Angling for bigger catches
Page 37
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
LOWESTOFT is a British Transport Docks Board port, and so far despite the recession the amount of traffic moved this year is pretty stable, says the BTDB.
Total tonnage in 1979 was 347,000 — well up from the 264,000 tons of three years before. The fishing port, too, comes under the BTDB. The total tonnage moved last year includes 35,000 tons of fish landed from 7,400 vessel trips.
A new service between Lowestoft and the Caribbean began last month with the arrival of the Netag Line mv Harco.
The service, which originates in Rotterdam, is a conventional one and Lowestoft is the only port of call in the UK. General cargo is carried to areas including Jamaica, Barbados, Dutch Antilles, and further afield to Trinidad, Guyana and Surinam. The first vessel was a trial run, but it is hoped that sufficient trade will be generated to justify a monthly service.
Netag Line is the operator of the service which is based at Lowestoft's newly refurbished North Quay. The UK general agent is MAT Transport, and local agent East Anglia Shipping Co Ltd.
Robin Nicholls. the docks manager, commented: -I have very much wanted to get away from the idea that Lowestoft is in the short-sea liner trade exclusively, and in my time here I h.ave seen the port handle traffic for destinations further away than the over-crowded North Sea and Mediterranean areas, to countries as far away as the Canaries, Nigeria, and now the Caribbean
"We have always tried to provide a first-class service at Lowestoft, and by the autumn we will be in a position to attract the bigger ships which will be able to enter our newly deepened inner harbour."