WAR IN THE EAST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22819, 28 August 1937, Page 12

WAR IN THE EAST

SHIPPING AFFECTED CHINESE PORTS OMITTED HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI JAPAN-NEW ZEALAND TRADE Repercussions of the Si no-Japanese hostilities aro now being felt in the running'of Japanese ships to New Zealand. The Auckland agents of the Osaka Shosen Ivaisha Line yesterday advised that the ships of the lino ill the New Zealand service would omit Hongkong and Shanghai from their calls. Ihe motor-ship Sydney Maru, which arrived yesterday afternoon from Kobe, via Australia, will be the first ship affected, and the alteration 19 itineraries will continue until a cessation of hostilities.

Tn the past the Osaka Shosen Kaisha ships, on leaving New Zealand, have usually called at Hongkong and Shanghai when on the way to Kobe. On her coming homeward voyage the Sydney Maru will visit only Noumea, Cebu and Manila. Effect on Mail Service One efTect of the new itineraries will be felt in the despatch of mails for China from New Zealand. The Osaka Shosen Kaisha ships have been a regular means of communication between the two countries, and on receipt of the company's decision yesterday China was withdrawn by the postal authorities from the Sydney Maru's mail notice. The position has been complicated by a recent decision of an American line trading between Honolulu and the East also to exclude the Chinese ports from its schedules. The principal connections now remaining will bo the services between Australia and the East. Two Japanese Ships in Port

The shortage of Japanese cargo space due to the operations- in China is believed to be the reason for an earlier amendment to the Sydney Maru programme. As a result of a last-minute decision to cancel the sailing from Yokohama to Australia of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha Line's fast motor-ship Tokyo Maru, the Sydney Maru was diverted to Sydney and Melbourne en route from Kobe to Auckland. She was originally due here on August 9. At present two Japanese ships are in port at Auckland, an unusual occurrence. In addition to the Sydney Maru, the Yamashita Kisen Kaisha's new steamer Naniwa Maru is handling cargo here. The ships are on opposite berths at King's Wharf and their crews were able to fraternise yesterday. As the Yamashita Kisen Kaisha ships in the New Zealand trade ply only between Japanese ports, Noumea and New Zealand, they have not been affected by the war.