Aranui gets mixed reception

Press, 20 November 1978, Page 6

Aranui gets mixed reception

The New Zealand Railway i rail ferry Aranui arrived at the port of Lyttelton yesterj day to mixed reactions from 'the shipping industry. The Wellington-Picton I ferry arrived after a S3M irefit at Dunedin and was on | her way to rejoin the fourvessel service across Cook Strait. One feeling indicated was regret that the vessel, which can carry 709 passengers as well as vehicles, was not on a regular call to the port as part of an extended Wellihg-ton-Picton service. Some see such a move as a logical replacement for the Rangatira service, which the Government abandoned in 1976. The Aranui is only the; second vessel of the Rail-i ways fleet to call at Lyttel-I ton: the Aramoana made an

: unscheduled visit soon after] [the Wahine disaster in 1968, ! when she was diverted from .Wellington because of storms. The Minister of Transport (Mr McLachlan) was recently asked whether tests had been made to assess the suitability of the Lyttelton linkspan with the addition of rail tracks. He was also asked whether one of the four ferries might be laid up next year because of a continuing decline in Cook Strait freight movements. | Mr McLachlan said that] there was no special sign-i ificance in the Aranui’s visit, which was really just to “show the flag.” He said that he doubted whether one ferry would be, laid up. Members of the former

I coastal trade service regard the Aranui as one of the I ships which put paid to Icoastal shipping. “The coastal service was struggling but showing signs of recovery. However, the Wellington-Picton ferries put an end to that,” said a formal coastal master as he looked over the Aranui. “We were able to collect! 1000 tonnes of freight at Onehunga on a Friday and! deliver it to Lyttelton for| the start of the next week. — something the railways [cannot do,” he said. ] Other sceptics said that [using the rail ferries to Lyttelton would cause manning' I problems similar to those! 'which affected the Ranga-! tira. About 609 crew members' worked on the four Cook ! Strait vessels: cooks and

I stewards outnumbered other : crew members by about 1 three to one. The sight of the old Lyt-i > telton-Wellington ferry ter-: t minal near the New Zealand “Shippping Corporation’s' Taid-up coastal Ranger ■ prompted rumours that “Mr ' Muldoon will pull something out of the bag before the ! election over Ranga lirareplacement talk.” I| Some have suggested a! [conversion of the Coastal] Ranger: it is believed that 1 about SIM would pay for modifications to enable the • vessel to carry an economic number of cars and passen- !| gers on a tri-weekly or bi-' I weekly run. ■| The member of Parliament' ! for Lyttelton (Miss Colleen! Dewe) said that she doubted' whether Mr Muldoon would ‘ spring any surprises.

“I do not think it. is hisj: style on matters like this,” she said. Miss Dewe said that pro-i viding a ship was only part' 'of the problem, because of’ the manning question. A Railways official said that between 14,000 and , 15,000 people visited the Aranui yesterday. A fine day ensured a flood of vehicles to the No. 4 wharf, and extra traffic officers were required to control the traffic. The general manager of the Railways Department (Mr T. M. Hayward) said that the interest in the ship was tremendous. He said that the vessel had been out of service for five months, but this raised no questions about the future use of the four ferries owned by the Railways.