COAL SUPPLIES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 270, 11 August 1919, Page 6

COAL SUPPLIES

SHIPMENTS IN SIGHT STATEMENT BY HON. ARTHUR MYERS In viojv of tho keen public interest which is naturally centring round tho importation of coal, a representative of /The Dominion o'btained from tho Hon. .Arthur Myors, Minister in Chargo of tho ,;Coal; Control Branch, the following de"fcils of'shipments of coal ufc present in sight,' * "In the fust place, liowover," said tho Jlinistar, "I would like to substantiate the statement I made on July 16 that for tho pericd of six weeks subsequent to that date 'a carefull leview of shipments fi-om in sight indicate ■.-.that we may expect to receivo over 70.000 tons of coal if tho arrangements already mad© materialise.' r • "The following is a list of the shipmeinte that were then in sight, giving quantity of cargo, approximate cine date ■ Df aurral and source of supply :— Approx. Source Cargo. duedato of Tons, of arrival supply. Inga 1,100 In port Newcastle ■Walpori ......... 2,700 Held, up „ Shropshire .... 1,600 16 July „ Otira 7,250 16 Aug:. „ W&naka _... 3,200 20 July Ngakuto 1,900 23 July „ Port Na®ier . 4,000 21 July „ Waltomo 6,500 27 July „ ■'•Kauri 4,400 30 July „ 'Wanaka ... 3,200' 6 Aug. . „ Kaitana 2,600 30 July E.M. Stirling MOO 12 Auk. Prinzessin ..... 3,000 16 July 'i'roplo (vUOO 20 Auj. Newpfc News JSamari 6,000 20 Aur. „ Ktunara ........ 5,000 21 Auff. „ Westmeath „. *'4,000 15 Aue." » Masiita *6,C00 16 Aug. ,i Total 7M50 ' 'Estimated "A large .number of tho above elupjnente have already arrived in the Dominion and been discharged. ' "Unfpftimately, however, there were several oases in which labour difficulties 'hampered the carrying out of proposed shipments. One of these, the Waitomo, jfirrajigements for. which were made to 'bring across from Newcastle 6500 _ tons of c 001—4500 tons being for the Railway Department—was oompelled to fay up i n 'Dtmedin owing to the inability of the owners to get a crew to take her across .to Australia. TShis represents a big loss to tho supplies of coal available in the ■Tinmlnwvn, as subsequent trips of the vessel would have meant an addition of cargoes of equal quantity to tho above. | The ooal-carrier Ngakuta. could, also havo steadily engaged in the Newcastle •trade after tho completion of the trip mentioned in. tho above list if it freen possible to.gat her orew to tako her to Australia again. In the circumstances ; she ia being kept on tho coastal run. 'Another case in point is that of the inga, whiahj had bam lying at Wawanui for some time now with a quantity of poal still on board. It is true that the /waterside workers havo taken off 200 tons

of this cargo to enable the W&nganui „ Gas Company to keep going, but they -■have so far refused to handle the remaining 900 tons. "Tie Weapon also was held up temporarily in Newcastle owing to orew difficulties. • MAnd ft must be pointed out here thlat the cargoes mentioned above do not represent tie full loss occasioned by the existing conditions. These bcate would have been aMe to make further trips, land would have augmented tho supplies very appreciably. v '."It) is unnecessary, in view of the

above, for me to point out," continued 1 -jlr. Myers, "that serious difficulty is bepng experienced in keeping up supplies from Newcastle owing to tho maritime f.trike in Australia. Besides the vessels jnentioned above tlia.t have been rendered '•useless so far as this source of supply js concerned, tho Wailiora has been laid up for two months at Nowcastlo fully loaded -with, coal (5000 tons) owing to inability to get a crew. Tho Ra.kia.noa is nnothsr vessel that would be emptoyed on the Newcastle ran. wero it possfMe •to obtain a nre-w for that purpose. "To give an idea, too, of the position so far ns other oversea tonnage is concerned, I publish below contents of a cablegram wluoh was received from the .Secretary of State for the Colonies, in reply to one from tho New Zealand Government asking that tho Shipping Controller bo approached with a view to endeavouring to arrange for all tonnage, to ■bring supplies of coal both from America and Australia, en route to New Zealand. Begins: 'Shipping Controller' regrots oannot assist as no tonnage re- ' 'maining under requisition available for . -bringing coal America(a,nd Australia to w New Zealand, and in present circum- /.; stances not possible to "requisition ton- " flags' specially for tills purpose,' ./'Notwithstanding theso - difficulties, ....every effort is lieing made to secure all ' Available spaco for the carriage of coal to New Zealand, and tho detailed information whioh 'is published below of shipments at present actually in sight ■will no doubt be appreciated:— Appro*. Source Cargo, duo dato of Tom. of arrival supply. ■U. 3.8. Vessels: .Wxaaka, 3.200 In port IfewcaGtle •Kaittmaj 2,600. 14 Aug. „ Waipori' 2.700 16 Aug. „ Wa-naka ... 3,200 27 Aug. „ Kauri 4,400 24 Aug. „ • Oversea vessels: 'Otlra 7,250 12 Aug. _ .. 0.M., .Stirling 4.000 18 Aug. „ • ;Malwera 9000 20 Aufj. „ ' -Essex 3,000 9 Aug. „ Durham- ........ 3,000 17 A m». „ : j?ort-. Victor ... *3,000 20 Axtg. ■Zealaodld ..... 2,000 18-20 Aug. „ tJWorfroonfew. „ — oastle ■ 39,260 . • Jlamari ......... 4,685 13 Aug. Anierioa.. .sY«pio. 6,000 20Aue. „ ' Kumaia 5,000 8 Sept. 1 „ ' Oity of Winchester 3,000 5 Sept. „ .Westmeath .... 4.356 24 Aug. „ Masnla ' 4,066 30 Atlg. „ r-ofraj from America 27,937 "Grand. total ... 67487

' "Estimated. ■. - '-'"Since my statement on My 16, the Waipori, whioh was noted as being Tield up,' has been enabled to bring a oargo ■of 2700 tons across, and has been listed for a further oargo above, due on the 16th August. It will be noticed also that the actual quantities loaded on the Maniari, Westmeath, and Masula aro now to hand, and these figures appear in the later list. Tho steamer Nuddea. was also advised by the High Commissioner at the pame. time as the City of Winchester as 1 available for tho oarriage of 4000 tons of coal to Now Zealand, but this vessel has since beon notified as not now available. "In addition to tho abovo fixtures, the following steamers, which are at present engaged on the New Zealand ooast, will be dispatched to _ Newcastle when tho maritime strike is concluded:—Katoa, Koromiko, Kaitangata, Kaiapoi, Waitomo, Eakanoa; and when conditions become normal 011 the 'other side' the WaiTiora, fully loaded with 5000 tons, will he aible to bring her cargo across to New Zealand. Of tho quantity at present in sight from overseas mentioned in the foregoing list, tho allocations io railways represent 59,587 tons."