PATENT SLIP

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 23, 28 January 1915, Page 3

PATENT SLIP

PROPOSED NEW STRUCTURE QUESTION OF LENGTH SHIPOWNERS INTERVIEW THE BOARD. Under the Harbour Board Empowering Act, 1908, the Harbour Board is entitled to call on the Patent Slip Company to erect a second slip in Wellington Harbour, of a length to be fixed by negotiation between the parties, the Minister for Marine to act as arbitrator in the event of failure to agree. Recently the board,' by resolution, decided to call upon the company to erect a slip 150 ft in length. The matter was again before the board last night, when a letter was received from the Patent Slip Company suggesting that the length of the new slip should be 130 ft. A deputation from' the New Zealand Shipowners' Federation, Wellington Branch, waited upon the board to urge that the previous decision should be adhered to and a slip of 150ffc erected. In its letter, the Patent Slip Company said : "The resolution of the board, which requires a slip 160 feet in length, is quite beyond anything we had contemplated, and is nofc in keeping either with the spirit or the intention of the understanding arrived at between the board and the company. Apart from the fact that a slip of 150 feet in ( length is in excess of what is necessary' for the accommodation of the class of vessel which was the subject of discussion between us prior to making the arrangement, the result of its erection would be that, not only would the revenue of the present slip be depleted to- such an extent as to make it nonpayable, but the fact that a special scale of charges in respect of the second slip is provided for in Clause 13 of the fifth schedule of the Act, will probably involve both slips in a loss, or, at laast, leave no margin of return for the capital invested in them. By way of illustrating the effect of the erection of a slip 150 feet in length, I quote from our returns for the year ended 30th September last: — (1) Total number of vessels slipped... 105 (2) If new slip is built to our plan, 130 feet long, it would accomdate 54 (3) Leaving to be dealt with by present slip 51 "If, however, the resolution of the board to build a slip 150 feet in length is given effect to the result will be: — (1) Total number of vessels slipped during year 105 (2) Vessels capable of going on 150 feet slip .. ... 70 (3) Leaving for present slip only ... 35 "That is to say, that" the present slip, which represents a capital value of £25,000, would be used, on an average, not quite three times in each month. In accordance with Clause 2 of the fifth schedule of the Act, the board itself eventually becomes the owner of both slips, and its action in rendering each an unpayable proposition at the present time would probably result ultimately in a heavy burden being imposed on the public through the board. Under all the circumstances, therefore, I regret that we are unable to see our way to give effect to the resolution of the board, and trust that after further consideration it will be rescinded ,in favour of our proposal to erect a slip 130 feet in length; but failing this we would respectfully request that the matter should be submitted to the arbitration of the Minister of Marine, as provided in Clause 21 .of the fifth schedule of- the Act." The Engineer (Mr. Marehbanks), •in reply to a question, said that the .present slip would accommodate vessels up to about 2000 tons. A slip 150 ft in length would accommodate vessels of 500 tons and one of 130 ft about 370 tons.j The board had to take over the slips in 25 years from 1908, namely in 1933. Mr. Daniell called attention to the fact that the board, by resolution, had already decided that a 150 ft slip should be erected. THE DEPUTATION'S VIEWS. After the letter had been read the shipowners' deputation was admitted. Mr. W. }E. Fuller, the first speaker of the deputation, urged that the 150 ft slip should be insisted on. This request was made on the following grounds: (1) That all the vessels recently built by Dominion shipowners, except those trading to bar harbours, were over 130 feet in length. That would be the rule in the future, because shipowners found it unprofitable to run small vessels between the larger ports. (2) The present slip was quite unable to keep pace with the work. Many shipowners had been, and were now, considerably inconvenienced by having to wait an unreasonable time for the slip. Even with a second slip of 130 ft there would not be sufficient relief to shipowners where vessels were over this length and to those who in the near future would have to replace their small vessels with others of greater length. (3) Wellington, being the first shipping port of the Dominion, with its ever-increasing shipping trade, and in the absence of a dock, should be provided with the best facilities possible for slipping vessels. (4) The present patent slip was built some 43 years ago to meet the requirements of the shipping trade then, but it was quite unble to cope with the present growing trade, and a second slip was urgently required of a sufficient length to take the largest of the small steamers. (5) Ports to which many of the smaller vessels traded had, of late years, been considerably improved and could now accommodate a larger type of vessel. Further improvements were contemplated in other ports. This meant that vessels of increased size would trade to these ports in the future, and for these a slip of 130 ft would, in many cases, be too short. In reply to questions, Mr. Fuller said that, of vessels slipping here of which the federation had information, eleven were over 150 ft, eleven over 130 ft and up to 150 ft, and thirty-five up to 130 ft. He looKed, however, not to the present, bufc to the future. Cases had been known of vessels having to wait a fortnight for the slip. Mr. F. H. Taylor urged that they should look| ahead, and not provide only for immediate requirements. In view of delays, there could be no doubt that the present slipping accommodation wae inadequate. There had even been cases of slipping having to be done away from Wellington — he referred particularly to Jthe case of the Mana, which had to go_

fee StftfeelfeßHj tf. & ianaU slip trembuiih afe the Vat© Bf iMei-easß iv &c elite Uf l# 6} jfewnttlfl nefe |j e leug befbtc the bulk ef Hie wevk \sm& thiwft agaia &v the BKsseyi eIJH.. U*k& po&iMmi weuld tflea fee a* bad m at wfesenfe. Obtain fe^ea said fche Pateafe Slip Qamosny had aofe e&M hew long each vessel remained &a the. dig, The p§ei--Moa was thai when going ea fci« aauual oyerbftol, werk had to be deae day tend night, beeauea fchfe slip was wanted by other vessels. This entailed vcryi heavy charges on the ownere, Wellington's accommodation was not afe all eeiflmeii* surats with the trade ol the port. Auckland had nob tho shipping of Wellington, bub it had dock and dip accommodation. Suppose a vessel were to meet with an accident near tho harbour en« trance and the alip happened to ba engaged, the damaged boat .would have to be beached. THE BOARD'B DECISION. The Acting-Chairman (Mr. C. W. Jones) said that the board waa asking for the 150 ft elipj but the matter was one for negotiation with the company, and eventually arbitration by the Minister. He suggested that, in view of possible arbitration, the federation should collect ail possible data in support of its case. When the deputation had withdrawn, the acting-chairman suggested that tho matter be held over till next monthly meeting, when other members would be present. Mr. Cohen thought the deputation had made out such a good case that the Board's decision could not be varied. He moved that the Patent Slip Company be written to, advising that the board saw no reason for rescinding its resolution. Mr. Daniell seconded the motion. He personally disapproved of letting such work as this get into the hands of monopolists. He thought it should have been carried out by the community ; but if the work had to be done in this way, the convenience of the smaller shipowners should be studied. The motion was supported by Captain Watson and Mr. M'Ewan, who also urged that the board should have done the work itself in the first place. On being put to the meeting the motion was carried without dissent.