SHIPPING INDUSTRY.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19466, 13 November 1928, Page 12

SHIPPING INDUSTRY.

THE GERMAN RECOVERY. (raOM OUB OWK COREISPOKDIKT.) LONDON, October 2. : A special article in the "Financial Times" recounts the growing prosperity of the German shipping industry. Opportunism during ' the ,• period: of the post-war slump in . ship-building (says the, writer of the article), «6n-: servative finance in the early stages of recovery, and enterprise irithe search; for world markets have//MhabilitatedS the structure of • German shipping. Prior to' the war the Germain «om-. : mercial fleet ranked second in the! world's list, following upon the heels of England/ The confiscation of her ships in 1919 saw Germany reduced to the thirteenth place on the record.' Since then ships have been bought and built ti>' such;-purpose;!-that her, fleet. is only exceeded by tbat of England,; America, and Japan. An indication of the magnitude of; this recovery may begained wtienv'it: Ib'understood 'that sri-r eluding the most' recent efforts, in- the' shipbuilding yards, Germany's merchant marine now stands at 80 per cent, ;of its pre-war;strength. * ''/ V V For years'past; the records of the companies have shown an increasing profit,' and, what is more indicative of vigorous; the overhead costs have' steadily diminished. As a necessary, consequence the net profits have been* continuously rising; The figures of the German companies will- emerge, mosti satisfactorily from a comparison with any other fleets for 1927. The aggreV gate share . capital ranking for, divi» j dend in 1927 was 350,225,000 .marks, | and upon this amount the dividendspaid totalled 28,445,750Amarkei; 'i, '".%') An Enviable Position. The capital showed an increase of 70 per cent, over 1926, while the v divi-: dend payment exceeded -that of': theprevious year by more than 100 per cent. _ On a greatly augmented capital the dividend, taking all companies on average, showed an increase over * the I previous year of 23 per cent. The I average profiteer ton onthe,four leading German lines is 13.35 marks for 1927, and, translating into German cur-i rency for comparison, the average-for British companies during the same period was 12.23 marks The progress made in shipbuilding has placed Germany in an enviable, position with regard to the quantity of ' new tonnage.. The percentage of her vessels under five years old is 27 per cent., as against 22.7 per cent, in the, British fleet and less in the ease of Prance and Holland. Having regard - to this, it is" interesting to note that the book value of the German fleet is written down at a smaller amount per gross register ton than that of most other fleets. As is natural of depreciation on the German vessels is- i. reckoned at a reduced rate. NEW SHIPS BUILDING. \ (raox on omr.ooßßxaromxm.) LONDON, October 3. Messrs Andrew Weir and Co., of London and Glasgow, has placed an order for six vessels with Workman Clark (1928), Belfast. Pour are to be steamdriven, and two are to be motor-driven. The type of machinery for the motorships will be the Sulzar, of which Workman Clark has had previous experience in connexion, with the building of the Anglo-American oil-tanker Chesapeake. The first two vessels will be about 9000 tons deadweight each, and are intended for the; cargo services In the East and th« Pacific of the Bank Line, of which Andrew Weir and. Co. is managing-owner^ The placing of this order will give a further fillip to the shipbuilding industry in Belfast, and it is understood it will mean the reopening of Workman Clark's South Yard, which has not yet been re-started since the new company began operations at the beginning of the present year. Apart from these vessels there are four begun or to be laid down in the North Yard—a 20-000-ton oil'tanker, a Holt Line motor-ship, an Ellerinan liner, and a sludge steamer for the Belfast Corporation. Three of these vessels are actually on hand, and assuming that the two Weir Line ships are to be built in the North Yard, it wjll be filled almost to capacity, and the opening of the South Yard'within 'the near future may be regarded as reasonably ceitain. The Bank Line fleet at the present time consists of 24 motor-ships, 13 steamboats, and three oil tankers. • Harland and Wolff, the other shipbuilding flm in-Bellasti has at the present time 200,000 tons of shipbuilding in its hands, , ' \ '■■■%