Judge Winds Up Transpac Case

A legal bar to the liquidation of Transpacific Lines (Transpac) which held an exclusive franchise in the US Trust Territory, was removed recently when Associate Justice Arvin H.

Brown, ruled the receivership was valid and should be upheld. Creditors, shareholders and others in March, 1974, started an action to have the receiver, Mr John F. Meadows, dis missed.

The plaintiffs also asked that: Transpac have the right to sue and be sued; Trust Territory Government claims against the assets of Transpac should not be given priority; any receiver appointed be required to take all necessary steps to prevent can cellation of the Transpac franchise; the receiver be required to post a bond of $3l million; and full hear ings be held requiring the government to justify its action in placing Trans pac in receivership.

Mr Justice Brown, rejecting argu ments that the High Commissioner, Mr Edward E. Johnston, had no power to set up a receivership, said he not only had that right, but had to do so.

Since Transpac’s demise, per mission for other ships to enter Micronesian ports has been given on

a case-by-case basis. The following lines have been given permission to serve Micronesian ports: Nauru Pacific Line, a container service with the Elizabeth Bornhofen, a 45-day direct service from San Francisco and Honolulu to Majuro, Ponape and Truk, with transshipment at Kusaie and Ebeye, and direct monthly services to the same islands from Australia with the Weser Des patches Eigamoiya and Cenpac Rounder; Pacific Far East Line, US west coast cargo for transshipment at Guam to Saipan Shipping Co ships for delivery to Saipan, Yap, and Koror (PFEL has since left Guam); Matson Line, to serve Ebeye through Kwajalein every 25 days from Oakland; Daiwa Line, to serve Saipan monthly with the new container ship, Ponape Maru from Japan and Tai wan; Sause Bros Ocean Towing Co to serve eastern districts and Saipan on an inducement basis with a tug and a barge carrying lumber and other cargo from the Pacific north-west; Tiger Line, a subsidiary of United Micronesian Development Associ

ation, to time-charter the TT ship, Herkimer, and pick up copra from all districts for Japan; Dilmar Corporation to serve Saipan, Truk, Yap and Koror from Guam.

Ropeways To Solve

Png Problems

Transport Department officials looking at new ways to solve com munications and transport problems in Papua New Guinea, have started feasibility studies into the use of ropeways—aerial structures which ferry goods and people by cables suspended high above the ground.

The investigation is seen as a possible solution to breaking down the isolation barrier in under developed areas, and providing an economical transportation of cash crops from remote areas to markets in main centres.

Transport Minister, Mr lambakey Okuk, gave the go-ahead for the studies after a six-week overseas trip last year when he inspected rope ways operating in Nepal, Austria, India and Norway.

Three ropeways are planned for the Huon Peninsula area of the Morobe District and another three

may be set up between the Hirilano Highway at Bereina and Tapini in the Central District. They would be used to transport coffee and other cash crops.

However, their long-term appli cation, although generally regarded as the most economical transport medium in mountainous areas, is still in doubt. Developments so far are part of an overall master plan for rapid improvement of Papua New Guinea’s transport system.

Mr Okuk’s overseas study tour was the first stage of establishing a transport network in isolated areas.

A second and more comprehensive study will be commissioned by the Transport Department in the next few months.

It will look into the comparative costs of roads and different types of ropeways. In most cases road con struction in Papua New Guinea is extremely costly and maintenance expensive because of heavy rainfall and unstable soil conditions.

For these reasons ropeways are favoured by Mr Okuk who weighs favourably the heavy initial cost of ropeways against the long-term benefits of reliability and minor maintenance.

Feasibility studies are being carried out at Pindiu, Kabwum and Finschhafen in the Morobe District and at three sites between Bereina and Tapini in the Central District.

Pfel Opens Container

Service To Papeete

Pacific Far East Line, in a new 25-day sailing schedule, has opened a fully-containerised service from America’s west coast to Papeete with the container ship New Zealand Bear scheduled to make her first arrival at Tahiti on April 22.

PFEL’s South Pacific director, Mr N. Morrison, said that, in another change, the container ships Hawaii Bear and New Zealand Bear will call at Pago Pago on the northbound leg from Australia and New Zealand as well as north-west Pacific ports.

The line’s LASH (Lighter Aboard Ship) barges have been so success ful that it is intended to bring 200 more barges into use, bringing the total to 360. • Tonga’s Ministry of Works is examining the possibility of building a permanent wharf at Niuafoou.

