Pacific Shipping

"Tobi" Scrapped On Aust.-

New Guinea Run

Because of an over-estimate in cargo capacity, Tobi Clipper, the first vessel charter of the ambitious W. R. Carpenter-Thomas Nationwide Transport Australia-New Guinea freighting service, has lapsed.

The three-month time charter of the 720-ton Danish freighter ended in mid-January and was not renewed.

Weco Shipping Australia Pty. Ltd,, Sydney agents for her Copenhagen based owners, Franck et Tobiesen, told PIM Tobi Clipper would remain in the South Pacific for “two to four months” involving NG.

PNT (Australia) Pty. Ltd., jointly set up by Carpenters and TNT, chartered her for her first NG trip, leaving Sydney early last October {PIM, Nov., 1969, p. 113).

Her first trip featured stops at Lae, where she was delayed for 10 days due to big port holdups, and Ringi Cove, Kolombangara, in the Solomons, where she loaded logs Prom a major Levers Pacific Timbers project for delivery to Melbourne and Brisbane.

Dissatisfied

In all, Tobi delivered about 250,000 super ft to Melbourne and 150,000 super ft to Brisbane. She took logs usually only carried either by Burns Philp’s Tulagi or Karlander’s Slet holm.

Dissatisfied with Lae wharf and berthing delays, PNT came to an arrangement with South West Pacific Line to put Tobi Clipper into Madang, on an AWPL berth, for her second and final trips.

These last two trips included several stops around the north coast of New Britain to pick up logs for Australia.

A second call was made at Kolombangara (Levers are the only

exporters of logs on the Solomons- Australia trade).

TNT maintained that the ship’s 5,400 cubic ft. cargo capacity was too small, her log lifting weight of about 700 tons “minimal” and re frigeration space was needed {Tobi has none).

Tobi’s outward cargoes from Aus tralia were not full and she did not make the profits anticipated. Carpen ters say money was made on the charter.

TNT and Carpenters say dis appointment over the Tobi Clipper will not alter their arrangement, through two subsidiary companies in Moresby and Sydney, to continue a door-to-door freighting service from Australia to the NG Highlands.

All their cargoes will now be shipped with other shipping com panies.

Carpenters are considering other charters to NG. They are after a bigger ship which will handle more

logs for a guaranteed and hard-to get backloading to Australia.

The company would consider calls at Madang, Rabaul or Moresby, but not Lae, unless port conditions vastly improve.

TNT isn’t as enthusiastic after the Tobi experience. This group’s head, Mr. Ken Thomas, with his interest in Keith Holland Shipping, has had the small trader Jardine pulled off its Cairns-Daru-Moresby run.

Now, Mr. Thomas told PIM, DC3’s had been chartered to fly three times a week from Cairns to Moresby with cargoes.

Jardine was “laid-up”, and coma possibly work Papua’s Upper Fly River, to service the growing Kenne cott copper exploration teams, in opposition to Steamships Trading Company’s State Sarawak.

Potential log exports from Mela nesia to Australia and South-East Asia look brighter. Since the slump in prices offered by the Japanese in mid-1968, prices have risen 20 to 25 per cent.

Tenaru Pty. Ltd., of Sydney,

The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Gov ernment vessel "Nivanga" is a familiar sight to the Islanders of the outer atolls. She takes up to 60 cabin and deck passengers and carries general supplies from her Tarawa base. Photo: Captain Peter King, of GEIC ship, "Moanaraoi".

which has handled log exports from the Solomons and the NG Islands for 20 years, says demand in Aus tralia for Solomons logs is increas ing. Several makers in Sydney are using these logs for plywood, furni ture and boatbuilding.

Tulagi carries about 100 tons of logs from Kolombangara each trip.

Japan is still considered “The Mar ket”, and Japanese buyers usually make their own chartering arrange ments.

Can They All Make

A Profit?

New Guinea shipping group, Karlander (NG) Pty, Ltd., has taken a 50 per cent, share in a major new shipping service to include three weekly calls at Port Moresby.

Karlander and a Swiss miner, Alusuisse Australia Ltd. (which has the other 50 per cent.) have formed Australian Territory Liner Services Pty. Ltd. of Sydney and Papuan Liner Services Pty. Ltd. of Moresby.

