Pilots’ ban may hurt exports

Press, 22 May 1978, Page 6

Pilots’ ban may hurt exports

PA Tauranga: The week-end national stopwork action by harbour board pilots might jeopardise New Zealand’s chances of new export markets in ' Ecuador. The Bay of Plenty Harbour Board’s pilots stopped work at 5 p.m. on Friday, thus preventing the Russian ship Aristarkh Belopolskiy from leaving. port until ’oday at 8 a.m., when the ban is lifted. The ship is at Tauranga loading N.Z Forest Products Ltd. liner board for Ecuador She is under charter to Fruit Shippers, Ltd, sh'pping agent for Exportadora Bananera Noboa. an , Ecuadoran company which supplies nearly all New Zealand's bananas. Mr R Walker. Ecuadorean i i consul in Wellington and New Zealand representative : for exports to Ecuador, said the Russian ship was on a very tight schedule and any rielavs could jeopardise New Zealand’s chances of shipning more liner board to Ecuador. “Tauranga is the only port'

iwe can afford to send liner board from, as it would be I too expensive to have it : transported to any other port for exporting,” he said, “The Russian ship’s timetable enabled us to load 1800 tonnes of liner board at Tauranga. But the pilots’ strike has prevented the Aristarkh Belopolskiy from leaving Tauranga until Monday morning when she was due at Auckland to load j milk powder for Ecuador.” j Mr Walker said the extra day’s delay would cost the shipping company about $7OOO. “Unfortunately, delays must eventually be charged against the commodity being shipped, and this will not help our bargaining position ! with the Ecuadorean companv.” he said. The pilots’ han was im- ' posed in support of a dispute over harbourmasters’ i salaries. I The one expected shipping movement at Lvttelton dur- , ing the week-end, the arrival iof the Union Hobart on Saturday and her departure ' yesterday, was able to occur because the vessel does not require a pilot. I