Aranui 1965 - 1994 in service 1965 - 1984
  
 
Yard number 183 was built for NZ$4 million in 1965 by Vickers Ltd of Newcastle, England. 112.2 metres long, 18.6 meters in the beam with a 4.78 metre maximum draft, she initially displaced 3,281 tons, later increased to 4,160 tons. She was capable of carrying 800 passengers, 70 cars and 30 railway wagons. In February 1965, she sailed for Wellington via the Panama canal, arriving at her port of registry on the 28th of May.
Souvenir playing cards from 1965
Passing the wreck of the Wahine in 1968.
Rebuilt at Singapore to carry 950 passengers in 1977, she was laid up at Wellington in June 1984. Four months later she was sold to the Najd Trading & Construction Company of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and renamed the Aranui A. A month later she was renamed Nui and commenced service carrying Moslem pilgrims on the Red Sea. In 1986 she was renamed yet again, this time as the Najd III and five years later was laid up at Singapore. In 1992 she was undergoing a refit, but her owners were unable to make progress payments for the work. Her career ended with her arrival at a Bangaldeshi breaker's yard at Chittagong on the third of November, 1994.
Najd III
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Marcus Castell
This page is part of the Inter-Island Ferries section of the
New Zealand Maritime Record
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