Manager sees changes in stevedoring
After having stevedored at "practically every port in New Zealand except Westport and Opua,” Captain John Owen, Lyttelton and Timaru manager of Seaport Operations, Ltd, will retire at the end of March.
Having had a 43-year association with the shipping industry Captain Owen has seen a lot of changes.
On the good said he said he had seen an improvement in industrial relations since he first came out to New Zealand in the 19505. But on the bad side he said he had seen the decline of the conventional stevedoring industry with the advent of containerised shipping. Another of Captain Owen’s regrets is the loss of contact between stevedores and ship personnel. “Ships’ officers used to be in port for several weeks. Now they are in and out in no time,” he said. “You lose that personal touch.” “But it will be sad to go. I have had a good life and made some good colleagues.”
Captain Owen has been a member of a number of associated bodies including the Chamber of Commerce, the New Zealand Port Employers’ Association, and he is a warden in the New Zealand Company of Master Mariners.
He was born in Anglesey,
Wales, and entered the shipping industry in 1942, aged 16. He attended navigation school at University College, Southampton, before joining the Port Line, Ltd, in 1943. He worked on convoys to North America during World War II and after 10 years had reached the rank of chief officer.
Captain Owen joined the New Zealand Shipping Company as an assistant cargo superintendent in 1954 and has been manager of Seaport Operations Lyttelton and Timaru office since 1979.
In retirement he said he wanted to keep a close association with the sea.
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Press, 14 March 1985, Page 5
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292Manager sees changes in stevedoring Press, 14 March 1985, Page 5
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