Pacific Shipping

What's Going Off

On The Suva

Waterfront?

More appears to be behind the news of trouble with unloading the Nauru Pacific Line’s Rosie D in Suva ast month than merely the well oiown propensity of dock workers werywhere for making short work if any alcoholic beverages that lappen to be on hand.

It started out with the assault on i watchman who attempted to bar a locker from boarding the Rosie D, vhich was unloading cargo, including >eer, at Suva.

With a section of the work force Irunk and incapable, not much cargo /as being unloaded, and the ship left wo days early for Lautoka, intending o discharge the rest of the cargo on etum. The beer was all off the ship y then.

At the height of the trouble, the scond mate of the Rosie D ireatened to call the police if more eer was stolen, so three gangs of 'atersiders walked off the ship. Two f the gangs were not directly ivolved as they were working in ther holds.

The Fiji Times reported that nother ship, The Newcastle Star, iffered similarly at the hands of ilferers of a cargo of hard liquor.

The real problem is to determine hether this was an isolated incident r part of a general deterioration of mtrol of the Suva ddcks.

There are company people who ill say, off the record, that the in iscipline of the wharves is costing icm and indirectly the public, large ims of money through delays and sses in cargo handling.

They won’t be quoted for fear of taliation against their particular )ods in transit. One company which ould stand up and be counted was iji Industries Ltd. which had a

cargo of 5,000 tons of clinker on the Rosie D for its cement works.

A company spokesman said it was taking six days to discharge instead of the estimated four, and the subsequent increases in cost were making it difficult to sell the cement produced by the company in Fiji.

One thing is certain. It won’t do the cause of militant unionism seeking more pay or better conditions any good if an irresponsible element is allowed to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. That’s what they’ll have done if shippers have to curtail their business through losing money on the wharves.

New Line Confident

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Shareholders of a two-month-old shipping line, Compagnie Maritime Hebridaise formed by 14 shareholders in New Caledonia and the New Hebrides, are already thinking of buying more ships.

Skipper of the company’s lone ship Erakor, Captain Henry John Helme told PIM that his ship has attracted so much business on the Sydney- Noumea-Vila-Santo run, that his company is looking for more ships.

Erakor's success follows a struggle with the harbour authorities in the New Hebrides to obtain recognition for the infant line in its claim for a share of the port facilities at Santo.

For 20 years, said Captain Helme, a part-French, part-Tahitian skipper, former master of the Ville de Noumea and a director of the Ville

de Noumea's owners, Chargeurs Caledoniens, the Messageries Mari time’s Polynesie had been given priority at Santo’s wharf which had berthing space for only one vessel at a time.

His company had complained that they had been unable to get proper facilities at the wharf although carry ing out the same type of service for the people of the New Hebrides, Now their protest had been heard and Erakor was being given equal rights with Polynesie.

“We have had a good start and are doing well,” said Captain Helme.

Erakor, of 2,350 tons dwt, was formerly the Valfer and was registered at Marseilles for the North Africa service. She completes the Sydney-Noumea-Vila-Santo run every 21 days,

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French Line Quits

New Hebrides

Messageries Maritimes has decided to boycott New Hebrides ports and has re-routed its 7,500-ton freighter Gauge, cutting out Santo and calling at Tahiti instead.

A company spokesman told PIM that it had been decided to switch the Gauge from the New Hebrides to Tahiti for two reasons—too much time was being lost in ship’s turn round at Santo because the harbour authorities were giving berthing priority to other companies and there was a lack of support from shippers in the condominium There is berthing space for only

Nicknamed the "space ship" because of her streamlined looks, the "Hamburg" (pictured) was due at Suva on April 25 for her first visit. The 25,000-ton liner, flagship of the German Atlantic Line, went into service three years ago and is making her first Pacific cruise.

one ship at Santo and ships had to anchor in the stream to allow an other ship to discharge cargo. Mes sageries Maritime said they had found that whenever the Gange wanted to use the berth other ships had been given preference.

Consequently, the Gange had had to remain in the stream and lose several days on every voyage.

The Gange has been plying be tween Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Noumea, Fiji ports and the New Hebrides.

