SHIPS AND THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 83, 9 April 1910, Page 12

SHIPS AND THE SEA

DECLINE OF THE "TRAMP." Onco or twice uitliiu tho past two years attention ling boon drawn (suyti tho London Shipping Gazcttu) to a chnngn which is working in tho ocean-carrying trade. This is tho grout li in numbers nnd tonnage of what hnvo coino to bo known, for want of a better name, as "cargo Jiner*." Tho procem ha» bocn continuous during the period indicated, and tho effect is alnioet certain to bo \isiblo during the coming revival in tho shapo of decline of employment for tho tramp. Thin in one of tho things that happen without anybody noticing them. It grows out of tho oxpun«iona of tho business of tho liner companies who in former times of brifkness chartered a good deal of tramp tonnago for cargo. Now theso liner companies havo their own cargo boats, and get them by developing a typo that is littlo moro than tho tramp and a little lena than tho liner. Pa&songer and cargo boats are, in fact, now so strongly becoming the fashion that somo of tho owners who aro building them find an unpleasantly reactive^ effect on tho liner businoM. Tho shipbuilding correspondent of the Shipping Gazette considers that tho "tramp' steamer ia on tho way to comploto extinction as a typo. Regarding sailing ships, ho is of tho opinion thai a tuitablo auxiliary ongino on the internal combustion prinoiplo might servo to rc&usoitate their popularity. Economically, iv fact, they might mako a milch better show against tho cargo liner than they do against the tramp, becauso their real enomy has been tho cheap, Motr, and inoxpensivo-to-work stenm tramp. But ho is doepondent about tho tramp because liner companies, which were only the othor day tramp companies, are almost certain to fasten on to tramp trader and develop them by means of tho cargo liner. Tho best of the world's trump business will in that way come into liner hands, and the day of tho unattaohod ocean tramp will be clone. OUR FASTEST WARSHIP. Tho swiftest warship in tho world, and tho largest vessel ever built especially for 'tho uso of torpedo, is now complete, and •(tays tho London Telegraph) the command will bo assumed by Commander J. H. Dumaresq. Tho Swift will join tho fmt destroyer flotilla of twenty-four vos »ol« baited on Harwich. Originally she ■was to have replaced ono of the scout cruisers in tho flotilla, but it lies sinco been docided that eho is to be attaohod to the flotilla as an additional ship. Uho will be the leader of a division of ten vessels. These ton ships, liko tho Swift, burn oil instoad of coal, and can iteam at modorato speed for from 1500 to 1700 milos without ''re-oiling." Remarkable as this group is, tho Swift is tho most notable vessel, not only in tho flotilla, but in nny navy. Sho displaces 1825 tous, and with turbinei" doveloping 30,000 h.p.— twice as much ac is developed by battleships of the Formidable typo —she travels at the rato of thirty-six knots, equal to nearly forty-ono and ahalf land milos. This is twice tho speed of any battleship built prior to the Dreadnought, and in torpodo oraft spocd is one of tho most important considerations. She v also tho most powerful torpedo vessel afloat. LARGEST FLOATING DOCK IN THE WOULD. Tho largest floating dock in the world (•ays tho Magazino of Commerce) is ono at Hamburg, which was built by Messrs. lllohm and Voss, tho Hamburg shipbuilding linn, for their own Use. It lia* a lifting power of about 35,000 tons, and was completed in 1909. Tho floating dock equipment of Hamburg is probably superior to that of any port in tho world, liosidcs that ju«t mentioned, it has sovcntocn iron and steel floating docks, ranging from 320 ft in length, built in 1882, to 595 ft in length, built in 1903. Two of these docks ha\o a lifting power of 17,500 tons. Thoro is also an ofl-ehoie dock, 508 ft in length, with a lifting capacity of 11,000 tons. Stettin is alto well provided. Though it soems liko a contradiction in term.", it is possible for a floating dock to tacklo a ship of a groater weight than its own lifting rapacity. One