Coastal Ranger gets go-ahead

Press, 16 September 1976, Page 1

Coastal Ranger gets go-ahead

The cargo-only ship Coastal Ranger, which has replaced the Rangatira, sailed from Lyttelton at 9.15 last evening, after fears that industrial problems would delay its entry into the service.

Agreement was reached in Wellington yesterday about which container terminal the ship would use. The Coastal Ranger carried only 206 freight tonnes of cargo, because the industrial dispute with the watersiders had given rise to uncertainty about its sailing time, and forwarders had been wary of booking freight on the vessel. However, much better loads are expected on future sailings. Until yesterday morning the Union Company and the Waterside Workers’ Federation had been unable to agree about which terminals the Coas-

tai Ranger would use at Lyttelton and Wellington. The watersiders wanted the ship to continue working through the Rangatira terminals, and the company wanted it to use the sea-cargo terminals at both ports. The parties reached agreement yesterday morning, and this was endorsed by the executive of the Lyttelton Waterfront Workers’ Union at a meeting early yesterday afternoon. The union’s secretary (Mr Mel Foster) said that the union's members had earlier given the executive a mandate to accept or refuse the settlement. It is not known yet whether the Wellington

union supports the proposals too, but the service will continue in the meantime. The Goastal Ranger will use the sea-cargo terminals, and it is understood the agreement provides for additional men in each shift working in the terminals, says a Press Association report from Wellington. The company, however, apparently refused a union demand that it pay just over $500,000 into union funds as compensation for the loss of job ity-Seventy-two watersiders were employed in the two steamer express terminals and this would have been 12 months’ wages.