Major break-through for port

Press, 9 June 1980, Page 25

Major break-through for port

F- The expansion of the ] Farrell Lines’ service to I New Zealand to include J monthly calls at Lyttelton | has been heralded as a I major break-through by | the chairman of the Lyt- | telton Harbour Board (Mr ! J. E. Mannering). The container ship Austral Pionee'r is expected to arrive at Lyttelton today to take aboard, about 200 containers, about half of which are refrigerated and are filled mainly ' with export beef. The American-based line began service to New Zealand in July, 1969, with the first visit of the Austral Patriot which, in turn was followed bv visits by the Austral Pilot. I ' Until this month Farrell 1 Lines’ service between the

East Coast of North’ America and New Zealand had been restricted to fortnightly calls at Wellington and Auckland. Henceforth, beginning with the visit of the new C-8 class container ship Austral Pioneer, launched only last year, every second New Zealand visit by the line will include’ Lyttelton.

Farrell’s East Coast sen vice includes calls at Vera Cruz, New Orleans, Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, Norfolk, Boston, Montreal, and Toronto. Ships now on the trade, in addition to the Austral Pioneer, which will be on her third voyage when she visits Lyttelton, include the Austral Ensign, Austral Entente, and Austral Envoy. In late August the

brand-new Austral Puritan' will be added to the fleet. The current sailing schedule calls for the Austral Pioneer to visit Lyttelton this month. This will be followed by a visit on July 19 by the 21,150-gross-ton Austral Ensign, and a return visit by the Austral Pioneer on August 11.

The Austral Entente, built in 1973, and the Austral Envoy, built in 1972, are both of 30,990 gross tons, and all cruise at a respectable 23 knots. The Austral Pioneer will arrive at Lyttelton direct from Melbourne and will then call at Wellington and Auckland before' sailing for New Orleans on or about June 14. She is scheduled to arrive at New Orleans on July 1. The decision by Farrell

Lines to include Lyttelton came as a result of shippers’ requests in the South Island, according to the line’s marketing manager (Mr A. N. Rowntree).

In addition to containers, the vessels on the run also accept bulk liquids, break-bulk heavy cargoes, and oversized shipments. Mr Mannering said that Farrell’s decision proved the success of the harbour board’s marketing efforts over the years and he expressed the . hope that South Island exporters and importers would use the new service as much as possible. A board member and former harbourmaster, Captain A. R. Champion, said that, if fully utilised, the service could mean that Lyttelton would be handling cargoes which at

present went through Port Chalmers.

A former chairman, Mr J. Brand said that the message to shippers had to be: “Use it or lose it,” because if there were not enough trade for the new service it might be abandoned.

The board’s general manager (Mr J. A. McPhail) said that if sufficient support was given to the new service it could be expanded to include Lyttelton on a fortnightly basis. The manager of the Lyttelton container terminal (Mr P. G. Morgan) said that the service, as now established, would mean the handling of about 1500 more containers a year by the terminal. When the Austral Puritan comes into service on the trade in August, she will replace the lighter

21,150-fon Austral Ensign and supplement the services of the Austral Pioneer, the Austral Envoy, and the Austral Entente, all in the 31,000 gross tonnage range. While Farrell Lines began its service to New Zealand in 1969, its intentions were' known five years earlier. It was originally planned to start the New Zealand trade in 1964 but that move was thwarted by a shortage of vessels caused by the Vietnam War.

On the southbound leg each voyage, the vessels, after leaving Norfolk, generally call at Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne before crossing the Tasman for New Zealand loading and discharge.

The general agents for Farrell Lines through New Zealand are Dalgety Shipping, a division of Dalgety N.Z. Ltd.