WHEAT CARGOES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 116, 19 May 1933, Page 9

WHEAT CARGOES

THOUSANDS OF TONS. NEW REGULATIONS REQUIRED. The wheat at present being shipped from Canterbury ports totals 17,500 tons, or approximately 192,000 bags. The Welcombo, whicH is loading at Lyttelton will take aboard about 8000 tong for Shanghai, and the Dalmore, at Timaru, will load 7000 tons for the United Kingdom or the Continent. At Lyttelton the Port Nicholson is loading 27,000 bags of wheat for Britain. The loadings of the Welcombe and the Dalmore will include a large proportion of bulk wheat, and this is the first occasion on which bulk wheat has been shipped from New Zealand, states the Christchurch Press. The New Zealand Shipping and Seamen’s Act, 1908, with its amendments, does not allow wheat to be shipped from New Zealand in bulk; but provision is made in the Act for dealing with special circumstances as they arise, and in the present case the Marine Department has assisted the shippers of the wheat by preparing regulations to permit of bulk loading of wheat, the regulations being drawn up, it is understood, on the lines of those operating in Canada and Australia, from which countries huge bulk shipments of wheat are made. These countries have for many years had regulations governing bulk export. Bulk Loading. Both the Welcombo and the Dalmore are admirably suited for bulk loading, for which they have all the fittings and equipment. It is said that for the first bulk loadings of wheat from New Zealand no better illustration the system and the possibilities could be given than by these two vessels. The Welcombo has just completed two or three bulk shipments from Sydney to China. Bulk shipments arc stated to have another advantage from the farmers’ point of view, in that the sacks are returned to the grower for further use. The Welcombe commenced loading her shipment of about 8000 tons at Lyttelton on Monday afternoon. Bagged wheat was loaded into some of the holds, while at others the slings were landed on top of the hatches, the mouths of the bags slit open, and the contents shot into the holds. The Commonwealth and Dominion steamer Port Nicholson is also loading wheat, in addition to moat and sundries. Her cargo is for London and West Coast ports of the United Kingdom. Her allotment of wheat has been increased to more than 27,000 sacks, and she is also taking 1600 sacks of peas. The Port Nicholson is due at Wellington on Saturday and sails on Monday for Auckland.

Carpenters have fitted wooden partitions, or “shifting boards” in the holds in the steamer Welcombo, which are to carry bulk wheat. Carried in bulk, wheat is a dangerous cargo owing to its tendency to shift in heavy weather and cause the ship to list. The partitions are fitted to prevent this. Much interest was taken on the waterfront in the bulk loading of the wheat, the first to be handled in New Zealand. Although the method of slitting the bags appeared slow, it was really much faster than the stowing of bagged wheat, and the ship’s gangs had no difficulty in keeping ahead of the gangs making up tho slings from the trucks. Loading at tho Austrlian wheat ports is very rapid, and is accomplished by means of elevators and elaborate conveyors.