Marine communications ‘failed to keep pace’

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32462, 24 November 1970, Page 20

Marine communications ‘failed to keep pace’

Marine communications had failed to keep pace with rapid advances in electronics, and in some cases services had been restricted, it was submitted to the Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand Merchant Shipping recently. Radio direction-finding services of coastal stations had been withdrawn, and radio-telephone communication was not always as effective as wireless telegraphy.

The New Zealand Elec-1 tronics Institute, suggesting 1 that development had not! taken place in marine com- j munications, said that ship- ] to-shore communication was confined to the hours of the telegraph system, according 1 to a supplied report. If ( equipment already in use in : New Zealand to allow remote points to dial into the telephone network, or be called through the telephone system by radio, were introduced in the marine service, ship-' owners or agents and others ’ could call any ship (and a : ship call any subscriber) on ’ a 24-hours-a-day basis. Interference by Russian , whalers and Japanese fishing !

boats on New Zealand marine frequencies was alleged by the institute. It claimed that logs kept by marine operators were not examined by qualified inspectors who could take action on such complaints. Comments on coastalstation operation, the use of the automatic alarm signal to alert ships of gale warnings,, frequent reviews of coastal radio beacons, radar reflectors on the Three Kings Islands (to improve radar , echoes) and other marine communication matters were included in the institute’sj submission. “The time is long overdue for a specialised investigation ! into marine communications '

round New Zealand,” the in- , stitute submitted. It recommended points of reference for such a committee and the setting up of a permanent committee for reviewing marine radio services. "The observation that have given rise to these proposals have led to a complete lack of confidence in the departmental machinery concerned with radio services for shipping,” the institute said. “Out of contact” Mr T. R. Clarkson, a retired assistant engineer-in-chief of the Post Office, submitted that marine, radio services in New Zealand had been restricted compared with what was formerly available. “We have heard men talking—perhaps ' seen them walking—on the surface of the moon. Nearer at hand, deer-stalkers, taxis, and laundry vans go about their business aided by effective communication. Yet at this'very same time, it is possible for a vessel near dangerous parts of our coast to be out of effective radio con- : tact with land,” Mr* Clarkson 1 said. For the New Zealand marine service to continue as : commercialliy viable in a 1 competitive international ! society, the Electronics Insti--1 tute sought “a more vigorous rpolicy” to encourage automa--1 tion in New Zealand ships. ' Automation was also referred to by the Wellington

Polytechnic, which presented the third of the three submissions on marine electronics. Both the Polytechnic and the Electronics Institute asked for more training in electronics theory for marine radio operators. No electronics engineers

Unlike the Transport Department, which had a large electronics-engineering section to service aviation communications, the Marine Department had no electronics engineers, the inquiry was told. The Post Office acted as adviser to the Marine Department on communications and both the Electronics Institute and Mr Clarkson suggested that this division of responsibilities for marine communications did not enable the service to progress.