TRADE WITH SOUTH AFRICA

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 59, 10 March 1902, Page 5

TRADE WITH SOUTH AFRICA

THE DIRECT STEAM SERVICE, DEFINITE ACCEPTANCE OP THE j BLUE STAR TENDER. As the result of enquiries made by cable through the Agent-General, the Government has finally accepted the tender of the Blue Star Company, of Liverpool, for a direct service between Now Zealand and South Africa, and has cabled asking' at what date the first steamer will be ready to leave the colony. As soon as a reply is received notice Trill be given to shippers. THE CONTRACTORS' STEAMERS. According to the latest edition of Lloyd's Register the owners of the Blue Star Line are Messrs. Carlisle and Co., Leadenhall Chambers, 4, St. Mary Axe, London, E.C, and their fleet consists of the following steamers : — Pokum, 1898 tons ; Tolosa, 2099 tons ; Vala, 1623 tons; and Velleda, 1648 tons. With Messrs. T. Bowen, Rees and Co. (the Talbot Steamship Company) the firm runs the following steamers: — Cabra!, 1734 tons; Guildhall, 1862 tons; Hubbuck, 1775 tons ; and Wangrove, 1819 tons. It is considered in Chris tchurch shipping circles (says the iPress, in publishing the above list) that the successful tenderers will not put any of the four firstmentioned steamers on, the. trade, a*, at the time when the last -edition of Lloyd's Register was published, none of the vessels were fitted with refrigerating appliances, and had no accommodation for passengers., The Tolosa, one of the steamers mentioned above, visited Lyttelton in 1899, and loaded' a cargo of wheat ■for" Spain. ' It is understood that the steamers the Union Company had available for the trade did not possess accommodation for first and second-class passengers, but only for third-class passengers, and the conditions stated that preference would be given to- the tenderer offering the highest speed and the Trest passenger accommodation. The speed of the steamers proposed to -be put on the service by the Union Company is stated to be nine to ten knots per hour; whilst the speed of the Blue Star Line steamers is stated to be up to eleven and a-half knots per hour, and they have accommodation for first, second and third-class passengers. The Blue Star Company's tender was addressed to the Agent-General, London, by whom it was forwarded by cable to the Government, with the information that the steamers could be put on almost immediately. The tenders under which the contract has been made stipulate .for a monthly steamship service between four New Zealand ports and South Africa. Tenders were also asked for an alternative service between New Zealand ports, Western Australia and South Africa. The subsidy available for the service is £30,000 per annum, and the four loading ports in New Zealand are to be taken in geographical order. The three iports of discharge in South Africa are Durban, Port Elizabeth and Table Bay. The rates of freight from the various New Zealand ports are to be : — Wheat (per ton weight), 30s ; flour (per ton .weight), 30a ; barley (per ton weight), 32s 6d ; oats (per ton weight), 355; bran (per. ton -weight), 40s ; potatoes (in sacks, per ton weight), 40s ; hay, oaten or meadow, pressed in bales (at per ton of 50 cubic feet measurement), 37s 6d; potatoes in boxes (per ton of 50 cubic feet measurement), 37s 6d. Frozen meat and dairy produce at current summer rates ruling between New Zealand and London, and other goods at proportionate rates at not less than, those current between New Zealand and London from time to time, to be fixed by the New Zealand Government. THE PREVIOUS STEAM SERVICE. About a year ago (says the Press) the Government made arrangements with the New Zealand Shipping Company, the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company and the Tyser Line, for a six-weekly steamer service to South Africa, via Western Australia. The first-named company carried the agreement out in its entirety, despatching first the Otarama, then the Tekoa, and in December last, the Otara*ma again. _ The company's efforts to create a trade between the colony and South Africa resulted in financial loss, which is understood to have totalled over £8000. The difficulty in obtaining expeditious discharge at the South African ports militated against the success of the venture, as shippers of goods for England naturally objected to a delay which averaged 25 days. An attempt was made to secure the carriage of oats purchased in the colony by the Imperial authorities, but was unsuccessful, as the War Office has an objection -to any other cargo being taken in the .same steamer which conveys their cargo. They must have almost entire control of the steamers, so as to be able to order them to any port that the exigencies of the case may demand. The Shaw, Savill and Albion Company despatched two steamers, and had the better fortune to obtain speedier despatch than the New Zealand Shipping Company, but they also lost financially to the extent of about £2500 each trip. The Tyser Lin© only despatched one steamer. The chief difficulty has been that there was not sufficient cargo offering. The Shaw, Savill and Albion pany were prepared to send the Mamari early this year, but the result of the enquiries made,- by their agents all over the colony was that a little poultry and butter and the possibility of three, thousand sacks of oats was all that could be obtained. On ascertaining this, the company made representations to the Government, and were released from their undertaking to send the steamer. When they despatched the Pakeha they took all the grain offering for London at the nominal rates of , % freight, and took oW board coal to carry the steamer to London, and yet with the cargo for South Africa, she left with 500 tons space unoccupied. .Difficulty was experienced in getting freights for London 'even at nominal rates owing to the extra insurance payable and the delay which took place at the South African ports. The* general impression in €hristchurch appears to be that in view of past experience the new service will have some difficulty in making much out of the contract. It will probably have to contend with the same scarcity of cargo from New Zealand, and also the difficulty of obtaining return freights. As the steamers will not be so large as those hitherto/ enployed in the trade, they will probabl}- be less expensive to run. It is also problematical whether the New Zealand service will be able to compete successfully with the long-established Australian-South African services, especially with regard to passenger traffic. With reference to return freight from South Africa, it is suggested that probably a trade could be established in raw sugar with the Mauritius. Regarding the outlook for the success of the service, it is' considered that probably by next harvest a connection between the two countries will have been estnbl'shed, and the service may possibly be a payable one. The immediate outlook, however, is not promising.

fUT TKL'EGttArH. — PRB3S ASSOCIATION."! CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. It is considered probable that the successful tenderer for the South African steam service is Mr. Harold Sleigh, of Melbourne, who until recently ran coastal steamers under the style of the Blue Star Line, and who is now -in E^ eland arrans-

-.""*? ing for the building of two new steamers} having sold those he previously owneaf* to an Australian steamship company^ *