IDLE SHIPPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 32, 8 February 1933, Page 10

IDLE SHIPPING.

ANCHORAGE PROBLEM.

SHOAL BAY ALREADY FULL.

HARBOURMASTER'S REPORT. The collection of hulks and other vessels, either permanently or temporarily thrown out of service, which has tended to disfigure the harbour of recent years, was the subject of a report by the harbourmaster, Captain H. Sergeant, to the Har ( bour Board meeting yesterday afternoon. He emphasised that the accommodation in "Rotten Row" (Shoal Bay) was fully taxed, and he suggested an alternative anchorage for the vessels which are anchored off Orakei Point.

The harbourmaster reported that the Shoal Bay area was fully occupied, ten small steamers, five trawlers, eleven coal and oil hulks, and ten scows and punts being moored in the hulk anchorage. There were also eight of the Union Company's steamers moored out in the harbour, three of these being off Birkenhead and five in Hobson Bay. One of the latter, the Waitemata, had been sold, and was expected to go to Japan this month.

"The matter of finding a safe and suitable anchorage in the harbour for vessels which are out of commission, has received my careful consideration for a long time," added Captain Sergeant. "It is essential for the safety of the vessels and for navigation that they should have sufficient swinging room and depth of water to keep them afloat at all states of the tide, and at the same time that they do not encroach on the fairway of the harbour so as to interfere with the shipping or ferry traffic." Hobson Bay Safest. The anchorage in Hobson Bay had so far proved the safest and best in the harbour for vessels out of commission, and there they were under the eye of the signalmen at the King's wharf at all times. It had been suggested that the steamers in Hobson Bay might be moored in Islington Bay, but that, in his opinion, would be impracticable, as the area of deep water in that bay was very restricted. There was sufficient berthage available on the north side of the viaduct _to accommodate the four steamers which would remain in Hobson Bay after the departure of the Waitemata. If the board considered that they should be moved from their present positions he would recommend that the Union Company be approached regarding the berthing of these vessels on the northern side of the viaduct, provided the board was agreeable' to a reduction in the shipping wharfage. while the vessels were out of commission and not under repair.

"Apart from the areas off Birkenhead and Hobson Bay, there are no other suitable places in the harbour where large vessels out of commission can be moored," the harbourmaster concluded.

The report was referred to the board in committee.