SHIPPING CHANGES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 852, 21 December 1929, Page 13

SHIPPING CHANGES

BLUFF-MELBOURNE RUN MAHENO’S TIME-TABLE Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. Sir Joseph Ward announces that owing to the loss of the Manuka, the Union Company will be unable for some time' to provide a second boat for the Bluff-Melbourne service. A conference has taken place between the Government and the executive officers of the Union Company, and the whole question has been carefully gone into. The proposal is that the Maheno, commencing with a voyage from Melbourne on January 29, shall proceed every 21 davs to Bluff, Dunedin, Lyttelton and ‘Wellington in that order and return from Wellington direct to Bluff and thence to Melbourne, as outlined in the timetable. This arrangement is to continue for 12 months from January 29, 1930, as previously arranged. It will be necessary to withdraw the Maheno for one or two trips during the winter months, when the passenger traffic is at its lowest, in order to comply with the annual survey requirements of the Maheno, Wahine and Maori. Every effort will be made by the company to minimise this time, and provision will be made for the employment of cargo tonnage to and from Melbourne. It is hoped that the Maheno, with her additional capacity, will fully provide for passenger and cargo requirements in this service and that the new time table will satisfy the South Island interests, including the tourist connections and the export of fish, etc., from Bluff to Melbourne. The Prime Minister added that the mishap to the Manuka was most unfortunate, especially as the extent to which the service was already being availed of indicated that it was likely to become very popular and that it would amply justify its establishment by the Government.