margriet was able to carry passengers on sectors between Canadian and United States ports.

During the winter of 1962-63 Prinses Margriet made two cruises from Rotterdam to the Mediterranean, going as far as Haifa, but the first Atlantic voyage of the 1963 season, which departed Rotterdam on 3rd April, would be the last that Prinses Margriet would operate to the Great Lakes. On its return to Rotterdam, Prinses Margriet was chartered to Holland America Line, which held a major shareholding in Oranje Lijn.

Despite being designed specifically for the trade to the Great Lakes, due to the shortness of the period the route could be operated each year when it was not blocked by ice, from the time Prinses Margriet entered service in July 1961 to May 1963 the vessel made just six round trips that went into the Great Lakes, and two more that only went up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal.

Holland America ran a secondary service between Rotterdam and New York, operated by two cargo-passenger ships, Noordam and Westerdam, but in early 1963 Noordam was offered for sale, being purchased on 27th April 1963 by the Italian Costa Line. Meanwhile, Prinses Margriet had left Rotterdam on 3rd April 1963 on its final Oranje Lijn voyage to the Great Lakes, and on returning to Rotterdam commenced the charter to Holland America Line. Still in Oranje Lijn funnel colours, the first departure by Prinses Margriet from on the service was on 8th June 1963. However, the ship would only be carrying cargo on this trade, the excellent accommodation remaining empty.

CUNARD CHARTER AND SALE

Prinses Irene continued to operate to the Great Lakes through the 1963 summer season, but was then withdrawn from service and offered for charter or sale, having made only 16 trips into the Great Lakes since entering service in 1959. In a most unusual arrangement, Prinses Irene was chartered from the Oranje Lijn by the Cunard Line for four months from 1st June 1964 to the end of September, serving as a cargo only ship on their “Whiskey Run” between Glasgow and New York, which also included a call at Liverpool.

Late in 1964 the Oranje Lijn sold their third cargo/passenger liner, Prins Willem van Oranje, to East German interests, and withdrew completely from the passenger trade between Europe and Canada, subsequently concentrating solely on cargo services.

During the summer of 1964, Holland America Line announced that Westerdam was to be withdrawn from service on 21st November that year, and at the same time Prinses Margriet would commence carrying passengers again and operate the secondary service between and on its own. Instead of continuing the charter, Holland America Line purchased Prinses Margriet outright on 10th November 1964, but again did not change the name, though the funnel was now painted in colours. Prinses Margriet departed on its first voyage under the new ownership on 21st November.

Meanwhile, Prinses Irene completed its Cunard charter in October 1964, and was then sold to the Verolme United Shipyards, for what was described as “service under the Indonesian flag”. Whether there was a prior arrangement with the Indonesian Government is not known, but the vessel was extensively altered by the shipyard to suit the Muslim pilgrim trade to Jeddah, with basic quarters installed for 1,063 passengers.

On 25th October 1965 Prinses Irene, with the Oranje Lijn logo removed from its funnel, was moving through the port of Rotterdam and went past Prinses Margriet, which was in Holland America Line colours, this being the last time the two sisters would be in close proximity.

Soon after, Prinses Irene was sold by the Verolme United Shipyards to the Indonesian state shipping line, P. T. Perusahaan Pelajaran “Arafat”, by whom it was renamed Tjut Njak Dhien, and left Rotterdam for the last time on 20th November. Subsequently the vessel made voyages from Indonesia to Jeddah during the pilgrim season and at other times was either laid up or used as a cargo carrier in Asian waters.

PRINSES MARGRIET CHARTER

As the 1960s progressed passenger numbers on Prinses Margriet were steadily declining and containerisation was rapidly growing, and inevitably it reached the point where operating a cargo/passenger ship across the Atlantic was no longer financially viable. On 2nd December 1967, Prinses Margriet left Rotterdam on its final voyage to New York., and was withdrawn from service, having completed 53½ round voyages for Holland America Line between Rotterdam and New York.

Prinses Margriet immediately commenced a charter to another Dutch shipping company, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Mij, better known as KNSM or the Royal Netherlands Steamship Co, to operate a service from New York to the Caribbean. Again the name of the ship was not altered, but the funnel was repainted in the KNSM colours, black with two white bands.

