SHIPS & THE SEA

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue LXXXVIII, 12 September 1914, Page 11

SHIPS & THE SEA

STEERING AT SEA. Concerning the question of an international code for steering at sea a committee of the International Conference en Safety at Sea favoured the adoption of such a code of helm orders, and the foreign delegates thought that it should not be the liriti.sh code. In the British system the word "port" means that the ship's head is to be turned to starboard, and the word "starboard" that it is to be turned to port. In some countries the,\vords are used in the directly oppo site sense. The London agent of the Liverpool Guild, Captain F. Littlehales, pointing out that, he was only giving his own personal opinion as one of the 12,000 members of the Guild, adduced the following arguments in support of the retention of the British system :—(1): — (1) The enormous prenonderance of British shipping in number of ships, tonnage, etc. (2) The fact that so many foreign sailors were accustomed to serving on British vessels and were therefore perhaps more conversant with the British than with other systems. Considerably more than half the total number of foreign sailors in the world were or had been at some time serving on British merchant ships. On the other hand, it would, said Captain Littlehales, be much better i£ an international agreement could be arranged by which the same terms could be used, allhongh in different languages. Theoretically the idea was excellent, but in piactice it would result in more collisions — through orders being misunderstood — in the first year than would happen from the same cause a& things now are in the next century. The existence of diverse systems afforded special difficulty in the cast of pilots. In the case of French pilots, however, the difficulty was not so great, Captain Littlehales explained, because the French words "babord" ("port") and "tribord" ("starboard") were so distinct from one another that the risk of confusion was lessened, but where the terms were similar the risk was considerable. NEW AUSTRO-AMERICAN SERVICE. ' The negotiations with the Austrian Government with reference to the subsidising of the new regular monthly steamship service between Trieste and Chilian ports, to be inaugurated by the Austro- Americana 'Steam Navigation Company on the Ist January next, have been concluded (says Fairplay of 23rd July), and the contract between that company and the Chilian Government has been ratified by the Austrian Government. The arrangement is that the Chilian Government will pay an annual subsidy of £7200 sterling, and that paid by the Austrian Government will be 150,000 kronen. The new service is to be worked independently 'of the two South American lines now maintained by the Austro-Americana Company, and tho boats will go round Cape Horn and proceed up as far as Arica, the northernmost port of Chili. It is further intended that, after the Panama Canal is open to traffic, the outward voyages will be via Cape Horn, and the homeward voyages, after calls at Peruvian ports, via the Canal. Three new cargo steamers are to be put into the lino. It i^ announced that the Austro- Americana Company will, in the coursot of the present year, carry out some trial voyages to Chili on the route of the new service. BERLIN-STETTIN CANAL. The newly-opened inland waterway between Stettin and Berlin was inaugurated by the German Emperor and named "Hohenzollern Canal." It will enable craft of up to 600 tons to navigate. Eight sluices must be passed, four of which raise tho water-level to 118 ft. The cost of the- canal has been about £2.200,000. SAILING SHIP FLEETS. When the International Union of Sailing Shipowners met in Paris on 18th June, it was reported that the tonnage entered for the year 1914 was approximately about 744,000, being about 25,000 in excess of that entered for 1913. It is distributed as follows :—: — Tons. British 189,000 French 212,500" German 155,000 Norwegian 179,000 Sundry Continental ... 8,500 Total tonnage ... 744,000 THE 8.1. AND P. AND 0. "What, after all, does this great operation mean?" asked Sir Thomas Sutherland, referring' to the fusion of the British India and the P. and 0. lines. "It means that we command the employment of a capital of fifteen millions sterling. It means that we command ithe employment of a tonnage of a million and a quarter tons, and this capital 'and this tonnage will be working with a common aim and purpose for the prosperity of a great national enterprise, the only object that we have- had in view in bringing about this combination. I say that it is the success of ithis enterprise which is to be the sole and only object of our work for you and for our new partners, but I am bold enough now to ask credit for both sides in ithis negotiation for a wise diplomacy throughout, for I am certain that if either side had entered into these negotiations in a narrow or huxtering spirit our purpose would have entirely failed. But we have dealt with an interesting and a vital problem, so tthat all concerned may hereafter congratulate themselves that this amalgamation of large interests has been so quietly and so efficiently accomplished." MENACE OF GERMAN SHIPPING. German national policy can be summed up in one word — trade (according to Sir Owen Phillips, the British shipping magnate). She is driven to seek it (and her navy is but an instrument to strengthen and force it) by the growth of her industrial population, and since the change from an agricultural to an industrial nation the acute need of finding and keeping outside markets for the products of her workers has urged her to aggression. British trade is represented by some 300 individual and separate lines, with no unity of action or purpose. German trade is centred in seven big lines. Behind them, using every power of persuasion and influence to secure their harmonious working and coaction, is the greatest commercial director in the world — the Kaiser.' His Majesty has for many years used his influence to the utmost to secure and maintain consolidation of German lines and to prevent internal competition by the multiplication of small interests. GERMAN PROGRESS IN CHILE. German shipping, the progress of which has formed a fertile subject of discussion lately (says the Syren of the 29th July), has been making considerable headway at the port of Antofagasta during the past year. In the annual report of the local British Consul a table is given, showing that, while the British tonnage has increased by about 3.7 per cent., that of our neighbours has risen by 15 per cent, during 1913. It is to be feared that this is merely one sign of the steady growth of German influence in Ohilo during the past decade, a movement which haa been commented upon by many careful observers of the trend of commerce in tbat country.