SHIPPING SURVEYS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 671, 24 May 1929, Page 11

SHIPPING SURVEYS

OVERHAULING NOW MANY WORKERS BENEFIT Many coastal vessels undergo their annual overhaul and survey during the winter months. Even the most diminutive of these small craft that sail so inconspicuously in and out of the port of Auckland has to go through this process once a year, chiefly in the interests of preserving life at sea. The Northern Steamship Company, as the largest operator of coastal shipping here, starts laying off its boats for this purpose on March 31, and one by one its vessels are surveyed over a period extending to November. The major portion of this work is done during the winter months, as there is slackness in trade and consequently less demand for coastal shipping at that time. Conversely, the company has arranged so that all its vessels are available for continuous work from November to March. The annual licences issued by the Marine Department under the •‘Shipping and Seamen Act” for the Northern Company’s ships have been arranged so that they expire successively during the slack period, and the boats are temporarily withdrawn from their running accordingly. No hitch occurs in any service, however, as there is always another vessel available to act as a substitute, or else, owing to less demand for service during the off-season, one vessel can cope with two services. An example of this is to be seen in the Coromandel and Thames runs, which are both being covered by the s.s. Rangitoto at the present time. This : will continue for some time yet. In the busy period the s.s. Hauiti is on the Coromandel run, and the Rangitoto goes to Thames. Another advantage derived from the “spreading out” of the survey work is that continuous employment is provided for numbers of workers over that period. For instance, one wooden boat is overhauled each month. Thus the shipwrights required for that job get a good run of work. Coastal vessels may overhaul .on what is known as a “running survey.” The deck section may be surveyed in one port, the engine-room in another, and the saloon department in still another, if desired. This method is often used by ships which would suffer too much loss through remaining idle at one port for the whole survey period. Crews of vessels surveying are transferred to the relieving ships, which are probably taken from the stream. Of course, during the slack season, many coastal seamen are unemployed through the general depression, but they usually come back as soon as things are on the move again.