One major drawback with Prinses Margriet was that the ship, having been built for a service across the northern waters of the Atlantic Ocean, did not have a swimming pool, which was an essential requirement for a passenger vessel operating to the warm waters of the Caribbean. With only a couple of weeks between the end of the Holland America voyages and the commencement of the KNSM cruise operation, a small and shallow swimming pool was erected on the open deck aft of the Promenade Deck on the starboard side, with a rather narrow gangway connecting it to the Promenade Deck.

Although operated under the banner of KNSM, the overall operation of the vessel was handled by Holland America Line. The first voyage under the KNSM charter departed New York on 15th December 1967, and Prinses Margriet subsequently maintained a schedule of a departure every second Friday from the 31st Pier in Brooklyn.

After four days at sea, Prinses Margriet would arrive in Oranjestad, Aruba, at 6am on the Wednesday, departing at midnight for the short hop to Willemstad in Curacao, arriving at 6am on the Thursday and leaving twelve hours later. After another overnight trip, arrival at La Guiara in Venezuela would be at 6am on the Friday, only staying in port for nine hours before a 3pm departure for the next overnight trip to reach Port of Spain in Trinidad at 11am on the Saturday. Leaving there at 5pm, the ship made a five day passage back to New York, berthing there at 5pm on the Thursday.

This schedule was maintained through 1968, 1969, and into 1970, a brochure showing departure dates up to the end of October that year. In addition, a special 21-day Christmas/New Year cruise was scheduled, to depart New York on 18th December 1970. The first week would follow the regular itinerary, but after leaving Port of Spain the ship would call at Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, St. Martaan, St. Barthelomy and St. Thomas on the way back to New York.

NAURU PACIFIC LINE

This cruise would not be operated as early in 1970 Prinses Margriet was offered for sale, being purchased by Nauru Pacific Line in April. On 3rd June 1970, Prinses Margriet arrived in New York at the end of its final voyage for KNSM, and was then handed back to Holland America Line. It seems Prinses Margriet was sent to Savannah, and possibly other ports, to load cargo, and then crossed the Atlantic to Rotterdam, arriving there on 7th July. Prinses Margriet was over to Nauru Pacific Line in Rotterdam on 6th August 1970.

Nauru Pacific Line was founded in 1968 by the Government of the tiny island republic of Nauru. Located just over forty kilometres south of the equator, Nauru was only 3.2 kilometres long by 4.8 kilometres wide, surrounded by a sandy beach, inland of which there is a narrow fertile strip where various crops are grown. However, two-thirds of the island was a plateau largely covered by rock phosphate, leached from guano, or bird droppings.

Originally Nauru was home to twelve native tribes that had no contact with the western world until it was located in 1798 by Captain John Fearn, and named Pleasant Island. From the 1830s whalers and other traders began visiting, and introduced alcohol and firearms, both of which caused the islanders problems, especially when a tribal war in 1878 reduced the population from 1400 to 900.

Under the Anglo-German Convention of 1896, Nauru was allocated to Germany, who changed its name back to Nauru, and discovered it had the highest quality phosphate in the world. In 1907 the Pacific Phosphate Company started mining, and phosphate became Nauru’s sole export. In World War I, Australian forces seized Nauru from the Germans, and later the League of Nations gave Britain, Australia and New Zealand a joint trustee mandate over the island, with Australia the administering authority. They established the British Phosphate Commissioners, who continued the mining of phosphates, which was largely removed in their own ships, and the Nauruans enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world.

In August 1942 Nauru was occupied by the Japanese, and the native population deported to the island of Truk. Nauru was re-occupied by Australian forces on 13th September 1945, and the following year the deported natives returned. Nauru became a United Nations Trust Territory, still controlled by Britain, Australia and New Zealand, with Australia again the administering authority, and the British Phosphate Commissioners resumed mining, and also had several ships built in Britain. On 31st January 1968 Nauru became the smallest independent republic in the world, and the new Nauru Local Government Council formed Nauru Pacific Line, which was intended to carry some of the phosphate being mined there, and also bring supplies to the island.

