Onboard the 'Wanganella'

Onboard the 'Wanganella'

The former trans-Tasman passenger liner, the Wanganella was moored in Deep Cove during construction of the Manapouri power station. It served as a floating hostel, housing the single men who worked on the project.

The Wanganella was under constant media scrutiny. Claims of unsafe working conditions and tensions between local and foreign workers were regularly made. There is little sense of these problems in a series of portraits taken by Hazledine's Photographic Studio, which provide a glimpse into the society onboard the Wanganella.

This photograph captures off-duty workers drinking in the Wanganella's wet canteen. "Last jugs" had just been called, and the sliding bar closed.

The Wanganella was notorious for its drinking culture. Following the completion of the project, the ship was towed from Doubtful Sound. According to media reports, the tug struggled to dislodge the Wanganella from a bed on beer cans that had built up as the workers tossed their empties overboard.

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image

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