Hikitia

Crane ship in Wellington, New Zealand

Hikitia at the Taranaki Street wharf

History
New Zealand
Name| Hikitia
Owner| Maritime Heritage Trust of Wellington
Port of registry| Wellington
Builder| Fleming & Ferguson, Paisley, Scotland[1]
Yard number| 486[1]
Launched| 15 April 1926[1]
Maiden voyage| 29 September 1926[2]
Identification| IMO number: 5150393
Status| Operational
General characteristics
Tonnage| 746 GRT[1]
Displacement| 926 tonnes
Length| 160.1 ft (48.8 m)[1]
Beam| 52.3 ft (15.9 m)[1]
Draught| 7 ft (2.1 m)[2]
Installed power| steam engines originally fed by coal-fired Scotch boilers, later replaced in 1963 by oil-fired boilers and then by small modern package boilers.[citation needed]
Propulsion| twin screw[1]
Speed| about 9 kn (16.7 km/h)[2]

Hikitia is a self-propelled floating steam crane in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. She is thought to be the only working steam crane of her type in the world.

She is also the sister ship to the Rapaki, formerly of the Port of Lyttelton, which was put on display at the New Zealand Maritime Museum after being taken out of service, and then scrapped in January 2019. Some parts from Rapaki were given to Hikitia.[3]

## Delivery voyage

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The Hikitia was built by Fleming & Ferguson of Paisley, Scotland. After completing trials, the vessel left Greenock on 29 September 1926. The delivery voyage took 82 days, travelling via the Panama Canal to reach New Zealand. The vessel travelled with the crane fully erected, and arrived in Wellington Harbour on 21 December 1926.[2]

## Engines

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Twin screws are driven by surface-condensing direct-drive compound engines which were supplied with steam by a coal-fired Scotch boiler with two furnaces. A similar but oil-fired boiler replaced the original boiler in 1963. In 1980 this was also removed and the present two locally made small modern package boilers were installed.[4] These new boilers produce less steam than the original ones.[citation needed]

## Crane

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The hull of the vessel was built by Fleming and Ferguson and the crane was built by Sir William Arrol & Co. of Glasgow. The crane alone weighs 310 tonnes, and was built to lift 80 tonnes. However, while dismantling the wreck of TEV Wahine it is thought that she lifted 140 tonnes.[5] In 2004, she lifted 100 tonnes to maintain her lifting licence of 80 tonnes. In 2009, Hikitia lifted a 22 tonne ice plant in Lyttelton.[3]

## Refurbishment

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Hikitia travelled to Lyttelton in June 2009 for hull, tail shaft and various other underwater repairs.[6] While in Lyttelton, she moved an ice plant between wharves to repay part of her refurbishment at the port's dry dock. The venture south was the ship's first time out of Wellington since 1926.[7]

## Incidents

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There have been two deaths resulting from people climbing the crane and jumping into Wellington Harbour, one in 2015, and another in 2024. The owners of the Hikitia said they had reviewed safety along with the Wellington City Council after the 2015 fatality. Video cameras and warning signs had been placed on the vessel.[8][9]

## See also

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* List of classic vessels
* List of museum ships

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g Cameron, Stuart; Allen, Bruce; Robinson, George. "Hikitia". Clyde-built Database. Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
2. ^ a b c d ""Hikitia" 
 to Lift - Wellington's Floating Crane - successful voyage completed". Evening Post. 21 December 1926 - via Papers Past.
3. ^ a b "History of Hikitia". Hikitia. 22 June 2020. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
4. ^ Bennett, Geoff. "HIKITIA - A BRIEF HISTORY". Maritime Archaeological Association of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
5. ^ Lambourne, Jason. "Crane is part of Wellington's heritage". NZ Professional Skipper Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
6. ^ Hampton, Jeff. "Hikitia: rare steam crane comes out of retirement". 3 News NZ. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
7. ^ Donoghue, Tim (5 June 2009). "Hikitia leaves harbour after 83 years". Dominion Post. Retrieved 24 February 2021 - via Stuff.
8. ^ Schwanecke, Gianina; Gourley, Erin (27 January 2024). "Wellington harbour crane ongoing 'concern' after second jumping death". www.thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
9. ^ Jackman, Amy; Shadwell, Talia (23 March 2015). "Tributes pour in for Hutt man killed in Wellington crane dive". Stuff. Retrieved 27 January 2024.

## External links

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* Hikitia Heavy Lift Ltd
* Crane Event from Heritage New Zealand, Autumn 2005
* Maritime Archaeological Association of New Zealand
* Hikitia official website