NSF's growing ferry traffic
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WILL THEY JOIN THE CONTAINER-SHIP RACE?
DESPITE the effects of the six-week seamen's strike, which halved their services and cost them £100,000, and the refusal of Hull dock labour to work at weekends, North Sea Ferries carried over 10,000 freight units (containers, trailers or flats) between the opening of the service in December 1965 and the end of last month. This was revealed by the company's general manager, Mr. 1, M. Churcher, last week when a Press party made the return trip from Hull to Rotterdam (Europort) to see how the service was progressing. The initial target figure of 60 per cent load capacity on the freight side has now been achieved and many hauliers now use the "Norwind" and "Norwave" for regular services to and from the Continent, while Du Pont and IBM are among the large manufacturers running regular traffic on this route.
Mr. Churcher said that the company thought highly of the way in which the Hull labour force dealt with loading and unloading the vessels but the lack of port labour on a Saturday limited the Friday departure from Rotterdam to self-drive vehicles and this was obviously restricting traffic. Talks were continuing and he hoped that some arrangement for Saturday working would be possible.
Asked about the comparative prospects of container and roll-on ships, he revealed that NSF were looking at the possibility of providing container-ship facilities but it was not an easy decision. Door-to-door container operation demanded proper handling equipment at the terminal points and for transhipment. Different traffics demanded different methods and he thought there was room for both container and roll-on vessels. Range seemed a deciding factor: the trailer had an advantage in speed and efficiency at distances of 150/200 miles from the port but beyond this the container probably had the edge. But Mr. Churcher pointed out that there were many traffics, including growing ones like cars and self-propelled civil engineering equipment for export, which could not be containerized and which wasted space in conventional freight vessels.
It was now taking only about 1+ days to get vehicle or container clearance at Hull, he said, compared with something like four days when NSF started, and a common cause of delay was the non-arrival of importers' documents. Clearance at Rotterdam averaged only about half a day but this was because much of the inward traffic through Europort was destined for inland clearance.
He confirmed that announcement of the intention to remove the 10 per cent UK import surcharge had caused Continental manufacturers and shippers to hold freight in the meanwhile at factories and warehouses, and there had been a build-up of empty trailers and containers in Europe (COMMERCIAL Mama, November II). December should see a large upward surge in UK-bound ferry traffic.
In strong contrast to the "Norwave's" maiden voyage (COMMERCIAL Monat, December 4, 1965) which suffered from a force 10 gale, last week's Press party crossing on a regular service by the sister ship "Norwind" was very smooth.
The Hull terminal facilities in particular are now excellent, and the row of new permanent offices occupied by hauliers adds a very professional air to the road sector of the operation. As well as NSF, the England Sweden Line has the terminal for its Gothenburg service at Hull's King George Dock.—H.B.C.