MOTOR SHIPS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLIII, Issue 9747, 13 December 1922, Page 5

MOTOR SHIPS.

A well-known Gothenburg shipowner has just entered into a contract with the Bethlehem Steel Company for the transport of ore from Chile to New York, and he has accordingly contracted with the Deutsche Werft, of Hamburg, for the building of two Dieselengined vessels having a cargo-carrying capacity of 20,000 tons each, which will be chartered to the steel company for a period of 20 years. , The contract with the Bethlehem Company -is the outcome of an agreement made m 1914. The original arrangement .provided for vessels of 17,000 tons deadweight, but at a conference held m the spring of this year it was -decided to increase the size to ,20.000 tons. As now planned, the vessels have some remarkable features. They are to have a length of 571.5 ft overall, or 550 ft between perpendiculars, a breadth of 72ft, and a moulded depth of 44tt. Two engines of Burmeister and Wain type, totalling 4500 b.h.p., will .be installed aft. The three holds of each vessel will he only 30ft wide, ballast tanks occupying the space beneath and at each sides. Each vessel will be capable of carrying 3636, tons of oil fuel. The marine motor correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” deals with the subject by saying that the news that Mr Dan Brostrom has placed an order for two 20,000-ton motor orecarrying ships with the Deutsche Werft, of Hamburg, has special ; interest apart from the magnitude of'the contract. These vessels will be the largest ships of any type in which oil engines are installed. The Duetsche Werft, which is now the largest shipyard in Germany, has laid itself out for the production of motor ships, and, indeed, it was established towards the end of the war with this object in view.