Lord Howe v Karlander
pp. 88-92 · Read in the full issue
Karlander meanwhile has been in the wars in another part of the Pacific—Lord Howe Island, where the islanders are critical of its service. Karlander last year started calling at Lord Howe to replace the service of the Jacques del Mar 11, which had suddenly been withdrawn
from its Sydney-Lord Howe-Norfolk- Noumea run.
The Jacques del Mar 11 provided a three-weekly service carrying general, cooler and refrigerated cargo; she withdrew from the service on economic grounds. The Ville de Noumea then provided one urgently needed service, but the freight rate was $45 a ton, against $37.50 in the Jacques del Mar 11. Neither did the Ville de Noumea have refrigerated space.
Karlander, at the request of the Lord Howe Island Board, agreed to assist, and it apparently has done its best to maintain a regular service, at $37.50, which it finds as unecono mic as did the owners of Jacques del Mar 11. This service is part of the run to Norfolk Island, the New Hebrides and the BSIP, which Karlander took over following BP’s withdrawal of the Tulagi.
Karlander stated at the outset that there would be difficulties in placing a ship on the service. It planned to use the Sletholm, but in the interim, it ran a quick trip to Lord Howe with the Slidre Timur, carrying only dry cargo. The islanders complained that the first Sletholm service called at Brisbane, Weipa, Port Moresby and Samarai before it reached Lord Howe; which ruled out the possibility of its carrying perishable cooler cargo.
Lord Howe Islanders then com plained that the Sletholm was diverted to another service, and that Lord Howe was included in the schedule of the Sletfjord, which called first at Bougainville and BSIP ports. Again, because Lord Howe was last port of call there was no cooler cargo. However, Karlander says it had rescheduled this trip at short notice to include Lord Howe, and there were existing schedules to be honoured. The Slidre Timur was again sent to Lord Howe, substituting for a Sletfjord service, with cooler cargo carried on deck at shipper’s risk. As the trip lasted only two days there was no deterioration of this cargo.
Early in December the Lord Howe Islanders had a final complaint; that the next service after the Slidre Timur would be 42 days away. It was a complaint that could be re medied if the islanders follow a suggestion made by Karlander that they provide holding space for refrigerated goods on the island#
v lt seems that it is just not worth while to put in at Lord pHowe so often with such a small load of cargo.
A recent public meeting on Lord Howe agreed that, “The Karlander service is totally unsatisfactory due to time and pilferage,” and requested the board to call new tenders for the Lord Howe service in January each year for the ensuing year.
Mr. A. G. Kingsmill, chairman of the Lord Howe Island Board, said in Sydney in mid-December that now that Karlander was making Lord Howe the first port of call he hoped that the service would satisfactorily meet the island’s requirements.
He added: “The board has been in close touch with Karlander with a view to ensuring the company provides the best possible service for the needs of the island.”
FOOTNOTE: While on the subject of the Jacques del Mar 11. She has been sold to John Manners and Co., and has been renamed the Isabel.
BP’s Tulagi, bought by Societe Mari time Caledonienne, Noumea, has been renamed Jacques del Mar (without any extra handle to it) and currently is operating a service from Sydney to Norfolk Island and Noumea.
New ships for
New Caledonia...
The Ravel brothers of Sofrana in Noumea have announced the purchase of a new vessel to join the Capitaine Cook and Capitaine Wallis on the New Zealand-Noumea-New Hebrides- Fiji-New Zealand service.
This will permit a speeding up of this service to one vessel every 10 days.
The new ship, 2,500 tons dwt, is the Capitaine Tasman, a 13-year-old vessel purchased in France. It’s ex pected to reach Noumea in February, and be manned by French and Fijian crew.
The Capitaine Tasman offers 70 cubic metres refrigerated cargo space and 3,500 cubic metres for general cargo. Main merchandise carried from NZ to New Caledonia is cur rently wood and prefabricated houses.
At the same time, another Cale donian shipping company, the Com pagnie des Chargeurs Caledoniens, is also planning to have a new ship in service shortly. This will supplement the Noumea-Sydney-Brisbane-Noumea line currently operated by the Wille de Noumea.
