The Dominion TUESDAY. JUNE 22, 1920. SHIPPING PROSPECTS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 229, 22 June 1920, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY. JUNE 22, 1920. SHIPPING PROSPECTS

Shipping means so much to all parte of the British Empire that the announcement that the long-pro-mised Imperial Shipping Oommitteo has. at length been set up will no doubt be generally welcomed, The duty of representing New Zealand on this body will be ono of the first and. most important devolving' upon Sin James Allen in his new post as High Commissioner; and no doubt his extended Ministerial experience, notably as Act-ing-Prime Minister in days when the problems of shipping transport were particularly acute, will enable him to take an active and useful part in the work of the committee. To the Dominions, and not least to New Zealand, representation on a body which is "to inquire into the whole question of shipping communications between different parts of the Empire, with a view to securing improvement," ought to be of very great value. Even if it never becomes more than an advisory body, the committee may serve an indispensable purpose in throwing clear light on shipping problems, and promoting such an understanding as will n'ot'only simplify the improvement of existing aervices, but make for united inter-Imperial action in maintaining and developing the strong ' mercantile marine which is so essential to the prosperity and security of the Empire. The teperienco of the last year or two, with shipping tonnage in short supply, and run at a low standard of efficiency (largely as a result of dock congestion in Great Britain), has laid all possible emphasis upon the vital part that the mercantile marine plays.in the day-to-day lifo of tho Empire. Happily there arc now definite prospects of an early and substantial improvement in the conditions of inter-Imporial seatransport.. Nothing is of better promise in this connection than the fact that the whole of the immense losses suffered by the British mercantile marine during the war have been made good, and that tho con.striiction of additional tonnage in British shipyards is proceeding a* a rate for which there is no precedent. /

_ A truly remarkable achievement is disclosed in the returns which show that on March 31 last 865 merchant steamers of a total tonnage ok 3,394,000 tons were being built in British yards. The real magnitude of achievement is\brought out, tho Spectator observed recently, when it is remembered that in March, 1914, the shipyards of the whole world were building 3,343,000 tons, of which 1,891,000 tons were tho British share Thus, "the British shipbuilder has nearly twice as much work on hand as he had in the prosperous days before the war," and the ships now under construction would replace almost the wholo net losses of tho British mercantile marino during the war if these had not already been made good. Moreover, to further quote the same journal:

The revival of British shipbuilding is the more noteworthy because it coincides with an apparent check to the American industry which sprang up, almost in a night, under the stress of war. For a time the new American yards wero constructing a larger tonnage than our own, but they are now building no more than 635 vessels of 2,573,000 tons. Other countries are building ships of a total tonnage of 1,974,000 tons. Thus Great Britain is holding her own in the great industry upon which our welfare depends. We are not building so largo a share of the world's shipping as in the old days, but wo are building more ships than we ever built before. It will not be the shipbuilder's fault, nor the merchant seaman's fault, if there is any apparent scarcity of ship, to bring us food and raw materials and to export our manufactures and coal.

The rate of construction in British shipyards is in all respects of splendid promise. There are, of course, other handicaps to be overcome, in efficiently meeting sea-transport demands throughout the Empire, than the actual shortage of tonnage ati present" in evidence. Practically all conditions governing the shipping industry have been transformed. The new ships that are being built with such gratifying speed are costing fivo or six times as much as similar vessels cost beforo the war, and running costs also havo enormously increased. It is a striking fact, for instance, that while inland industries in Great Britain were being supplied with coal during March last at about 40s. a ton, shipowners were paying three or four times as much for bunker coal. The price at the Port of London rose in tho middlo of March to 1555. At the same time congestion in the leading British ports largely accounts for the faot that ocean-going ships are, or were very recently carrying only from 60 to 70 per cent' of the volume of goods they were carrying in 1914. The rapid production of ships in British yards, however, not only promises in itself an early measure of relief, but indicates a confident belief in those who arc best placed to weigh the facts that, in spite of new -handicaps and changed conditions, British shipping industry is still capable ol retaining in great measure the preeminent place it held before the war. To a great extent, of course the.new burdens imposed on British shipping are balanced by similar burdens imposed on the'shipping of o*.hor nations, and there are few it any nations' whose peoplo turn as readily to a seafaring lif C- as (hose of British stock. It is, therefore, possible to hope that the appointment of the Imperial' Shipping Committee may coincide with t'.w opening of a prosperous ora for British shipping, and one in which it will play effectively tho. great part for which it is cast in the developing life of tha Empire. '