Petrol Leak Stops Work
(N.Z. Press Association) NAPIER, Jan. 11. Napier watersiders have decided not to work alongside, any wharf while a tanker is discharging petrol. This decision was reached today after 200 gallons of petrol spilled while the Norwegian tanker Magnolia was discharging at the port. Most of the petrol splashed into the water but some spread over the wharf and caused a fire hazard. The president of the Napier Waterfront Workers’ Union,
Mr G. Christie said: “We are emphatic that we will not. in future, work alongside any wharf in Napier while a tanker is pumping petrol.” Mr Christie said the Magnolia was discharging petrol at a time when, under an agreement with the union, it should have been discharging crude oil only. For three or four years the union had been negotiating with the Marine Department, the Napier Harbour Board and fire authorities for a universally acceptable agreement on handling tankers, he said. The union was given an assurance that petrol would not
be pumped between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., but when a pipe alongside the Magnolia burst this morning petrol was being discharged. “We were given assurances that there was no danger of a pipe breaking while a tanker was discharging, but this is the second time in two years,” said Mr Christie.
“We have been working diplomatically for three or four years and we have got nowhere. This should bring the matter to a head. "We are perturbed about the method of discharging, and the narrowness of the wharves."
A Marine Department regulation says that a barrier must be erected while a tanker is pumping petrol to keep vehicles at least 50ft away from hose-pipe connexions. The department has ruled that the word “connexions” means where the ship’s hose joins the wharf, but Napier watersiders maintain that “connexions” could also be the occasional join in the ship’s hose. This dispute has continued for some time. The watersiders resumed work at. 11 a.m. when the Magnolia had stopped pumping petrol.
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Press, Volume CV, Issue 30956, 12 January 1966, Page 3
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335Petrol Leak Stops Work Press, Volume CV, Issue 30956, 12 January 1966, Page 3
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