A NEW ZEALAND "LANE."

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13233, 29 September 1908, Page 9

A NEW ZEALAND "LANE."

OCEAN TRACK DEFINED.

SHIPPING AGREEMENT.

(raoii oxtr own cobhsspondxnt.) LONDON, August 14. For many years tho Shaw, Savill aiad Albion Company and th© White Star Company have had an ocean-track to which ■Laair coniniaiwievrs have beeu instructed to adhere from the Cape ot uood Hope to JNew Zealand, and from iSew Zealand round Cape iLorn. At the time tlii& uack was started, the a\ow Zealaaii shipping (X*u.pany aud otii-ws were asJitU u> join, but tney preierxed a lucre eouiuerly roui« iu> saving distance; they nad, in fact, a cx.ii.ii or tiieir own.

Irately it- was suggested more than this sno-uid bo dou«3, and that an absoiutoiy uniform "iane' rigiit rouciri zuto W\>rkl troni ixjrydan to LciKtoii siiouW ba travenaed, auu so iucJutio tke Aorth and South Atlantic as well a.s tiie ttouth Paciiic and isouthorn Oceans.

in tnis the .New Zeaiaaid Shipping Company has joined, go that now tlse chips or tiiio three lincc> laentioiwxl will follow ideaitical courses both to l\env Zealand and irom it. I'Juj advantaget, of this, of course, are obvious. 'iluo more nortnerly route wiuich will bo folLowed toucli of tluo Capo and of Cape tiorn will give greater freedom fiom cold and ice, though the distance will Ih> sliglrcly There is also the supreme advantage that if there Iβ any breakdown or mishap of any description, a following steamer wdi always bo ablo to pick up a "'lame duck, , and boats can wait at a certain spot in the full knowledge that help is coming.

It is hoped that other companies will join in the agreoiiiant, aaid so inaeate the opportunities of loiitiwig assistance, pommairdars have been given instructions not to go near laud or ioe.

Mr George King, tho ioint-managor of the New Zealand Shipping Company, has told an interviewer that thesteamship companies were now in complete agreement as to the usefulness of this sarety track. "Tho ocean 'lano' will bo for the sea what an important main road is to the- land," ho said. "All vessels will pass along the same track now, and the captain of any vessel will know almost exactly which ship is ahead and when the one following him will be sighted. Until this arrangement was brought about different lines followed separate routes for a great part of tho way. At some points the steamships might bo 60 or more miles out of the track of other vessels. In those circumstances a vessel in trouble might have- to wait a month for another steamship to pass, but now such an occurrence will be an impossibility. The companies have agreed to alter and modify their tracks, so that they will always use the same 'lane.' Every regard has been paid to safety, and in some cases the passage has been lengthened by a few miles to ensure uniformity of route."