straat towa - Varen Is Fijner

IN BLACK
THE 'WHITE SISTERS' BLACK; THE 'RUYS' WHITE.
Far a moment one wonders jf one's eyes are playing
tricks , but the camera does not lie.
The above picture ol the Tjiluwah and Tjiwangi at
Hong Kong was taken on June 27th, 1958 on the first
occasion when the sisterships were berthed simultaneously
in Hang Kong harbour. The vessels at that time we re
plying between Hong Kong and Indonesia in the Hong
Kong-Singapore-Indonesia Service (HSIS). It is also
interesting to note from this pho+ograph the sparselyscattered
buildings on Hang Kong Island and to realize
how much th is view has changed over the past 8 yea rs.
The Tjiwangi and Tjiluwah were built in 1950 and
1951 respedively at C. van der Giessen en Zonen's
Scheepswerven N.V" Krimpen a/ d Ijssel. Holland. The
Tjiwangi underwen+ her 'face lift' during drydock maintenance
in Hang Kong between December 1962 and
February 1963 end Tjiluwah between January and March
1963.
The naw 'White Sisters' are particularly famous in
Austra\ia. which they have been visiting monthly on the
AJHAS schedule service since its commencement in
1960.
184
The photograph ol the Ruys opposite also presents some·
thing ol a mystery. The ship was bui lt in 1938 at
N.V. Koninklijke Maatschappij, 'De Schelde', Vlissingen ,
Holland , a year af ter the Boissevain and the same year
as the Tegelberg, which were built at different shipyards.
Initially all three ships we re white. They were taken over
simultaneously from K.P.M. in 1947 when part ol the
K.P.M. fleet was incorporated in the J .C.J .L. to lorm
the Java-China-Paketvaart Lijnen . In December 1947,
Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina bestowed on the Com·
pany the prelix 'Kon ink lijke' and shortly afterwards the
trade name 'Royal lnterocean Lines' was adopted. The
Ruys in th is photograph is still in K.P.M. colours.
We received this photograph ol the Ruys Irom Mr A.J.
Dijkstra in Johannesburg, who tells us that a Iramed
enlargement is hanging in the RIL office there. H ow+
ever, he does not know exactly when or where it was
taken .
Would anyone be kind enough to let us know?