. . . And Some Others
Yj\Ll Soon Disappear
Messageries Maritimes will withdraw their two passenger-cargo ships, Ta j litien and Caledonien, from the p rance p ac ifi c islands - Australia service later i n 1971. The Caledonien wd sad f rom sy dney for the last time j n j une and the Jahitien in Se p tem ber Present plans are not to replace these ships, which were built in 1951 and 1952. Each has capacity for about 400 P assen § ers p ac ifi c islands ports serviced by th shi between p France and Au ' *
tralia are Taiohea (Marquesas), Papeete, Vila, Santo and Noumea. 4 ... , - Messagenes will still operate four cargo ships a month from north European ports to the Pacific. One Wlll call only at Papeete and will then return direct; one will call at Noumea and return direct; a third will return via New Zealand after calling at Papeete and New Caledonia, and the fourth will go on to Japan f £ om Pa P eet ®. and Noumea, and will then return direct.
The line will use eight of its own ships on the service, and will charter others,
Services cut to
Port Moresby
Two shipping lines curtailed services in December from Australia to Port Moresby because of serious congestion in Moresby port.
Conpac Pacific Express Line with drew the Delos from a regular run between Melbourne and Port Moresby because of hold-ups (see PIM, Dec., p. 95), and was due to service only Lae and Madang.
Nauru Pacific Shipping Lines also terminated the voyage of the Enna G at Brisbane and cancelled its next voyage from Melbourne to Port Moresby and Kieta.
Ships in Port Moresby Harbour have been facing delays of up to 10 days because of inadequate berthing and storage space, aggravated by the accident of the Malaysia, which ran into the wharf. Although as much as 20,000 tons of cargo can move through the port in any one smooth running week, there is only storage space for 5,000 tons. During December hotels and major stores in Moresby were running out of refrigerated goods, as ships waited to dock.
If present plans are followed Nauru Pacific Shipping Lines’ Enna G will join the Rosie D and the Eigamoiya, on regular runs from Melbourne calling at Fiji, Nauru, Kieta, Port Moresby and return.
Madang and Guam are also being considered as likely ports.
But Some New Ones
To Call At Moresby
The E and A Line ships, Cathay and Chitral, will include Port Moresby in their regular Australia-Japan services from February. One of these ships leaves Australia every month.
Current ports of call are Mel bourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Manila, Hong Kong, Keelung, Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama and Rabaul.
Each ship will be in Port Moresby from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to give passengers ample time to make local tours. Each has a passenger capacity of 274 adults and 16 children.
Australia-Guam
Service Ceases
Two passenger-cargo ships, the George Anson and Francis Drake will be withdrawn from the Aus tralia-Far East-Guam service—the George Anson in February and the Francis Drake in March. The ships, operated by H. C. Sleigh Ltd., are both about 20 years old.
They have been servicing MelM
bourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Manila, VHong Kong, Keelung and Guam.
Jit looks at the moment that as a result of this withdrawal there will be no shipping service between Australia and Guam—and Guam is a growing purchaser of Australian goods.
Nz Seamen Up To
No Good Again
The Cook Islands Government plans to place a Cook Islands crew on the Thallo, which has been plagued with trouble from the NZ Seamen’s Union because it has a Fijian crew and not a New Zealand one on its Auckland-Rarotonga run (see PIM, Dec., p. 95). The Cook Islands Shipping Company, which charters the Thallo from Mr. Athol Rusden, said the ship was on a traditional islands run and was en titled to carry Cooks crew. Latest union comment is that this might contravene an earlier agreement.
Another ship, the Jean Philippe, carrying airport construction equip ment from Rarotonga to Auckland, is also in dispute with the seamen’s union.
The seamen’s union the previous month (PIM, Dec., p. 95) was making life equally difficult for an other Cook Islands chartered vessel,
the Slidre Timur. It looks as though the NZ seamen’s union is bent on doing to islands services in and out of Auckland, what the Australian seamen’s union with its equally short sighted policy did to Burns Philp islands services out of Sydney—ruin them.
Tongans Hostile
At Pillaging
Tonga’s merchants were up in arms recently when the Union Steam Ship Company’s Waimate arrived in Nuku alofa with a third of its Christmas cargo (about 100 tons) damaged or pillaged. It was her last call, after delivering New Zealand goods at Lautoka, Suva, Apia and Pago Pago, before returning to Auckland.
A correspondent says it was the worst case of its kind in recent years and merchants felt justified in refus ing to take delivery, pending claims.
The wharf administration told the carriers that it would not be held responsible for claims.
