TSGT Union Rotoiti 1977-1999

Built in 1977 for Union Steam Ship Company, the Union Rotoiti was a large roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel. It was designed for the trans-Tasman cargo service, along with sister ship the Union Rotorua.

The Rotoiti had a fairly uneventful life with one notable exception of heroism. In May 1980, sibling ship the Union Rotorua was travelling from Tauranga to Sydney when it broke down around 320 kilometres west of Cape Maria van Diemen, Aotearoa New Zealand. Union Rotoiti was only 130 kilometres away and the two masters agreed to attempt a tow. Experienced Captain Andrew Keyworth as master of the Union Rotoiti secured a line and with the two ships sometimes only 25 meters apart towed Union Rotorua to safety over 56 hours. It was a never-before-accomplished feat and later Captain John Warren of the Union Rotorua said, ‘If anyone had previously tried to tell me it was possible … I would have thought them quite barmy.’ Keyworth credited the success to favourable weather and the quality of his crew.

In 1986 due to the the gas turbine engines using so much fuel the ship was converted to diesel power at Newcastle, New South Wales, and later structural changes were made to allow for the carriage of more shipping containers. 

In 1999 the Union Steam Ship Company sold the Union Rotoiti to the to Australia-New Zealand Direct Line (ANZDL). The ship was was finally retired and broken up Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2007.