I would like to acknowledge our past members. As unionists they fought for the right to be involved in our coastal petroleum trade from the overseas vessels with dubious safety standards that dominated our coast. In 1927, Tom Young, outgoing President of the Federated Seamen’s Union, was handing over the reins to incoming President Fintan Patrick Walsh. Together they realised that we shouldn’t be reliant on foreign-flagged and foreign owned shipping to maintain our fuel supply so acted to secure a purpose built, New Zealand flagged coastal tanker Paua.
New Zealand Coastal Tankers: 95 years of service
During those early years oil tankers were a new concept as technology had not really supported carrying bulk liquids effectively, mostly because of the ineffective pumping systems for discharging of the cargo. Although the Paua had cargo tanks with a pumping system she also carried petroleum in tins and cases for discharging via her derricks at ports that were not geared up for receiving cargo pumped ashore. Pioneering years Like the wharfies, miners and other blue-collar workers, there was a degree of Kiwi ingenuity and a pioneering spirit in this newly established petroleum coastal trade. However, they were well aware of the consequence of oil spills so high standards were maintained. Considering the many thousands of ship movements and cargo operations over the years, our coastal petroleum trade remains uneventful, incident and pollution free, a record we are very proud of. However, when the tankers were sold off and left the New Zealand coast, sailing under flag of convenience standards, many came to grief, and more importantly many seafarers were subsequently killed or injured. The Paua for example, was declared a constructive total loss after running aground near Sittwe, Burma. The Hamilton exploded in Manila Bay killing thirty of the fifty-eight Chinese, Indonesian and Filipino crew, and many others suffered from burns. The Amokura sister ship Kurdistan, ran into ice and broke in half near the Cabot Strait between Newfoundland Island and Cape Breton Island and the Amokura itself grounded near the Paraná River, Uruguay.
By Hector Thorpe Auckland Branch Local 13 President Bosun, Matuku
Marsden Point Oil Refinery Marsden Point Oil Refinery near Whangarei was kicked off by the Nash Labour government in the late 1950s and this huge project came on stream in 1964. It was named after Ernest Marsden, Professor of Physics at Victoria University and was New Zealand’s only refinery which enabled less reliance on international markets and was very important for our security of supply. THE MARITIMES 24