While Tonga’s watersiders cannot be wholly exonerated, both the harbourmaster and Union Steam manager are certain the trouble hap pened elsewhere.
The mess that greeted importers at the custom shed was “unbelievable”, the correspondent reports. Cartons of
beer and soft drinks, soaked in oil, were disintegrating, cases of children’s toys, fire extinguishers and vacuum flasks had been ripped open and the contents removed. A heavy motor truck was stripped of battery, spare tyre and tool kit. There were empty cartons of biscuits and tinned meats; missing or damaged bolts of material.
Sacks of flour and a lounge suite had been used as a toilet.
The correspondent adds: “With ever-increasing freight rates, and con stant delays due to strikes, it’s no wonder that the wharf administration and merchants of Tonga are annoyed and ready to put the blame on the carrier”.
Still Serious Congestion
In Noumea Port
Boom time in New Caledonia has meant serious congestion in the port of Noumea, where the increase in merchandise has not been coupled with a similar growth in berthing facilities.
A new 150-yard wharf for small inter-island vessels is expected to be completed by next January. But the new deep-water quay, initially planned to take one large liner, will not be ready before March, 1972.
While ships lost 160 days in Noumea harbour last year, it is
feared that over 1,000 days will be wasted this year by ships anchored amidstream waiting for berths. At a cost of $A2,000 per day, this would represent a loss of some $2 million to shipping companies.
While awaiting the completion of
new berSg lenities If porl
authority is enforcing extra measures to speed up the clearance of merchandise from the docks. At the same time, several acres of new land are now equipped to store cumbersome vehicles and earth-moving equipment awaiting clearance.
Shipping briefs
• Two more Japanese-Australian joint venture companies are to con duct surveys for skipjack tuna in Papua and New Guinea waters. The two ventures are in addition to a 12 month survey begun last March by the Gollin Kyokuyo Fishing Com pany off New Ireland.
The two other companies now be ginning surveys are Nichimen Com pany (ANZ) Pty. Ltd. and Kaigai Cyogyo KK which will operate from Rabaul, and C. Itoh (Aust.) Pty.
Ltd. which will be based on Manus Island.
The conditions of survey licences issued to the three companies are the same. Each must put forward pro positions on future commercial opera tions after 12 months.
The C. Itoh fleet will consist initially of a mother ship, Eiryu Maru, and four other vessels.
• Sole Pacific and NSW agents for Gardner diesel, Knox Schlapd Pty. Ltd., of Sydney, are now putting stocks of Gardner spares into the Islands. Henry Chow, of Toboi Ship building Co., Rabaul, are first distri butors appointed under the new arrangements, and they will supply the New Guinea islands and north coast mainland ports. Other agents are being appointed in Port Moresby, Honiara and elsewhere. Spares have never previously been distributed from New Guinea. • The Norwegian American Line’s new vessel, Sagafjord, will pay its first visit to Pago Pago in January, 1972, as a result of efforts by the Governor of American Samoa, John M. Haydon, to attract additional cruise ships. The Governor is now asking other companies to put in at Pago. • A $638,288 contract has been let for the construction of an over seas wharf at Oro Bay in the North ern District of Papua, to Hornibrook Constructions Pty, Ltd The wharf will consist of a 200 ft by 40 ft wharf head designed to berth vessels up to 10,000 tons. A causeway and bridge approach span will extend from the shore to the head. A cargo shed, security storage area, stevedores’ amenities building and customs area will be provided, and the contract, to be completed by September, 1972, also includes the construction of a bridge on the approach road to the wharf. • The Tagua, 168 tons, went aground off Mangaia Island in the Cook group on December 15, and a call went out to the Jean Philippe , crewed by Fijians, to pull her off.
The Tagua ; owned by Silk and Boyd, Rarotonga, was reported to be holed in the cargo hold. The master, Captain Karl Leiwendhal, was slightly injured when caught by spokes of the wheel as the ship grounded. The Jean Philippe was en route to Rarotonga from NZ when she received the call for help. • Papua-New Guinea’s Nautical Training School is to be moved from Napa-Napa, Port Moresby, to Madang. The next class at Napa- Napa, starting in January, will be the last in Port Moresby. Its members will be transferred to Madang as soon as facilities are completed. • Two RAN patrol boats, HMAS Aitape and Ladava, went up and down the Fly River of Papua-New Guinea in December. They sailed a total distance of 944 nautical miles at an average speed of 10 knots. 4