Shipping Delays Due Mainly To Slow Turn-round

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 April 1948, Page 4

Shipping Delays Due Mainly To Slow Turn-round

[SPECIAL TO STAR] DUNEDIN, This Day. “More ships are not the answer to the shipping problem on the New Zealand coast today,” said the manager of a shipping' company when commenting on statements on Thursday concerning the delays hampering business and industry at present. “We have sufficient shipping tonnage in New .Zealand to handle all the goods offering and this is borne out by, the congestion at the northern ports.” The whole question of shipping delays was a complex one, he stated. One of the biggest reasons for the delayed transport of goods was the slow turn-round at the ports. There was not nearly sufficient labour available and the hours of work were not long enough for ships to be loaded quickly. , . A Shed space was almost inadequate at some ports and this caused delays. The 40-hour, five day week as it affected carriers, warehouses, and all forms of transport was also a contributing factor, and the shortage of railway wagons was another cause lor delay at some ports. Congestion At Auckland “All these factors have to be taken into consideration,” he added, “and it is unfair to lay the blame on a shortage of ships. The proof that shipping is available is ,to be found in the congested ports of Auckland and Wellington, and this bears out what I have said about the shortage of labour on the waterfront, the slow turn-round, and the cumulative complications of the five-day working week.” . .

“The answer to the problem is a quicker turn-round of ships,” a manufacturer stated, confirming the views of the shipping executive. “My firm had a letter from our Auckland branch last week giving some idea of the delays being caused on the waterfront. At the time of writing the Waimarino had been in Auckland harbour for four weeks and had not started to unload. The Waipiata had been in port for a fortnight without beginning to discharge her goBoth these ships are full of goons manufactured in Dunedin,” he said. “As a result of this delay, staffs in northern branches are having to remain idle, waiting for two months to get these essential lines. Moreover, we are having to wait an extra two months for our money. Five Weeks —13 Weeks

“Before the war a ship could cover the Dunedin to Gisborne run, via ports, and return to Dunedin in five weeks,” he said, “but today a faster ship with better facilities for handling cargo takes 13 weeks to do the same trip and transport the same tonnage of goods.” Because of the trouble on the Auckland waterfront ships had been diverted to Port Chalmers, he continued, and this meant that Wellington and Auckland cargo had to be transhipped from this port, occupying space which should have been available for the export of manufactured goods from Dunedin.