In 1967, with independence approaching, the Nauruans had contracted to purchase the British Phosphate Commissioners entire operation, and also made preparations to establish their own shipping line by placing an order with Henry Robb Ltd at Leith for the construction of a cargo ship. Launched on 19th December 1968 and named Eigamoiya, after a 19th century queen of Nauru, the vessel was delivered on 19th April 1969. Nauru Pacific Line established their head office at 227 Collins Street in Melbourne, and their ships would operate from there. Eigamoiya, which had accommodation for twelve passengers in seven cabins, commenced a service from Melbourne to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

The funnel colours adopted by Nauru Pacific Line were very attractive, dark blue to represent the ocean, a narrow yellow band near the top to signify the equator and a twelve-pointed white star below the band to indicate Nauru’s position just south of the equator. The twelve points of the star represent the original twelve tribes of Nauru, though some had disappeared by the 1970s. The house flag was dark blue with the white twelve-pointed star in which was a black anchor. The hulls of the vessels that carried up to twelve passengers had light green hulls and cream superstructures, while the passenger ships had a grey hull and white superstructure, all ships having dark green boot topping.

The Nauru Phosphate Corporation acquired the assets of the British Phosphate Commissioners for A$21 million on 1st July 1970. This purchase brought an economic boost to the Republic, as revenues from the mining operations were estimated to be A$100-120 million annually The Nauru government put profits from the mining into a trust for the islanders, who subsequently enjoyed the highest living standards in the world for about twenty years. The trust reached a peak of A$1 billion, and funds from it were used to support the operation of Nauru Pacific Line. However, poor investments and political corruption would eventually leave the trust nearly empty and Nauru with little money.

Nauru Pacific Line purchased one of the British Phosphate Commissioners’ ships, Triaster, built by Harland & Wolff at Govan in 1955, which was renamed Rosie D, after the wife of Timothy Detudamo, an early Nauruan Chief. As well as a large cargo capacity, Rosie D had accommodation for 48 passengers, which had previously been used only by company personnel but would now be available for regular travellers. Rosie D took over the service from Melbourne to New Guinea and Nauru that had been operated by Eigamoiya, which was placed on a new route between Melbourne, Fiji and Nauru.

ENNA G

The acquisition of Prinses Margriet was a huge leap for Nauru Pacific Line, as it was much larger than the two ships they were operating and able to carry more passengers. Prinses Margriet was renamed Enna G, after Enna Gadabu, the wife of Ray Gadabu, who was an early Nauruan Chief. Enna G made its positioning voyage to Australia on charter to Dolphin Line, arriving in Sydney on 22nd October for the day, then continuing to Melbourne, making its first arrival there on 24th October 1970.

One of the main reasons given for the purchase of the ship was reported to be its ability to transport hundreds of Nauruan children to Australia, where they were being educated, and home for holidays. Apart from being repainted in the colours of the new owner, no changes were made to the ship, and most notices and cabin titles were still in Dutch and walls retained their beautiful teak wood panelling.

The first voyage Enna G operated from Melbourne went to Kieta, Nauru, Apia, Nuku’alofa, Suva and Port Moresby, but this seems to have been done to introduce the ship to as many places as possible. The second voyage only went to Nauru, Kieta and Port Moresby and back to Melbourne, while the third departure called at Suva, Apia and Nauru, returning from there to Melbourne. In 1971 a call at Sydney was added on some voyages. Despite the excellence of the accommodation, and intensive attempts to promote the ship, very few passengers were carried, and cargo loadings were disappointing. The Nauru Government had also established their own air line, and with the completion of a new runway capable of handling jet aircraft at the airport there was no longer the need for a passenger ship to operate to the island.

Early in 1972 Nauru Pacific Line decided to place Enna G on a cruise service out of Sydney, with trips being offered of 12, 18 and 25 days duration to a wide variety of South Pacific islands. These included a number of places not previously included in cruises from Sydney, such as Taveuni, Nauru, Funafuti, Tarawa and Honiara, along with well known ports like Suva and Nuku’alofa. In preparation for this new service, Enna G went to Japan for a refit.

