Luxmi (Bank Line)

Wonder what kind of passengers she did carry, perhaps pilgrims, or *******? The toilets/accommodation on each side of, or above the hatches look a bit like hastily made additions to me. Regards, Stein.

The records state that she could carry 400 Indian deck passengers. It must have been like a Bombay urban railway train! Did Bank Line simply ignore life saving regulations?

Fred

"Luxmi"
Be assured that as built, this vessel (and her sisters
"Gujarat" and "Kathiawar&quot were fully compliant with the safety regulations of the day and had additional lifeboats above the shipside masthouses forward and aft. If I'm not mistaken, she also had additional lifeboats of the second deck on the bridge house making five lifeboats a side for a total of 10 in all.
This new trio were built to replace the three ex-Bucknall Line passenger-cargo ships on Bank Line's Indian-African Line. The deck passengers were housed in the tween decks (see the portholes) and on deck whilst there was accommodation for 12 first class passengers amidships and 20 second class passengers aft. The third class trade was essentially Indian indentured labor for the sugar fields of Natal, South Africa and ultimately for repatriating crew from Bullard Kings' Natal Line ships.