GUARANTEE TO SHIPYARD

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30901, 6 November 1965, Page 15

GUARANTEE TO SHIPYARD

Wahine’s Builder Offered £lm

(Special Correspondent N.Z.PA)

LONDON, November 5.

The Clyde shipyard and engine works of the k airfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, which is building the new inter-island ferry Wahine for New Zealand, has been guaranteed a four-month lease of life by the British Government.

The company had been in danger of immediate closure.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Callaghan) announced in the House of Commons yesterday that the Bank of England would advance loans up to a maximum of £1 million to enable the shipyard to continue until the early spring of next year.

The original completion date for the Wahine was October of this year, hut in August it was learned that the ship would not be ready until the end of February, 1966. The chairman of the Union Company, Mr F. K. Macfarlane, is expected to take a statement on the situation in about a week, after he has had discussions with the builders. Today, a spokesman for the firm said: “If the Government loans are going to get the ship built, we all are in favour of them.” Many Troubles Fairfields who are building the Union Steam Ship Company’s new drive-on ferry, Wahine, for the Wellington Lyttelton run, have been dogged by industrial disturbances during the last year. The original completion date for Wahine was October, but in August it was learned that it was doubtful whether it could begin operations before February. 1966.

No Change

At the launching ceremony on July 14, the chairman of the Union Company, Mr F. K. Facfarlane, expressed concern that the builders were not able to meet the contract delivery date, which would have enabled Wahine to start

sailings in New Zealand at the beginning of the summer season.

Mr Macfarlane referred to the credit facilities and certainty of delivery dates available in other countries and said these should be available in equal terms from the British ship-building industry.

A spokesman for the Union Steam Ship Company said in London today there had been no change in the builders' assessment that the ship would now be ready by the end of February. “If the Government loans are going to get the ship built,

we all are in favour of them,” he added. The Geddes Committee on British ship-building and marine engines is expected to report to the Government about next February. It is investigating the changes needed to make the industry competitive in world markets. Funds Gone Mr Callaghan told the Commons that last Friday he saw the receiver and manager of the Fairfield yard—which, with its subsidiary, Fairfield Rowan, employs some 5000 workers —together with the treasurer of the Bank of Scotland. “The receiver informed me that his sources of finance were exhausted and that it woud be necessary to close the shipyard almost at once. “This could be avoided only if immediate financial assistance was forthcoming to give time for an assessment to be made of the prospects for long term viability of the undertaking.”