Vessel smashes loading records

Press, 10 February 1981, Page 1

Vessel smashes loading records

PA Wellington The Shipping Corporation’s container carrier New Zealand Pacific is heading to break loading and turnround records when that is vital to the country’s primary exports trade. Eight cargo carriers and a tanker are idle on the coast because of a protracted pay strike by British seamen, and export: meat and butter needed to meet trade commitments are being virtually. crashloaded into the New, Zealand Pacific. She arrived at Auckland at 2 p.m. bn Wednesday. Between midday and 6 p.m. today, depending on tides, she-will clear , Port Chalmers . for Zeebrugge, Belgium..In six days, the New Zealand Pacific will have loaded more than 25,300 tonnes of all-New Zealand export cargo, if she sails as planned. The previous . record shipment to leave New Zealand was a joint Aus-tralia-NeW'Zealand loading of ‘25,300 tonnes,, but-cor-poration officials believe the New Zealand Pacific will take on more. At Auckland, containers were virtually -whipped on board the ship;at the rate of 60 an hour. At . Wellington, with one fewer crane than Auckland working on her,: more than. .40 the big. boxes were being added to her load each hour. >. : The New Zealand Pacific was to leave WeUington last evening to complete her topping up today at Port Chalmers. The Meat . Board and

Dairy Board met in Wellington yesterday to consider the effect of the strike on New. Zealand’s meat and dairy export trades. Meetings between the Meat Board and the Meat Exporters Council are expected to continue today. The Dairy Board has arranged for the, San Benito, a Finnish 7000-tonne- conventional ship, to be diverted to NeW Zealand to pick up daily products for Britain. It will arrive at Auckland on February 19. The Dairy Board is not as dependent on British shipping as is ‘ the Meat Board. A spokesman for the Dairy Board said that the board was holding up well. Members of the British National Union of Seamen aboard ships which have been idled at Lyttelton . because of the strike will not be flown home,, at least .not yet, according, to the South Island secretary

of the New Zealand Seamen’s Union, Mr T. B. Stuart. .; ■' 7 - He believed, after talking with the N.U.S. representative in New Zealand, Mr W. vVilcocks, that repatriation measures which, had been taken on the Continent to get seamen home were not being considered here Two Blue Star Line ships, the Australia Star container ship, and the Iran-destined meat carrier Almeria Star, have been stranded at Lyttelton since the dispute began on January 13. After the seamen aboard the two vessels went on strike they were put off pay by their employers. About 40 men are affected. Most continue to live aboard their ships. The other British-man-ned ship at Lyttelton, the 40,000 tonne container ship Remuera Bay continues to exchange containers at the Cashin Quay No. 3 container terminal berth.