With Australian officers and a Pacific Islander crew, Enna G departed Sydney on 5th May 1972 on the first cruise, going to Honiara, Nauru, Santo, Vila, Suva, Taveuni, Apia, Pago Pago and Nukualofa. Seemingly in keeping with its Dutch background and KPM connection, the agents for Enna G in Sydney were Koninklijke Java-China Paketvaart Linjen, better known as Royal Interocean Line, which also had a KPM connection.

The Enna G operation out of Sydney was not a success, and on 10th January 1973 the vessel left on its final cruise, returning to Sydney on 23rd January. The termination of the cruise operation left the ship in limbo, as there was no obvious alternate route for it, and the vessel was laid up in Melbourne. However, it seemed a new opportunity for Enna G had been presented when the Union Steam Ship Company decided to terminate their service from Auckland to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, which was being operated by Tofua, but was no longer economic. Tofua was a 5,299 grt vessel that had accommodation for 73 passengers in cabins, while up to 200 deck passengers could be carried on short inter-island sectors. Tofua could carry a large amount of cargo in five holds, the majority being fitted with air cooling and ventilation for transporting fruit and other perishables, and refrigerated spaces for meat and dairy produce.

The Princes Margriet in Holland America colours. (The late Vic Scrivens)The withdrawal of Tofua after its arrival in Auckland on 4th June, with no replacement to be provided by the Union Line, would leave Fiji, Tonga and Samoa without a direct sea connection with New Zealand for the first time. Nauru Pacific Line decided that Enna G would be the perfect ship to take over the trade.

In preparation for this venture a new crew had been signed on, with the majority of seamen coming from Fiji, and Enna G arrived in Wellington on 25th May 1973 for drydocking and survey prior to entering the Pacific Island trade from Auckland. However, while Enna G was still in drydock a ban on its being operated from any New Zealand port was imposed by the local maritime unions, and the ship would remain idle in Wellington for over three months, berthed at the container terminal.

Opinions on the actual cause of the ban differed widely, a union official stating it only arose when the Fijian seamen on Enna G approached a Seaman’s Union member in Wellington with a complaint about their pay and conditions, and the matter was referred to the Maritime Union. The Minister for Island Affairs in the New Zealand Government stated it was a problem between the Fiji maritime unions and Nauru. The Nauruans claimed that a ship owned by Nauru with a crew largely from Fiji taking over a service that had been operated by a ship owned and crewed in New Zealand did not meet with the approval of powerful New Zealand maritime unions.

Eventually questions about the dispute were raised in the New Zealand parliament, and ultimately the situation was resolved following what was described as a ‘stormy meeting’ between Prime Minister Kirk of New Zealand and President Hammer de Roubert of Nauru. Enna G was finally allowed to leave Wellington on 20th September, having been idle there for 118 days.

The dispute attracted considerable media attention in New Zealand and the Pacific islands that Enna G would have been servicing. The October 1973 issue of Pacific Island Monthly reported:-

“The Enna G has been tied up in Wellington since May because of a black ban by the NZ Seaman’s Union and other maritime unions. The Seaman’s Union allowed the Enna G to leave Wellington, provided she does not go back to New Zealand.”

The Nauru Pacific Line earlier this year planned to put the Enna G on the Auckland-Pacific Islands service, replacing the Tofua, which was withdrawn in May. She went into dry dock in Wellington and while there the NZ seamen put the ban on her. Since May, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have been without a regular passenger service from NZ.

The NZ unions claimed they were trying to help Fijian seamen in the Enna G to get better wages and conditions but the matter went deeper than that. The union wanted to preserve that area for NZ seamen who had become redundant when the Tofua was withdrawn.

Enna G arrived in Melbourne on 24th September, and Captain Brunton left the ship to return to Eigamoiya, which had been in drydock in Melbourne while he was away. Enna G loaded cargo to be taken to Nauru, departing Melbourne on 6th October with Captain Ball in command. After unloading at Nauru, Enna G went to Sydney to resume its cruise service to the Pacific Islands. The vessel made two cruises before taking Nauru children attending schools in Australia home for the Christmas holidays.

