Plea to shipowners

Press, 26 October 1982, Page 13

Plea to shipowners

PA Auckland Co-operation between shipowners could reduce New Zealand-United States freight rates by as much as 20 per cent says the chief executive of the New Zealand Shipping Corporation, Mr Charles Speight. Addressing an International Transportation Conference in California, Mr Speight said the Shipping Corporation’s research office had evidence that the use of capacity between New Zealand and Europe was about 90 per cent. But the New Zealand-United States trade space use was about 60 to 70

per cent. If that New Zealand-U.S. usage could be increased to 90 per cent through rationalisation of capacity, freight rates could be reduced 20 per cent Mr Speight said. The open conference system of shipping had caused the over-capacity in the New Zealand-United States trade, Mr Speight said. “I think it is fair to say that in the three sections of the United States trade — east coast, gulf ports, and west coast — over-tonnaging results in higher freight rates than would be the case in a normal closed conferencee system,” he said.