Aeroflot landings opposed

Press, 16 May 1985, Page 5

Aeroflot landings opposed

The Government continued to oppose granting traffic rights to the Soviet airline, Aeroflot, to land at Christchurch, the Lyttelton Harbour Board heard yesterday. The information came in a letter to the board from the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Prebble, who replied to a board request that the Government further consider granting Aeroflot traffic rights to transfer Soviet seamen. The Government was satisfied that present air services could cater for the Soviet fishermen working in the New Zealand economic zone, said Mr Prebble. In addition, Air New Zealand was ready to discuss with Aeroflot arrangements to improve the services for the carriage of Soviet seamen.

Mr Prebble said that circumstances had not changed since the Government decided against granting Aeroflot traffic rights. : New Zealand’s policy had

long been that access to shore facilities here by foreign fishing vessels should be available on a commercial and non-exclu-sive basis, but only to vessels licensed to fish in the 300 km exclusive economic -ione. Mr Prebble said that the Government had not changed that policy after studying the proposal that the Soviet South Pacific fishing fleet be serviced in New Zealand.

“We do not believe that it would be in New Zealand’s wider economic and political interests to become a servicing base for fishing vessels from the Soviet Union or any other nation operating outside our exclusive economic zone,” said Mr Prebble. Information

withheld An attempt by the Otago Harbour Board to obtain trade and financial forecasts from the Lyttelton

Harbour Board has failed. The Lyttelton Harbour Board decided yesterday against releasing this information, which was supplied to the Ports Authority with its application to repair the port’s damaged container crane.

The Otago board, which believes that the South Island should have only one container terminal, based at Port Chalmers, applied to the Ports Authority under the Official Information Act to gain the information. The Minister of Labour and member of Parliament for Dunedin North, Mr Rodger, also applied for the information, which was analysed by the Ports Authority before approving the application from the Lyttelton board.

The Ports Authority, however, could not release the information without the agreement of the Lyttelton board.

The board’s acting general manager, Mr Peter Morgan, said that it was

considered the information was confidential and of future commercial importance.

Board members voted unamimously , against releasing any of the information, particularly the tables dealing with trade and financial forecasts. Crane plans Another temporary crane will appear at the Lyttelton container terminal in about three weeks. It will be used to plug the gap while the Samba replacement crane, now being shipped from Britain, is erected. Board members decided to hire the temporary crane, which will come from Taupo, for two months. Mr Morgan said that the Samba crane was now at Newcastle in the vessel Fairload which was due at Lyttelton on May 23. It would take up to seven weeks to erect the Samba crane. It should be ready for use by about the second week in July. A temporary crane now at the container terminal is needed soon at Marsden Point.

Mr Morgan said that it was essential for the board to provide a crane for the time before the Samba crane could start work. Ships on the Tasman trade had no cranes on board and needed the use of one in port. Asian trip Three board representatives will go to Japan and Hong Kong later this month to promote Lyttelton. The chairman, Mr George Wright and Mr Morgan will leave Christchurch on May 19 and return on June 2. A number of meetings have been arranged with coal importers and shipping and port interests in Japan and Hong Kong. Mr Wright said yesterday that special emphasis would be put on giving Japanese shipping companies full information on the operation of the Samba crane at Lyttelton.

The pair will be joined in Japan by the board’s general manager, Mr lan Brokenshire, who will be returning from maritime conferences in Europe.