Going into 1974, Enna G, discontinued the cruise service out of Sydney, and commenced a direct service between Melbourne and Nauru, carrying cargo only, and in 1975, occasional calls at Tarawa and Ocean Island were added to the itinerary. In 1976, Enna G was featured on the 10 cent stamp of a special issue of four stamps to commemorate the Seventh South Pacific Forum, which was held in Nauru on 26th to 28th July 1976.

In 1976 the service out of Melbourne was abandoned,

At this time, the islands of Micronesia that were administered by the United States were demanding a better sea connection with the mainland, but American companies were either unable or not interested in providing a suitable service. However, Nauru Pacific Line decided to take on this service, and Enna G went to Japan for a major refit. The fore mast and main mast were both removed and replaced by heavy duty cranes to enable the ship to work containers at isolated ports. The original goal post derricks were joined at the top by a walkway, a short mast was installed forward of the funnel and a rather unsightly new mast was fitted aft of the funnel.

The holds were altered to enable containers to be carried, and the accommodation was also altered, with 41 two-berth and ten single-berth cabins, most with private facilities and some with an extra fold-down berth, for a maximum of 103 passengers. Following this refit the tonnage was remeasured as 9,423 gross, 7,888 dwt.

Enna G was placed on a new service, from San Francisco to Honolulu, Majuro, Nauru, Ponape, Truk and Saipan, from where it would return directly to San Francisco. The schedule called for a departure from San Francisco about every six weeks. Passengers could not be carried from San Francisco to Honolulu only, but were carried to and between the other islands, while the round trip from San Francisco was advertised as a cruise. Surprisingly, the call at Nauru was soon deleted from the itinerary.

A schedule published for 1978 showed that after departing San Francisco the ship spent five days at sea before arriving in Honolulu for an overnight stay. After another four days at sea, with a full day lost when crossing the International Dateline, Enna G would make an overnight stop at Majuro, in the Marshall Islands. Another two days at sea brought the ship to Ponape, in the Caroline Islands, where two nights were spent in port, followed by an overnight trip to Truk for another two nights in port. A day at sea took the ship north to the Marianas, and an overnight stay in Saipan, then the eastward voyage to return to San Francisco commenced, a stretch of fourteen days at sea, including having the same day twice when the ship again crossed the International Dateline.

It was also in 1978 that a change occurred in the career of the former Prinses Irene. After spending just over ten years as Tjut Njak Dien transporting pilgrims for part of each year and otherwise being used to carry cargo or laid up, in September 1978 the vessel was transferred to the Indonesian Navy. Converted into a troop transport and repainted in naval grey, the ship entered naval service as Tanjung Oisana in 1979, pennant number 972. Nothing has been found about the subsequent operation of this vessel under military control ( Reg. No. 972).

In 1981 Enna G was again featured on a Nauru stamp, this time the 20 cent of a special issue of four to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the founding of the South Pacific Forum. However, the ship was depicted in its original guise as on the stamp issued in 1976. It was also in 1981 that ownership of the Nauru Pacific Line vessels was transferred from the Local Government Council of Nauru to the Nauru Corporation (Victoria) Inc., based in Melbourne

By this time Nauru Pacific Line was in serious financial trouble, and the overall economy of Nauru itself was also in trouble, as, since independence, their main source of income since had come from exporting phosphate. Over subsequent years about two million tons of high grade phosphate had been mined, but this was now almost exhausted and mining was coming to an end. An attempt was made to produce income by selling postage stamps, especially to stamp collectors, and several series of very colourful stamps were issued. However, the income from this venture was short lived as just at that time the world market in collecting stamps suffered a major downturn.

Enna G was one of the last cargo/passenger ships in the world still operating a regular service, and was struggling to survive. Under the new ownership, Enna G had to be economically viable, but one major problem was the fact that, while a large amount of cargo would be carried on the voyage from San Francisco, virtually nothing was loaded in the islands for the return trip.

The attempt to lure cruise passengers for the round trip was meeting with some success, and an interesting article about travel on Enna G at this time, written by Leon Fletcher, included the following:-

To find out just who it is who sails as passengers on cargo ships, I recently took a multi-question survey of all the 70 passengers aboard one such ship, the Enna G.

