THE M.V. OTAIO

The Otaio was built in 1958 by John Brown and Company (Clydebank) Limited in Clydebank.

Technical Data on Otaio indicates that she was a refrigerated cargo vessel of 13,314 gross tons with a length overall of 526 feet 1.5 inches and an insulated cargo capacity of 429,300 cubic feet. Her 2 diesel engines gave her a service speed of 17 knots.

Otaio was designed to be a cadet training ship, and she operated in this role from 1958 until 1975. She could carry up to 40 deck cadets and up to 30 engineer cadets, and their living accommodation, schoolrooms and mess were housed in the Upper Deck in the vicinity of No. 4 and No. 5 Hatches. Full-time instructional staff included deck and engineering lecturers, a seamanship instructor and a physical education instructor.

Whilst a cadet’s life on board one of the New Zealand Shipping Company’s cadet ships is well summarised in the Company’s prospectus printed in 1962, photographs and anecdotes are a great way to show that cadets not only worked hard but played hard.

Any material that you would like to display would be most gratefully received.

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