NOT ENOUGH SHIPS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2669, 15 January 1916, Page 5

NOT ENOUGH SHIPS

• CONGESTION OF CARGO l I 1 i ! "POSITION IS VERY SERIOUS/ 'j Tlie shortage of tonnage for the ! transport to London of'general cargo, ■ [and especially wool, is causing people ' I concerned with the control of shipping i grave anxiety. There is 110 shortage ! of insulated space. This is all provided for by the arrangements the Government liavo made with the Imperial Hoard of Trade, hut no sucli s&tisfac- . tory arrangements about the carriage of general cargo can be made. ; "Things are very serious indeed, worse : than anything I "have ever known in tho New Zealand trade," said a pro- •' minent shipping man giving his opinions to a reporter yesterday. "You can't ; 'make the statement too emphatically, because the position is really very bad. Just now we are giving wool preference over such other cargo as hemp and tow, and casks of. tallow, pelts, and . other by-products of the meat business. ■ Wo can't get the wool away nearly i fast enough, and meantime,' while yott- ; go on running the meat works, and ' the flax mills, these other products 1 keep piling up. We estimate that there are in New Zealand from 30,000 _to ' 40,000 bales of hemp and tow awaiting shipment, and not less ifan 15,000 i casks of meat by-products. i "We don't know where to turn, and ■ ; the position is getting worso instead of better. There are ships t« carry our ; frozen products away, but- tho ships coming hero from Australia to load re- j frigerated cargo have all their general j cargo space filled in Australia, where ; the congestion of general cargo is at least as bad as it is in New Zealand. j I don't know how or when the Australian : wheat can be carried to England. Hatters have been made worse by the fact j that in several ships permanently engaged in tho New Zealand trade thrt ■ refrigerated space has been enlarged ; to meet the requirements of New Zea- ■; land shippers of meat and dairy pro-, i duce. Naturally those sliips have now . less space for general cargo. Six other steamers have been chartered to load , general cargo. for London, and three ■; aro now loading, chiefly with wool, for ! tlio East Coast of America. ' "The position may, of course, change > suddenly, but personally I can see no ( ; prospect of it until the Admiralty can t release ships from war transport work, 5 and that call not happen until the end ; of the war. One ship which should have : carried wool is now to take only a little wool ,and a lot of horses. More horses, a large number, are to go, and that ; means less ships for wool in future. ; I can't possibly tell when we shall have i the. last of this season's wool clip out : of the stores, but in my opinion wo shall 'j still be loading wool five months hence ; —perhaps later than that. In normal j times we used to reckon on getting ; tjio last of the wool into ships in March. 1 You can't possibly make things oub j worso than they are. Shippers are crying out to us.for space.- They imagine, 1 apparently .that we can conjure up shipa j for them somehow, but I assuro you ; that the ships are not available, and I ; don't-see any prospect of more being ; available for a long time." • j