MANY SHIPS EXPECTED

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 153, 26 December 1918, Page 4

MANY SHIPS EXPECTED

(mOV OCR OWN COMIirONDINT.)

SYDNEY-, 13th December.

Australia, having suffered for years a famine in shipping, is about to-know I something that may be described sis a boom. Information received from tlis British Government shows that a great fleet of British merchant ships is booked for Australia, to bring cargo and passengers and take back Australia's piiedup produce and passengers. .Between now' and the end of April no less than ' 84 large vessels are booked to arrive m Australian ports, as follows :— 15,000 10,000 Under j tons and tons and 10,000 over. over. tons. January — 8 5 February ..... — — 4 March 1 8 38 April 1. 7 12 The April bookings are . not complete. In the four months enumerated no lees than 700,000 tons of o\ rerseae tonnage jis booked for N at Australian ports.' In ' March, it is calculated, there will be. over 50 steamers, representing nearly ! half a million tons, in Sydney harbour. In addition, there will be the ordinary Australasian and Pacific trade, together [with many ships from the Pacific coast jof America. Sydneyi i" common with other Australian ports, is looking forward to a phenomenal "boom" iti ship- * ping, and sees no reason to fear, for i some time yet at least, the financial and | commercial depression that is expected to follow the war.

New ZoalaKd of course will benefit in this rush of trade equally with Australia. It is not yet known what proportion of these vessels will go to the Dominion, but shipping people expect that in comparison New Zealand ports will benefit even more than the Australian. All tile big lines P. and 0., Orient, Aberdeen, Blue Funnel, C. and D., Federal, Cwn —are hard at work organising their services, and all announce early sailings. Thousands of people are seeking passages, and there are long waiting lisU. Next year, in shipping, promises to be devoted to working off arrears.