Kairaki
The Kairaki was a steel-hulled steamer specially built for the Kaiapoi Shipping and Trading Company at Dublin in 1909.
The Kairaki was the largest ship to work the Kaiapoi River. Specially designed to carry 300 tons of cargo with no more than two metres draught, she was also equipped for use as a tug. The Kairaki was Kaiapoi’s pride and joy carrying a multitude of cargoes including coal, timber, livestock, wool and produce. Kairaki’s itinerary included ports such as Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru, Hokitika, Greymouth, Nelson, Marlborough Sounds, Wellington, Foxton, Gisborne and sometimes Auckland. Tragically the Kairaki’s time was short-lived – on 26 September 1914 Kairaki struck a rock north of Greymouth while on a voyage from Wellington to Hokitika, and sank in a howling westerly storm with the loss of 17 lives .