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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

SS Austral Rainbow (AK-1005)

International Radio Call Sign:
Whiskey - Echo - Zulu - Papa WEZP

LASH Cargo Ship:

Laid down circa 1971-72 as SS China Bear, a Lighterage Aboard Ship (LASH) Cargo Ship, at Avondale Industries, New Orleans, LA.

Launched, date unknown

Completed and delivered, 25 May 1972 to Pacific Far East Lines Inc.

Sold to Farrell Lines Inc., 22 December 1975

Renamed SS Austral Rainbow, 30 December 1975

Chartered by the Military Sealift Command (MSC), from 22 October 1981 to 21 October 1985

Placed in service as SS Austral Rainbow (AK-1005)

Time-chartered by the Military Sealift Command (MSC), from 30 May 1987 to March 1990

Placed in service as SS Austral Rainbow (AK-1005)

SS Austral Rainbow (AK-1005) was prepositioned as part of COMPSRON 2 at Diego Garcia until mid-1990

Returned to her owners for commercial service upon completion of her contract with MSC

Sold by Farrell Lines Inc. to Central Gulf Lines Inc., October 1990

Final Disposition, laid up for scrapping in Malaysia in February 2000

Specifications:
Displacement 39,277 t.(fl)
Length 820'
Beam 100'
Draft 40' 8" (max.)
Speed 16 kts.
Cargo Capacity 100 20-foot containers, 74 LASH barges and two pusher boats
Full Operating Complement 24 Civilian Mariners
Propulsion 2 combustion engineering boilers; 1,100 psi; 2 De Val turbines; 32,000 hp; 1 shaft

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
Merchant Service
	35k	SS China Bear in the service of Pacific Far East Lines, at Yokohama, Japan, September 1975	Photo by Gerhard Muller-Debus
SS Austral Rainbow (AK-1005) - MARAD Charter
	118k	*SS Austral Rainbow* (AK-1005)** anchored, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, circa 1985. US Navy photo.	Global Security web site
	51k	*SS Austral Rainbow* -AK-1005)** anchored, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, circa 1985. US Navy photo.	Global Security web site
	71k	*SS Austral Rainbow* (AK-1005)** docking at Lyttelton, New Zealand, date unknown.	Maritime Administration
	78k	*SS Austral Rainbow* (AK-1005)** moored pierside, date and location unknown.	Photo by Peter Westdijk the Netherlands
	108k	*SS Austral Rainbow* (AK-1005)** off the coast of Thailand in 1992.	Robert Guttman

There is no history available for SS Austral Rainbow (AK-1005) at NavSource

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 28 May 2010