Lloyd Triestino's shipping fleet, like many of those operated by Italian companies suffered great losses during World War Two. Recovery after the war was slow, operating with older, 'second-hand' vessels until resources became available to add new ships to the fleet. The Australia run was being operated by the Sebastiano Cabato, Ugolino Vivaldi and Toscana prior to the delivery of the new vessels. The MV Australia was the first of seven similar ships added to the Lloyd Triestino fleet, with the first three for use on the Australia service. The seven ships were:
Australia, Oceania & Neptunia: built 1951 for the Australian service.
Africa & Europa: built 1952 for the African service.
Asia & Victoria: built 1953 for the Asian service.
When delivered they were 12,838 gross tons with a service speed of 18 knots. Air conditioning was available in the public spaces whilst forced ventilation was provided in the cabins. First class passengers totalled 120 whilst the tourist class comprised two levels of comfort, regular tourist class cabins could accommodate 280 passengers whilst a further 392 utilised dormitory style accommodation. The latter allowed immigrant travellers to use the tourist class public facilities but at a lower cost, closer to what third class might have been.
Ports of call for the April 1953 - December 1953 timetable were: Genoa, Naples, Messina, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Colombo, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney. The return sailing also called at Djakarta, this would later become a permanent port of call.
The ships configuration were altered during refits carried out in 1959. First class accommodation was increased to 136 whilst tourist class increased to 536 following the removal of the dormitories. Air conditioning was made available throughout the ship. Gross tons increased slightly to 13,140.
Ports of call for the Australia during the 1960 timetable included Genoa, Naples, Messina, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Colombo, Cochin, Singapore, Djakarta, Fremantle, Melbourne & Sydney.
Another four years were spent on the Australia service, but age was catching up to the Australia and her sisters, as well as increasing demand on the route. Lloyd Triestino commissioned two new larger and faster ships, the Galileo Galilei & Guglielmo Marconi, both being introduced on the Australia service during 1963. The Australia, Oceania & Neptunia were then transferred to the Italia Line (Italia Societa per Azioni di Navigazione) and renamed Donizetti, Verdi & Rossini respectively. They commenced operation on the Genoa - Panama - Valparaiso route to the west coast of South America.
The Donizetti was scrapped by Cantieri Navali del Golfo at La Spezia, Italy during 1977.
Basic Details
Built: Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Trieste, Italy in 1951
Tonnage: 12,838 / 13,140 gross tons
Length: 161.1 meters
Beam: 21.1 meters
Draught: ??
Propulsion: two CRA Sulzer ten-cylinder engines totalling 14,500bhp
Screws: ??
Speed: 18 knots
Page added April 20th 2011
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