IN-AND OUT

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33874, 20 June 1975, Page 10

IN-AND OUT

For every $lOO paid to the Union Company for carrying freight, $33 goes in the cost of loading and unloading- that freight.

That leaves $67, and $2O of that goes in wages for the crew of the vessel, much of the other $47 going towards food costs for each voyage, repairs, interest on company loans, and either depreciation or hire charges.

Profit before tax is 4 per cent, and the tax at 45c in the dollar, that leaves about 2 per cent as profit after tax.

When you look at it, there is only one principal thing the Union Company does. It carries cargo across the Tasman, to and from the Pacific Islands and around the coasts of New Zealand and Australia. There was a time when it was much more diversified and did many other things. Some of the fastest and most luxurious passenger liners of their day were built for the Union Line, for exampie, regular passenger . voyages to North America were once a major part of the company’s schedule, and New Zealand’s first nationwide air service was owned by the company. But today the key men in the company’s operations are arranging cargoes to be picked up and delivered. They are the men who timetable the ships and direct ship movements. Wellington is the hub of this work, and teleprinters and telex machines linking head offices with the branch offices are the chief means of communication. The assistant general traffic manager, Mr A. Me Nab, says the company has recently had a downturn in the amount of cargo it shifts because of the economic situation in both Australia and NewZealand. His job is consequently more difficult, since the flexibilitv he had