MV EXPRESS
Date1994
Object number00042355
NamePainting
MediumAcrylic on canvas, wood, paper, cloth
Dimensions850 x 1160 x 80 mm
Image: 590 x 900 mm
Image: 590 x 900 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Howard Smith Industries Ltd
DescriptionA framed oil painting by Ian Hansen of bulk carrier self loader MV EXPRESS at sea.HistoryMV EXPRESS is a bulk carrier built by Tsuneishi Zosen K.K., Numakuma for Howard Smith Industries Pty Ltd in 1990. It was sold 1996 to Trimnes Shipping Co., Panama renamed TRIMNES.
Captain William Howard Smith sailed into Melbourne from Hull in 1854 on the SS EXPRESS and commenced regular voyages between Melbourne and Geelong, but returned to England in 1861. He returned to Launceston in 1864 with his family and then operated a regular intercolonial passenger and cargo service between Melbourne and Sydney.
By 1868 services were extended to Newcastle and in 1880 regular services operated to Maryborough, Adelaide, Brisbane and Rockhampton. Coastal routes rapidly expanded until 1947 when the company's involvement in the intercolonial passenger trade ceased.
In 1961 the Melbourne Steamship Co. was taken over by Howard Smith. The company was also heavily involved in the towage, salvage and stevedoring industries. Howard Smith withdrew from the traditonal shipping business in 1996 and from the towage industry in 2001 and the company was taken over by Wesfarmers Ltd., Perth.SignificanceThis painting by Ian Hansen is part of a larger collection of material relating to Howard Smith Industries and the technology of shipping in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s within Australia.