The new route, which also cuts out Adelaide because of an insuffi ciency of bookings, will serve Mel bourne, Sydney, Noumea, Fiji and Tahiti every six weeks. The first call at Tahiti will be about June 15.

The Gange has cargo space of 13,041 cu. metres and also freezer space.

>Ump Fault And

Strike Plague 'Tauloto'

Tonga’s new ship, the Tauloto, ran nto trouble recently—just two months ifter going into service.

Two hundred miles out of Sydney ind heading for Suva, Tauloto turned shout and steamed back to port for epairs to faulty bilge pumps.

According to her Australian kipper, Captain J. M. Stott (64), a eteran of the island runs, “We had pumping defect which had to be epaired. We could have gone on but thought the repairs could be done uicker in Sydney.”

Excess water was pumped out and be repairs were completed in four ays. For a second time, the Tauloto, ally loaded with 3,500 tons of eneral cargo, prepared to sail out

Captain J. M. Stott.

of Sydney Harbour. But she was de layed yet again. This time she fell foul of a token strike by the Firemen and Deckhands Union. Finally she set sail the following morning. In all, she had been held up almost a week.

The Tauloto (5,156 gross tons) services Melbourne, Sydney, Suva, Lautoka, Apia, Pago Pago and Nukualofa on a 30-day turn around. >he was built in 1954 and was con certed to a unit cargo vessel in 1968 vhen she was trading on the Aus ralia-New Guinea service as the sland Chief.

The Tauloto was chartered by the f origans’ own company, Pacific Navi gation Company, for one year with ight of purchase from the China Navigation Company. ► "Tauloto's" royal welcome on p. 70.

Hips In Trouble

Round The Pacific

• The master and four crew of le wooden motor vessel, Haeremai tar, abandoned ship off Booby Island, orth of Thursday Island, in mid larch. The ship was on her way om Darwin to Daru, Papua, to load irgo, when a fire started in the igine room, rapidly spreading.

The five men were picked up by a ■awn trawler, Jedda, and taken to hursday Island. Haeremai Star sank •on afterwards. • Ville de Noumea, which operates regular cargo service between oumea and Sydney, was forced to turn to Newcastle for the second ne in 10 days in late March, due engine trouble. • A tug was sent from Honolulu late March to assist a grounded Drean motor vessel, Kwang Myung '> stranded on a reef off Christmas and.

Kwang’s crew was reported safe, vo other vessels provided help while waiting the tug. Kwang was reported Lloyds to have sustained damage her bottom.

-Amazon Ship

Ins Samoa Fleet

An ex-Riyer Amazon passenger

d cargo ship and latterly on service the Cook Islands, the Bodmer has tied the Western 'Samoa fleet -rated by a new company, Ocean Tioa Co. Ltd., which has been ablished by locals.

Bodmer has been renamed Misimoa er the late Afoafouvale Misimoa arry Moors), first Islander to :ome a secretary-general of the ith Pacific Commission. He died Idenly at Tarawa on February 18, r l- Bodmer’s new master is Cap i Harry Moors jr., Misimoa’s son.

Misimoa, which is nearly ft long with a beam of nearly 25 ft and draft of 9 ft, will be used to carry passengers and cargo, mainly processed timber from the Potlatch sawmills at Asau to the markets in r P inn a ? d Tutuila - There ls s P ac e for 40° tons cargo and a 160 cu. ft r,,'//? fre p zer ; , ~. .

Built in England, Misimoa, which was renamed at a ceremony at Apia early in April was first registered at Georgetown, Cayman Island in the la n:.^ an fl!1 r Mouse flag of the new company bears Neptune s trident, a dolphin and seahorse on a blue background.

The dolphin is in the shape of an ° ° cean and the seahorse forms an S for Samoa.

• The Suva-based salvage and towing company, Marine Pacific Ltd., has expanded its fleet by another tug and two barges, making a total of three tugs and three barges, They have been leased from the British Inchcape group which formed Marine Pacific two years ago in partnership with Williams and Gos ling Ltd. • The Union Steam Ship Com pany has sold two of its smallest ships to Lineng Enterprise Ltd., a company registered in Panama. The two ships are the Kaimai, of 2,007 tons, which was built in 1956, and the Kawatiri, of 2,848 tons, built in 1950. They have been renamed and will trade out of Singapore.