Trespass Charges

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31237, 8 December 1966, Page 1

Trespass Charges

YN.Z. Press Association)

DUNEDIN, Dec. 7.

The “sit-in” on the Waihemo will end tomorrow morning when 23 seamen walk from the ship to the Durie d i n Magistrate’s Court to appear on charges of wilful trespassing on the ship.

Summonses were delivered to the seamen about 3.30 p.m. today by two policemen. Private informations were laid by the Union Steam Ship Company at the Magistrate’s Court, which then issued the summonses.

Carrying protest placards, the men will leave the Waihemo about 9 a.m., after a three-day sit-in, held to protest against the withdrawal of the line from the North American trade, and against the inroads being made by foreign lines on New Zealand shipping routes. This morning at 8.45, the master of the ship, Captain A. Dodds, and Chief Superinten-

dent G. A. Austlng, of the Dunedin police, spoke to a meeting of the seamen in the crew’s quarters. Chief Superintendent Austing told the men that they were trespassing and could be prosecuted. He emphasised that the police were not taking sides in the dispute, and advised the seamen to leave the ship. The seamen said they would make their decision at a meeting at 10 a.m. At the meeting the men decided to continue the sit-in and they told the master of their stand. Meanwhile, the captain and the chief engineer for the Waihemo’s new owner, the

Pacific-Trade Navigation Company, of Manila, arrived to inspect the ship. The inspection was not hindered by the sit-in, however. The seamen had readily complied with a request from the captain that no embarrassment should be caused to the new owners. The Seamen’s Union delegate on the Waihemo, Mr D. J. Morgan,, said: “We decided to stay on because we are receiving such support from the Otago Trades Council and other unions.’’ All the seamen would attend a public meeting tomorrow night to discuss the control of New Zealand’s overseas shipping, be said.