New Zealand - Shipping - Maori, the third Union ship to bear this name, was launched in 1953. She was converted to a roll-on vessel 12 years later. #602525 The Turbo Elecric Vessel MAORI III 1952 - 1974 - At 8,303 Gross Registered Tons, the third Maori was designed by William Waters, (1922 - 99), the Union Steam Ship Co's last in-house naval architect, and commissioned to replace the much admired Rangatira of 1931. She made approximately 6,000 crossings of the Cook Strait and steamed 1,082,134 nautical miles in the transport of 1,239,772 passengers. (http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/maori3.htm) The Line That Dared - The Line That Dared is the story of the first century of one of the most successful international commercial organisations ever begun by New Zealanders. It is also an important social history. - When this country was settled by Europeans, the newcomers occupied small pockets of land around the coastline, isolated from each other by steep, untracked hills and the sea. Linking these settlements, carrying people and cargo, was the first function of the shipping lines of the last century. - But the country itself is one of the most remote in the world and the Union Steam Ship Company, quite early in its life, stretched out to link up with the other nations of the region. In time it became the biggest maritime operation in the southern hemisphere, known throughout the world for its willingness to innovate, to push right to the forefront of marine technology. - The great Union Company passenger liners that moved people around the Pacific before the aviation age were themselves celebrities, as well known to New Zealanders and Australians as statesmen and entertainers. - This is the story of a great shipping line and its ships, and the daring businessmen and seamen who steered it through its first hundred years, to 1975. Author: Gordon McLauchlan (Ed) ISBN 10: 0959785302 Click the link provided at the top to purchase the book through the MAD on New Zealand Shop - Supporting New Zealand Authors and Artists