Illawarra Steam Navigation Company
After merging, the new company held a near monopoly in regard to shipping on the south coast, and their fleet visited every significant port between Sydney and the border of Victoria.
This included the screw-driven steamship Keera, which began operations in 1852 between Sydney and Wollongong, although she failed to achieve commercial success and was sold to "Victorian interests".
The new amalgamated company possessed a fleet of at least three vessels: the Illawarra, Kiama and Nora Creina that had been servicing the region.
[9] The number of ships continued to grow, and by 1866 the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company was running weekly services from south coast ports to Sydney, carrying wool, cedar, coal and a variety of raw materials.
[9] The company was to play a leading role in the development of coastal New South Wales,[10] and her ships were to stop at every port between Sydney and the Victorian border.
Later, minor gold rushes at both Moruya and the Wagonga district resulted in their inclusion,[16] and other ports were to include Bermagui, Eden, Narooma and Tathra.
[16] Maintaining the services of the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company did, at times, take some effort on the part of the residents.
[18] Similarly the town of Tathra was created through the erection of a small jetty, built so that the local farmers could gain access to coastal shipping which previously had stopped 25 km away at Merimbula.
The third of the original three vessels, Illawarra, had been constructed at Waterford in 1849 with a net weight of 166 tons, but, like the Nora Creina, she was only to remain with the new company until 1861 when she was sold.
[24] Both Kembla, a 204-ton iron steamship, and Hunter, a paddle steamer with a net weight of 105 tons, were built in Glasgow, Scotland.
A 117-ton wooden paddle steamer, her time with the company ended in 1864 after she ran into St Georges Head in Wreck Bay.
In an attempt to save the lives of passengers and crew, the captain fought to keep the ship afloat until she finally ran aground on a sandy beach approximately three miles from the headland.
At 533 tons and 190 feet in length, she handled both passengers and cargo for the company, and proved to be "most popular" until being laid up in 1908 and eventually scrapped.
[20][23] Illawarra (II) was soon joined by Allowrie, a 504-ton vessel built in 1880 for carrying passengers and cargo, including livestock and dairy produce.
She was a 1122-ton screw steamer which provided accommodation for 106 passengers (96 saloon and 10 second class) as well as possessing refrigerated cargo space, and she was capable of between 13 and 14 knots.
[30] Just prior to the onset of the first World War, the company purchased four new ships: Bermagui, Bonandera, Bodalla, and Bergalia.
