TEV Rangatira ( 1971 ) TEV " Rangatira " was a roll - on / roll - off vehicle and passenger ferry launched in 1971 for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand . She is significant for having been the World ' s last surviving ship with steam - powered turbo - electric transmission . ( Modern turbo - electric ships , including and s such as " Celebrity Millennium " , have gas turbines . ) " Rangatira " had a varied existence , including six years 1977 – 83 as an accommodation ship and barracks ship . The Union Company sold her in 1986 and she returned to being a ferry . From 1986 onwards she passed through a succession of owners who renamed her three times and registered her under three different flags of convenience : as Queen M in 1986 , Carlo R in 1990 and Alexander the Great in 2001 . After a failed attempt to convert the vessel into a cruise ship she was scrapped in 2005 . Name . " Rangatira " is Māori for " chief ( male or female ) , wellborn , noble " . The 1971 ship is at least the sixth to carry the name . The first " Rangatira " was in service between Great Britain and New Zealand by 1857 . The second was an iron - hulled steamship built in 1863 and wrecked in 1880 . The third was a Shaw Savill Line steamship built in 1890 and sold and renamed in 1909 . The fourth was a Shaw Savill Line steamship built in 1909 and wrecked in 1916 . The fifth was the Union Company ferry , a turbo - electric ship that was in service from 1931 to 1967 . Building and delivery . The Union Company ordered the new " Rangatira " from Swan Hunter of Wallsend in Tyneside , England on 15 May 1969 . She was launched on 23 June 1971 by June Blundell and undertook initial sea trials on 20 September or 20 December . Her completion was delayed by an industrial dispute at Swan Hunter so she was fitted out at Southampton , England . She was delivered to Union Steam Ship Company ( UK ) Ltd in January 1972 and sailed from England on 16 February carrying a cargo of motor cars . On 18 March she reached Wellington , New Zealand and discharged her cargo . The new " Rangatira " had turbo - electric transmission , with twin turbo generator s and electric propulsion motors built by AEI of Manchester . In addition she had bow thrusters for easier berthing . Compared with the more common reduction gearing between steam turbines and propeller shafts , turbo - electric transmission has lower energy conversion efficiency and an inferior power - to - weight ratio . But it gives quicker manoeuvrability , being able to change propeller speed more quickly and also give full power astern if needed . " Rangatira " was built with capacity for 768 passengers ( 159 fewer than her predecessor ) and 200 vehicles " Rangatira " s overnight cabins included one 6 - berth , one 10 - berth and one 12 - berth dormitories . New Zealand ferry . The new " Rangatira " was to work the " Steamer Express " route between Wellington on the North Island and Lyttelton on the South Island , replacing " Wahine " that had been wrecked in Cyclone Giselle in 1968 . On 28 March 1972 she made her first voyage from Wellington across Cook Strait and along the South Island coast to Lyttelton . On this first trip she carried a full complement of 768 passengers . As soon as the new " Rangatira " was in service , TEV " Maori " was withdrawn and work began to strip her of equipment . However , on 18 September " Rangatira " developed a serious fault with her port turbine , reached Wellington at reduced speed two and a half hours late and had to be taken out of service for repairs . " Maori " was quickly re - equipped and on 20 September was returned to service until " Rangatira " s repairs were complete and she able to resume duty on 16 October . On 19 June 1973 " Rangatira " damaged her port rudder and propeller while berthing at Lyttelton . She was taken out of service for repairs , drydocked at Wellington on 20 June and returned to service on 2 July . On 30 October 1973 " Rangatira " was " en route " from Lyttelton to Wellington when her starboard turbine suffered damage to a thrust bearing and a rotor . She reached Wellington over two hours late but was repaired and returned to service on 2 November . Financial losses , subsidy and withdrawal . For almost a decade the Steamer Express route had lost traffic between the North and South islands to its competitors . In 1962 New Zealand Railways had introduced its Cook Strait rail ferries on the route between Wellington and