The Shaw Savill and Albion Line

The Shaw Savill and Albion Line came into being as a mail service to New Zealand run by Robert Shaw and Walter Saville. These enterprising young men left the employ of another shipping company and chartered two steam ships which were immediately put to use between London and Auckland.

The Albion Line had been formed in 1856 and in 1882 it merged with Shaw Saville & Co. to become the Shaw Savill and Albion Line. Its ships still sailed predominantly to ports in New Zealand although some now stopped in Capetown and Sydney. A long-standing collaboration with White Star Line began in this period with a joint service to New Zealand that lasted until White Star's merger with Cunard in 1934.

In 1933, the Furness Withy Group acquired control of the Line although it continued to operate independently. Many migrants travelled on its ships to New Zealand - never more so than in the post-war years when the Southern Cross and Northern Star were built specifically for this trade.

As the passenger trade declined in the 1970's, the Line's operations were increasingly merged with other Furness Withy concerns. In 1985, the last remaining boats to fly the Shaw Savill & Albion Line flag were merged into Furness Withy and another historic name disappeared from the seas.

Akaroa was launched as Amazon, the first of three liners built for the South American service. We see her during her Shaw Savill service which commenced in 1968. In 1971 she was sold to Uglands Rederi of Grimstad, Norway. A dramatic reconstruction as a car transporter followed leaving her unrecognisable - a huge steel box covering her superstructure. She was scrapped in 1981.

We join Akaroa in Willemstad in the Netherlands Antilles. Captain Hills is on the bridge. The scene changes to the Panama canal where we watch the mules pulling her into a lock. There are views of the ship in Sydney and Tahiti before a fascinating sequence of her entering dry dock. The viewpoint changes from on board to quayside as the water drains from the dock and the ship's propellers are exposed.

Aranda too passes Akaroa at sea.

We see Northern Star at anchor in Southampton. There are good profile and close-up shots taken from the quay and from on board a tender. The footage ends with scenes taken in Wellington, New Zealand.

Southern Cross represented a revolution in ship design. Apart from her sleek lines and "one-class" interiors, her "engines-aft" construction set a trend that lasts to this day.

She entered service in 1955 on a "round the world" service calling at ports in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand before returning to the UK via the Panama Canal. In 1962, following the launch of the Northern Star, this service was restricted to a return route via the Panama Canal - her sister running the other leg of the service via South Africa.

In 1971 she was laid up in Southampton and her fate lay in the balance but she was purchased by a Greek company and, after a two year refit, she emerged ready for cruising. Thence began a remarkably sucessful second career. Named in sucession Calypso, Azure Seas and Ocean Breeze she cruised in the Mediterranean, Caribean and Pacific.

In 2003, she took her last voyage to the breakers in Bangladesh.

Southern Cross is seen from a tender berthed in Southampton.

We have one shot of Ceramic in Sydney harbour.