Cargo Report Being Written

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31315, 10 March 1967, Page 3

Cargo Report Being Written

(London correspondent) LONDON, Mar. 9. The independent committee inquiring into cargo handling in New Zealand has now finished its additional investigations in the United Kingdom and has begun writing its long-awaited report, the chairman (Mr W. Molyneaux) said today. The report is unlikely to be published before the end of April. Mr Molyneaux said four British shipping lines were just as impatient and interested as everybody else to read the report. “Our committee has had a mountain of

work to get through before we could begin writing our report,” Mr Molyneaux said. “In addition to the mass of information we obtained in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, we found on our return to London that we had to meet and talk with far more people and organisations than we originally anticipated. “Since we got back here we have visited all United Kingdom ports which have any connexion with the New Zealand trade Southampton, Avonmouth, Cardiff, Newport, Liverpool, Glasgow, Hull and, of course, London. “We have also been to Felixstowe, which has developed roll-on, roll-off, lifton, lift-off container services to the Continent. We have been to Tel Aviv to see the way in which citrus fruit is

handled, including a novel and promising loader of the conveyor type incorporating an automatic pallet stripper. We also went, to Piraeus to inquire into the delays which have occurred in the discharge of New Zealand meat.

“In Britain we have had talks with the railways, road transport, warehouses and cold stores, with lightermen, stevedores, harbour authorities, shippers, exporters, meat merchants, fruit salesmen, butter packers, Government departments, chambers of commerce, New Zealand bankers and many others. “We have followed New Zealand produce from the farm into the ship in New Zealand and have picked it out of the ship here and followed it to its destination. We actually followed wool to a mill in Bradford and saw

all the processes to the finished product. “At the request of the Australia and New Zealand section of the London Chamber of Commerce we addressed a meeting attended by more than 100 members.

“We hope, like Sir John Ormond, that our report on cargo handling will be a positive guide to New Zealand," said Mr Molyneaux. Mr Molyneaux said he believed there had been a certain impatience in some quarters in New Zealand that the four British lines trading with New Zealand might seem to be dragging their feet over the approach to containers. He said that the lines could hardly be expected to make any definite statements until the report had been published and studied.