OVER 200 SHIPS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 222, 19 September 1929, Page 12

OVER 200 SHIPS.

BOUND FOR ROSS SEA. GREAT WHALING SEASON. 9000 NORWEGIANS ENGAGED. HUGE SHIP DUE IN OCTOBER. (By Telegraph.—-Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, this day. There will probably be a great slaughter of whales in the Antarctic during the coming season. Operations will bo

on a much greater scale than''e,Ver_ before. In the Ross Sea region there will certainly be three,' and possibly four, expeditions at work. The total number of Norwegian whaling companies, and companies managed by Norwegians, operating ' within the Antarctic Circle will be 23, possessing 30 factory, ships, 145 whale-chasers, three .shore stationsj and four transports. There will be seven companies not Norwegian, with seven factories, 47 chasers, three shore stations and three transports. Nearly 9000 men have been engaged from Norway. During the • next few weeks three whaling expeditions will arrive in New Zealand, preparatory to going down to tho Ross. Sea. In addition to the Rossliavet Whaling Company's factory ships C. A. Larsen and Sir James Clark Ross, ■with their ten chasers, the Southern Whaling Company, a British concern in 'which Lever Bros., Ltd., are largely interested, is sending ships, and . the Kosmos Whaling Company, a Norwegian concern with British backing, has its huge factory ship Kosmos, with seven chasers, on the way to the Dominion. It is probable that the unlicensed factory ship N. T. Neilson Alonso, with her five chasers, which has gone South from Hobart for, the last two seasons, will also be operating in the Ross Sea this year. One Company has Killed 4760. The Rosshavet Company, operating nnder a license controlled by the Dominion, has worked the Ross Sea for the last six years with one factory ship and five chasers during the first three seasons, and two factories and ten chasers since 1926. During six seasons this fleet has accounted for 4760 whales, which yielded 404,000 barrels of oil. It is estimated that the unlicensed N. T. Neilson Alonso in two seasons killed over 1100 whales. It is understood that the ships of the Southern Whaling Company are due 'at Port Chalmers on October 27, and that, a license will be granted this venture/ Three of its chasers,. Southern Barrier, Southern Chief and Southern Cross, all "brand new ships, left Middlesborough on September 1. The company owns three factory ship 3 and ten or twelve other chasers. It is believed that the factory ship coming to New Zealand -is the Southern Empress, of 12,153 tons gross register, 1000 tons smaller than the C. A. Larsen, but, like her, a converted oil tanker. • - Wonderful Factory-ship. f.; Advice has been received by 1 Burns, Philip and Co., Ltd., that the Kosmos Whaling Company's Kosmos, with seven chasers, is due at Wellington from Sandefjord, Norway, on October 5. It is understood that the • Kosmos will

undergo some minor repairs and take in fuel oil and fresh water before proceeding South. This venture has not yet been licensed by the New Zealand Government, and it is not known whether a license will be applied for. The Kosmos is a very remarkable vessel, and is notable as being the first ship specially designed and built as a whaling factoiy. She is also the largest ship of her typo in the world, and the largest vessel ever turned out by her builders, Workman Clark (1928, Ltd.,) of Belfast. Her dimensions and loaded displacement are such as will make her the largest mercantile ship ever to visit New Zealand. She is a single-screw steamer of 19,000 tons gross and 17,270 tons net register, 552.7 ft in length (between perpendiculars), 77.4 ft in breadth (over 7ft wider than the Rangitikij, and 49.0 ft deep. When fully loaded she displaces over 32,000 tons. Her; main propelling machinery consists of a set of quadruple expansion reciprocating engines, with cylinders 29in, 42in, 60in, and 86in in diameter, respectively, and a piston stroke of 60irt Her steam is supplied by five cylindrical oil-fired boilers, working at 2501b pressure/ under forced draught, and with superheated steam. In addition to the usual auxiliaries thev ehgine-roomis. fitted with a number of new features designed to cope with the special work in; which the ship will be engaged. There' is/ for example, a fresh-water distilling plant of enormous capacity. Ample roomy living accommodation is provided for over 300 men, and there dre .'special facilities for storing and cooking the provisions necessary for long, voyages. Extracts the Last .Ounce. The whaling factory itself is situated in the upper tween decks, which are over 15ft deep, and is equipped with a wonderful plant for rendering down tlie blubber and extracting the last ounce of oil from the whale carcases, every portion of which is treated in rotary steam digestors. . The Kosmos has a square "cruiser" stern, through which is built a large slipway, up which whale. carcases can. be hauled to be cut up on the upper deck, which has been arranged clear oi obstructions to facilitating handling. The propelling machinery is well aft. The uptakes from the ship's boilers are

carried into twin funnels abreast of each other, the slipway coming up between the two "fidleys." The ship is fitted "with numerous powerful winches and derricks, Capable of dealing with loads up to 40 tons. The Kosmos is fitted with long-range radio sets, a radio direction-finder and the most up-to-date navigating appliances. Chasers, too, Have Wireless, Seven chasers accompany the Kosmos. They are specially designed for the arduous duty of chasing, killing ana towing whales, and were all built this year at Middlesbrough, and fitted with the most up-to-date appliances. Each vessel is of 250 tons gross register, 116 ft in length, 24.2 ft wide and 12.7 ft deep, and is fitted with a set of triple-expan-. sion engines, taking steam from oilfired boilers. The little vessels have cruiser sterns and are fitted with wireless, electric light and the latest' type of harpoon gun, mounted on the bow.