of the most notable instances of this being dono was when, a few years ago, tho Barrow dock lifted tho steamship Km fir oss of China, which was nearly double its own length, sufficiently to permit of tho adjustment of tho propellers, thus avoiding tho timo nnd cost of a voyage to Liverpool for dry-doclring. Every floating dock is olxo calculated to roccivo a vessel considerably exceeding its own length. AMERICAN NAVIGATION LAWS. The claim made by the United States Government against tho Hamburg-Ameri-enn Lino for carrying passengers bo tween American ports amounted to 130,000 dollars, and thin in termed a "penalty for carrying American passengers botween two American porta." Tho Ham-burg-American Line boat Cleveland shipped 650 passengers at New York for a trip round tho world, with th« intention of making San Francisco tho terminal port. It is now reported that tho Hamburg . American Company has arranged with the United States Government that the qupstiou whether thin interpretation of tho Coasting Trnde Lhw is \alid uhall bo decided by tho Courts of Law, and that, in cute the decision goes against tho company, tho penalty to be exacted shall not exceed 1000 dollars. Tho law forbidding foreign ships to transport passengers betweou United States ports imposes a penalty of 200 dollars for each passenger landed. SUEZ CANAL CONCESSIONS. Tho Egyptian nowspupors report thnt tho negotiations between tho Government and tho Suez L'unul Company ha\e bocn officially rt^umod, and, according to tho Pimro d'Aloxnndrio, good progrrts hai h>cn mudf. Tho Cannl Company, it h stati'd, would bo disposed to agree to ilio cancellation of tho guarantee which wa? ono of tho conditions of tho first piojcct. Tho company is, moreover, prcparod to nccopc hulf tho profits of tho canal during tho period of sixty years constituting the duration ot tho prolongation of tho exibting concussion, without tho Egjptian Ciovoinnipnt being compelled to gunranti'n an anuuul minimum of £2,000,000. When, however, tlio sum of £4,000.000 is i cached, any fciirplus would ho di\ ided between tho contrhoting parties. It is also fctatrd that tho company would consent to modify tho question of pensions to the emu! employees iv conformity with the demands of tho Egyptian Government. Tho journal Mavad adds that tho Government h'aß decided that the question of tho extension of tho canal compan>'s concession shall bo definitoly dealt with at tho next meeting of the Gcnoral Ass<;rnbly. Sir Eldon Gorst, tha British diplomatic agent, is said to be in agreement with thfc Govornmpnt. It is also reported Ihut tht. Khedive is favourable to the extension of tho concession. SHIPBUILDING LULL. Shipbuilding, notwithstanding the mor« hopeful feeling in the shipping trade, shows no great sign of activity, remarks an English journal. Perhaps it is as well. In their annual steamship circular, Messrs. T. W. Tamnlin and Co. suggest that oven now there aro too many tramp steamers in existence, and thnt, if an improvement in trado is allowed for, a large increase in construction will indefinitely porpotuato tho depression of the past four years. It is remarked that thero is vory little difference in tho prices at which cargo boats can bo contracted for to-day as compared with the figures which would have boon accpptod a year ago. An ordinary cargo hont of from 7000 io 7600 tons dead wright would cost about £5 por lon Ship plates are about 7s 6d por tun d"i\rrr, but tho cost of lalwur rrniaini much tho pumo. Kuch figures seem to rofuto any suggestion that very many order* hmo boon gi»(»n out, or prieps would in nil probability have advanced. Messrs. Tamplin remark that values of sailing fillips havn undergone a still furllicr (lodine dining tho past your, nnd tint the outlook for this doss of vessel is übout as bad as it coilld be. The gradual extinction of tho sailing khip X by tho wny, having an advorso influence upon tug owners in ports which thesu vessels usen to affect. Thore are concerns nrotperoui in years gone by which now nnd very little u«o for their tugs, 00 far •a the towipg of sailing. tWpj _i§. involved.,