The steamer Morinda was built by the Greenock and Grangemouth Dockyard Co. Ltd. at Grangemouth for Burns, Philp and Co. Ltd. and was a smart-looking vessel specially designed for service between Australia and the South Pacific islands.
She was launched in August 1913 and was a single-screw vessel of 1,971 gross tons, 1,950 deadweight, having a speed of 15 knots provided by a triple-expansion engine. Originally her accommodation was for 32 first-class passengers and an indefinite number of third-class passengers. After a time, alterations and additions to the superstructure increased her first-class accommodation to 66 and her gross tonnage to 2,025.
The Morinda arrived at Sydney on October 31, 1913. On her maiden voyage to Papua she struck a rock near Cooktown,,Queensland and had to return to Sydney for repairs. During the First World War she was left to her owners' service and for many years remained on the Sydney-Papua and New Guinea service. In 1931 she was put on the Sydney-Lord Howe Island -Norfolk Island service.
In 1936 the Morinda was sent to the New Hebrides to carry out rescue work after the great hurricane of that year, and rendered invaluable service. Two years later she stranded on Malo Island, in the New Hebrides. On another occasion she took out the first oil-burning equipment to Papua. The vessel remained in Australian waters during the Second World War, but owing to the prevailing conditions her service were disrupted. The Solomon Islands run came to an end in 1941 and was not re-started until 1950, but in the meantime the Morinda was engaged in relief and garrison supply work. Before being laid-up on January 20, 1952, she had completed 321 voyages. She was sold to Mr. Henderson Tripp, of Hong Kong, and sailed from Sydney to pick up bunkers at Newcastle, N.S.W. before going on to Noumea to load scrap for Yokohama, where she was to be broken up.
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