''Hikitia'' is a working self-propelled floating steam crane in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. 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 The New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui A Tangaroa is a maritime museum in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on Hobson Wharf, adjacent to the Viaduct Harbour in central Auckland. It houses exhibitions spanning New Zealand's maritime hist ...

after being taken out of service, and then scrapped in January 2019. Some parts from ''Rapaki'' were given to ''Hikitia''.

Engines

Twin screws are driven by surface-condensing direct-drive

compound engine A compound engine is an engine that has more than one stage for recovering energy from the same working fluid, with the exhaust from the first stage passing through the second stage, and in some cases then on to another subsequent stage or even st ...

s which were supplied with steam by a coal-fired

Scotch boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a squat horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the 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 boiler A package boiler is a factory-made boiler. Package boilers are available in a range of standard designs. Package boilers are used for heating and act as a steam generator for small power purposes such as self-powered industrial plants. Package boi ...

s were installed. These new boilers produce less steam than the original ones.

Crane

The hull of the vessel was built by

Fleming & Ferguson Fleming and Ferguson was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding company that traded between 1877 and 1969. History 1877–1914 William Y. Fleming and Peter Ferguson (1840–1911) founded the company in Paisley, Scotland in 1877, making ...

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 it is thought that she lifted 140 tonnes. 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.

Refurbishment

''Hikitia'' travelled to Lyttelton in June 2009 for hull, tail shaft and various other underwater repairs. 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.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Hikitia Heavy Lift Ltd
from Heritage New Zealand, Autumn 2005
Hikitia official website
Steam cranes Ships built on the River Clyde Paisley, Renfrewshire Buildings and structures in Wellington City Merchant ships of New Zealand Floating cranes 1926 ships