Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 28 March 1936, page 17


UNWANTED SHIP.

Stranded Maheno.

NO BUYERS FORTHCOMING.

Nobody wants the old Union intercolonial liner Maheno, which for many years held the trans-Tasman record, and she will never be moved from her resting place on Fraser Island, off the Queensland coast. All hopes of salvaging her have been abandoned.

Tenders were called for the purchase of the liner as she lies, and closed yesterday. No one submitted a tender. Her Japanese purchasers, who last year unsuccessfully attempted to tow the liner to Japan to be broken up, will lose about £17,000 through her stranding.

The Maheno was bought by Amakasu Brothers, of Osaka, and left Sydney on July 3, last year, for Japan, in tow of the steamer Oonah. During a cyclone off the Queensland coast, the two ships parted company, and the helpless liner drifted on to Fraser Island. Two Japanese salvage experts visited the stranded ship, and up to the end of last year hopes were entertained that she could be dragged Into deeper water.

The old ship now Iles broadside on to the sea, and even at low tide waves splash through her splintered portholes and gush through the cracks in her plates. At high water there is 27 feet of water in her engine-roam, and she is embedded in 27 feet of sand.

Already the furniture and fittings have been removed from the Maheno, and many of the chairs from the first-class dining saloon are being used in Maryborough as office chairs. The grand piano has been transported to Bris-bane The heavier metal parts and fittings would have to be transported for about five miles across the Island to be shipped to the mainland, and the heavy expense that would thus be entailed is probably the reason for no offer having been made for the ship.