FASTER LINERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 58, 9 March 1935, Page 7 (Supplement)

FASTER LINERS.

FOR FAR EAST TRADE, GERMAN BID WITH NEW SHirS.

The building of faster P. and 0. liners for the service from Genoa to the Far East is believed to be only a question of time (says a London shipping correspondent). It remains to be seen whether, in the interval, the company will decide to speed up its present service to meet impending competition from fast German liners on this route. It could do so by transferring to tho Far Eastern service the Strathaird and Strathnaver, two ships of 22,500 tons, which, can steam at 20} knots. Unless they do this, the new Ham-burg-Amerika liners Scharlhorst and Gneisenau, of 18,000 tons and 21 knots' sped, which are to inaugurate an express passenger and freight service to the Far East next May, will probably be, by a considerable margin, the fastest ships under any flag operating on that route. They are scheduled to cover the distance from Genoa to Shanghai in 23 days. The largest and fastest British ship at present in the China service is the l>. and O. liner Ranchi, of 1(1,700 tons and IS knots. Normally she takes 2!) days from Marseilles to Shanghai, but could, no doubt, reduce this timo if necessary. After her come the other P. and O. steamers of the "K" class, which are slower. The Strathaird and Strathnaver have hitherto been employed on the Australian run, and also for cruising, but if transferred to the China service they should be able to hold their own against the new German ships. West Indian Complaint.

Meanwhile, West Indian interests arc complaining bitterly of their neglect by British shipping lines. A report compiled by lI.M. Trade Commissioners in Jamaica draws attention to "the successful attempts of foreign steamship companies to secure a larger share of pasenger traffic to and from Trinidad and Central America." Two new and luxurious German motor ships, with accommodation for some 400 passengers in three classes were brought into this service in 1933-34.