Aniki, more than a movie star
Written by Southern Wooden Boat Sailing July 30, 2021 21:23 UTC Aniki traditionally set in the movie Australia © Australiamovie.net
This article by Conor Byrne appeared on ABC Radio Darwin’s newsfeed this week and we feel it deserves to be heard nationally. We look forward to following her progress.
The historic ship that starred in blockbuster movies, carried the Olympic torch and set pearl shell records is set to be restored after sinking in Darwin in 2016. The Aniki was built in Cairns in 1958 and was one of the last vessels to set the Torres Strait pearl oyster record. I made it.
The crowning glory of this 17-metre long boat was in Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 film Australia, where actor Hugh Jackman used it as a vehicle on Mission Island after being bombed by the Japanese during World War II. It was when we “rescued” the children.
The Aniki was used as a sunset cruise ship for about 10 years before sinking. Cairns-based Pearl Lugger Heritage Fleet recently purchased the Aniki after the group restored her sister ship, the Antonia.
Director Mike Smith estimates the restoration will cost more than $250,000 and take up to 12 months to restore the ship to ship shape.
He said financing could take about three years.
“With a lot of effort and determination, we can rebuild,” he said.
Aniki was built in 1956 by commissioning owner Jack Seefer who, after building Antonia, realized he had a spare engine.
The Gardner engine was reported lost in post after a shipwreck off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
However, after purchasing and installing another engine, a slightly gritty Gardner engine arrived. Mr. Zefer’s daughter Anne, who was 9 years old at the time of the launch, said the ship’s name was a combination of the names of his older children, “Ann” and “Nick.”
“That was also the nickname the Thursday Islanders gave my father, Japanese coach Oki,” she said.
“I remember a champagne bottle breaking in the bow.”
Aniki worked in the Torres Strait until the turn of the century.
She was used to collect trox shells, but mostly pearl shells, which were used to decorate buttons, jewelry, and furniture. Antonio and Aniki are thought to hold the joint record for the catch of 22 tons of pearl oysters.
The ship was featured in the 1960 documentary “Pearlers of the Coral Sea.”
Zafar said a spill caused by the sinking of the oil carrier Oceanic Grandeur 20 kilometers off Thursday Island in 1970 and the advent of plastic buttons signaled the end of the shell industry.
“Instead of trying to revive the business, they sold it and moved on,” she said.
Aniki’s next adventure was crayfishing, and her last mission in the Torres Strait was when 1,000 people lined up at the Horn Island pier to watch her carry the Sydney Olympic torch from Thursday Island.
She was then decommissioned, restored and brought to Darwin for her next adventure in 2002 as a sunset cruise boat.
Zafar passed away in 2010, and his old boat was never seen in the 2008 film “Australia.”
“He stopped going to the movies when he was young. He would often fall asleep, but he said there was no point in going to the movies,” Zafar said.
Aniki sank in Darwin’s Francis Bay mooring basin in June 2016.
A month later, the boat was salvaged and towed 15 kilometers to Ludmilla Creek Shipyard, where it still sits with its mast up.
The Pearl Lugger Heritage fleet consists of several former work vessels, including large sailboats.
Smith said the boat was used for sunset cruises, charters, overnight trips, school activities, fundraisers and environmental programs.
“One of our organization’s objectives is to salvage and salvage as many Torres Strait pearling and mission ketch wrecks as we know of,” he said.
Mr Smith has not yet decided whether partial repairs will be made in Darwin to allow the Aniki to sail to Cairns, or whether an additional $50,000 will be spent on road transportation.
“The ultimate goal is obviously to have it sail like it used to, with traditional equipment,” he said.
“And people can experience the excitement of a pearl tug in the Torres Strait.
“You might be better off spending your money on the ship she’s sitting on.”
Of the approximately 1,000 pearling vessels built for use in the Torres Strait, only 12 remain, Smith said.
“In the late ’80s and ’90s, you could go to Torres Strait and buy as many lagers as you wanted for a dollar,” Mr Smith said.
He said Aniki has historical significance.
“It has played a role in the pearl industry in Queensland, the film industry and also in Darwin.
“There’s a lot of history behind that object, and when you lose an object, you lose part of that history.”
Northern Territory Museum curator Jared Archibald said lager was essential to Australia’s northern pearling industry.
“It was very important to have a vessel that could handle shallow waters and large tidal effects, be able to sit on the bottom when the tide goes out, and remain strong enough,” he said.
This article is republished with permission from Southernwoodenboatsailing.com.
