PHOSPHATE SHIPS WILL LOAD HERE AGAIN, SAYS HARBOUR BD. CHAIRMAN

Wanganui Chronicle, 13 December 1949, Page 4

PHOSPHATE SHIPS WILL LOAD HERE AGAIN, SAYS HARBOUR BD. CHAIRMAN

“Within 12 months from the arrival of our new dredge we should be in a position to cater for phosphate ships and the Shell Company’s new tanker,’’ declared the chairman (Mr. E. A. Millward) at yesterday’s meeting of the Wanganui Harbour Board in expressing its confidence that the new dredge would be able to turn Castlecliff into a port of which the citizens of Wanganui and district would be proud. It was recognised by the authorities that Castlecliff would always be a dredging proposition, said Mr. Millward. Although it was anticipated that the full amount of the cost of the new dredge could be met out of the dredge fund account, there Would undoubtedly be certain extras and the cost of bringing the vessel to Wanganui would be in the vicinity of £5OOO. These amounts would have to come out of revenue and would necessitate the board reducing expenditure to bare necessities so that dredging might be commenced with the knowledge that the ship really belonged to the board .

“I am not going to prophesy too much,” said Mr. Millward, "but the cost a yard for dredging will be very low compared to our costsin the past. It is interesting to hote that another harbour board in New Zealand is at present preparing plans for a dredge the same size and almost identical to our own to cope with a very much larger problem than Castlecliff.” Later in the meeting, the chairman stated that he had been advised by Captain R. D. Stewart that it was hoped to have the dredge ready by the end of January .Captain Stewart reported that he had inspected the grab equipment before It left the factory at Hull. He described the crane as a beautiful piece of work. “If the grab supplied does .not shift something, we should close the gate,” Captain Stewart's letter stated.