Taiwan II

History
'''July 5th. 1961. Delivered as "Kong Olav V'''" to Det Forenade D/S/ A/S, Copenhagen. Cost 24,900,000 Danish Kroner. Employed on the Copenhagen-Helsingborg-Oslo service.

1968. Renamed "Olav".

Oct 1969. Sold to CNCo. for $1,550,000. Refurbished by Taikoo Dockyard for the Hongkong - Keelung service. Side doors incorporated for vehicle access. Entered CNCo. service on April 1970. Renamed "Taiwan II".

April 1972. Sold to Birka Line A/B, Mariehamn. Renamed "Baronessan". Employed on day cruises Mariehamn-Stockholm.

Dec 1980. Sold to Yik Fung Shipping & Enterprises, Panama. Renamed "Min Fung".

1981. Transfered to China Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO). Renamed "Ji Mei".

1983. Transfered to the Fujian Province Shipping Co., Xiamen (Amoy). renamed "Han Hu".

1985. Sold to Guangong Province's Hong Kong & Macao Nav Co. Guangzhou (Canton).

Service
The Taiwan II, was for its day a classic modern passenger ship, fitted with stabilisers, and converted by Taikoo dockyard to side port loading. It was employed on the passenger/ cargo shuttle service between Hong Kong and Keelung, when she replaced the "Anking". However, by 1972, as air travel became cheaper the passenger trade became unprofitable and CNCo withdrew from this service.

Events / Stories
Andrew Craig-Bennett comments:

I never knew this ship in CNCo, but used to see her in the harbour when owned by the Hong Kong & Macao Nav. Co. on the Pearl River service. However I thought I should record two stories about her. Mike Parker brought her out to Hong Kong and disliked her intensely; he said he remembered her rolling the stabilisers out. It was also Mike's opinion (and that of many others, all no doubt wise after the event, that she was a poor replacement for the ANKING because she lacked cargo space, and many of the people travelling between Hong Kong and Taiwan and vice versa were traders travelling with their goods, which the TAIWAN could not accomodate. It was also said by the assembled pundits that CNCo competing with Cathay Pacific was a bad idea; in other words, traders could not stow their goods on the TAIWAN so they went by plane.

The other story related to a sister ship; it was said that this ship had capsized with heavy loss of life because the scupper in the dummy funnel had been blocked and she found herself in torrential rain.