Cruises in South Pacific in the early eighties

[Michael G.]

Hello everybody,

My name is Michael and I am an amateur novelist. Currently, I am looking for information on vessels crossing the Pacific Ocean in 1981 or early 1982.

Thus, I would like to know if any ships (actually cruise ships or cargoes) left Australia or New Zealand to go to Chilean or Argentinian ports at that time, after crossing the South Pacific. For instance, were there any Auckland to Valparaiso thing ? Or a cruise starting from the UK going round the world stopping by Australia / New Zealand and passing by Valparaiso, Punta Arenas or Buenos Ayres ?

Would you then know the names of some of those ships and their itinerary and schedules ?

In the event that no ship would have passed through there, were there sea routes in the other direction, through Southeast Asian waters and then the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean (thus passing through other ports maybe, such as Singapore or Cape Town)?

I would be very grateful if you could provide me with this information or direct me to somebody who could or to a website containing archives.

Cheerio,

Michael

[Jim Cate]

Michael, it sounds like you are interested in "Cruise ships", ie ships full of tourists going to a series of destinations.

The kind of cruising addressed in this forum is voyages in small sailing craft, operated by their owners. It is possible that someone could have info useful to you, but kinda off topic here and really unlikely.

There are likely fora that address the sort of info you crave, but I can't direct you to them... so good luck with your novel!

Jim

[Dsanduril]

Might find something if you dig through this NY Times list of cruises for 1981/82.

[El Pinguino]

I'm not sure when the service started but by the late 1980's Mitsui OSK were operating a regular service of 'handy sized' containerships from Australia and New Zealand to the west and east coasts of South America. A little bit of detail can be found about the trade here..

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary.../samer/SAMch_9


'9.63 The Committee took evidence from Mr Holyman from Mitsui OSK Lines (Australia) Pty Ltd, the only company that operates a direct service to the West Coast of South America. Mitsui advised the Committee that the service they provide today is Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and back again. The Mitsui service is founded on a three-vessel service offering monthly calls.

9.64 Mitsui points out that:

We have, as part of that service, a feature of extremely fast transits between Australia, New Zealand and the west coast of South America, and direct calls nevertheless to east coast South America, albeit that the transit times are a little longer. Some of the ports which we have serviced traditionally we have now made on an inducement basis. That is in response to a declining trade volume over the past 12 months.40
9.65 Mr Holyman did say that if there are sufficient containers or forecasts of cargoes, Mitsui will still make direct calls to those ports, but they need to know that those cargoes will be there otherwise they will not make the call.'

Hope this helps.

[El Pinguino]

This sort of ship but smaller and older..... .... I can see them in my memory just need to find 'em on line

https://ship-photo-roster.com/ship/mol-valparaiso#1

[Michael G.]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Michael, it sounds like you are interested in "Cruise ships", ie ships full of tourists going to a series of destinations.

The kind of cruising addressed in this forum is voyages in small sailing craft, operated by their owners. It is possible that someone could have info useful to you, but kinda off topic here and really unlikely.

There are likely fora that address the sort of info you crave, but I can't direct you to them... so good luck with your novel!

Jim

Thank you for your answer anyways...

[Michael G.]

Thank you, that link is interesting. I might contact Mitsui OSK for more info.

[Michael G.]

Thank you, a very interesting article for me. Gives me ideas.

[double u]

...I think you should write a sailing-novel! Cruiseships suck!

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

Hello everybody,

My name is Michael and I am an amateur novelist. Currently, I am looking for information on vessels crossing the Pacific Ocean in 1981 or early 1982.

Thus, I would like to know if any ships (actually cruise ships or cargoes) left Australia or New Zealand to go to Chilean or Argentinian ports at that time, after crossing the South Pacific. For instance, were there any Auckland to Valparaiso thing ? Or a cruise starting from the UK going round the world stopping by Australia / New Zealand and passing by Valparaiso, Punta Arenas or Buenos Ayres ?

Would you then know the names of some of those ships and their itinerary and schedules ?

In the event that no ship would have passed through there, were there sea routes in the other direction, through Southeast Asian waters and then the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean (thus passing through other ports maybe, such as Singapore or Cape Town)?

I would be very grateful if you could provide me with this information or direct me to somebody who could or to a website containing archives.

Cheerio,

Michael

Of possible note to you is the fact that most sailing cruisers sail east to west due to the prevailing winds and currents. If you're interested in west to east passages, those would be commercial vessels powered by engines