SHIPPING.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17058, 1 February 1921, Page 9

SHIPPING.

PORT OF LYTTELTON.

\ ARRIVAL'S. Monday, J actuary 3]st. - Can opus, s.s. (9 55 4t.ni.), 1330 tons, SiHais, from Westporfc. Westport Coal Co., agente. DEPARTURES. Monday, Juouaiy 31st. Maori, s.s. (8.30 p.m.), 347G tens', Irwin, for Wellington. UnioE Steam dhip Co., agonta. EXPECTED ARRIVALS. Wflhina. WaUington, this day. Sefilda, 'Wellington, this day. Wiikouftiti. WoUington, this'day. Rama, Chu tkaras, this day. lflono, Wellington, tbisi day. Katoa, Wellington, February 2nd. Wakata, Kaikoma, February 2nd. Maori, Wellington. February 2nd. Paparoa, Timiiru, February 2nd. "VVUlaston, Hampton, February 4th. Orepuki, 6r<?ymouth, February 4 ill, __ Somci'pot, T.imaru, February 5, h. Waitemata, Wellington, February slh. PROJECTED DEPARTURES. Wootton, Wellington, this day. Wttktttu, Kaikoura, ihda day. Wahine, Wellington, this day. John, Oaaiani, thii day. Otaki, Wc}lington, this day. Flora, Dunedin, this day. • Capo Colony, Port CWmeis, this day. Maori Wellington, FebnlaTy 2nd. Kamoj Weatport, February 2nd. Katoa, Dunedin, February 2nd.

SHIPPING- NOTES. The only antral et Lyttelton yestepiiy was the Canopus. which put. in fin appearance shortly Wore ten o'clock. j The monthly etop-rrork meeting of tM Waterside Workers' Union, which. was to kive been held this morning, tee been pottfollowing students from. Deraaia Nwlget ion School wera successful in passing ttait examinations last v?ee&:—Mr G. H. Marfan as aooond mate, Mr If. C. Ingram as first mote, and Mr E. H. Wills4>ft ina master. Bain showers caused ftwruent stoppages of work on the wharves yesterday afternoon, and most of the boats did not work overtime last night. _ Heavy rain wa3 falling At Wellington yesterday, and shipping has teen delayed >t that port.' . £ The John should finish discharging her cov-o of cement this afternoon, and .she -will Mil to-night for Oamara and Timaxu to load for Wa.nga.wki. . ■ The Orermki slum-Id he buck here on IMtlay with a load of timber from Greymouth Tie iVafcMu will leave here this afternoon for Kaiktrara only. Sh*> is due back late to-morrow night, wnd "will sail ou Thursday for Kaikoura and Wellington. The Otaki is expected to leave netw tonight for Wellington, where she. -will complete loading for Boston and Now York. The Kirtw will leave, here to-morrov.- for Wfstport," taking- cargo. ..... the Flora, wnioli has been eihfeltering in Wellington harbour, is espßcW here thie morning. She is to eail to-night for Dunediu. ~ , ... , The Katoa, with. Auckland cargo, -will not arrive here from Wellington until to-met-TrowelUm! and the Bellbuckle are still in the stream here awaiting berths. The Waik»u«iti ia expected hew t<Klay fiom Wellington to discharge West of England cargo.

STEAMERS WITHIN WIRELESS RANGE OF NEW ZEALAND. Awanui—Ma.ram&. Shahristan, Tofua,. Manuka, Kaitangata, West MaiivraJi, Kaituni, Hororata, Kumara. Auckland—West Gamargo, - Northumberland, Helen B. Sterling, E. R. Sterling, Waiwera. Wellington—Katoa. Awarua— Cosmoe, Cathla-met, Koromiko. Chatti-am lalaudif^—'Willaeton.

SHIPPING TELEGRAMS. NEWCASTLE, January 31. Sailed—Pulcaki,. for New Zealand. MELBOURNE, January 81. Arrived—Kaiapoi, from New Zealand. AUCKLAND. January 31.

•mved.—Waiwera J6 from Sydney; Ooawa (T a.m.). from Dunedin. ■WELLINGTON. January 31. Arrived—Kat-oa (11 fwfii.), from Auckland and Napier; Ngatoro (11.15 a.m.), from Groymouth. ~ Sailed—'Wahine (8.5 p.m.), for Lyttelton. NOTES FROM HOME. " NEW ZEALAND FLEETS. (FROM OCR OWN* CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, December 10. The Jamaica . Legislature havo been in communication with the Now Zealund Shipjiing Company, v.ith a view to arranging for tho carriage of cargo direct from Jamaica to Australia and New /.oaland. Iu the past consignments of cocoa, coffee, ginger, and rum have been shipped by way of Canadian. porta. Tho mul steamers of the company invariably c&il at Kingston, to afford passengers a break is tho \'oya**e, Ktid it has now arranged that a certain ervaco will be tcservetl tor taking m Cargo "at that port. The amount ia Very limited, however, and offers r.o inducement for cargo vessels to call theT®. Tho Nsw Zealand Shipping Company's ne.v steamer Hr.rumii, which has been co;npl«t<Sd" by itcAsra Rayltoa, Uixon, utu Co., Aliaciioeborough, was to have gorie on her iriaJs a lew Wceiq but, owing to the tug strike on tho Tets, she haa net been ablo ;o bo moved out of tho river. , The Piaio was a»r enough, to completion not to be affected by the joiu?rs' a.iise, which is no'.v in progress, aut' ihe will be delivered by Messrs Alexander and Glasgow, by December 20th. i: is hoped she will be able to Eail for > : ew Z>aiacd somo time in January. I

