Wanganella To Enter Floating Dock Monday

Northern Advocate, 15 January 1948, Page 4

Wanganella To Enter Floating Dock Monday

WELLINGTON, Thur. (Sp.)—The Huddart Parker intercolonial motor liner Wanganella should resume the _ I a small passenger run in July. This is providing no further industrial trouble develops to hinder the present repair programme. The Wanganella will enter the floating dock in \\ ellington tor the second time on Monday morning, on the first anniversary of her grounding on Barrett’s Reef.

By working four shifts on six days a week the repairing firm (William Gable it Co. Ltd.) hope lo complete the vast repair job within six months. The floating dock is now occupied by the Wingatui. She will be followed by the interisland steamer Rangatira. which will be laid up for a brief routine inspection during the week-end. The Wanganella will be towed from Clyde Quay to the dock on Monday morning, and if the weather is suitable and no hitches occur the operation should not take more than an hour. STEEL FROM ENGLAND About a dozen experienced men will be engaged on Sunday afternoon preparing the dock for the Wanganella, the principal task being to fit keel and bilge blocks. P.O. Problem . . .

Supervising the entire operation will be the superintendent of the Huddart Parker Company (Mr D. Eadie). who arrived from Australia by the Wahine on Monday. Mr Eadie also supervised the salvage work last year. Five hundred tons of prefabricated steel sections for the repairs to the damaged hull and bows of the Wanganclla are being brought from England by the Herorata. which is due in Auckland on Sunday. The sections are too unwieldy to be railed to Wellington and they will be unloaded when the Hororata arrives in Wellington on February 7. A great deal of preliminary work must be done before the new plates are fitted, but once this stage is reached the tradesmen most in demand will oe welders and boilermakers. LABOUR SHORTAGE Officials of the company slate that the passengers’ cabins remain untouched, but that the deck of the dining' saloon has been strained by the continual bumping on the reef and will require to be reset. The chief problem of the repairing firm has been to find sufficient skilled labour. The target was 200 workmen, and an official said today that this figure had been nearly achieved. A large proportion of the workmen had been recruited from centres outside Wellington and some of the men were recent immigrants from Britain. It was hoped to obtain a number from the British immigrants due to arrive next month.