Dispute costing ships up to $45,000 a day

Press, 19 October 1989, Page 7

Dispute costing ships up to $45,000 a day

By

PAM MORTON

Ships stranded by the waterfront dispute are running up costs of between $15,000 and $45,000 each day they remain idle.

About 80 ships are now believed to have been delayed by the 19-day stoppage. A spokesman for the Shipping Federation, Mr Peter Nichols, said the stoppage was costing trans-Tasman ships between $15,000 and $20,000. International ships are more expensive to maintain and cost about $45,000 a day. The costs took into account crew and capital and maintenance costs, Mr Nichols said.

“What is not included is fuel and the loss of earnings while ships are held up.” He said a lot of international ships were by-passing New Zealand with freight on board. Unless ships could depend on a quick turn-around they would continue to do so. "It costs a lot of money to have a ship sitting around doing nothing.” Mr Nichols said most of New

Zealand’s main exports, such as meat, wool and kiwifruit, were transported by international ships. “New Zealand ship owners carry a small percentage of our overseas freight.” International ships worked to a tight shipping schedule and could not afford to get tied up in disputes. The acting manager for F.A.S.T. Agencies, Mr John Cotter, said the drawn-out dispute was hurting importers and exporters. “People are getting very frustrated.”

Mr Cotter said his company, which is an agent for transTasman ships, was in a difficult position as ships carrying goods from Australia could not be redirected anywhere else.

“We have to wait it out as there is not much point in sending the ship back to Australia with Australian goods.”

The manager for Seabridge New Zealand, Ltd, in Christchurch, Mr Kevin Inder, said his company had received urgent requests from some manufacturers needing raw materials. “We’ve got a few urgent ones but there is nothing we can do until it’s resolved.” . The Christchurch manager of Geo H. Scales, Ltd, Mr Michael Chin, said ship owners had all been warned there would be delays. Mr Chin said the company had been in touch with clients from July keeping them informed of what was going on. “The smart clients are the ones who took notice.” About 1900 containers are held up at the Port of Lyttelton. The company’s cargo services manager, Mr Peter Rea, said about 1200 of the containers were empty. There were normally about 1600 in storage at the terminal, he said.