Container service partly snubbed

Press, 10 March 1984, Page 9

Container service partly snubbed

PA ■ Wellington The Shipping Corporation’s new container service to North America received a partial snub yesterday from New Zealand meat exporters. However, there was good news for the new three-ship service from kiwifruit exporters. The Meat Board said yesterday that it had designated the corporation’s container ship New Zealand Caribbean as a carrier of export meat cargoes to the North American west coast. This designation would not be extended to include the ,two chartered ships Dunedin and Willowbank the corporation will use for the new service. The Meat Board’s chairman,; Mr Adam Begg, said yesterday that to have allowed the three ships full access to west coast cargoes would have resulted in gross over tonnaging of the trade. It was the board’s long standing policy to match shipping capacity to the cargo available. Mr Begg said that the

board’s trade to the west coast of North America was at prsent served by the Blue Star and Columbus Lines. The corporation had not offered any advantages in terms of freight rates, but the entry of the New Zealand Caribbean would allow the corporation to complete for a share of the much smaller west coast trade. Because the three ships were alrady approved to carry export meat cargoes to the east coast of the United States, they would still be able to carry them. Its Landbridge services in North America would be able to carry the east coastdestined meat from the Californian ports of Oakland and Long Beach. A Meat Board spokesman said that most of New Zealand meat exports to North America went to the east coast The tonnage split between east and west coasts was about 77 per cent to 23 per cent. While only one of the three container ships has been given approval to carry export meat cargoes to the west coast, the Australian Livestock Commis-

sion has designated all three ships to carry Australian export meat cargoes. Meanwhile, the corporation’s new service has won in principle the contract to ship kiwifruit exports, worth more than $l2 million annually, to North America.

The contract has been awarded for the 1984 and 1985 seasons, and will be confirmed subject to the first two shipments being handled satisfactorily. Kiwifruit shipments have previously been handled by the Columbus and ACT lines.

The corporation’s new service to the North American west coast will begin next month. It will replace the present joint service of the corporation and Bank and Savill Line to the Caribbean and United States Gulf ports. Instead, freight destined for inland and east coast destinations will be taken from the Californian ports by road and rail. By using the Californian ports, the corporation says it will be able to offer freight shippers a faster and more frequent service.