 Alexander McGregor had the steam ship "Rowena" built in Auckland in 1872.He joined with a syndicate of owners to run the "Argyle", "Iona", "Glenelg", "Staffa", "Rowena", "Fingal" and "Katikati", as Auckland Steam Packet Co. ASP went into liquidation in 1878 due to losses on a ship for the Fiji trade, the "SS Llewellyn".On 11 May 1881 nineteen businessmen, including some of the syndicate, formed NSS, taking over the ASP's ships.