CHE BIG CUNARDER

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 68, 14 December 1931, Page 11

CHE BIG CUNARDER

Construction Stoppage COMPANY’S REASON Country’s Disappointment Official Wlreleas. Rugby, December IL The decision of the directors of the Cunard Company Jo suspend work on the giant new liner now under construction at Clydebank has met with intense disappointment throughout the country. > The 73-000-ton vessel, which is estimated to cost £4,500,000, was due for launching next May, and with it the Cunard Company hoped to obtain the blue riband of the Atlantic, which for 20 years had been held, with the Mauretania. About 3000 men have bgen continuously employed on the construction of the ship apart from those engaged in associated industries providing equipment. . The company’s decision was. the mam topic of discussion in the lobbies of the House of Commons last night, and the matter'was raised by Clydeside members during the closing stages of the debate on the vote of censure. A statement on behalf of the Government by the-president of the Board of Trade, Mr. Walter Runciman, was made in reply to a question by Mr. Kirkwood. Mr. Runciman said the Board of Trade was informed confidentially some days ago that the company considered it necessary to suspend building for the present. The reason given by the company was that this year, for the first time for many years, the company had been unable to earn depreciation on its old ships. The question of direct Government assistance had not been raised, but he feared it would not be possible to give financial assistance In this case. The Cunard Company was ‘ building the vessel out of its own resources,, and the only. assistance requested from the Government was in respect of insurance, and this was given with the approval of Parliament. “Suspension of work on the vessel is very much to be regretted, but 1 regret any idea of direct Government financial assistance is out of the question, and we can only hope that circumstances will permit building before long,” said Mr. Runciman. “I would like to add that all the Lilis of exchange given on this ship will be paid when they mature out of the company's own liquid resources which are held for the purpose.” Answering further questions, Air. Runciman said if the company had any proposals to make they would be most carefully considered by the Government. WORKERS LEAVE YARDS “Blow at British Prestige” (Rec. December 13, 5.5 p.m.) London, December 12. Three thousand shipwrights and male and female clerical workers left the yards of John Brown and Co., at noon to-dav. It is understood a skeleton staff remains to shore up the hull and safeguard the structure of the vessel. Sections of the drawing ofiice and clerical staff will be retained. The Clydebank council is organising to relieve distress due to the stoppage, which Mr. A. Kirkwood, the Labour M.P.. is still endeavouring to postpone to avoid a shattering blow at British prestige. Mr. Kirkwood will interview influential people, including Sir Thomas Bell, managing director of John Brown and Co. Tory members joined members of the House of Commons of all shades Of opinion, promising support for Mr. Kirkwood, 'who will hold u dcmonstra* tion at. Dumbarton on December 15. SAFETY OF THE HULL Irreparable Damage May Result (Rec. December 13, 5.5 p.m.) London, December 12. The Glasgow correspondent of “The Times” says speculation is rife-regard-ing the fate of the huge Cunarder. Fears for the safety of the hull are expressed. According to a minor shipyards official she is already gradually sinking, being constantly propped up, and there may be irreparable damage it she is left for any considerable time. In some quarters it is believed that unless it is decided to scrap the whole structure an effort will be made to complete the new open stern so that the hull can be launched and left afloat until construction is resumed. disastrous blow Lean Days on the Clyde The decision of the Cunard Company to suspend construction of the giant <3,000ton ship, which was to have been named Princess Elizabeth, is a disastrous blow to the shipbuilding industry on the Cl ‘lt e was reported by Lloyds’ Register of Shipping that at the end of September the amount of new tonnage under construction on the Clyde was less than half that in progress 12 months earlier. At September 30 there were being built on the Clyde 37 ships of 198,080 tons gross register, as compared with bi vessels of 400,052 tons at the end_of September, 19’30, a decrease of 208,072 tons. The totals in each case include the Cunard liner. Very few new ordeis have been placed on the Clyde since sepThV Cunard decision recalls that work on the giant White Star liner Oceanic, of 05 000 tons, was -stopped last year. Verv little progress had been made with this ship, little more than the keel plates having been laid on the sl.p at Harland and Wolff’s yard, Belfast. On the other hand nearly 50.000 tons of material have already been fabricated into the structure of the Cunarder, which was to have been launched next year. Moreover, work was proceeding at many establishments throughout Britain on auxiliary machinery, and fittings for the giant ship. so. that the decision will affect many firms other than John Brown and Company, of Cl ’ln Cl> nearly every foreign country, the State has intervened, either directly or indirectly, to assist the shipbuilding mduw try. There is very little profit in sb*pbuilding in Britain to-day, and m spite of the drastic financial reconstruction to which many leading shipbui ding.companies have been submitted, the net profits if the industry have been- nothing like guflicient to provide an adequate return-oa the capital invested in the business. For the most part. British shipbuilders have been keeping their yards open at a con-

siderable sacrifice in order to employ their men and maintain their trained staffs until better times return. i In Italy the shipbuilding industry has never been more active. In recent months two huge liners for the trans-Atlantic trade have been launched in Italian yards. On July 20 the Rex, a turbine steamer o£ 50,000 tons, to curry over 2000 passengers, was launched for the Italian General Navigation Company; and on October 2b the 46,000-ton 27-knot Conte di»Savoia, building for the Lloyd Sabaudo, took tlie water. This ship is designed to carry 2300 passengers. The French General Transatlantic Company, owners of tlie Paris Atluntique and He de France, which range from 40,000 to 45,000 tons, has under construction a mammoth liner, 1020 feet in length, and 117 feet in breadth, which >s to rival in size and siieed the new Cunarder. lhe new French ship is to be electrically proUnited States Line, which operates the Leviathan, is also building two 30,000-ton express liners for the- Atlantic- trade. , „ . , „ The Italian, French and United States ships are all being subsidised by the respective Governments in cheap loans ot the greater parts of their cost, and with heavy mail subsidies when they go into service. Where the new ships are to find profitable trade in the already greatly-over-crowded Transatlantic services is a mystery that is puzzling the layman, and must be causing owners much anxious thought. The present Atlantic fleets—British, German. French, Italian, American and Dutch —include no fewer than 31 liners ranging iu size from 24,000 tons up to 50,000 tons of the Majestic, borne of these ships are laid up. others are making tourist cruises, while all those regularly running have had their fares m all classes drastically cut to t?mpt passengers to travel in these hard times.