Although the New /.calami Shipping Company hava no immediate intention oi nain-gt oil fuei in their fleet or tlecmeri, it i 3 in- : teres'ir.g to note that they have takca tao , precaution in the buiHing ef the now to havo th 3 wator fctilast tanks rivet t?d in ■uch s w "v to tbeM Jon j

oil fuel should they ever decide to convert the steamers into oil burners hi tie future. UNION STEAM. SHIP COMPANY. Tho Union Steam Ship Company has just, added another German cargo steamer to their fleet, which. makea the sixth. of' tho ex-enemy vessels tho company lias purchase:! from the Government. Tho Antwerpen, tho name by whioh she lias hitherto been known, has a deadweight of 4700 tons, and, a gross tonnage of 3080. She is 310 ft in length, 42ft in. width, and . 18ft _in depth, with ai capacity of 183,500 cubic feet. £!Jia has four holdß,' S winches, and. 9 derricks, and is fitted ivith a triple expansion, engine of 1800 i.h.p. Her speed run 3 between 9 antl 10 knots per hour. The vessel i» in goodorder, and will be handed over after inspection at Liverpool this week. She will load a general cargo on the "West Coast ports of the United' Kingdom, and sail for Aiistralia •and New Zealand iu about a fortnight or three weeks' time. Tlie captain has not yet been appointed for the passage. On arrival in the Dominion tho Antwerpen will probably be used for tha inter-colonial trade.' LORD PIBKIE'S "WARNING-.

Just baok from Mexico, whither lie went to study conditions in connexion with. tin supply of oil fuel, Lord Pirrie (head oi Measrs Hailand end Wolff, and director of caveral shipping end oil companies), is abler to epea.k with authority. Ho says ho has for the past fifteen years held strong) views that, although oil was destined to take a,n important place as fuel for ehip3, it is a; ■wrong principle to burn oil merely for the purpose of raising l steam. At the same time tho Diesel ongine will require great cats in manufacture, a.nd its introduction must develop slowly. "Personally, I feel concerned after having recoramendod bo many of my chip-owning friends to convert from coal to oil-fuel' consumption, which undoubtedly ia a most extravagant way of using: such a valuable commodity, &tod I. feel that only such vessels as tbo White StaT, Cunard. Boya.l Mail, Union Castle, and other companies' expressa passenger liners . will bo secure for future oil supplies, and I am, therefore, advising friends to go. slowly in converting l ordinaxv cargo vessels. Until ship-owners are quite satisfied that .there will j bo an abundant supply of oil available, I naturally they are inclined to proceed cautiously. Oil will, no doubt, be available in largo quantities for vessels employed in cer- j tain trades, but theio is » possibility that any shipowner or ship-builder proceeding without careful consideration. may find him-1 self in difficulties.

