U.S. affirms Danish stand

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 35

U.S. affirms Danish stand

Wellington reporter

The United States Embassy in Wellington has issued a disclaimer to dispute news media statements that there is no difference between New Zealand and Danish policies on port access. This follows up comments by the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, in a speech in Edinburgh that the policies of the two countries were the same.

The embassy affirmed that Danish and New Zealand port access policies varied substantially. Denmark allowed ship visits; New Zealand did not

The United States port visit schedule for Denmark in 1985 had included the U.S.S. lowa, which had called at Copenhagen from September 27 to 30 and at Aarhus from October 1 to 6.

There had beea 13 port visits in five different Danish ports, totalling 62 ship days during 1985, the embassy said. As well as the lowa, there had been nine individual destroyer or frigate class vessels, and the cruiser Ticonderoga.

Denmark did not ban nuclear-powered warships, as did present New Zealand policy and the pending draft legislation.

Because there was no operational need, and because of the ready availability of alternative ports in the area,(United States nuclear-powered warships had not visited Danish ports in many years, the embassy said. Bth N-test

The United States has conducted its eighth underground nuclear weapons test of the year, setting off an explosion beneath the Nevada desert of less than 20,000 tonnes of TNT.—Washington.