I submitted this as a linguistic puzzle to my Slavic and East European
Languages list (SEELANGS), and received interesting comments.

I will only mention what I think is the most plausible:
One responder cited the German word hanebuechen, abbreviated to 'hane',
meaning 'nondescript'. An American ship could have had a German purser
[or whichever officer compiled the manifest] who knew the common color
names in English but slipped at 'nondescript'.

Some responders on SEELANGS asked to see the original.
It would be good if it were possible to send a copy.

Jules Levin
Los Angeles

MODERATOR NOTE: Please communicate privately with Jules Levin about his request.