Picton , offering a much shorter sea crossing for freight and cars . Domestic aviation between the two islands was also expanding and becoming more affordable , especially after the National Airways Corporation ( now part of Air New Zealand ) introduced Boeing 737 aircraft in 1968 . " Rangatira " s long route and the high fuel consumption of her turbo - electric propulsion made her uncompetitive from the start . Running her on the Steamer Express resulted in substantial losses , which by 1974 were at a rate of NZ $ 4 million a year . On 1 July 1974 the NZ Ministry of Transport chartered " Rangatira " for six months in order to keep the service running , and on 16 February 1975 the ministry renewed her charter for 12 months . In the 12 months to 31 January 1976 " Rangatira " earnt NZ $ 6 . 3 million but had cost NZ $ 10 million to operate . on 3 March 1976 Ministry of Transport renewed the charter " for a short period " until a more affordable replacement ship could be brought into service . " Rangatira " worked the Steamer Express for four and a half years . In that time she made 2 , 096 crossings and carried a total of 832 , 260 passengers and 139 , 656 vehicles . However , that meant that her average loading " per " crossing was only 397 passengers ( just over half capacity ) and 67 vehicles ( about one third capacity ) . On 14 September 1976 " Rangatira " left Lyttelton on her last inter - island crossing , reaching Wellington the next day . She was not replaced on the route : her withdrawal was the end of the Steamer Express service . Oil industry accommodation ship . The Union Company hoped to sell " Rangatira " and thought it more likely to find a buyer for her in Europe than in New Zealand . Therefore on 17 September 1976 she left Wellington to return to Britain to be laid up . She sailed " via " Papeete on Tahiti and through the Panama Canal , reaching Falmouth , Cornwall , England on 17 October . Loch Kishorn . In 1977 a Norwegian company , Sea Truck Trading of Stavanger , chartered " Rangatira " to be an accommodation ship in for workers building an oil platform at the Kishorn Yard in Loch Kishorn , Scotland . " Rangatira " was not an ideal accommodation ship , as her cabins were designed for overnight use rather than long - term residence . However , modifications for her new function were limited to alteration of her cafeteria . Then she left Falmouth on 12 March , reaching Loch Kishorn on 14 March . " Rangatira " was in use in Loch Kishorn until May 1978 . She visited Glasgow to be surveyed in October – November 1977 and again on 25 May 1978 , when her charter to Sea Truck came to an end . On 18 March 1978 in Loch Kishorn the coastal tanker collided with her , causing minor damage . Sullom Voe . " Rangatira " was then repaired and altered for a four year charter as an accommodation ship for the building of the Sullom Voe Terminal in the Shetland Islands . For this charter she was more thoroughly adapted . All her cabins were converted to single berths , a gymnasium and indoor games facilities for snooker and table tennis were installed and television lounges were built on her upper car deck . " Rangatira " reached Sullom Voe on 2 October . On 9 May 1981 Queen Elizabeth II officially opened Sullom Voe terminal , and afterwards dined aboard " Rangatira " . The ship then returned to Falmouth to be laid up again , arriving on 5 July . The Union Company again sought a client to charter " Rangatira " . Negotiations for her to be an accommodation ship for Pemex , Mexico ' s state - owned oil company , fell through . Then Blue Star Line entered negotiations for " Rangatira " to become a cruise ship off the coast of Africa , under the management of the Curnow Shipping Company which at the time ran that serves the British Overseas Territories of Saint Helena and Ascension Island . This would have involved replacing her steam turbines with diesel engines and a complete refit of her accommodation . Falkland Islands barracks ship . On 2 April 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands , and between 7 April and 12 May elements of a UK Task Force left Britain for a counter - invasion of the islands . " Rangatira " underwent sea trials for the UK Ministry of Defence , which on 15 May 1982 chartered her for possible service as a hospital ship . This was later changed to service as a barracks ship . " Rangatira " went to HM Naval Base Devonport , England where she was modified for war service . This