"Until Mexioo giets into »' more settled state, and its Government decides to protect foreign capital invested in. the country, my feeling is that there is <a risk in going in tor too large a programme of vessels built for oil fuel consumption, more particularly -as at the present time we are relying to a very large extent upon the production of the Mexican, oilfields. Every step should be taken to prevent wasteful I use and the consequent exhaustion of supplies. This can best be done by/'tHe adoption of ftie • internal combustion engine, provided supplies of Diesel oilareobtainableontho routei in which such vessels will trade, but to-day it would be a. great responsibility for any .ship-builder to advocate the installation of Diesel engines until supplies of Diesel oil are assured. It is no doubt for this reason that eo many ship-owners ar« only using l oil at present for burning, waiting until they fire Absolutely satisfied that there will be a oertflinty of supplies of Diesel cil before making the more radical change in engine construction, as by using oil as fuel they always have the option, with very little difficulty, of going back again to coffl burning." t WHAT AMERICA IS DOING. While in America, Lord Pirrie warned [ ship-builders that the supply of oil fuel waa ! not unlimited, and that it behoved shipowners to proceed with careful consideration before definitely adopting, an exclusively oilburning fleet. His statements have been criticised there, and one of the otitic® is Mr "R. Airoy (vice-president of the Roxantii Petroleum Corporation of the Boyal Dutch group), whoso view is that the use of liquid tuol is so admirably suited for Marino purposes, and has so many advantages over coal, that if ever a shortage occurred Its uss fJ>r land installations woulS have to bo curtailed in order to provide Muplo supplies foT the ships of the world. NevertheJees, future requirements of oil fuel for shipping will be enormous. It is stated that 50 per cent, of the total American tonnage has now been converted to the use of oil fuel, while of new tonnage now building at least 80 per cent, is designed for the burning at liquid fuel. It is estimated that the quantity of coal consumed on the oceans of tho world by vessels engaged iu . international trade and the navies of t!ie various countries, amounted to about 75,00 D,OOO tons pen? annum—a pre-vjax estimate. This is roughly equivalent to about 50,000,000 ton 3 of fuel oil, or tho tota.l world's production in 1910. The world's production of petroleum in tho last decade bae increased about 05 per cent., while the production of coal shows relatively little change. ..During this year both Mexico and the United States have greatly increased their production, and apart from the fact that the oil shale properties of the world are practically untouched there is every reason to expect an adequate supply of oil in the future from Persia and the newer oil countries now being energetically developed bv British and American capital. AN INCENTIVE TO OUTPUT. By oil-men attending the me?ting of the American Petroleum Institute, coDslderablo significance is attached to. the' remarks of Mt W. C. Teazle (president of the Standard Oil Co., New Jersey), who considers there is no need now for any artificial check on production, in the United States to 'prevent the crude oil market being over-stocked. Hs estimates that, in 1920, the United States will import something like 120,000,000 barrels of Mexican crude oil, as against about 60,000.000 barrels in 1910. Coming, as it does, Irom the of the largest refining company in the world, oil producers foil tihkt, should any seasonal deciine occur In the market price of crude cil, it will be more than made up by the heavy demand Irani petroleum products which can bo looked for starting next spring. Other refinit? men at the convention express the earns opinion as Mt Teazle. While there is ft slackening in the demand for oil in the mid-Continent district, it is ascribed as horn* nothing more than a temporary condition. The optimistic statement of PreridentTexrl) ai to the demand for oil in 1921, which he estimates to be 700.000,000 barrels for *h > entire world, is expected to have a favourable influence on oil producers in quickening their efforts to increase the output of the wells. DEVELOPMENTS IX BOUMAKIA. The totsi output of oil from tha Honmania.ii wells v.hs 920,410 torn* in 191 S. Dur. ing tho past month the Stesua Itomana h=re sold to the Anglo-Persian Company 800 ten; ot petrol, which has been shipTiid from Coo staatza to Enflmd. The Sieau& Somalia, in tends to develop 100 wells, of which 32 wi 1 be new locations. During 1921 the corapanv expects to drill a minimum r.f approximately 75,000ft'., and it estimates its yearly output at 310,000 tons, cr rough y a third of tho tJUI output of Roumajiii for last'year: The increase of 52.'54 tons in 1920 is chiefly attributed to the fact that •laat -rear the" industry was disorganised by a succession of Btrikes during July and August. TO COXIEST BRITISH SUPREMACY. Mr Mark Sullivan, in the Washington "Exiling Post," writes:— "Ine United States, before the war, nevw seriously contested, nor had &j thought of contesting, Great Britain'e dominance in *hippm£, but since, as w incident of war, we installed a huge ship-builaing plsnt, and became the owners of what was, for ns, ail unprecedented quantity oi tonni/e, wo have come to be ambitious irf'this field. K the aggregate mind of our business wona «r«M ilk vovid. axaWii* be found,

consciously or unconsciously, that we now have ji national ambition, to contest Great Britain's shipping dominance. If we are to achieve a position in shipping 1 and- foreign, trade comparable with t! .fhich Great Britain has had for many ■_ we can only do so through time, patience, and tho building up of the reputation for commercial skill and integrity that make Great Britain's prestige in every part of Asia and Atrica.' 1

Mr Sullivan concludes that, if his assumptions are correct, "wo aro witnessing and participating in one of those great incidents in world history which occurs only once ill several centuries, and which will be a subject for poets and historians for generations to come." A TEST VOYAGE. To teat, from a Trades'/Union view-point, the actual working condition® im tho stokehold of Atlantic liners equipped as oil fuel burners, several officials have mads» a. roinvjj trip to New .York, going by the Aquitania, and • .returning by the Olympic. Through their experiences it is hoped to avoid future friction with regard to tho mioining of the stokcnbjd. When, these two jfiant liners were reconditioned as oil burners last summer there were disputes u3 to the number of firemen to becngagcd, the companies proposing that one fireman should look aftsx not less than twelve fires, whilst tho men themselves, through thoir union, stood out fop nine fires per man. • The compani:* gavo way for -tho time being. Mr- C. McVey (Genera.l Secretary of the Mersey District of the N.U. of Sailors and Firemen) says n« and his fellow-travellers spent seven or eight hours a day irf* the atokfehold witnesslug 1 the actual conditions of work. He declines to say just yet what effect tlieir experiences will have in deciding upon the number of fires a fireman • should lcok after, as the deputation have to , xeport to the executive of- tho union, but he paid that the work i 3 now more technical and ©killed, atid requires more careful attention thaji was the case with coal firing. The laborious sad dirty nature of tho work has gone, and tie stokehold is cool. The large displacement of work is serious, however, a/nd to assist m helping to a solution of this problem Mr McVey suggests ft 48-hour week at sea.