SHIPPING DIFFICULTIES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 48, 13 February 1945, Page 5

SHIPPING DIFFICULTIES

SHORTAGE OF VESSELS

NORTHERN COMPANY'S EX- " PLANATION

In a letter to the Whakatane Har-> hour Board last Friday the Northern Steamship Company acknowledged the Board's letter complaining of the limited service to Whakatane and the loss of revenue which had resulted. The letter stated that: Owing to the urgent need for coastal vessels by the Government for defence purposes there is a grave shortage of coastal ships. It was known that during the flush of the dairy season there was some delay in lifting returned empties from_Whakatane but thi& was not the case as regards cargo from Auckland. Early in the butter season it was arranged for the Opotiki boat to call every fortnight to clean up returned empties and several calls had ben made but owing to the extremely bad and wet weather experienced during the last two months the vesels have been bar-bound and the timetables disorganised. It is hoped that by next butter season the Company avill be able to provide two boats. In regard to the shipments of beer for the hotels, the difficulty has been with, the breweries who are unable to supply a full week's requirements in one shipment and so have to v make

three shipments each week by rail. The Company advised that everything possible Avas being done, with a reduced lleet to cope with all cargo offering under difficult conditions.