ATLS will operate cargo vessels only from Sydney to Brisbane, Moresby, Gove (Northern Territory) and Gulf of Carpentaria ports. The service is primarily to cater for a $3OO million bauxite/alumina pro ject at Gove, in which Alusuisse has a major share.

It’s hoped to get the service started in March with two Bulgarian-built 5,000-tonners, Safia and Sariba, owned by Papuan Liner Services, which will be put on bareboat charter to ATLS.

Australia has granted ATLS per mission to operate these two vessels while two other specialised 4,500tonners are built in Australian ship yards for the service. Tenders are yet to be called.

ATLS says agreement has been reached with Australian maritime unions (see PIM, Jan., p. 99) over manning of the Sariba and Safia.

Crews left Australia for these ships in January.

ATLS will compete on the Gove trade (it’s estimated that 370,000 tons of equipment and materials will be shipped to Gove by 1974) with the Australian National Line and a Dillingham Corporation subsidiary, John Burke Line.

Recently, Dillinghams took over Burke, buying shares held by Islands Agent, Nelson and Robertson Pty.

Ltd.

Other Australia-New Guinea ship pers are sceptical whether yet another service to NG will cover its costs on already intensely competitive calls, especially by employing Australian crews on Australian rates of pay.

However, Karlander says it will make its Moresby calls pay and maintains it will later this year also increase its other NG services . , , . , , Karlander proposed previously and unsuccessfully that Papuan crews man ATLS ships. This provoked top level opposition in Canberra by «L.

Shipowners are extremely sensitive about publicising their ships’ place of registration. An Asian or Islands registration can mean big costs saved and Karlander would have preferred a Moresby registration for its project.

However, it didn’t turn out that way,

Worry About Lae

Shipping Delays

Start of New Guinea’s coffee export season in May will be a crucial period for Lae, where 95 per cent, of the crop leaves for the big buyers of West Germany and Holland.

Export and shipping groups have protested to Mr. Barnes, Australia’s Minister for External Territories, over the “hopelessly inadequate con ditions of Lae”.

The P-NG Coffee Marketing Board, Ango Marketing, coffee planters from Mt. Hagen and Goroko, the Bank Line and Ham

burg-Sud have asked Mr. Barnes to intervene.

They told him unduly long delays by ships calling at Lae had jeopard ised coffee exports, worth one-quar ter —or about $l4 million —of the ter ritory’s exports.

They called for vast improvements in wharf facilities and handling operations at Lae. Extensions to Lae’s wharf were behind schedule and there was no provision for coffee storage space near the wharf.

The groups said the system of berthing priority introduced by the PNG Harbours Board last September was “flagrant discrimination provid ing preferential treatment for fav oured people.”

The system was introduced to en courage unitised cargo handling. It was, however, unsuitable for the coffee trade and ships handling coffee had since suffered even greater delays.

In late January the groups were awaiting Mr. Barnes’ reply. They had called for help by May.

Ships Warned Of

New 'Island'

Was it Falcon Island? Or was it a new low-lying shoal produced by underwater volcanic activity?

Tongan and Fiji marine authori ties disagreed in January over the identity of a shoal seen by Fiji Air ways pilots in the Falcon Island area, 20 miles north-west of Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu.

No matter what, Fiji’s Marine De partment said, it amounted to a danger to navigation. The depart ment decided to warn ships.

Tonga’s Harbour Master, Captain C. H. Hill-Willis, disagreed. He said the reports were from the Falcon Island area and no warning to ship ping would be required as the area was already declared a shipping hazard.

Chief pilot of Fiji Airways, Cap tain N. M. Ganley, gave the shoal’s position accurate to one mile; the Fiji Marine department said his figures indicated an area 35.3 miles south south-west of Falcon Island’s last reported position.

One of the airline’s pilots. Cap tain B. N. Rankin, had seen the shoal while piloting a HS74B be tween Fiji and Tonga on January 3.

He estimated discolouration of the water covered between 400 and 500 acres with a definite division be tween a patch forming the centre and that surrounding it, which was lighter in colour.