HITCH OVER TYSER BOAT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1690, 5 March 1913, Page 3

HITCH OVER TYSER BOAT.

AT WELLINGTON.' STATEMENTS BY BOTH SIDES. Referring to the remarks published in Monday's .Dominion by Mr. if. I'letchcr, chairman, of the 'Wellington HarbourBoard in regard to delay of tho Star of Ireland; Mr._ Nathan ;i:ates:— "Messrs. W. M. Bannatyno and Co., Ltd., as agents for the Tyser Line, Ltd., do not wish to enter into a controversy with Mr. Fletcher, but in reply to his remark respecting tha steamer Star of Ireland, viz.: 'I might be permitted to suggest that there are vessels other than tlioso belonging to tho Tyser Lino visiting tho port of Wellington, and their noeds must bo attended to,* we wish to make it quito clear that wo realised this fact before it was brought under the notice of tho general public by Mr. Fletcher, ancl we .have never expected different treatment to that bestowed on other companies. "We isti.ll maintain that if sufficient discretion had bEen used by the authorities when allotting a discharging berth for tho Star of Ireland all this trou&lo and serious delay -to tho steamer could havo been avoided.

"In reply to our request to have the Star of Ireland moved to another berth to discharge the balance of her cargo, we were informed, through the secretary of the board, that the harbourmaster had advised him there was no . other berth available at the port. Our vessel arrived here last Thursday, and since her arrival there- has not been another deep sea •steamer at the port discharging cargo. The only vessel due is the New Zealand Shipping Company's mail steamer Runtime:.. Somo little time back the, Union Steam Ship Company's chartered steamer Inyeric was in a similar position, and to enable this vessel to' get rid of hor cargo the' board had to shift the Inveric to three -separate discharging berths. We should like to know what oil the vacant berths were being reserved for. We wish 'to ..make it quite clear that had the Star of Ireland been berthed alongside a berth suitable to d'.al with her cargo, she would have been dispatched for Lj-ttelton on Sunday morning. Mr. Fletcher mentions various other steamers that have discharged over 2000 tons of cargo at the Taranaki Street Wharf. To our mind his argument does not alter the position one little bit.. The accommodation at that wharf is not sufficient to deal with anything like 1200 to 1500 tons without caus'ing delay to the steamer occupying tho berth, and to consignees obtaining delivery of cargo. There were coastal steamers 'available yesterday (Monday) to. receive transhipments—a quantity— but owing to the congested state' of the shed the Harbpur Board were unable to deliver transhipments for coastal ports.Had the port bo;n full of shipping w'e would have been quite prepared to have made the'best of tlie position, but. seeing that tho Star of Ireland was. tho only discharging deep sea vessel in the port, we consider we have had good cause for complaining." -. ,

In conclusion, Mr. Nathan said: "Tliera appears to be a lack of co-operation between the departments of the Harbourmaster and tho wharfinger, and, if this be so," it must: militate against the interests of the Harbour Borlrd, and to the shipping visiting this port." Comments by Mr. Fletchcr. "If is my opinion," said Mr. Flcitcher, chairman of the Harbour Board, on Mondaj-, "that the-local agents of the Tyser Line had no intention of getting their vessel—tho Star of Ireland—away from Wellington l'or Lyttelton before Monday evening. I will givo you some proof that ivhat I say is correct. On Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Bannatyne and Co', gave instructions to ths Harbour Board's clerk for three carts to commence carting wool to the Star of Ireland at 8 a.m. on At that' time (10 ; .a.ni.. on.Saturda'y), the local agents "for the vessel had not received any intimation from .the wharfinger that the shin in question would not be allowed to work overtime after 5 ,p.m; ...on'Saturday. "This - instruction was given -at 10.45 a.m. on Saturday. . This proves conclusively that it was not intended to "dispatch the Star of Ireland before Monday at earliest. .Again, had tho ship worked the extra time between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.. on Saturday, she would not have been iinishsd discharging her cirgo by that time, h'or instance, work commenced on the Star of Ireland at 7 a.m. to-day (Monday), and finished at IMS p.m. —eight hours' work. Six hatches were being 'worked during those eight hours, and ;thero was no delay. Tlis Star of Ireland had a big general cargo, included in which Were ilflOO reels of barbed wire, SCOO coils of plain wire of H different brands (all these had to bs sorted), 4000 kegs'of nails, nnd 800 barrels of oil. 'In addition, tho shed floor was covered with about 75 tons of broken cargo, all of which had to be attended to befor« it could be ,stacked or delivered. Under the circumstances, the Star of Ireland's cargo was' handled very well.

"When it is said that tho Taranaki Street' Wharf was pot. Adequate to handle the Star of Ireland's cargo, which consisted of 2200 tons, I might point out that there have been other vessels with larger cargoes than she had at that wharf. They were the Nairnshire, 2503 tons; Surrey, ,2Gll.tons; Tyrone, 24GG tons; and Ayrshire. 3107 tons. In regard to the vessels mentioned, we had no. trouble whatever, and everything worked smoothly." In conclusion, Mr. Fletcher remarked:— "Regarding Tyser shins, there has always been • trouble. This has been caused by tho local agents' unreasonableness in asking for things that cannot be done. I have said before, and I say the same again, the board is the balance between the shipping companies und t'uo consignees, and t'he . latter must be considered."--^