SOFRANA GROUP.

Heron Shipping’s flag is white with a black bird and three small black stars above its tail. The bird was presumably intended as a heron, although its short neck and legs do not resemble one. Rosanoski tentatively interprets the stars as Wallis & Futuna, New Caledonia and Fiji.

Rosanoski saw Tui Cakau III’s light-blue flag at Lyttelton in April 1988: the white bird faced the fly, opposite the funnel bird, and the funnel top was brighter blue. He describes his drawing as approximate. A later photograph showed the twin funnels resting on white superstructure, correcting the apparent white funnel base. P41 derives from that photograph; P477 was revised using its bird as a guide. The starboard funnel bird faces forward, with a mirrored arrangement on the other side only presumed.

Mitchell names no vessel for this funnel. Rosanoski presumes Tui Cakau III and notes the same mistaken white-base interpretation.

Capitaine Scott carried this funnel temporarily before returning to normal Sofrana colours, apparently only briefly since the ship was sold in 1973.

Captain Martin combines the marks of owner Société Services et Transports and operator Sofrana. The ST letters are blue edged yellow.

Sofrana identifies the cross as that of Wallis & Futuna, although its thick form differs from the four separate white triangles shown elsewhere. Capitaine Cook used the funnel in 1969, initially without a house flag. The earlier vessel Moana may have lacked company livery while government-chartered. Rosanoski’s later observation records a light-blue flag with a generous cross, possibly reaching top and bottom, though he doubts that extent. In July 1992 Tui Cakau III flew a light-blue flag with a dark-blue funnel; reported lighter funnel paint need not have matched the flag.

The Log does not specify the blue shade; the funnel agrees with a photograph of Tui Cakau III in December 1993.

The funnel is documented on Capitaine Cook in January 1993; the flag rendering comes from the company website.

Sofrana Magellan, under charter in December 2007, shows a flag matching the funnel’s royal blue; the funnel has a small difference in its white band.

The chartered Sofrana Pasifika has a bright sky-blue funnel, black top and cross, with a similarly coloured flag. A magazine flag logo supports the shade.