NEW COLLIERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 199, 23 August 1945, Page 6

NEW COLLIERS

COMPANY'S PLANS

L.C.T.S' USE NOT FAVOURED

"From information in our possession, the opinion is that L.C.T. units (landing craft tanks) would not be as suitable as the new type of collier we have designed," stated a letter from the head office of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, Limited, read at a meeting of the council of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce to-day. The cornpan v was replving to a suggestion that craft of this type might be used to overcome the difficulty in shipping coal from West Coast ports. The company stated that fluctuations in the depth of water on West Coast bars in recent years had necessitated vessels sailing on many occasions with only part cargoes and, as a result of such loadings being uneconomical, it had led to a modification in design of the proposed new colliers in the company's fleet. These plans, it was pointed out, were already in the United Kingdom in anticipation of the time when shipbuilding firms would be free to tender for vessels other than wartime standard types. "It is common knowledge that the very smallest ships of light draught have been bar-bound concurrently with the deeper draught vessels, the frequency of rough seas on the West Coast, in addition to the shoaling of bars, being a serious factor in the delay of all shipping at Westport and Greymouth," stated the company. "Experience has shown that with fairly heavy seas on the bar, all loaded vessels become bar-bound irrespective of size, and that for the greater part of the bar-workable days the larger vessels worked the port without difficulty. Their ability to give a greater volume of clearance of stocks with a minimum of congestion makes them the better all-round proposition. "We consider the disadvantages of working Onehunga rather outweigh any possible advantages, but the principal objection is that a collier, whether L.C.T. type or our new design, would be called upon to work a bar harbour at the port of shipment and again at the port of discharge, thus doubling the risks of delay which have been encountered over the years at Westport and Greymouth," stated the letter. It was added that, in the company's opinion, the wharf facilities at Onehunga would not allow two or more colliers to discharge concurrently. The president, Mr. H. J. Lichtenstein, pointed out that the suggestion to use L.C.T.'s had been made to the chamber and had been forwarded to the company for its consideration.