“IMPRACTICAL CHOICE” Timaru As Container Port

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31248, 21 December 1966, Page 1

“IMPRACTICAL CHOICE” Timaru As Container Port

(N.Z. Press Association)

DUNEDIN, Dec. 20.

Timaru would be an impractical choice of port for extensive adaptation to container cargo, the chairman of the Otago Harbour Board (Captain J. B. McGowan) said today. “Facilities already exist, without much further expenditure, to handle container cargo at both Dunedin and Christchurch,” he said, “and it is simply not practical to replace them with a container port lying roughly between.”

In a report to the board, Captain McGowan said that since the Molyneux committee had left, it had been learned that some of its members had been impressed with the idea of a single container port in each island —with Timaru the choice for the South Island.

The Molyneux committee, which was attacked as only a “private investigation” committee foAthe Conference Lines, by Mttd members, was

carrying out an investigation throughout New Zealand on the possibility of overseas cargo being carried in container ships. Captain McGowan, referring to the choice of Timaru, said: “The only real beneficiary from such a move would be the South Canterbury area, while the already established commercial communities removed from it would not help but go into decline.” He said that taking overseas imports to the South Island, only a minor proportion were for the South Canterbury area. Almost half were to the Christchurch area, a good part of the remainder to the Otago area, and the rest to the further removed areas of Nelson and Bluff.

“On the average, each ton of container cargo thus centralised would have to undergo a rail journey of at least 130 miles at the present-day cost of about £5 a ton, disregarding the weight of the container itself,” he said. “Leading on from this, the promised savings of a change to a single port would need to be substantially'greater than £5 a ton, within the present United Kingdom-New Zealand freight cost of £l5 a ton.”

Although it had been widely assumed that a single port in each island was desirable for an effecfcre container service,

the assumption warranted very thorough examination.

“I believe it will be found inapplicable to the peculiar geographical New Zealand features, and other factors existing in the United KingdomNew Zealand trade,” he said. “For instance, a vessel calling at both Lyttelton and Dunedin with 2000 tons of container cargo for the first port and 1000 tons for the latter, would occupy one additional day by making the extra call. “At say, £lOOO a ship-day this would represent only 6s 8d a ton over-all.

“Now, if the whole cargo had been landed at Timaru and railed both north and south, the additional cost would be £5 a ton over-all, or £15,000, or 45 times the former.”

Captain McGowan said the figures were only approximate, and the Lyttelton-plus-Dunedin calls would not always be practicable, but the point was made. The real benefits would only come when the majority of South Island industry was sited round Timaru, an almost inevitable long-term.

“When the manufacturers and commercial interests of Christchurch and Otago awaken to the fact that it is not only their ports which suffer by this new development, but they themselves would be likewise affected, they will fiercely oppose it. “The Molyneux committee must be left in no doubt that the particular ide?, to reshape the South Island in order to achieve a relatively minor saving in ship operating costs would be the tail wagging the dog. “It would receive little support and much opposition, and they would be well advised not to pursue it at the expense of the many other important matters—ripe for their investigations and offering scope for real economies —their findings on which we await with interest.” Captain McGowan said he realised that the ultimate decisions would be made by the Transport Commission and the Government. "Although at present just a

cloud on the horizon, the possible proposal could prove a major threat to the prosperity of the province and the port, and as such, demands our urgent consideration,” he added. The board decided to send a copy of Captain McGowan’s report to all interested parties in the city and province, and to call a meeting in late January, to decide the form of a strong submission to the Molyneux committee.