NEW CONTAINER SERVICE LIKELY

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32612, 21 May 1971, Page 1

NEW CONTAINER SERVICE LIKELY

(New Zealand Press Association; WELLINGTON, May 20. Wellington is likely to receive a new container shipping service which will bring a ship every 10 days to its new terminal.

The proposed service, from Australia and New Zealand to the west coast of North America, would be run by a German company, Columbus Lines.

The Columbus proposal has come after the announcement yesterday by British shipping lines that they have scrapped their plan for a New Zealand-United Kingdom container service. In Wellington today, the governing director of Mantime Services, Ltd (Mr J. V. M. Kean) whose firm is agent for the line in New Zealand, said there was a “very good chance” that such a service would begin. Results of studies on the feasibility of service to th-: North American west coast by container ships had been been very favourable. The studies were similar to those done for the Colum bus Line’s service to

America’s east coast, due to begin on June 15 with the arrival of the Columbus New Zealand and the official opening of Wellington’s container terminal, said Mr Kean. At present Columbus had seven conventional ships running between Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific coast of the United States. A container ship service would probably call for about six cellular ships, smaller than the vessels on the east coast service, and running to a schedule which allowed a sailing every 10 days. As with the east coast run the west coast ships would also call at a South Island port, said Mr Kean.

“I think we could start this service fairly soon, at least within a couple of years, but quite likely much sooner,” he said. Because Columbus already had a container service to east coast American ports, and was seriously considering the second service to the

Pacific coast, the company had no spare capacity to commit to the United Kingdom service in the place cf the British lines.

Mr Kean said he was convinced container shipping would be the most efficient method available for a least the next 10 years.