Aramoana (ferry)

The MV Aramoana was a roll-on roll-off train ferry in service for the New Zealand Railways Department between 1962 and 1983. The ferry was built in 1961 to introduce an inter-island service for the railways between the North and South Islands of New Zealand, linking the New Zealand rail network between the islands for the first time. The ferry was eventually replaced in 1983 by the MV Arahura, and was sold to the Najd Trading & Construction Company of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1984 under the name the Captain Nicolas V. The ferry was renamed again the following year to the Najd II. The Aramoana was finally laid up at the United Arab Emirates port of Ajman in 1993. In 1994 the 32 year old vessel left Ajman towed by a tug and was broken up on Alang beach on the western shore of the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat state, India. The name Aramoana means "Sea Pathway" in the Māori language.

External links

* [http://www.nzmaritime.co.nz/aramoana.htm New Zealand Maritime Index: MV Aramoana]