Maritime sector in N.Z. ‘greedy’

Press, 24 July 1985, Page 8

Maritime sector in N.Z. ‘greedy’

New Zealand’s coastal shipping industry needs a big shake-up, according to the man who set up Pacifica Shipping’s LytteltonWellington ferry service. Mr Brooke McKenzie told the southern section of the Chartered Institute of Transport that New Zealand’s maritime sector was “one of the greediest I have ever come across.” The Railways, maritime unions, and harbour boards were all criticised in a hard-hitting address by Mr McKenzie, who recently resigned as chairman of Pacifica. Mr McKenzie said that an employer in the maritime industry should have the right to make a profit. He called for the introduction of a “fast-track" tribunal or mediator to resolve maritime disputes quickly before they became too costly. A number of other changes needed to be made before coastal shipping became healthy again, he said. The Railways should be

forced to work as a fully commercial unit and harbour boards should lower their charges for coastal shipping, said Mr McKenzie. Watersiders should reduce their manning levels for coastal vessels and the leaders of maritime unions should be fair to those running the ships. Mr McKenzie criticised the way in which the Railways worked, and asserted that the corporation was “notorious for its predatory pricing.” Speaking about watersiders, Mr McKenzie said that there had been calls to reduce their numbers and the unions were quite rightly fighting this proposal on behalf of their members. Waterfront labour, however, was a big cost for shipping companies, said Mr McKenzie. It was important that vessels working on the coastal trade were not overmanned by watersiders. The leadership of waterfront unions was powerful and “unreasonable in many ▼

instances,” he said. He described the waterfront “spelling” system as a holiday by rotation. The overmanning problem included the crewing of the vessels, said Mr McKenzie. For “some strange reason” it took more New Zealanders to run a vessel than any other nationality, he said. A European ship which carried 12 crew would have 18 to 20 crew in New Zealand. In New Zealand, a crew member worked 24 weeks a year and to run a coastal vessel 2¥3 crews were needed. This was expensive for shipping companies. Coastal shipping would not increase unless the harbour boards lowered their charges, which were another big cost for shippers, said Mr McKenzie. Lower rates for coastal ships, which used port facilities more than international vessels, would be an option. Another option would be for the boards to sell port facilities to the coastal shippers, he said.