File:Barque Pamir (9423256417).jpg

On the 3rd August 1941 the Finnish vessel Pamir was seized in prize by the New Zealand government, which regarded Finland as ‘territory in enemy occupation’. Due to wartime shipping shortages, the barque was pressed into service as a New Zealand merchant vessel, mainly carrying wool and tallow to San Francisco and Vancouver. The ship was managed by the Union Steamship Company. Despite some suggestions that it be retained as a sail-training vessel for the New Zealand merchant navy, the Pamir was handed back to its Finnish owners in 1948. It later became a training vessel for the German navy and foundered with heavy loss of life during an Atlantic hurricane in 1957.

The image of the Pamir is from circa 1947, in Wellington Harbour where coal is being unloaded. This image is part of the Communicate New Zealand collection of photographs at Archives New Zealand, a successor agency to the National Publicity Studios. The plan is from a Maritime New Zealand file on the arrival of the Pamir in Wellington and the use of the ship as a merchant ship once it had been seized. The department was initially responsible for the administration of marine law, which included lighthouse administration, enquiries into wrecks, quarantine, pilotage, examination of ships and regulation of loads of ships, and control of harbour administration. In 1972 the department was abolished with marine functions being transferred to the Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport. The plan for refurbishing the seamen's accommodation is from September 1942.

File References

Finnish Barque "Pamir" July 1941 - February 1945 archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=17389332 ADOE 16620 M12 1317 122 1