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Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33477, 7 March 1974, Page 1

Many house flags have flown in Timaru Harbour through the years, but few vessels have excited as much interest as the New Zealand Shipping Corporation’s first ship, the NZ Waitangi — formerly the Britannic—which berthed with little fuss today, says the Timaru reporter of “The Press.” The ship, which arrived direct from New Plymouth to Timaru, her only South Island port of call on her inaugural run to Britain, will leave on Tuesday for Liverpool with 2500 tons of frozen meat, 1200 bales of wool, and general cargo. NZ Waitangi received V.I.P. treatment in that the shipping corporation, under the chairmanship of Sir John Ormond, held a meeting in Timaru today. The Timaru Harbour

Board was associated with the corporation at a function aboard the vessel this evening.

Guests included the Minister of Transport (Sir Basil Arthur) and representatives of the shipping industry, trade and union interests.

The visit of NZ Waitangi, one of the corporation’s two modern conventional refrigerated ships, is of special interest in that she will be using the board’s meat-loading facilities and those at Bluff extensively in the future. NZ Waitangi reached Auckland on January 18 from Liverpool with general cargo for discharge.

Her sister ship, the Majestic, is also being taken over by the corporation.