Coastal Trader due

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33454, 8 February 1974, Page 2

Coastal Trader due

Press Association! WELLINGTON. The New Zealand Shipping Corporation’s first ship. I he Coastal Trader, would arrive in Auckland next Monday, the corporation’s operations manager, Captain S. J. Ponsford, said today. She will unload a full cargo of cars from London before beginning a scheduled service. Her schedule will be: Auckland (Saturday). Lyttelton (Monday). Dunedin (Tuesday, Wednesday) one week, and Auckland (Saturday), Dunedin (Tuesday) and Lyttelton (Wednesday) the following week. The Coastal Trader replaces the Union Steam Ship

Company’s Wanaka which, was taken off the New Zealand coast to serve Tasman I | ‘routes. She will have two . complete crews of 27 men., ’(working two weeks on and ' two weeks off. Captain Ponsford said the master for the corporation’s first overseas ship, the N.Z. (Waitangi, had been appointed. He is Captain W. P. Russell, who has wide expert- , ence both overseas and on the New Zealand coast. i The chief engineer will be Mr A. W. Keddie, of Nelson. , formerly of P and O. UNION CO. SHIPS Union Sydney will be the name of the latest addition to the Union Company fleet, '■for its Tasman roll-on ser-i ! ! vice. She was formerly the Lauritzen Line’s freighter: 1 Lenna Dan and is being chartered for a number of years because of the increasing volume of cargo between! New Zealand and Australia. The Union Sydney (6400 tonnes) is undergoing modi-! fications to her crew accom-j modation and decks at Rotterdam to fit her out for the! Tasman express service. The alterations are ex-, pected to be completed next month and the ship will enter : service in May. Another new ship for the same service is the Union Wellington, formerly the Stenna Shipper. It is also on 1 charter. She is 4000 tonnes and is

expected to sail soon for New Zealand with a full load of built-up motor vehicles. ■ The Union Wellington is capable of carrying 240 seafreighters and 80 to 100 cars and has its own stern ramp; and bow visor door to ensure; swift loading and unloading/