MORE MINESWEEPERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23994, 18 June 1941, Page 6

MORE MINESWEEPERS

The contract to build four minesweepers, let to Duncdin firms, is welcome evidence of more being done in New Zealand to meet the urgent demand for ships of all kinds. In giving the facts, Mr. Sullivan stated that there were facilities and plant at Port Chalmers making it an ideal place for work of the kind. That being so, to take advantage of it is the obvious course, for this is no time to neglect anything that: may be used to help in the Empire's struggle on the sea. Mr. Sullivan said also that satisfactory arrangements had been made in Australia that would ensure the supply of necessary material. This is a key point. Two minesweepers are under construction at Auckland. The work has gone ahead satisfactorily and the ships are expected to be finished in four or five months. However, when the Minister was in Auckland last month, shipbuilding contractors complained to him that work was being delayed by difficulties in getting material from Australia. This apparently has been the bottle-neck in the production of more tonnage, for which, as Mr. Sullivan then said, New Zealand has the skilled men and the organising ability. The assurance that there will be no such difficulty with the Dunedin contract justifies the hope that it has been overcome elsewhere. There may be limits to what can be done in New Zealand. To match the programme in Australia, where plans are well forward for the production of 9000-ton merchant ships of standard design, may not be possible, but no effort should be spared to make the best possible use of all the plant and facilities that do exist in the country.