FOR SALE-S.S. PARITUTU

Taranaki Daily News, 19 February 1932, Page 6

FOR SALE-S.S. PARITUTU

dredge no longer needed I , ITS USEFUL PURPOSE OUTLIVED. POLICY OF THE HARBOUR BOARD. For the sum of £2OOO as she lies the s.s. Paritutu may be bought from the New Plymouth Harbour Board. At present she is moored at the Moturoa wharf and her fate hangs in the balance. She may be sold, scrapped or sunk. There was little possibility of the board needing the dredge again for at least five years, said the chairman (Mr. C. E. Bellringer) at the meeting of the Harbour Board yesterday. In the peak year of 1928 the board had handled at the port over 200,000 tons of cargo but now, it was handling only 130,000 tons a year. With the present wharves it could handle an estimated tonnage of 250,000. It could be seen, therefore, that wharf extensions would not be necessary for some years to come. To keep the Paritutu as long as that would cost somewhere between £15,000 to £20,000. It cost the board £lOOO a year to keep her lying at the wharf, and besides that was the cost of overhaul. Even if the board should decide to build new wharves it would need a dredge with a depth of from sft. to 10ft. greater than the Paritutu could go. The Paritutu had served its purpose and served it very well. The board was exploring every avenue for the sale of the vessel, said the chairman, and the Cairns Harbour Board, North Queensland, was considering the purchase at present. If the vessel had to be sunk, added the chairman, with, a twinkle, he would expect members to make the last voyage out to sea in her. “Naturally,” said Mr. J. K. Cruickehank, “the chairman and the harbour-master will be the last to leave the ship.”