The Enna G, owned by Nauru Pacific Line, sails from San Francisco about every six weeks. Her destination: Micronesia, an area of the Pacific almost as large as the United States. Her ports of call: Honolulu, then Majuro, Ponape, Truk and Saipan. Her return to San Francisco is a non-stop run of 14 days. The entire 10,900 mile voyage takes about 40 days.

The Enna G is 456 feet long, 9,341 tons. She has 54 double cabins, can carry 104 passengers. But many travellers book a cabin for use by just one person, so the ship rarely sails with more than about 80 passengers.

Her cargo spaces, nearly 10,000m3, usually contain fruit, vegetables, hardware, lumber and other building supplies, a few automobiles, and other ‘necessities’ for life in the islands, the mate told me. The crew of 80 is from 15 countries. The master is from Britain, the doctor from the Philippines, the entertainment director from the United States. Others are from Australia, New Zealand, Solomons, Fiji and other Pacific islands. Facilities include a swimming pool, library, gift shop, hair salon, dining room, a large lounge that runs the full beam of the ship and features an electronic organ, and more.

But it is the passengers who are indeed distinctive. The youngest was 53, the oldest was 89. The average age was 70. Only 19% were under 60. One couple was honeymooning, she 72 years of age, he 79. “Why not?” said one grey-haired woman, travelling alone: “I’m looking again.”

Although I didn’t keep score, it seemed that a much higher percentage than usual, certainly more than half the passengers, danced regularly. They danced in hula classes, in passenger-produced variety shows, with the island dancers who came aboard to present a program while the ship was in Majuro, and in the lively ballroom dancing that often started around ten in the evening, after movies, lectures and other activities.

Another characteristic of passengers on cargo ships, as shown by those aboard the Enna G, is that most are exceptionally well travelled. The reasons these passengers gave for taking this particular trip give another indication of their experiences as travellers. “To see Micronesia” was named most frequently, but by only seven passengers. Some passengers said they were onboard “to rest, to relax” others were attracted by “moderate cost” still others by the “pleasant weather”.

Ninety-eight percent said they would recommend the trip to others. They named 35 features as the ‘best thing about this trip’. Passengers were also asked to name the worst things about the trip. The most frequent reply, given on 32 percent of survey forms, was “nothing bad”, “no worst features”, or other such statements. A few said the air-conditioning in the cabins and dining room was set too low, but others stated that the “excellent air conditioning” was one of the main attractions of the ship. Clearly, these passengers found little they considered unpleasant about the trip.

As the Enna G’s captain, John Pailsey, said in his toast at the farewell banquet, “cargo ships get the most fascinating, varied passengers in the world”.

From this article it is obvious that Nauru Pacific Line was providing an excellent service for those passengers who took the round trip, but it was certainly not up to the standard then being provided by modern cruise liners. Unfortunately, by the time the article appeared in the July/August 1983 issue of Cruise Travel magazine, the ship was about to be withdrawn from service.

I have not been able to ascertain exactly when Enna G departed San Francisco on its final voyage, but the vessel arrived in Majuro Lagoon on 3rd November 1983, and became a floating hotel there. In 1984, Enna G was included in a special issue of stamps by Nauru to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Lloyds List, being depicted leaving San Francisco in its rebuilt guise on the 25 cent stamp.

THE END OF THE PRINCESSES

Several times there were rumours that Enna G was to be converted for full time cruising, but instead it remained in Majuro. In 1990, Enna G was sold to shipbreakers in Thailand, arriving under tow on 8th September 1990 at the Ocean Steel Company yard at Thap Sakae, where work on dismantling the ship began on 13th March 1991.

As for sister ship Prinses Irene, now in the Indonesian Navy as Tanjung Oisana, it was reported being seen anchored in Tanjong Priok in the autumn of 1996, apparently serving as a lodging ship for the Indonesian Navy.

The next report came in November 2000 that the vessel was lying aground near Jakarta, and was in the process of being broken up in situ. Officially stricken from the Indonesian Navy list in 2005, it is understood that demolition work proceeded very slowly, and was not completed until 2013.