DOCK OPERATING

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 118, 14 February 1944, Page 6

DOCK OPERATING

New Zealanders’ Work . In Pacific TRIBUTE TO EFFICIENCY (NZE.F. Official News Service.) SOUTH PACIFIC, Febrxiary 6. Wherever the lighting men of nations meet in combat the matter of supplies provides a vital problem, the truth o. which declaration has never been better exemplified than in the widely scattered operational areas of the broad Pacific. And in this zone, with the war bem-, fought on many island fronts, airborne and eea transport provide the only_ means of conveyance. For the latter, d °cking facilities, particularly for _ deep-water ships, are limited, and the ingenuity of American engineers has been called on to overcome a knotty problem in providing a safe anchorage on the coralfringed shores of a South Pacific, isle. This task has been successfully accomplashed. A passage has been blasted •through a coral reef which formerly had rendered useless a natural landlocked harbour, and the Americans have-opened to the sea lanes of the world a safe deep-water port. A small wharf has been constructed, and when the big ships tie up, personnel of the Wharf Operating Company, New Zealand Engineers, are on their mettle. It is their job to turn ehips about in the quickest possible time. Highly skilled in their own particular sphere, the .men .of this unit/ are responsible for the unloading of all American and New Zealand ships which berth at the port, and it is a. tribute to their industry and efficiency that the ships are turned about without undue delay. Time is not lost because of wet weather, unless there is a danger of water damaging the particular type of cargo being unloaded. ’ With the unit’s strength divided into four shifts, each of six hours’ duration, maximum output is assured. Each section is in the charge of a sergeant, or key foreman, and the working parties operate with a smoothness which needs to be seen to be appreciated. In each shift there is one break (of 15 minutes — for the New’ Zealanders’ inevitable cup of tea.

For the most part the men on deck are experienced winchmeu, competent, tn operate either steam or electric winches. The hatchmen are trained wharf workers, end their jobs call for careful co-opera-tion with the winchmen. Theirs is the responsibility of guiding safely over the side of the ship the cargo lifted from the holds.

On an average, and providing there are no holds-up while waiting for trucks, the unit can transfer from ship, to truck 50gallon drums of petrol at the rate of 12 truckloads an hour. Each truck transports 24 drums to the appropriate dumps. In the handling of general cargo the output is somewhat, slower, a factor necessitated by the earefnl packing of cargo nets and vehicles to ensure removal of maximum loads.

The. unit is not required to work the holds. This duty comes within the ambit of special working parties drawn from a base camp, but it is responsible for tallying the cargo as it is lifted from the ships’ holds and lowered to the waiting trucks. Provision has not been mr.de for goods sheds.

For eight months this unit has operated, but though large quantities of cargo have been shifted the unit has not suffered a single casualty from accidents.