SOMETHING WRONG

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 67, 19 March 1915, Page 2

SOMETHING WRONG

a | WITH THE NEW SLIPWAY. ■ SMALL VESSELS IN CALLIOPE. I Trouble is evidently helng experienced with the slipway which was erected by the Harbour Board at a cost of £17,000 on the Freeman's Bay reclamation, and j which was officially opened last month. 'As is generally known, tlie purpose of the slipway is to replace the Auckland I Graving Dock, which is now being dis- ' mantled. Tho former has a nominal , capacity for dealing with vessels of up to 600 tons, whereas the dismantled dock was capable of taking vessels up to i2OOO tons. The shipwright and general shipping interests have been concerned as to how vessels between COO and 2000 I tons will be handled. It is stated by the Harbour Board officials that they will be received into the larger Calliope Dock at rates equivalent to those charged for the use of the new slipway. The chequered career of tbe slipway would appear to have started quite early. On the day of the official opening the Northern Steamship Co.'s Ngatiawa was ceremoniously hauled up the slipway to be painted. She is a vessel of 500* tons capacity, and the electrical machinery was equal to the task of I drawing her from the waters of the harbour to the slipway aoove high water mark. The Ngatiawa was painted below and went off the slip on the following j day. At the next meeting of the Harbour Board, Mr. J. __• Bradney asked ! whether It was a fact that the slipway I was not working satisfactorily, and received an emphatic reply rrom the chairman to the contrary. On Friday last the Harbour Board's tug Te Awhina, a vessel of under 200 tons, was on the slip, and difficulty was experienced in getting her off. A tug (the Young Bungaree) was commissioned to pull her off, and the tow- rope broke. The tug returned on Saturday and got the Te Awhina off that evening. Another vessel which has been on the slipway is the small flat-bottomed craft the Houto, and in this connection it is interesting to state that some of the shipbuilders contend that the slipway is most suited to deal with flat-bottomed vessels. They state that vessels with keels have to be packed up to such an extent that they are awkward to manipulate after being hauled out of the water. One of several shipwrights and others i interviewed this morning was Mr. \V. H. Brown; president of the Shipbuilders' Association; He stated that he firmly adhered to the statements he had previously made concerning the folly of demolishing the Auckland Graving Dock without making adequate provision for vessels above the capacity of the new slipway and below that of Calliope Dock. "I contend," added Mr. Brown, "that the Harbour Board should most undoubtedly provide for the re-erection of the dock somewhere else, preferably on the other side of the harbour and close to Calliope 1 Dock, so that the control .could be centralised. Since I made this suggestion publicly the Board has been marking each stone as it- has come out of the old dock, so that it is just possible that something may still bo done." Beferring to the operations at the slipway, Mr. Brown said it was somewhat strange that since the demolition of the Graving 3Dock was commenced so many small vessels were going into the big Calliope Dock. These included the Claymore. (120 tons), the Waitangi (171 tons), tbe Southern Cross^bpjntJiOP/.tgrt_); the Rona (61S tons), the Louisa Craig (683 tons), and the Ysabel (149 tons). , The lastnamed vessel was to go in on Tuesday next. It was a fact that shipwrights did not consider the slipway most suitable for other than flat-bottomed boats. The others were handled much more conveniently in the docks. Mr. Brown added that members of his association had not been able to ascertain what was the matter with the slipway, but it was evident that there must be some reason for the small vessels going into Calliope Dock. MR. GUNSON'S EXPLANATION. "I can say," said Mr. Gun-son, chairman of tlhe Board, when the matter vnus referred to him, "tba-t there is absolutely no-ring wrong with the Board's slipway beyond a few little difficulties wMi th-D m-ehdnery, which is common with all new installations. On 'behalf of the Board I give an emphatic den-ia" to any suggestion that the slipway is not capable of doing the work for which it was intended." Mr. G-uneon said thatt before the official opening there was a little trouble with tlhe adjustments, but these had ernce been righted. Last week an-other sma_ difficulty arose which was now being fixed. All this, however, was\ being done at the cost of the •makers, as -tihe, machinery -was still under the mamtonanee period. , The hauling up of the Ngatiawa on the day of ■the opening, said Mr. Gt__on, demonstrated the capabilities of the Blipway, amd since then severa" other veaseia had been drawn up. The dockmaster had advised that itt would be a few momths before he ihad the designs of the bottoms of the -Teaseis which were likejy to use the slipway. The owner of the Ysabel had been unable to produoe' a design, and tihat'was why she was going into Calliope. A design would then be taken, and she would he able to nee the slipway on future occasions. "We hav>e made no pnovifeion to take anytarlng above 600 toras. Over thai everything has to go to Gall rope Dock. All that is required is that people should be a little treasonable, and that inheir judgment should be based upon a proper knowledge oi the fac-ts."