However, it will not be an easy task because of the exposed layout of the deep water. The previous structure, a concrete bridge between the land ing rock and shore was washed away during Hurricane Val, making it difficult to load and discharge ships calling at the island.

Transport briefs

• At 3.15 am on Tuesday, March 11, the P and O liner Oriana, a familiar sight at Pacific ports, logged her two-millionth mile. She was sailing from Suva to Auckland.

Launched 15 years ago, Oriana spends most of her time in the cruise business. • The United States Civil Aero nautics Board has rejected 13 per :ent fare increases proposed by the [nternational Air Transport Associa ion for flights between the US and he South Pacific. • An airstrip at Nutuve in the 3 omio area of East New Britain PNG) was officially opened on Monday, March 17, and then officially :losed a few hours later because of orrential rain. Two aircraft, which lew in officials from Rabaul for the •pening ceremony, became bogged lown. The planes left later but lassengers left behind were taken iut by helicopter. • Engineers are working on a lesign for a new wharf at Gizo in he Solomons’ Western District. The ew wharf, on steel columns, will ost $38,000, and will be similar to he one at Auki. • Air New Zealand introduced new Auckland-Rarotonga service n April 3 which increases the requency to three DC-8 flights a /eek. It leaves Auckland at 11.59 m to arrive in the Cook Islands at .20 am the same day. The airline iperates another direct service on hndays, leaving at 10 am and arriv ing at 3.20 pm the previous day. The bird flight goes through Nadi and perates on Tuesdays. Departure is 1.30 pm and arrival in the Cook slands is 8 am the same day. • A New Hebridean, Roan Dainel 26), of Paama, has been promoted a third officer of the China Naviga ion Company’s ship Hu Peh. The ompany has given him leave to study i New Zealand for his second mate’s ertificate. Before joining the Hu 'eh, he did marine training at loniara. • Air Pacific’s second Britten Jorman Trislander aircraft, delivery f which has been held up for three lonths, arrived in Fiji on March 18, ist in time to fill the service gap lade the previous Sunday when the nly Trislander in the fleet was

grounded after a fire in one of its three engines. The new plane was flown in by Miss Janet Ferguson, pilot of a British company which specialises in delivering aircraft to new owners. The new aircraft is on the Suva-Savusavu-Taveuni service. • About 400 workers at Nadi Air port in Fiji, members of the Public Employees’ Union staged a three-day strike in March as a protest against the replacement of a driver in the transport section. A settlement was reached after talks between the air port management and union officials.

No flights were affected. • Tolair is making a takeover bid for one of its main rivals in PNG third level aviation—Macair Hold ings. Macair Holdings operates Mela nesian Airline Co, ANC and Solomon Islands Airways (Solair). Solair operates to Kieta as well as inside the BSIP. Macair operates mainly in the Morobe district and in some Papuan areas, and flies into the Southern Highlands. • Polynesian Airlines recently raised air fares in line with higher international fares, which have gone up because of increased costs. The Apia-Pago Pago fare is unchanged.

New single fares on other routes are: Apia-Nadi, SWS6O; Apia-Tonga, 5W561.60; Tonga-Niue, $W543.20; Niue-Apia or Apia-Niue, $W543.20.

• Pan American World Airways, on April 8 discontinued its weekly service between Australia and Los Angeles, via New Caledonia. The service, which started in Melbourne, and was via Sydney, Noumea and Honolulu, was cut out to reduce operational cost in the South Pacific PAA had been flying to, or through, New Caledonia for 36 years. • Shaw Savill’s Ocean Monarch, well-known cruiser around the Islands, left Sydney at the beginning of April for her last cruise. She will return to Britain in June where she will be auctioned. Another Pacific favourite, the P and O liner Oronsay, will also disappear from the Pacific scene. She will sail to Hong Kong in mid-September for scrapping. • A small Fiji inter-island ship, the Tui Nadovu, overturned in the Koro Sea on April 1, throwing the 17 people on board into the water.

Four of them reached safety that day, and next day it was reported that another 11 had either made land themselves or had been picked up by rescue ships. An air/sea search was under way for the remaining two.

The Tui Nadovu was on the way from Nasau Village, Koro, to Levuka. • The Solomons landing craft Makambo, which has been on char ter to the GEIC transporting heavy airfield construction machinery to Nonouti island, has returned to Honiara. The GEIC Marine Superin tendent, Captain Willie Schutz, took the Makambo on her return voyage.