Page 43: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 15, 1969)

Worldwide Impact Of Containerization Highlights Port And Harbor Conference The sixth biennial conference of the International Association of Ports and Harbors, held recently in Melbourne, Australia, while dis-cussing all phases of port opera-tions, focused a large part of the conference on containers. It was clearly indicated by those present that the impact of containers has been worldwide. Interest in the implications of containerization for all shipping nations was a factor in the decision of representatives from the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia to recom-mend full membership in the asso-ciation for maritime bodies in those countries. "With our merchant ships oper-ating all over the world, we must know the developments in ports of other countries," Boris P. Trunov, general manager of the Port of Leningrad, said in an interview. "We feel that Soviet membership will be very useful to us and to the world." he added. Toru Akiyama of japan, secre-tary general of the association, said that approaches would be made to Poland, Rumania and Czechoslo-vakia to join the worldwide port organization. There has been "no indication of interest" to support an invitation to Communist China to join, he said in answer to a question. The conference established a fund for technical assistance by member organizations to port and harbor development in the less ad-vanced countries. The project will be administered by the organiza-tion's Committee on International Port Development, headed by Aus-tin J. Tobin, executive director of the Port of New York Authority. "The fund will enable us to make direct, informal contact with the ports to be assisted, avoiding the complications and delays involved in working through governments," Mr. Tobin said in an interview. Advanced countries will be asked to contribute to the fund, when called upon, under a schedule of "special clues" ranging from $250 to $1,000 in accordance with a classification system. "The advent of the containership is going to create several problems for developing countries," David Owen, co-administrator of the United Nations Development Pro-gram, told the conference. Delegates adopted a resolution recommending that any new sys-tem "should be as simple as pos-sible. in order to insure uniformity of interpretation and thus avoid anomalies." The resolution referred to pro-posals for revising the present sys-tem of tonnage measurement to be considered by the Inter-Govern-mental Maritime Consultative Or-ganization in London at a confer-ence next May and June. The changes adopted "should lead to only one set of tonnages, irrespective of the ship's draft or amount or disposition of cargo carried, thus eliminating the diffi-culties that at present arise under the 'tonnage mark' system," the resolution declared. The organization asked also that the new system, when adopted, ap-ply to all ships, old and new, "thereby permitting similar charges to be levied on similar ships re-gardless of age." Pointing out that the effect of the change on port revenue "may be substantial," the resolution urged the inter-governmental or-ganization to allow time for adjust-ment of charges before enforcing the new system. The next biennial conference was set for Montreal, June 6 to 12, 1971. V. G. Swanson, chairman of the Melbourne Harbor Trust Com-missioners, was elected president for the next two years, succeeding Dr. Chujiro Haraguchi, Mayor of Kobe, Japan. Mr. Trunov and Edward V. Ad-amovsky, chief specialist on ports and harbors of the Soviet Ministry of Merchant Marine, stated that they would recommend that the Soviet Union apply for full mem-bership in the association. The So-viet Union has up to now only had observer status. Dr. Josko Vukov, vice-president of the Port Authority of Rijeka. Yugoslavia, said he would recom-mend that his country, represented as a "supporting member," upgrade its participation to full member-ship. "The conferences of the asso-ciation have been excellently or-ganized," he commented in an in-terview. Mr. Adamovsky said that the So-viet Union would expand facilities for handling containers at Soviet ports. "It will be most useful for us to establish terminals on the Baltic, in the Soviet Far East and on the Black Sea," he stated. Containers used in Soviet vessels will be altered in size to conform with the standard specifications in use by Western countries, he said in the interview. The next step in the movement of oil in huge carriers, like the 750,000-ton vessel now on the drawing board, may be trans-ship-ment of oil to smaller vessels at sea for distribution to refineries, Stanley Johnson, managing direc-tor of the British Transport Docks Board, declared in a paper entitled, "The Seaports of the Future." NSSC Issues RFQ To Booz Allen For Studies On DX/DXG Program RFQ N00024-69-Q-0603-(S) has been issued by Naval Ship Systems Command to Booz Allen Applied Research, Inc., of Bethesda, Md.. for the purpose of conducting stud-ies on the revision of integrated logistic support documentation for the DX/DXG program. This com-pany has done preliminary work and therefore has the experience and knowledge required. Gold mining from a boat? In wild, unexplored jungles and riv-ers? That's the way it's being done in Panama by Sandia Metals Corpo-ration, builder of extensive placer gold concessions in the Republic. Sandia Metals recently took de-livery of a new 38-foot steel mining yacht from Equitable Equipment Company, Inc., New Orleans, ship-builder and manufacturer of marine equipment. The vessel, named Da-rien Queen, in honor of the Darien Jungles of Panama, was custom de-signed to fine yacht specifications and equipped with sophisticated drilling and electronic gear. Rug-gedly built, the boat is powered by twin General Motors 671 diesel en-gines, an auxiliary generator pro-viding electric service, and remov-able spud wells, booms and masts on the stern, racks for the onboard installation of a placer drilling rig, laboratory and a small suction port-able dredge. The pilothouse is equipped with radar, depth recorders, two-way ra-dios and an automatic direction finder. The boat carries over 1,000 gallons of fuel in a custom-built tank. The Darien Queen is fully docu-mented and will fly the United States flag, ller home port is New Orleans. The Darien Queen was spon-sored in New Orleans by Senora G. Garrido, wife of the vice-consul of the Republic of Panama, who also attended the commissioning ceremonies. David P. Levy, manager of Equitable Equipment Company's Small Boat Division, designed the vessel. HALIFAX CONTAINERPORT?Shown here is an artist's conception of the new $10,-000,000 Halifax containerport which is now under construction in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When completed in July, 1970, the new facility will be Canada's most modern con-tainer handling unit which is expected to make the port of Halifax a principal gate-way for the growing Atlantic container shipping trade. The containerport's first major customer will be an international shipping consortium comprising Bristol City Lines of Bristol, England, Clarke Traffic Services, Montreal, and Compagnie Maritime Beige of Antwerp. To operate their service the consortium hes ordered three large containerships, priced at $17-million each, scheduled for delivery at about the same time the Halifax containerport is ready for operation. The consortium will provide weekly container sail-ings to serve shippers in Europe, eastern and central Canada and the U.S. midwest and also call at an eastern port, probably New York. WRttlN QUEEN \ Attending the commissioning of the Darien Queen were, left to right: W. P. Oster, Equitable vice-president; Capt. Neville Levy, Equitable president; Herbert Larsen, vice-president of Sandia Metals; Marion Brown, president of Sandia Metals; S. H. Glassmire, geologist of S. H. Glassmire & Associates which will conduct scientific studies from the boat, and Miss Mary Anderson, stand-in at christening for Senora Garrido. Darien Queen, Designed For Gold Mining, Commissioned At Eguitable Eguipment April 15, 1969 45