DOCK OPERATING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 50, 18 February 1944, Page 3

DOCK OPERATING

UNIT IN PACIFIC

South Pacific. Feb. 0. Wherever the fighting men of nations meet in combat the matter of supplies, provides a vital problem, the truth of Avhieh declaration has never been better exemplified than in the widely scattered operational areas of the. broad Pacific. And in this zone, Avith the Avar being fought on many island fronts, air-borne and sea transport provide the only means of conveyance. For the latter, docking facilities, particularly for deep-water ships, are limited, and the ingenuity of Amen rican engineers has been called upon to. overcome, a knotty problem in providing a safe anchorage 011 the coral-fringed shores of a South Pacific isle.

This tasik lias! been .successfully accomplished. A passage has been blasted -through a coral reef Avhieh formerly had rendered useless a natural land-locked harbour, and. the Americans have opened to the sea lanes of the. world a sale deep-water port. A small Avharf has been constructed, and AA-hen the big ships tie up, personnel of the Wharf Operating Company, New Zealand "Engineers, are on their mettle. It is their job to turn ships, about in the quickest possible, time. Highly skilled in their own particular spheres, the men of this unit are responsible lor the unloading of all American and Ncav Zealand ships which berth at the port, and it is a tribute to their industry and efficiency that the ships are. turned about Avithout undue delay. Time is not lost because of wet weather, unless there is a danger of ■ Avater damaging the particular type of cargo being unloaded. With the unit's strength divided into four shifts, each of six nours' duration, maximum output is assured. Each section is in the charge of a sergeant, or key foreman, and the Avorking parties operate Avith

a smoothness which needs to bo seen to be appreciated. In each shift there is one break of fifteen minutes —few the New Zealanders' inevitable cup of tea. For the most part the men on deck are experienced Avinclimen, competent to operate cither steam or electric winches. The- halchmen are trained wharf workers,, and, their jobs call for careful co-operation with the winehmen. Theirs is the responsibility of guiding safely over the side of the ship the cargo lilted from the holds. On an average, and providing there are no hokls-mp while waiting for trucks, the- unit can transfer from ship to truck 50-gallon drums of petrol at the rate of 'welve truekloads an hour. Each truck transports 24 drums to the appropriate dumps. In the handling of general cargo the output is somewhat slower, a factor necessitated by the careful packing of cargo nets and vehicles to ensure removal of maximum loads. The unit is not required to work the holds. This duty comes within the ambit of special working parties drawn from a base camp, but it is responsible for tallying the cargo as it is lifted from the ships' holds and lowered to the waiting trucks. Provision has not been made for goods sheds. For eight months this unit has operated, but although large quantities of cargo have been shifted the unit lias not suffered a single casualty from accidents.