Progress on shipping service to Fiji

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32677, 5 August 1971, Page 14

Progress on shipping service to Fiji

“Considerable progress” had been achieved towards securing a regular shipping service between Lyttelton and Fiji, the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce was informed last evening.

Mr M. L. Newman, the chamber’s representative on the Pacific Islands Shipping Action Committee, said the committee had met representatives of a shipping firm definitely interested in providing a ship of about 1000 tons on a scheduled voyage every four weeks.

This ship would be available in October but the committee would prefer the service to begin next March, as the period from November to February was a time when cargoes for Fiji were minimal, said Mr Newman. In any

case, investigations were in hand to see what cargo would be available.

The shipping agents would require $24,000 worth of freight for each voyage to "break even” in the initial stages.

From- the investigations carried out so far, there appeared ample cargo offering from March to October, and the committee was confident that a regular shipping service would generate traffic to the extent that a bigger vessel would ultimately be required. The matter had been taken up with the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Marshall) with a view to a Government guarantee for the four-month period when produce cargo was not normally available. A reply was awaited, Mr Newman said.