Coal loaded for Japan

Press, 20 October 1980, Page 2

Coal loaded for Japan

Loading of the second of 1 four shipments' of Buller 1 coal for Japan started at Lyttelton soon after noon , yesterday after a meeting in I Wellington between the Min,- < ister of Energy (Mr Birch). I and officials ' of the Ngw 1 Zealand Seamen’s Union. . 'The seamen had picketed I the bulk carrier Bengal I Career upon I er arrival on < Friday in protest against the j export of,. New ?e?land coal f ,to Japanese steel-makers, t They also sought the manning of coal export vessels < by New Zealand seamen if ’ the trade-is to continue. I After yesterday’s meeting i in Wellington, loading start- ; ed on 33,000 tonnes of cok- i ing coal, part of a 140,000tonne shipment agreed upon i by the State Mines Depart- ’ ment and Japanese industrial i buyers. , ~ The first Buller coal ship- i

ment for Japan left Lyttelton in July in the Sunda Career. Members of the Campaign Against Foreign Control in New Zealand held a brief demonstration at Cash in Quay yesterday but it did pot disrupt loading. Another meeting between Mr Birch and the seamen is likely later this week to clarify the status of the Bengal Career and the next two ships to carry cpal to Japan under the contract. The seamen ' say that if coal exports are to continue, vessels in the trade should be New Zealand-owned and manned, hut such conditions are unlikely to be imposed immediately. The next cual vessel is not expected for about seven .weeks, the time required to replenish the ’t at Te Awaparahi Bay with coal railed from the West Coast.