She was built in Germany in 1922 for Hamburg America Line (HAPAG), who named her Schwarzwald.

In 1951 the Pakistani-owned East & West Steamship Company bought her and renamed her Fausta.

[2] Between 1921 and 1923 Deutsche Werft in Hamburg built a class of ten single-screw cargo ships for HAPAG.

Westerwald, Frankenwald, Wasgenwald, Idarwald, and Kellerwald had only a triple-expansion engine, with no exhaust steam turbine.

A Royal Navy prize crew took her to Kirkwall in Orkney, where she arrived on 27 October.

On 14 December 1940 she left Halifax with HX 96, but lost touch with the convoy on the first night, and returned to port.

SC 17's Commodore, EW Leir, RNR, who sailed on Nailsea Court, reported "With the exception of leaders of columns the station keeping was the worst I have experienced, and was not up [word missing] to convoys speed as the ships had a margin of [words missing] or more.

"[18] There is a gap in records of her movements from January 1941 until May 1942, when she sailed with Convoy SC 83, and carried its Vice Commodore.

Empire Mariner's steering gear broke down a total of three times on that crossing.

Officer and George Duncan, Master, all of Empire Mariner in repairing and shoring the steering gear on three occasions in very heavy weather is deserving of commendation.

[22] Her last convoy record of the war is from January 1945, when she sailed westbound with ON 277 from the British Isles to New York.

Her turbines had been removed, and replaced with a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine built by Duncan Stewart and Company of Glasgow.

[26] In 1951 the East & West Steamship Company bought the ship, renamed her Fausta, and registered her in Karachi.