MATSON LINERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 May 1938, Page 6

MATSON LINERS

WELLINGTON AS TERMINAL CLAIMS OF PORT URGED BY MR R. H. NIMMO. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The importance of American shipping to New Zealand was emphasised in San Francisco last month by Mr R. H. Nimmo, a member of the board of directors of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition. He submitted to the Matson Navigation Company plans for the rerouting of their vessels to Wellington instead of Auckland as has been followed by the company for many years. Mr Nimmo, in an interview, stated that the new port of call on the Australian run would cut off more than 300 miles from the present voyage distance travelled by the Monterey and Mariposa in addition to much better docking facilities offered by the southern port. “Wellington is a port that is easy of access,” said Mr Nimmo. “There is ample sea room and no narrow channels to navigate and the port is equipped with modern appliances that will facilitate the handling of cargo.” Officials of the Matson Company, to whom the plan was presented, granted the feasibility of the change in travel schedule, but would not be quoted on new arrangements. Mr Nimmo, after a tour of shipping and exportation centres throughout the United States, was to return to San Francisco to supervise the erection of his country’s exhibit. Negotiations were then to be resumed with the Matson Company regarding his proposal to divert the company’s ships from their present port of call.