PORT OF WELLINGTON.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 75, 29 March 1928, Page 11

PORT OF WELLINGTON.

CARGO-HANDLING FACILITY.

SUPREMACY CLAIMED.

"DELAY VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN."

(By Telegraph—Own Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, this day,

No other port in the Dominion, it is stated, possibly none in Australia, equals Wellington in respect of the equipment and facilities provided for the rapid handling, sorting and delivery of cargoes. The Harbour Board's staff is able to cope with the heaviest rushes during the busy season. Delay is virtually unknown, and Wellington has a well-deserved reputation for quick dispatch of ships. An interesting table in the annual report of the Harbour Board for the year which ended on September 30, 1927, shows that ships discharged at a rate exceeding 1000 tons per day. There were 26 such vessels in 1925, 31 in 1926, and 25 last year. A feature of the return was the number of overseas ships with mixed cargoes figuring in it. One case specially mentioned was that of thg Commonwealth and Dominion liner Port Melbourne, which arrived on December 9, 1926, to discharge 3298 tons of mixed goods from London. The vessel worked a total of 27£ hours at an average discharge of 1346 tons per day. On one day over 2000 tons of general cargo was discharged. This constituted a record for the port in the rapid discharge of this class of mixed cargo. A letter of appreciation was received from the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, Ltd. Record Number of Ships.

An interesting feature of operations of the port of Wellington in the year ended September 30, 1927, was that in spite of a decrease in the trade of the port, due to the general financial depression, the number and tonnage of the ships that arrived during the year constituted a fresh record for Wellington and for the Dominion. The harbourmaster's report showed that during the year the total number of trading vessels arriving at the port was 3107, with a net tonnage of 3,010,401, an increase of 53 ships and 82,246 tons over the previous twelve months' record. Warships, fishing vessels, etc., brought the total to 3225 vessels, with a net and displacement tonnage of 3,614,477 tons.