Arahanga too wide for berth

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33093, 7 December 1972, Page 1

Arahanga too wide for berth

(From Our Own Reporter)

NELSON, December 6.

Somehow the New Zealand Railways Department’s third rail ferry Arahanga has acquired an unwanted 3in of girth towards her stern.

Her increased girth caused considerable embarrassment at Picton last evening and today, after she arrived from Wellington on a trial run.

Upon arrival last evening she winkled, squirmed and shoved in an effort to squeeze into her berth but her unexpected 3in bulge prevented her from snuggling into the link-span.

The struggle continued today with little success. Attempts to mate her with the link-span finally succeeded, but she refused to lock in. Struggle and heave Engineers, welders, har-bour-board employees, railwaymen, drivers, and onlookers, struggled, heaved and offered advice, during abortive attempts to introduce the locking pin. Later in the afternoon, some of the linkspan gear was re-shaped by buffer and gas torch, but a falling tide compounded the problems. Finally, the ship’s restricting wooden stays were freed by the removal of a number of heavy rubber buffers in the berthing piles, and this made the berth bigger. Mr D. C. Nichols, resident engnieer for the consulting engineers on the job, lan

Macallan and Company, said the bulge in the vessel was quite pronounced. The Arahanga was to have returned to Wellington at 3 p.m. carrying a rake of empty waggons. When the vessel was locked into the link-span at 7 p.m., the waggons were shunted aboard and made fast. The link-span, giving access to the vehicular deck was lowered into place without trouble. Several heavy vehicles were driven aboard, turned on the turntable, and driven off again without trouble. The vessel sailed at 9 p.m. The delays experienced in today’s berthing will further affect the date the vessel will start the service. Mr R. D. Munro, manager of the department’s air-sea services said today. He could not yet give a date for the start of regular sailing. There was still two to three days work to be carried out on the ship, and this had been interrupted by bringing her down to Picton on the trial run. “You can be certain that regular sailings will be as soon as possible,” said Mr Munro. The chairman of the Marl-

borough Harbour Board (Mr W. B. Parker) said that the board had budgeted for revenue from the Arahanga last year and this year; and the $300,000 expected from this source, when it did not come in, had left the board that much short. The board has spent about $2.9m providing facilities for the second berth, and this will increase by about $350,000 when the link-span on the old berth is replaced and further loading facilities put there.