included fitting underway replenishment equipment for bunkering at sea , adding a helicopter deck to her A - deck strong enough for a Boeing CH - 47 Chinook , and arming with four Oerlikon 20 mm cannon on her upper decks . Her accommodation was increased to about 1 , 200 people , with each two - berth cabin being increased to six berths . Her upper car deck was again remodelled , this time with three mess decks , a sergeants ' mess and a lecture theatre . Her lower car deck was equipped with 14 freezer containers , holding enough food to feed 1 , 200 people for six months . P & O arranged " Rangatira " s crew , appointing Blue Star Management Ltd to manage her . Her senior officers were drawn from the Union Company and the remainder were from Blue Star Line . She sailed from Southampton , England on 19 June and reached Port Stanley in the Falklands on 11 July , where she spent the next 14 months as a barracks . On 26 September 1983 " Rangatira " left Port Stanley and on 18 October she arrived back at HMNB Devonport , where her Ministry of Defence equipment was removed . She then went to Harland and Wolff in Belfast , Northern Ireland who refitted her . On 29 March 1984 she left Belfast and on 30 March she arrived back in Falmouth , where she was laid up again . Mediterranean ferry . In 1986 " Rangatira " was sold to Searoyal Ferries , which was founded by Panayotis J Marangopoulos of Greece . She was overhauled and then on 3 November 1986 the platform supply vessel " Vigen Supplier " towed her out of Falmouth . Searoyal renamed her " Queen M " and registered her in Limassol under the Cypriot flag of convenience . She was operated by a Searoyal subsidiary , Marlines Ferries . However , after only a few months Marlines laid her up at Piraeus in Greece from 8 September 1987 . On 9 March 1988 while still laid up she suffered slight damage when the cement carrier collided with her . " Queen M " s route was across the Adriatic Sea between Ancona in Italy and Patras on the Peloponnese " via " Igoumenitsa in Epirus . She worked this route for the three years 1987 – 89 , apparently only in the busy tourist months of each year . In 1988 Searoyal re - registered " Queen M " in Panama , another flag of convenience . In 1990 the company announced that it would extend her route to Turkey , but instead it sold her . The ship was bought by the Rodriquez Group of Messina in Sicily . She was renamed " Carlo R " and registered in Valetta under the Maltese flag of convenience . Rodriquez Group ' s ferry - operating subsidiary Alimar chartered her to the Tunisian state - owned " Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation " ( CTN or COTUNAV ) for the summers of 1990 , 1991 and 1992 , with whom she worked the Tunis – Genoa and Tunis – Marseille ferry routes . COTUNAV did not renew her charter for the 1993 season , so Alimar ran her between Tunis and Italy . In 1994 Alimar chartered " Queen M " to Horizon Sea Lines of Greece who ran her between Ancona and Çeşme on the Aegean coast of Turkey . In 1995 Egnatia Line planned to charter " Carlo R " for a route across the Tyrrhenian Sea linking Trapani in Sicily with Livorno and Naples . However , Rodriquez Group was now in financial difficulties so Egnatia Line did not proceed with the charter . Instead from June 1995 she made a few Adriatic crossings between Bari and Patras or Igoumenitsa . On 16 August 1995 arrived in Naples for repairs , after which she remained there laid up . By 2000 Rodriquez Group was bankrupt and a Neapolitan court had seized the ship for the company ' s debts . The court had her surveyed , and the marine surveyor valued her at about NZ $ 2 . 5 million . In August 2001 she was still laid up at Naples but in October she was sold by auction . Final fate . The buyer was Oberon Cruise Line , which renamed her " Alexander the Great " and planned to have her converted into a cruise ship . She was towed to Bijela , Montenegro , where she arrived on 23 December 2001 to be converted at the Bijela Adriatic Shipyard . In January 2004 she was still in the shipyard , the planned conversion seemed to have been abandoned and the ship was in very poor condition . On 12 January 2005 the Greek tug towed her out of Bijela , arriving on 20 January at Aliağa in Turkey . She was to have been sold to an Indian ship breaking company to be broken up at Alang in Gujarat , but the deal fell through . Instead by 29 January she had been beached at Aliağa and was broken up there .