Fuel Shortage for Ships

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 703, 1 July 1929, Page 8

Fuel Shortage for Ships

Coal Held Up at West Coast Pits

ROUGH weather, sickness, industrial trouble and earthquakes have combined within the past few weeks to shorten the coal supplies of Auckland. In some quarters steam coal is exceedingly short, but. if the West Coast mines resume working today, supplies will probably arrive by the week-end and relieve an uncomfortable position.

Coincidence could not have arranged its circumstances more cleverly if it had conspired to reduce coal supplies throughout certain districts in New Zealand. Industrial trouble developed in the Australian mines, from which the Dominion draws much of its steam coal, influenza spread among some of the New Zealand miners, earthquakes dislocated work In the pits on the West Coast, and finally the weather became so rough that ships that were being relied upon to bring coal from the Coast districts could not enter Westport Harbour to load. This succession of incidents has threatened to produce an embarrassing effect upon some of the big users of steam coal in Auckland as in other parts of the Dominion. The Westport Coal Company’s steamer Canopus, which should have reached Westport toward the end of last week, became hung up at Wellington on account of the weather, and she is only now working her way down the coast to load her delayed cargo. Had the vessel kept to its original schedule, however, the position would not have altered greatly, because the earth tremors in the Westport, Blackball, Murchison and other mining localities were so severe that the miners have been unable to go below. NO COAL LEFT

The Auckland manager of the Westport Coal Company feels the position keenly. “We have no coal left here,” he said, “and if we do not get the ship back with a cargo by the week-end we are likely to be embarrassed in the bunker supply to coastal and overseas shipping. “Most of the ships use West Coast coal for steam, and if supplies are not forthcoming shortly the position will become more acute. Each day it is becoming more serious for us. The Australian trouble made it worse, and the influenza among the miners accentuated the discomfort. “We have no coal here now. Stocks are cleaned out. We fulfilled the Navy contract and got the ships away all right, but if our ship does not soon get into the Coast ports and load and return, we might be in Queer Street so far as steam coal is concerned.” The Union Steam Ship Company is

not suffering a shortage in its bunkers and the Northern Company has sufficient to carry it through till near the end of the week. It is prohatle, however, that there will be one or two anxious days toward next week-end if the schedule of the boats now working in the South is not adhered to in the loading and delivery of West Coast coal to Auckland. Something like 1,000 tons of coal are in the bins at "Westport, but this is insufficient for a shipload, and at least one boat is waiting for the resumption of the mines so that this can be supplemented. The Auckland Gas Company has not undergone any hardship through the threatened shortage, and its service has not been jeopardised by the Australian trouble nor by the ’quakes in the South. The Railway Department throughout the North Island, too, is holding plentiful stocks, though a suggested shortage was reported in the South Island during the latter part of last week. THOUSAND TONS A DAY Coal for the: railways lias not been affected by the Australian dislocation to such an extent as many people imagine. At one time the department used abcut 65 per cent, imported coal, mixing :t with 35 per cent, of the New Zealand product. Today the New Zealand coal used on the railways is 85 per cent, of the total. In the winter months the department is enabled to use a great deal of lignite from the Waikato mines, but in the fine dry weather the sparks from this are too dangerous for crops and parched lands. Altogether the Railway Department uses over 1,000 tons of coal in a day. One shipload from the West Coast, then, if distributed over the whole of the railways, would keep the trains running for just on four days. Eightyfive per cent, of this is a big help to the New Zealand mines.

The mines on the Coast are expected to resume immediately. When the normal output is restored, bunkers will be quickly refilled. Until that happy state is reached some of the shipping interests in this port are likely to spend a-few anxious moments over the problem of keeping up steam.